Indices hit day's high; IT stocks extend losses

Key benchmark indices firmed up and hit intraday high in mid morning trade, supported by positive global cues. Barring IT shares, all other sectors were trading higher. The Nifty crossed 12,200 level.

At 11:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 273.37 points or 0.66% at 41,437.13. The Nifty 50 index was up 82 points or 0.68% at 12,208.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.77% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.64%.

The market breadth was titled in the favour of bulls. On the BSE, 1309 shares rose and 739 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 40 stocks advanced while 10 stocks declined.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index was down 0.1% at 15,693.60. The index is down 1.08% in three sessions.

Mphasis (down 1.01%), NIIT Technologies (down 0.89%), MindTree (down 0.83%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.82%), TCS (down 0.53%), Wipro (down 0.44%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (down 0.23%) and HCL Technologies (down 0.1%) were top losers in IT segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

UCO Bank jumped 3.57% to Rs 17.40. The Government of India sanctioned the release of Rs 2142 crore as capital infusion in UCO Bank as a contribution of the central government in the preferential allotment of equity shares.

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) was trading 0.67% higher at Rs 365.95. The company after market hours yesterday announced that Life Insurance Corporation of India increased stake in the company from 9.81% to 11.82% between 8 December 2019 and 23 December 2019.

Foreign Markets:

Asian markets were trading higher as investor optimism was boosted by hopes that US-China trade deal would soon be signed.

In US, stocks powered higher again on Thursday, helped by reports of record year-end retail sales. Traders returned from their Christmas and Boxing Day break to digest reports from Beijing that it was in close contact with Washington about an initial trade agreement, shortly after US President Donald Trump reportedly talked about signing ceremony for the recently struck Phase 1 trade deal.

On economic front, the number of people filing for US unemployment benefits slid for a second straight week.

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