Market pares gains; Sensex up 150 pts, Nifty below 8,650

The benchmark indices on Friday pared some gains in the afternoon trade tracking quiet trade seen in Asian markets.

At 12:54 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 27,846, up 178 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 8,646, up 43 points. 

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices rallied 0.7% each. 

The breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 1,474 shares rose and 1,077 shares fell. A total of 194 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing stocks 

ICIC Bank was the top Sensex gainer in the afternoon dealings and rose over 4% to Rs 270.
 
Gail (India) hit a new high of Rs 494, up 4% after the company announced bonus issue of 1:3 (1 share for every three shares held) and 85% interim dividend.

Dredging Corporation of India rose nearly 4% to hit its 52-week high of Rs 496 after the company said it received 102 crore international contract for dredging in Pussur Channel from Mongla Port to Rampal Power Plant, Bangladesh. 

Power Grid Corporation gained nearly 2% to Rs 206.90 after the Central transmission utility entered into a pact with Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority for cooperation in areas like smart grid, transmission technology and distribution. 

Among losers, Wipro lost 1% to Rs 468 and was the tpp Sensex loser after the IT major reported an 1.80% quarter-on-quarter rise in consolidated net profit in December quarter at Rs 2,109.60 crore compared with Rs 2,070.40 crore posted in the September quarter.

Rollover analysis

Against all the odds Nifty ended the January series on a strong note gaining nearly 6.2%. The market-wide rollovers stood at 77% as compared to average rollovers of 78% in the last three series. Nifty futures rollover came in at 73% which is higher than the average rollovers of 68% in the last three series. The quantum of leverage has also risen sharply, said brokerage Edelweiss Securities in a technical note. 

"Needless to mention, the scope for disappointment from the Union Budget has narrowed than ever before.  Key events to watch out would be the Union Budget, events leading to the State elections and the Q3FY 17 earnings. Moreover with Trump assuming office, there would be no dearth of action," the brokerage added.

Global markets

Asian shares were steady on Friday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.3%.

South Korean markets are closed for holidays on Friday and Monday. Chinese markets are shut for the Lunar New Year holiday and will resume trade on Friday, February 3. Taiwan is also closed for Lunar New Year and will reopen on Thursday, February 2.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, remaining above the 20,000 level topped on Wednesday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs during the session but inched back down to close little changed after two days of strong gains.