Indices extend gains

Key indices gained strength and hit fresh intraday highs in mid-morning trade. The firmness in Asian stocks perked up sentiment. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 172.39 points or 0.51% at 33,924.40. The Nifty 50 index rose 37.60 points or 0.36% at 10,477.90. Indices were just a stone's throw away from recording fresh record high.

The market opened higher and extended gains as the day's trade progressed.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.45%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.82%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers for every loser on BSE. 1,637 shares rose and 782 shares fell. A total of 141 shares were unchanged.

Most telecom stocks rose. Reliance Communications (up 0.87%), Bharti Airtel (up 2.17%), MTNL (up 2.43%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.14%) declined. Idea Cellular dropped 0.1%.

Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 0.17%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.

Cement stocks also traded mixed. ACC (down 0.56%), Ambuja Cements (down 0.2%), and UltraTech Cement (down 0.42%), declined. Shree Cement rose 1.57%.

Grasim Industries rose 1.34%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Dilip Buildcon gained 3.49% after the company said that it won two new engineering, procurement and construction projects worth Rs 517.81 crore from Ircon International. The announcement was made before trading hours today, 22 December 2017.

HIL rose 0.68% after the company announced that it has commenced the commercial production of its new product "Charminar Fortune" at its plant located at Kondapalli, Andhra Pradesh. This advanced research-based, green roofing solution has been developed by HIL in-house. Charminar Fortune is a new addition to the company's roofing products, which is Asbestos free and marketed under the brand 'Charminar'. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 21 December 2017.

Overseas, most Asian stocks rose after positive close for US stocks overnight. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet endorsed a record $860 billion spending budget for fiscal 2018, highlighting his greater emphasis on growth than austerity, with aggressive monetary stimulus keeping borrowing costs low.

US stock-market indexes closed modestly higher yesterday, 21 December 2017, driven by gains in the energy, financials and telecom sectors.

On the economic data front, the US economy's pace of growth in the third quarter was lowered slightly to a 3.2% annual rate from 3.3% under the government's final revision to gross domestic product. The economy expanded at a 3.1% rate in the second quarter. Separately, initial jobless claims rose a higher-than-expected 20,000 in the latest week, though they remain at historically low levels.

On the upside, the Philadelphia Fed's Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey jumped to a reading of 26.2 in December from 22.7.

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