Cement, IT stocks in demand

Key benchmark indices extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:31 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 93.12 points or 0.35% at 26,487.13. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 32.65 points or 0.4% at 8,174.80.

Overseas, most Asian stocks edged higher reflecting upbeat US growth news. US stocks closed higher yesterday, 29 November 2016 with the Nasdaq touching a record, but the market failed to make much headway as oil futures slumped ahead of a key meeting of major crude producers. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are set to meet in Vienna, Austria today, 30 November 2016 and marketmen are awaiting decision regarding an oil production cut. In September, OPEC had outlined a deal to cut output by approximately 1 million barrels per day. In economic news, the second read on US third-quarter GDP came in at an annualized rate of 3.2%, above a previous reading of 2.9%. The Consumer Confidence Index hit 107.1 in November, up from 98.6 in October.

Closer home, the broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,390 shares rose and 499 shares declined. A total of 114 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.63%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.99%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

IT stocks rose. TCS (up 1.51%), Infosys (up 0.39%), Wipro (up 1.18%), HCL Technologies (up 0.09%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.65%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.36%), MindTree (up 0.88%), Hexaware Technologies (up 1.01%) and MphasiS (up 1%) rose.

Cement stocks gained. Ambuja Cements (up 1.97%), ACC (up 1.02%), UltraTech Cement (up 1.6%) and Shree Cement (up 0.99%) rose.

Grasim Industries was 2.88% at Rs 872.65. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Among macro economic data, India's gross domestic product (GDP) for the quarter ended September 2016 (Q2) is slated to be released today, 30 November 2016. India's GDP growth rate slowed to 7.1% in Q1 June 2016 from 7.9% expansion in Q4 March 2016. Also India's infrastructure output for October 2016 will be released today, 30 November 2016. Infrastructure output in India went up 5% year-on-year in September, following a 3.2% growth in August.

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