Buying momentum prevailed in early afternoon trade as key benchmark indices extended intraday gains and hit fresh intraday high. At 12:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 137.81 points or 0.43% at 31,971.80. The Nifty 50 index was up 49.15 points or 0.49% at 10,033.95.
The Nifty was trading above the psychologically important 10,000 mark after breaching that level in morning trade. The Sensex rose 147.67 points, or 0.46% at the day's high of 31,981.66 in mid-morning trade. The index fell 20.32 points, or 0.06% at the day's low of 31,813.67 in early trade. The Nifty rose 52.25 points, or 0.52% at the day's high of 10,037.05 in mid-morning trade. The index fell 7.70 points, or 0.08% at the day's low of 9,977.10 in early trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.52%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.76%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,543 shares rose and 865 shares fell. A total of 92 shares were unchanged.
Cement shares were mixed. ACC (up 0.34%) and Ambuja Cements (up 0.15%), edged higher. UltraTech Cement was down 1.51%.
Grasim Industries was down 1.05%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
Pharmaceutical shares were mixed. Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.95%), Lupin (up 1.29%), Cadila Healthcare (up 1.03%), Wockhardt (up 1.01%), Divi's Laboratories (up 0.98%) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.50%), edged higher. Cipla (down 0.11%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.21%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.37%), Piramal Enterprises (down 0.52%), IPCA Laboratories (down 0.54%), Strides Shasun (down 0.72%) and Alkem Laboratories (down 0.98%), edged lower.
Drug major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained 2.12% to Rs 536.95 after the company said that the US drug regulator cleared its Dadra facility based on responses to its inspection conducted in April this year. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 October 2017.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries said that the inspection conducted by United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) at the company's Dadra facility in April this year is closed. The company received a communication from the USFDA releasing a copy of the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) in respect of the inspection based upon responses to the observation letter. EIR is issued to the entity when the USFDA concludes that an inspection is closed under Title 21 Section 20.64 (d) (3) of Code of Federal Regulation.
On 21 April 2017, the company had clarified on the USFDA inspection at the company's Dadra facility wherein it had indicated that the company was then in the process of responding to the Form-483 observation letter issued by the USFDA post the inspection completed on 13 April 2017. The company at that time had further stated that if there are any material developments related to this inspection, the company will promptly inform the stock exchanges.
Prakash Industries rose 3.84% after the company said it has secured additional coal linkages of 2.1 lakh tonnes per annum for the next 5 years in the recent auction. The announcement was made during market hours today, 12 October 2017.
Prakash Industries said it has secured additional coal linkages of 2.1 lakh tonnes per annum for the next 5 years in the recent coal linkage auction conducted by Coal India for sponge iron sector. The company is going to sign the fuel supply agreement (FSA) in the coming weeks and the supplies will commence from November 2017. With this additional linkage, the profitability will improve by over Rs 20 crore, taking total annual cost savings on total linkage quantity of 15.56 lakh tonnes per annum to over Rs 90 crore.
Overseas, Asian equities were trading higher, taking cues from fresh overnight records set by key US indexes as the earnings season kicks off. Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve signaled its confidence that the US economy was strong enough to support further rate increases.
US equities settled higher on Wednesday as gains in the utilities, technology and oil & gas sectors boosted shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.18% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index added 0.18%, and the NASDAQ Composite index climbed 0.25%.
Minutes from the US Federal Reserve's policy-setting gathering in September indicated a desire to increase rates one additional time despite low inflation. Some Fed policy members expressed concerns about inflation running below its 2% annual target, while others worried that waiting for inflation to normalize policy could lead to an overheated market.
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