Market Wrap, Dec 17: Sensex up 413 pts, Nifty tops 12,150; Metal index up

Indian markets scaled new peaks on Tuesday as buying sentiment firmed up at metal and information technology (IT) counters at the bourses. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex settled near record high levels of 41,401.65, at 41,352.17-mark, up 413.45 points or 1.01 per cent. Select heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, and HDFC twins, which also hit record highs today, lifted the index along with metals stocks like Tata Steel and Vedanta. 

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index closed at 12,165-mark, up 111 points or 0.92 per cent. The index, too, hit a fresh record high of 12,182.75 during the last trading hour. Among the key sectoral indices, Nifty Bank scaled lifetime high of 32,213.35 in the morning deals. At close, the index settled 0.57 per cent higher at 32,156.20 levels. Nifty Metal index, however, was the top performer, up nearly 3 per cent, while Nifty Realty index settled 0.35 per cent lower.

In the broader market, small-caps fared better than mid-cap stocks. The S&P BSE small-cap index closed 0.66 per cent higher at 13,393.77 level, while the S&P BSE mid-cap index settled at 14,818.14 level, up 0.38 per cent.

Buzzing stocks

Shares of metal companies, mainly steel, were in focus on Tuesday with Nifty Metal index surging more than 3 per cent intra-day as analysts remain ‘overweight’ on Indian steel industry and see a likely consensus earnings upgrade cycle in sector major. Among individual stocks, Jindal Steel & Power rallied 8 per cent on the National Stock Exchange while Tata Steel hit an over four-year high of Rs 442, soaring 5 per cent in the intra-day trade today. besides, Steel Authority of India, JSW Steel, and Jindal Stainless (Hisar) gained in the range of 3 per cent to 4 per cent.

Shares of multinational company, Federal-Mogul Goetze (India) hit an all-time high of Rs 660 in intra-day deals on Tuesday. The stock surged 19 per cent on the BSE after the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal against an order passed by the Sebi upholding the open offer price. 

GLOBAL CUES

Trade deal optimism, positive economic signals in China and Wall Street’s rally sent Asian shares to an 18-month high.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1 per cent to its highest since June 2018. Japan's Nikkei touched its firmest in more than year, while markets from Shanghai to Seoul and Hong Kong all rose by more than a percentage point.

European shares paused after a record run on Tuesday as a sales warning from Unilever and concerns that Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson could take a hard stance on the transition period for Brexit dented UK stocks.