Markets consolidate, US Budget talks in focus

BSE-IT, Pharmaceuticals, Metals trade firm

Indian shares consolidated gains in late noon trades on Thursday as investors look ahead to negotiations over US debt limit and spending cuts.

President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans now face even bigger budget battles in the next two months after a hard-fought deal averted the fiscal cliff of automatic tightening that threatened to push the U.S. into recession.

At 2PM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex index rose 45.67 points at 19,760 while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty-50 index gained 11.30 points and traded at  6,004.60.

Asian stocks rose, pushing a regional equities index to its highest level in 17 months, after an expansion of U.S. manufacturing and China’s services industries fueled optimism in the global economic recovery.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.14% to 23,344, Taiwan's Weighted index rose 0.7% to 7,837,  Singapore's Straits Times was up 0.32% to 3,212  in closing trades. Equity markets in Japan and mainland China are closed today for public holidays.
 
MSCI Asia-Pacific index outside Japan fell 0.158% to 921.07.

Meanwhile, European markets opened mixed. France's CAC dropped 0.4% to 3,718, Germany's DAX opened down 0.1% to 7,770 while UK's FTSE rose 0.05% to 6,030.

On the domestic front, IT,  metal, real-esate, healthcare, autos, PSU led gains while FMCG, power, capital goods and consumer durables were among laggards on BSE.

Among key Sensex stocks, Dr Reddy's gained 2.6%, Bharti Airtel and SBI rose 1%, Bajaj Auto was up 0.7% , in metal space Sterlite and Tata Steel rose 1% on BSE.

The laggards included Tata Power, Sun Pharma and Hindalco falling 1% each while Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra declined 0.7% on BSE.

Software-makers such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro posted gains of nearly 1% on expectations of better third quarter results, Infosys will kick-start the earning season on Jan 11.

The other notable movers include,Hyderabad-based drug firm Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Limited (DRL) has launched Finasteride Tablets (1 mg), a bio-equivalent generic version of Propecia (Finasteride) tablets in the US market on January 02.

State Bank of India (SBI) is trading higher by 1.1% at Rs 2,475, also its 52-week high, extending its about 3% rise in past four trading sessions on the National Stock Exchange.

Ramky Infrastructure has soared 17% to Rs 130, extending its past three-day’s rally after the company said that it has achieved financial closure for its Agra Etawah Road Tollway Project to be developed in Uttar Pradesh.

The broader markets outperformed benchmark indices with mid-caps and small-caps gaining 0.6-0.8% on BSE.

The market breadth is strong as 1,623  stocks gained compared to 1,207 declines on BSE.