The stock market traded with modest gains in mid-morning trade. At 11:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 289.80 points or 0.87% at 33,536.50. The Nifty 50 index rose 95.90 points or 0.94% at 10,348.
Key indices started the session on a firm footing after the exit polls predicted a clear win for the BJP in the assembly elections for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh lifted investor spirits. Indices hovered with modest gains so far.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.89%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.25%. Both the indices outperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,701 shares rose and 623 shares declined. A total of 131 shares were unchanged.
Cement stocks nudged higher. UltraTech Cement (up 1.27%), ACC (up 0.57%), Ambuja Cements (up 0.51%) and Grasim Industries (up 0.18%) gained. Shree Cement (down 0.33%) dropped.
Realty stocks advanced. Sobha (up 2.03%), DLF (up 1.91%), Godrej Properties (up 1.06%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 0.63%), D B Realty (up 0.57%), HDIL (up 0.47%), Oberoi Realty (up 0.39%) and Prestige Estates Projects (up 0.29%) edged higher. Unitech (down 1.2%) edged lower.
Linc Pen & Plastics lost 3.02% at Rs 343.40 after net profit dropped 61% to Rs 1.62 crore on 6.4% fall in total income to Rs 78.69 crore in Q2 September 2017 over Q2 September 2016. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 14 December 2017.
On the macro front, in a boost to Narendra Modi led NDA government at the centre, a host of exit polls predicted a clear victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently concluded assembly elections for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Exit polls predicted that the BJP will retain Gujarat while wresting power from the Congress in Himachal Pradesh. Counting of votes for these two states is scheduled on Monday, 18 December 2017.
The winter session of the Parliament began today, 15 December 2017. This session will have a total of 14 working days. The session concludes on 5 January 2018. The government has a slew of important Bills on its agenda in this session. The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017 is slated to come up in this session of Parliament. This Bill aims to limit the impact of the failure of financial institutions like banks and NBFCs. It has also been cleared by the standing committee.
Overseas, Asian stocks edged lower after US markets closed in the red. US stocks closed lower yesterday, 14 December 2017, as two GOP Senators raised some concerns about the tax bill.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has hiked its growth forecasts, but admitted that inflation still won't be on target by 2020. In its final meeting of 2017 held yesterday, 14 December 2017, the eurozone's central bank voted to leave interest rates on hold - and repeated its commitment to running an asset-purchase stimulus programme until at least next September.
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