Key benchmark indices extended early gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 77.12 points or 0.29% at 26,955.36. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 14.70 points or 0.18% at 8,288.50. Positive cues from Asian stocks boosted investors' sentiment.
The Sensex and the Nifty, both, hit their highest intraday level in almost two months. The Sensex rose 109.62 points, or 0.41% at the day's high of 26,987.86 in morning trade, its highest level since 11 November 2016. The index rose 35.34 points, or 0.13% at the day's low of 26,913.58 at the onset of trading session. The Nifty rose 30.75 points, or 0.37% at the day's high of 8,304.55 in morning trade, its highest level since 11 November 2016. The index rose 7.05 points, or 0.09% at the day's low of 8,280.85 at the onset of trading session.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.56%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.36%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1282 shares rose and 622 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.
Metal shares edged higher. NMDC (up 1.56%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.11%), Steel Authority of India (up 0.48%), Vedanta (up 0.48%), National Aluminium Company (up 0.38%), Bhushan Steel (up 0.36%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.34%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.33%), JSW Steel (up 0.14%) and Hindustan Copper (up 0.08%), edged higher. Tata Steel was down 0.32%.
Meanwhile, copper price edged lower in the global commodities markets. High Grade Copper for March 2017 delivery was currently down 0.04% at $2.5365 per pound on the COMEX.
IT stocks tumbled on reports two US Congressmen have reintroduced a bill to curb the use of H-1B visas, on which the Indian IT sector is particularly dependent. HCL Technologies (down 1.79%), MindTree (down 1.61%), TCS (down 1.46%), Infosys (down 1.19%), Hexaware Technologies (down 1.05%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.76%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.69%), Persistent Systems (down 0.62%) and Wipro (down 0.42%), edged lower.
According to reports, the new bill would require workers on the H-1B visa pay a minimum of $100,000, up from $60,000 currently. The bill also removes the Master's degree exemption to the cap on the number of visas available, as per reports. The bill comes after companies such as Disney and Southern California Edison have come under fire for outsourcing their IT operations to Indian companies.US is the biggest outsourcing market for Indian IT firms.
Overseas, most Asian stocks were trading higher today, 6 January 2017. China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.11%. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 0.46%. In US, the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at a record yesterday, 5 January 2017, as the broader stock market finished lower, dragged down by a steep slide in the financial sector and major retailers. Mixed data on jobs also raised concerns a day before the closely watched December employment report due today, 6 January 2017.
In US, the private sector added 153,000 jobs in December, according to ADP, a rate that was below forecasts, while first-time jobless claims fell 28,000 in the latest week, dropping to a nearly 43-year low. Separately, a reading on the US services sector held steady at a 12-month high in December, suggesting growth in non-manufacturing activity, mainly the service sector, remains strong.
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