MARKET WRAP: Sensex up 115 pts on positive global cues; auto stocks rally

Benchmark indices scaled fresh record highs amid a range-bound trade on Thursday supported by positive global cues. As per news agency Reuters, China unveiled a new list of tariff exemptions for US imports, mostly chemical products, days after the world’s two largest economies announced the Phase 1 deal. The exemptions will come into effect from December 26, and will stay in force for a year.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex, which hit a fresh high of 41,698.43 in the intra-day deals, closed at 41,673.92 level, up 115.35 points or 0.28 per cent.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 settled at 12,259.80-mark, up 38 points or 0.31 per cent. The index hit a record high of 12,268.3 level. Sectorally, Nifty Auto closed the day as the top-performing index on the NSE, up over a per cent. On the downside, Nifty Financial Services slipped the most.

In the broader market, the mid and small caps settled the day with a marginal gain of 0.17 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively.

The market breadth remained balanced, with one stock advancing for every one stock that declined.

Among the stocks that saw major movements today, NMDC hit a fresh 52-week high, up 3.7 per cent at Rs 124.5 on the BSE, after the state-owned company announced that the Indian Bureau of Mines has approved its mining plan to enhance the production of iron ore from Kumaraswamy iron ore mines in the state of Karnataka. The stock closed 2.96 per cent higher at Rs 123.45.

Shares of Tata Group companies traded mixed on Thursday, a day after National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) reinstated Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the Tata group. Shares of Tata Global Beverages settled 0.67 per cent higher on the BSE while Tata Steel added 0.48 per cent. Further, Tata Coffee advanced about a per cent, Tata Motors gained 2.5 per cent, and TCS settled 2.83 per cent higher.

Shares of YES Bank moved higher by 7.4 per cent to Rs 50.20, bouncing back nearly 12 per cent from its intra-day low of Rs 45, on the BSE on Thursday on the back of heavy volumes. The stock of the private sector lender slipped 3.7 per cent in the intra-day deals after rating agency India Ratings and Research downgraded its long-term issuer rating to ‘IND A’ from ‘IND A+' and its short-term issuer rating to ‘IND A1’ from ‘IND A1+’. 

Global shares:

Asian shares pulled back from a one-and-a-half year peak as investors looked to book-profit. Japan's Nikkei index closed 0.29 per cent lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Sang index slipped 0.3 per cent. South Korea's Kospi, meanwhile, added 0.08 per cent.

In Europe, shares edged higher. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.2 per cent with media, healthcare and utilities sectors leading gains.