Key benchmark indices held firm in early afternoon trade. At 12:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 242.23 points or 0.95% at 25,832.88. The gains for the Sensex were in percentage terms than those for 50-unit Nifty 50 index. The Nifty was currently up 68.75 points or 0.88% at 7,854.85. Gains in global stocks underpinned sentiment on domestic bourses.
The broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,618 shares rose and 769 shares fell. A total of 207 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.33%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.64%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks edged higher following a positive lead from Wall Street. US stocks shrugged off soft economic data yesterday, 22 December 2015, scoring gains across the board to finish higher for a second straight session.
Capital goods stocks gained. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (up 3.76%), Crompton Greaves (up 0.7%), Siemens (up 1.87%), Thermax (up 2.23%) and ABB India (up 0.79%) gained. Bharat Electronics (down 0.67%) and BEML (down 0.58%) fell.
Engineering and construction major L&T rose 1.21% after the company's construction division won orders worth Rs 1178 crore across various businesses in December 2015. Meanwhile, L&T announced after market hours yesterday, 22 December 2015, that its Smart World & Communications business vertical is leading the way to make Jaipur India's first Smart City by creating a host of smart solutions like Wi-Fi hotspots, citizen interactive information kiosks, surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, parking information systems and remote kiosks with facility management services at select locations in the city. L&T has received the mandate from Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), which is leading the initiative to equip Jaipur with world-class digital facilities targeted primarily at the heavy tourist traffic that the city attracts. The Jaipur Smart City project has been planned in two phases with Phase 1 aimed at transforming six major locations into smart zones in the next month and a half and the remaining locations to be completed in a total of 120 days along with an Operations & Maintenance contract for 5 years. In Phase 1, L&T is completing the work at six locations, including the famous Ajmer Fort.
Power generation stocks advanced. NTPC (up 1.75%), JSW Energy (up 1.16%), Reliance Infrastructure (up 0.52%), Tata Power Company (up 0.92%), CESC (up 0.15%), Torrent Power (up 0.14%), Reliance Power (up 0.96%), NHPC (up 0.5%) and Jaiprakash Power Ventures (up 0.44%) edged higher. Adani Power fell 1%.
Shares of Dr. Lal PathLabs made a strong debut. The stock was currently hovering at Rs 783 on BSE, a premium of 42.36% compared to the initial public offer price of Rs 550 per share. The stock debuted at Rs 717, a premium of 30.36% compared to IPO price. The stock hit a high of Rs 787 and low of Rs 715.50 so far during the day. On BSE, so far 26.18 lakh shares were traded in the counter. Dr. Lal PathLabs is a provider of diagnostics and related healthcare tests and services in India.
Ashoka Buildcon rose 3.74% after the company said that one of its subsidiaries Ashoka Concessions has received letter of acceptance (LoA) from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a project involving a section of NH 4 in Karnataka. The estimated value of the contract is Rs 48.96 crore. Ashoka Concessions has been engaged by NHAI to collect user fee for a period of one year, Ashoka Buildcon said. The announcement was made during market hours today, 23 December 2015.
On the macro front, the latest data showed that India's current account deficit (CAD) declined to $8.2 billion or 1.6% of GDP in Q2 September 2015 from $10.9 billion or 2.2% of GDP in Q2 September 2014. On sequential basis, the CAD witnessed an increase from $6.1 billion or 1.2% per cent of GDP in Q1 June 2015. The RBI said that the decline in CAD in Q2 September 2015 on year-on-year basis was primarily on account of lower trade deficit.
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