Benchmarks trade in narrow range

The market was trading in a narrow range with modest gains in early afternoon trade. At 12:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 259.55 points or 0.73% at 35,909.49. The Nifty 50 index was up 72.90 points or 0.68% at 10,802.75. The sentiment was strong amid positive global cues.

The Nifty was trading a tad above 10,800 mark after opening above that level. The Sensex was trading below 36,000 mark after opening above that level.

The key indices jumped at opening trades and advanced further. However, the indices came off day's high in morning trade as profit selling emerged at higher levels. The indices firmed up once again in mid-morning trade amid fresh buying support. Benchmarks turned range bound in early afternoon trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.50%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.66%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1436 shares rose and 792 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged.

Cement shares were mixed. ACC was up 0.11%. Grasim Industries was down 0.40%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement. UltraTech Cement (down 0.24%) and Ambuja Cements (down 0.91%), edged lower.

Telecom shares advanced. Vodafone Idea (up 1.21%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.76%), MTNL (up 0.52%) and Reliance Communications (up 0.35%), edged higher. Bharti Airtel was down 1.03%.

Suven Life Sciences rose 1.56% after the company announced the grant of one product patent each from Brazil and Eurasia for treatment of disorders associated with neurodegenerative diseases. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 27 December 2018.

Suven Life Sciences announced today the grant of one product patent from Brazil and one product patent from Eurasia corresponding to the New Chemical Entities for the treatment of disorders associated with Neurodegenerative diseases and patents are valid through 2023 and 2034 respectively. The granted claims of the patents include the class of selective 5-HT6 and 5-HT4 compounds respectively and are being developed as therapeutic agents for neurodegenerative disorders such as for the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease, Attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Huntington's disease, Parkinson and Schizophrenia etc.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday constituted an expert committee to review the extant economic capital framework of the central bank. The committee will be headed by Bimal Jalan, former RBI governor, while Rakesh Mohan, former deputy governor and former DEA (Department of Economic Affairs) secretary, is the vice chairman of the committee.

Overseas, most Asian shares were trading higher on Thursday following an overnight surge in stocks on Wall Street.

In US, the Dow logged a 1,000-point gain as equities roared back from oversold conditions. Shoppers delivered the strongest holiday sales increase for US retailers in six years, according to Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks online and in-store spending with all forms of payment.

On the US data front, the Case-Shiller 20-city price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in October, while the year-over-year advance fell to 5% from a revised 5.2% in September.

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