Further gains for index heavyweight ITC and gains for private sector banks took key benchmark indices further higher in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 206.76 points or 0.81% at 25,725.98. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 63.10 points or 0.81% at 7,825.05. The two benchmark indices extended gains after news reports suggested that the government has tabled the bankruptcy bill in Lok Sabha for its discussion and passage. The Sensex jumped 207.88 points or 0.81% at the day's high of 25,727.10 in mid-afternoon trade. The barometer index fell 105.68 points or 0.41% at the day's low of 25,413.54 at the onset of the trading session, its lowest level since 16 December 2015. The Nifty rose 66.10 points or 0.85% at the day's high of 7,828.05 in mid-afternoon trade. The index fell 28.50 points or 0.36% at the day's low of 7,733.45 at the onset of the trading session, its lowest level since 16 December 2015.
The broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,745 shares rose and 849 shares fell. A total of 174 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.74%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.79%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The government today, 21 December 2015, reportedly introduced the bankruptcy bill in Lok Sabha for its discussion and passage. Called the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2015, it will replace the existing bankruptcy laws and also simplify investors' exit. The bill aims to make it easier for sick companies to either wind up their businesses or engineer a turnaround. The bankruptcy bill seeks to enact a single bankruptcy code to cut down the time to resolve insolvency cases to less than a year, according to media reports.
In overseas equity markets, European stocks edged higher. Trading in US index futures pointed to a recovery for US stocks after a sharp slide during the previous trading session on Friday, 18 December 2015. Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could gain 136 points at the opening bell today, 21 December 2015. US stocks fell sharply on 18 December 2015 amid fears that collapsing oil prices might impact banks with exposure to highly-leveraged energy companies. Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend.
Auto stocks rose. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (up 3.03%), Tata Motors (up 0.21%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.37%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.11%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.31%) and TVS Motor Company (up 1.12%) gained. Ashok Leyland shed 0.39%.
Eicher Motors shed 0.99%. Eicher Motors after market hours on Friday, 18 December 2015, that the company is back to normalcy at its Royal Enfield production facilities in Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam. Both these facilities are now running at 100% of their installed capacity. It may be recalled that due to recent heavy rains and flooding in Chennai, both of the company's Royal Enfield production facilities in Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam were shut from 1 December to 6 December 2015. Later, the company had on 8 December 2015 announced resumption of production at only 50% of installed capacity at these two units on 7 December 2015.
IT stocks rose. Hexaware Technologies (up 1.72%), TCS (up 0.9%), Infosys (up 0.79%), Wipro (up 0.29%), HCL Technologies (up 0.67%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.21%) gained. Tech Mahindra (down 0.92%) and MphasiS (down 0.74%) declined.
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