The Sensex hovered near day's high while the Nifty hit fresh intraday high in afternoon trade. At 13:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 195.35 points or 0.61% at 32,467.96. The Nifty 50 index advanced 76.75 points or 0.76% at 10,162.15.
Strong global cues lifted investors' spirit in opening trade. Later, market sentiment remained buoyant so far amid impressive gains on Wall Street Friday and positive trading on Asian bourses.
The Sensex surged 235.45 points or 0.72% at the day's high of 32,508.06 in early trade, its highest level since 2 August 2017. It rose 88.64 points or 0.27% at the day's low of 32,361.25 in morning trade. The Nifty surged 84.60 points or 0.84% at the day's high of 10,170 in afternoon trade, its highest level since 2 August 2017. It rose 45.90 points or 0.45% at the day's low of 10,131.30 in morning trade.
Among other indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.78%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.04%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,566 shares rose and 931 shares declined. A total of 146 shares were unchanged.
Most metal shares rose. Bhushan Steel (up 2.64%), National Aluminium Company (up 2.44%), Vedanta (up 2.17%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.74%), NMDC (up 1.59%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.41%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.29%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.73%), edged higher. Steel Authority of India (down 0.32%), Tata Steel (down 0.9%) and JSW Steel (down 1.01%), edged lower.
Meanwhile, copper price edged higher in the global commodities markets. High Grade Copper for December 2017 delivery was currently 0.78% at $2.972 per pound on the COMEX.
Most pharmaceutical shares declined. Divi's Laboratories (down 5.39%), IPCA Laboratories (down 1.93%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.76%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.86%), Piramal Enterprises (down 0.81%) and Lupin (down 0.08%), edged lower. Wockhardt (up 0.04%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.09%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.96%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.06%), Cipla (up 1.36%) and Strides Shasun (up 1.94%), edged higher.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories fell 0.92% after the company was issued Form 483 with three observations for API Mirfield Plant in United Kingdom. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 15 September 2017.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories said that the audit of API Mirfield plant, United Kingdom, by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) was completed on Friday, 15 September 2017. The company has been issued a form 483 with three observations which it is addressing, Dr Reddy's Laboratories said.
Alkem Laboratories declined 0.46% after the company said that it has received the inspection report from the US drug regulator which contains two 483 observations for its facility. The announcement was made during market hours today, 18 September 2017.
Alkem Laboratories said that it has received the inspection report from the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) which contains two 483 observations after conducting an inspection at the company's manufacturing facility located at Baddi, India from 11 September 2017 to 15 September 2017. The company shall put together a detailed response with adequate corrective and preventive measures to address the US FDA observations and the same is proposed to be filed within the timeline stipulated by USFDA.
Punj Lloyd jumped 5.76% after the company announced that it won an order worth Rs 120 crore for the supply and commission of five full body truck scanners from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The announcement was made during market hours today, 18 September 2017.
Punj Lloyd will be the first private sector company in India to install these X-ray based full body truck scanners at the country's borders, which can detect concealed arms, ammunition, explosives, detonators, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), narcotics and fake currency. The group's order backlog stands at Rs 11835 crore after excluding orders of Rs 6845 crore orders in Libya, which are not seeing traction. The order backlog is the value of unexecuted orders as on 30 June 2017 plus new orders received after that date.
Among economic data, India's merchandise exports increased 10.3% to $23.82 billion in August 2017 over a year ago. Meanwhile, merchandise imports jumped 21% to $35.46 billion. The trade deficit galloped 51.1% to $11.64 billion in August 2017 from $7.71 billion in August 2016, data released by the government after trading hours on Friday, 15 September 2017 showed.
As per the data released by the Reserve Bank of India, India's services exports increased 3.2% to $13.18 billion in July 2017 over July 2016. Meanwhile, India's services imports declined 1% to $7.33 billion in July 2017. India's services trade surplus improved 8.9% to $5.84 billion in July 2017 from $5.37 billion in July 2016.
Overseas, European shares opened higher, following a strong session in Asia and supported by gains among financial and industrial stocks.
European Union economic and financial affairs ministers held an informal meeting in Tallinn, Estonia on Friday, 15 September 2017 and emphasized that the strength of the entire EU is dependent on the strength of the economic and monetary union. The implementation of the Greek programme and the third review dominated the meeting, noted Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem at a press conference after the end of the meeting, as per reports.
Asian stocks edged higher as investors anticipated clues on the direction of monetary policy from central banks later in the week. The US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision is scheduled on Wednesday, 20 September 2017. Japan markets are closed for a public holiday. US stocks rose to record levels on Friday, 15 September 2017, posting sharp weekly gains, with a big assist from rallying telecommunication and bank shares as Wall Street shook off North Korea's latest missile launch.
In the economic news, US industrial output fell in August for the first time since January as Hurricane Harvey battered oil, gas and chemical plants along the Gulf Coast and a cool summer sapped utility demand in the east, the Federal Reserve said on Friday, 15 September 2017. Overall industrial production fell 0.9% over the month after a July increase revised upward to 0.4%.
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