Benchmarks trade with decent gains; strong market breadth

The key equity benchmarks traded with decent gains in early trade as the bourses witnessed across the board buying in key index pivotals. The Nifty traded above the 18,650 mark. Barring IT, shares across sectors edged higher with PSU banks, metal and auto stocks rising the most.

At 09:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 133.89 points or 0.21% to 62,704.57. The Nifty 50 index added 43.40 points or 0.23% to 18,652.75.

Tata Steel (up 1.48%), Grasim (up 0.85%), NTPC (up 0.82%), Eicher Motors (up 0.73%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.73%) were the top Nifty gainers.

HCL Tech (down 4.67%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.43%), Infosys (down 0.19%) and Apollo Hospitals (down 0.02%) lagged behind.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.49% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.47%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1846 shares rose and 647 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) rose 1.07%. HUL announced its strategic investments in Zywie Ventures (OZiva) and Nutritionalab (Wellbeing Nutrition). HUL will acquire 51% equity stake in OZiva through a combination of primary infusion and secondary buyouts. The balance 49% will be acquired at the end of 36 months based on pre-agreed valuation criteria. HUL will acquire 19.8% equity stake in Wellbeing Nutrition through a combination of primary infusion and secondary buyouts.

Adani Enterprises added 0.49%. The company has acquired 10,000 (100%) equity shares of Rs. 10 each of Alluvial Mineral Resources (AMRPL) from Adani Infra (India) on 7 December 2022. AMRPL is engaged in carrying out mining of minerals & ores activities and other allied activities in any part of India or elsewhere.

One 97 Communications jumped 4.86%. A meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on 13 December 2022 to consider a proposal for buyback of the fully paid-up equity shares of the company.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are trading higher as China inflation data came in roughly in line with expectations. China's producer price index fell 1.3% in November compared to a year ago, extending its decline after shedding 1.3% in October. The nation's consumer price index rose 1.6% in November on an annualized basis.

US stocks ended higher on Thursday, snapping a five-session losing streak, as investors interpreted data showing a rise in the weekly jobless claims as a sign the pace of interest rate hikes could soon slow.

Slightly more Americans filed for jobless claims last week. Applications for unemployment benefits rose to 230,000 for the week ending December 3, up by 4,000 from the previous week's 226,000, the US Labor Department reported on Thursday.

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