A bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices moved in a narrow range in afternoon trade. At 13:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 45.93 points or 0.18% at 25,806.03. The Nifty 50 index was up 9.55 points or 0.12% at 7,816.15.
The Sensex fell 27.31 points or 0.1% at the day's low of 25,732.79 in the afternoon trade. The Nifty fell 13.60 points or 0.17% at the day's low of 7,793 in the afternoon trade. Earlier, the Sensex hit its highest level in almost a week when it rose 156.91 points or 0.6% at the day's high of 25,917.01 in the morning trade, its highest level since 11 November 2015. The Nifty hit its highest level in a week when it rose 43.55 points or 0.55% at the day's high of 7,850.15 in the morning trade, its highest level since 10 November 2015.
In overseas stock markets, Asian markets rose today, 17 November 2015, as a weakening yen lifted Japanese shares and higher oil prices boosted the energy sector. US stocks edged higher yesterday, 16 November 2015, shrugging off concerns the market would be affected by the weekend terrorist attacks in Paris.
Closer home, the market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,247 shares rose and 1,174 shares declined. A total of 171 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.04%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.35%, outperforming the Sensex.
Cement stocks declined. UltraTech Cement (down 0.4%), Shree Cement (down 0.32%) and ACC (down 0.56%) edged lower. Ambuja Cements (up 1.98%) edged higher.
Grasim Industries was off 2.38%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
Telecom stocks declined. Reliance Communications (down 1.72%), Bharti Airtel (down 0.92%), Idea Cellular (down 0.23%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.3%) edged lower.
Shares of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam were unchanged at Rs 18.75.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 1.59% at Rs 752.10 on reports that a foreign brokerage has upgraded the stock to buy rating and raised the target price. The foreign brokerage reportedly said that the market has factored in the worst possible outcome at the Sun Pharma's Halol plant. The plant, which has been under intense regulatory scrutiny of the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA), came to Sun Pharma as part of its Ranbaxy acquisition last year. The potential upside for the stock could be over 40% if the Halol issue does not escalate, the brokerage said. However, the brokerage reportedly said the fair value of the stock would work out to current valuation in case the pharma giant receives an import alert from the US drug regulator for the plant.
Apollo Tyres rose 2% to Rs 160.85, with the stock extending previous trading session's gains triggered by the company announcing acquisition of Reifencom GmbH. Apollo Tyres' board of directors at its meeting held yesterday, 16 November 2015, approved the acquisition of Reifencom GmbH for a cash consideration of euro 45.6 million, through its wholly owned subsidiary. The acquisition requires regulatory and anti-trust approvals in Germany and Europe. The completion of acquisition may take 1-3 months. The company made the announcement during market hours yesterday, 16 November 2015. The stock had risen 1.68% to settle at Rs 157.70 on that day.
On the macro economic front, data released by the government after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2015 showed that India's merchandise exports continued to decline for the eleventh straight month at 17.5% to $21.35 billion in October 2015 over October 2014. Meanwhile, merchandise imports also dipped 21.2% to $31.12 billion. The trade deficit narrowed 28.1% to $9.77 billion in October 2015 from $14.47 billion in October 2014.
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