Benchmarks trade firm; Thomas Cook hits the roof

Key barometers firmed up in mid-morning trade. The Nifty continued to trade below its 50 days simple moving average placed at 12,142.79. Investors and traders remained cautious ahead of today's weekly index options expiry.

At 11:19 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 7.99 points or 0.02% at 41,330.99. The Nifty 50 index was up 7 points or 0.06% at 12,133.

The broader market surged and significantly outperformed the benchmark. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.89% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.77%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1206 shares rose and 827 shares fell. A total of 123 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 31 stocks advanced while 19 declined.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index gained 0.71% to 2,609.55, extending gains for second day. The index rose 2.09% in last two trading sessions.

Tata Metaliks (up 1.94%), Tata Steel (up 1.77%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.38%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.12%), Steel Authority of India (up 1.08%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.97%), NMDC (up 0.81%), Vedanta (up 0.6%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.18%) were top gainers in metal segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Thomas Cook (India) was locked in an upper circuit of 20% at Rs 49.3 after the company said its board will consider share buyback on 26 February 2020. In an exchange filing made before market hours today, the travel agency company said a meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on Wednesday, 26 February 2020, to consider buyback of equity shares.

Sterlite Technologies jumped 4.32%. Sterlite Technologies said the company has added new orders of Rs 1,500 crore. These orders have ranged from continued business development in its core areas of optical connectivity solutions and network services to emerging areas such as software virtualization.

Infibeam Avenues rose 1.77% Infibeam Avenues said that it has made inroads into United States of America, the world's second largest digital payments market by revenue. The company will offer its vast array of digital payment solutions to web and mobile based small and medium enterprises (SME) largely operating in the online retail, education, hospitality and travel and tourism industry, apart from other industry verticals under the brand CCAvenue.

Global Markets:

Asian markets were mixed on Thursday despite a slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus in mainland China.

China cut the loan prime rate on Thursday. The 1-year LPR was reduced by 10 basis points, while the 5-year LPR saw a 5 basis points deduction.

In US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished at all-time highs on Wednesday as investors were encouraged by comments from the Federal Reserve and measures China says it has taken to help coronavirus-stricken businesses.

Minutes from the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee's January meeting showed that Fed officials believe the US economy appeared stronger in late January than they had been expecting.

Chinese officials have said the rate of new cases has begun to ebb, but the World Health Organization has recommended caution.

Investors also appeared heartened by comments from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which reportedly said Beijing would help companies to identify weak links in supply chains.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News