Sensex up 400 points, Nifty hits 8,000; metal stocks rally

Broader market overperformed the headline indices

The benchmark indices on Tuesday continued to trade higher on the back of value buying in blue-chip stocks such as ITC, Tata Steel and Adani Ports with Sensex trading over 400 points higher, while Nifty50 surged above 8,000 level. 

Broader market rallied with the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices adding 1.75%, and 1.48%, respectively. 

Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC gained over 4% and was the top Sensex gainer. 

BSE Consumer Durables (up 1.5%) was the leading sectoral gainer, led by gains in Whirpool, Titan and Symphony. Other sectoral gainers included BSE FMCG (1.44%), BSE Basic Materials (1.11%), and BSE IT (0.99%). 

Parag Milk Foods moved higher by 8% to Rs 278, bouncing back 11% from its intra-day low after a more than 2% of total equity of the company changed hands via block deal.

Divi’s Labs rose nearly 3% after falling 34% in the previous three sessions amid concerns over USFDA’s observations on unit-II at Vishakhapatnam facility. 

Among losers, real estate companies were trading weak with nine companies from the sector hitting their respective 52-week lows on the BSE.

Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL), D B Realty, Kolte-Patil Developers, Ansal Properties & Infrastructure, D S Kulkarni Developers, Nitesh Estates and Peninsula Land were trading at their 52-week lows on the BSE.

Jet Airways hit 52-week low of Rs 332, down 3% on the BSE in intra-day trade. The stock is currently trading at its lowest level since October 12, 2015.

The stock underperformed the market so far in 2016 by falling 53% from Rs 702 at the beginning of the year as compared to 1.2% decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mostly higher in thin trade and with little to guide them as most major markets were closed on Monday for Christmas holidays. Japan's Nikkei closed little changed, while China's CSI 300 index was down 0.1% and the Shanghai Composite slipped almost 0.2%.