Key benchmarks extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. At 12:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 271.58 points or 0.78% at 35,309.22. The Nifty 50 index was up 83.60 points or 0.79% at 10,672.70.
The market opened higher and firmed up further as the session advanced. Indices turned range bound at higher levels in mid-morning trade. Benchmarks extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.25%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.38%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,676 shares rose and 633 shares fell. A total of 106 shares were unchanged.
Cement shares were in demand. ACC (up 3.09%) and Ambuja Cements (up 1.76%), edged higher.
Grasim Industries was up 0.33%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
UltraTech Cement was up 0.57% after the company said it commissioned the second unit of 1.75 mtpa cement grinding capacity at Dhar in Madhya Pradesh. The company's total cement manufacturing capacity now stands at 92.5 mtpa and with the other on-going capacity expansions, the company's cement manufacturing capacity will stand augmented to 96.5 mtpa. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 29 June 2018.
Telecom shares rose across the board. Reliance Communications (up 3.75%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 2.64%), MTNL (up 2.54%), Bharti Airtel (up 1.24%) and Idea Cellular (up 0.79%), edged higher.
Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel was up 0.57%.
Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher. Japan's industrial production decreased in May following three consecutive months of improvement, government data showed Friday. Industrial output fell 0.2% in May from a month earlier, following April's 0.5% gain, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
US stocks recovered from earlier declines on Thursday to finish the session higher on the back of gains in banks and technology stocks.
The growth in the US economy in the first quarter was trimmed to 2% from 2.2%. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims rose by 9,000 in the latest week.
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