Benchmark trade with modest gains; Nifty hovers above 18,650

The key equity indices traded with moderate gains in the afternoon trade as the bourses witnessed bouts of volatility. The Nifty hovered above the 18,650 mark. Metal, realty and auto stocks advanced while PSU bank, bank and consumer durable shares declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 107.58 points or 0.17% to 62,789.42. The Nifty 50 index gained 44.95 points or 0.24% to 18,663.

The Nifty 50 index hit an all-time high of 18,679.55 in early trade today.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.53% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.35%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,973 shares rose and 1,418 shares fell. A total of 120 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Hindalco Industries (up 2.84%), Bajaj Auto (up 2.53%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.12%), Eicher Motors (up 1.53%) and JSW Steel (up 1.32%) were top Nifty gainers.

State Bank of India (down 1.40%), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (down 1.13%), IndusInd Bank (down 0.85%), HCL Technologies (down 0.81%) and Sun Pharmaceuticals (down 0.62%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Inox Wind rose 3.18% while Inox Green Energy Services was up 0.25%. Inox Wind and its subsidiary Inox Green have recently paid an aggregate Rs 411 crore towards reducing their debt. As part of the strategic initiative to deleverage their balance sheet, Inox Green has paid an aggregate Rs 250 crore and Inox Wind has paid an aggregate Rs 161 crore. Both the companies are in the process of further reducing their debt in due course.

New Delhi Television (NDTV) hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 447.70 after the company's founders Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy resigned as the directors of promoter group vehicle RRPR Holding. The board also approved appointment of Sudipta Bhattacharya, Sanjay Pugalia, and Senthil Sinniah Chengalvarayan, as directors on the board of RRPRH, with immediate effect.

Biocon increased 0.78%. said that its subsidiary Biocon Biologics has successfully completed its multi-billion-dollar acquisition of the global biosimilars business of its partner Viatris Inc.

Gland Pharma slipped 4.98%. The pharmaceuticals company announced that it has through its wholly owned subsidiary Gland Pharma International, Singapore entered into a Put Option Agreement to acquire 100% of Cenexi Group for an equity value not exceeding Euro 120 million (enterprise value of Euro 230 million). The company said that the transaction will be funded by internal resources with no recourse to third-party funding.

Global Markets:

Most of the Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday. Chinese health officials on Tuesday announced measures to boost vaccination among the elderly, as per reports.

U.S. stocks edged lower Tuesday with investors continuing to monitor China's COVID policy and look ahead for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's scheduled speech.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak at the Brookings Institution about the outlook for the U.S. economy and the labor market on Wednesday.

On the macro front, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, the latest indicator of the strength of the U.S. economy, fell to 100.2 in November from a revised 102.2 reading in October.

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