NEW DELHI: Extending their gains for a third straight session, equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty pared initial losses to hit fresh record highs on Thursday led by gains in auto, telecom and energy stocks.
The sentiment was further bolstered as China unveiled a new list of tariff exemptions for imports from the United States, days after the world’s two largest economies announced Phase one of the trade deal, a report said.
Earlier, the markets fluctuated between gains and losses in volatile trade as investors turned cautious after Donald Trump became the third President in US history to be impeached.
The House of Representatives formally charged Trump with abuse of power and obstructing the Congress, setting up a Senate trial next year that will decide whether the US President remains in office after three years.
Analysts said that trading volumes were low amid lack of fresh cues with year-end holidays around the corner.
They also said that market participants are waiting for fresh triggers on both domestic and global fronts for more clues. Any new developments around the US-China trade deal may also influence the market mood in the coming days.
Auto stocks were among the top sectoral gainers on hopes of revival in demand for personal vehicles.
Market at a glance
BSE Sensex rose 115.35 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 41,673.92, while NSE Nifty ended at 12,259.70, up 38.05 points or 0.31 per cent.
In the 30-pack Sensex, 17 stocks ended in the green and 13 in the red with YES Bank finishing as best performer and Vedanta the worst. Bharti Airtel, TCS, Tata Motors and RIL too joined YES Bank on the gainers’ list, gaining up to 7 per cent.
Sun Pharma, HDFC, IndusInd Bank and PowerGrid were among the Sensex stocks that declined.
The BSE Midcap index advanced 0.17 per cent and the BSE Smallcap index was up 0.06 per cent, underperforming benchmark Sensex.
BSE Telecom index recorded 1.98 per cent gains on the sectoral return chart followed by Auto, Energy and IT indices. While BSE Finance index was the worst performer.
In terms of index contribution, RIL, TCS, Bharti Airtel and HUL were the chart toppers while HDFC twins, L&T and ITC were the top drags on Sensex.
Expert Take
“The bulls remained in charge despite sideways trading session. Market breadth was mildly positive. Overall midcaps and smallcaps have done quite well recently and are expected to continue to deliver going ahead. Metal sector is likely to remain in limelight. Nifty is headed for our target zone of 12,400-12,450. Immediate support is placed at 12,150 and traders should be positioned on the long side,” — Amit Shah, Technical Research Analyst, Indiabulls Ventures.
Global markets
On the global front, Asian shares pulled back from highs on Thursday as investors took some money off the table ahead of holiday trade and looked to fresh data on the state of the global economy. Shares in mainland China ended the day flat, while blue-chip equities fell for the second day in a row. Hong Kong stocks slipped about 0.3 per cent. MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.36 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei index was down 0.29 per cent.
European stocks edged higher in morning trade with a pre-holiday lull making for a quiet trading session aside from a handful of corporate updates. The market participants will turn their attention to the Bank of England’s monetary policy decision, due at 1200 GMT, one of the last big central bank meetings this year.
Source: Economic Times
