Cement, telecom stocks advance

Key benchmark indices traded firm in morning trade on strong global cues. At 10:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 186.59 points or 0.58% at 32,619.28. The Nifty 50 index advanced 62.70 points or 0.62% at 10,230.15. Both the Sensex and the Nifty had hit record high in early trade. Positive trade data and encouraging comments from IMF chief on the outlook for Indian economy cheered investors. Also, market sentiment was buoyant in a truncated trading week ahead of Diwali.

Stock markets remain closed on Thursday, 19 October 2017 on account of Diwali Laxmi Pujan and again on Friday, 20 October 2017 on account of Diwali Balipratipada. However, markets will remain open for Muhurat trading on Thursday, 19 October 2017. The Muhurat trading session on account of Diwali Laxmi Pujan will be held between 18:30 IST and 19:30 IST on Thursday, 19 October 2017.

Among secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.55%, underperforming the Sensex. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.71%, outperforming the Sensex.

Overseas, Asian stocks edged higher as investors digested the release of China inflation data. China's consumer price index rose 1.6% in September from a year ago. The producer price index rose 6.9% in the same period.

US stocks reached record highs on Friday, 13 October 2017 as investors bet on another strong earnings season.

Closer home, the breadth indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,454 shares rose and 699 shares declined. A total of 79 shares were unchanged.

Cement stocks advanced. Ambuja Cements (up 1.24%), Grasim Industries (up 1.18%), ACC (up 1.04%), UltraTech Cement (up 0.26%) and Shree Cement (up 0.23%) gained.

Telecom stocks also gained. Idea Cellular (up 2.53%), Bharti Infratel (up 1.99%) and Reliance Communications (up 0.29%) edged higher.

Bharti Airtel rose 1.38% at Rs 437.55 after the company and Millicom International Cellular S.A. (Millicom), through their respective subsidiaries, announced the closure of the deal to combine their operations in Ghana. Under the joint agreement, Airtel and Millicom will have equal ownership (50:50) and governance rights in the combined entity, which will have revenue of approximately $300 million. The announcement was made during market hours today, 16 October 2017.

Gruh Finance gained 1.69% to Rs 531 after net profit rose 25.48% to Rs 77.77 crore on 12.69% rise in total income to Rs 414.05 crore in Q2 September 2017 over Q2 September 2016. The company's loan assets have increased 18% to Rs 14304 crore as on 30 September 2017, from Rs 12089 crore as on 30 September 2016. The result was announced on Saturday, 14 October 2017.

On the macro front, India's merchandise exports rose by 25.67% to $28.61 billion in September 2017 over September 2016, helping the trade deficit narrow to $8.98 billion, the data released by the government after market hours on Friday, 13 October 2017 showed.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Christine Lagarde reportedly said that the Indian economy is on a solid growth track in the medium and long term due to the structural reforms undertaken by the government, and the current slowdown due to implementation of the goods & services tax (GST) and demonetisation is short term. The IMF has last week lowered India's growth forecast for 2017-18 to 6.7% from its earlier estimate of 7.2%, citing lingering impact of demonetisation and transition cost to GST.

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