The domestic equity benchmarks were trading near the flat line with small gains in early trade. The Nifty traded above the 18,200 level. Pharma healthcare and IT stocks were in demand while realty, auto and metal shares declined.
At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 41.51 points or 0.07% to 61,108.75. The Nifty 50 index rose 14.60 points or 0.08% to 18,213.70.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.56% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.13%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 826 shares rose and 2,043 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,119.11 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,757.37 crore in the Indian equity market on 21 December, provisional data showed.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.29%. Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), today signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% equity stake in METRO Cash & Carry India Pvt Ltd. (METRO India) for a total cash consideration of Rs 2,850 crore.
Adani Enterprises declined 0.44%. Adani Solar, the photovoltaic manufacturing and research arm of the Adani Group, has introduced India's first large sized monocrystalline silicon ingot. The monocrystalline ingots will drive indigenization to produce renewable electricity from Silicon based PV modules with efficiencies ranging from 21% to 24%.
Bharat Forge shed 0.28%. The company has commenced supply of forgings utilizing Green Steel, manufactured and supplied by Saarloha Advanced Materials Private Limited (Saarloha), Part of the Kalyani Group.
J. B. Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals added 0.03%. The pharmaceutical company announced that it has completed the acquisition of 'Razel' franchise from Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.
Lyka Labs gained 2.36%. The company has finalised and signed the agreement with the Agilis Healthcare Private Limited for the acquisition of animal healthcare business.
Global Markets:
Asian stocks were trading higher on the optimism on Wall Street as stocks saw a boost from upbeat earnings and a strong consumer confidence reading. Meanwhile, Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday, and the two agreed to restart dialogue on trade and economic issues.
US stocks closed higher on Wednesday following upbeat earnings results from Nike and FedEx as well as improving consumer confidence and easing inflation expectations from investors.
US consumer confidence rose to an eight-month high in December. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index jumped to 108.3 in December from 101.4 in November. The number was also the index's highest since April.
The US current account deficit narrowed sharply in the third quarter as exports jumped to a record high, data showed on Wednesday. The Commerce Department said that the current account deficit, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments into and out of the country, contracted 9.1% to $217.1 billion last quarter. That was the smallest gap since the second quarter of 2021.
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