Key indices firm up

Key benchmark indices bounced back after briefly turning negative in early afternoon trade. At 12:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 24.53 points or 0.10% at 25,784.63. The Nifty 50 index was up 3.35 points or 0.04% at 7,809.95.

The BSE Sensex fell 5.81 points, or 0.02% at the day's low of 25,754.29 in the mid-morning trade. The Nifty 50 index fell 4.40 points, or 0.06% at the day's low of 7,802.20 in the mid-morning trade. The BSE Sensex rose 156.91 points, or 0.61% at the day's high of 25,917.01 in the morning trade, its highest level since 11 November 2015. The Nifty 50 index rose 43.55 points, or 0.56% at the day's high of 7,850.15 in the morning trade, its highest level since 10 November 2015.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,298 shares rose and 1,061 shares fell. A total of 166 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.10%, matching Sensex's gains. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.43%, outperforming the Sensex.

Among economic news, data released by the government after market hours yesterday, 16 November 2015 showed that India's merchandise exports continued to decline for the eleventh straight month at 17.5% to $21.35 billion in October 2015 over October 2014. Meanwhile, merchandise imports also dipped 21.2% to $31.12 billion. The trade deficit narrowed 28.1% to $9.77 billion in October 2015 from $14.47 billion in October 2014.

In overseas markets, Asian markets rose today, 17 November 2015, as a weakening yen lifted Japanese shares and higher oil prices boosted the energy sector. US stocks rose overnight, shrugging off concerns the market would be affected by the weekend terrorist attacks in Paris.

Back home, most capital goods shares edged higher. Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company (up 5.18%), AIA Engineering (up 1.69%), ALSTOM India (up 1.57%), Bharat Electronics (up 1.46%), SKF India (up 1.12%), Alstom T&D India (up 0.91%), Crompton Greaves (up 0.90%), Punj Lloyd (up 0.83%), Havells India (up 0.56%), Jindal Saw (up 0.55%), Suzlon Energy (up 0.45%), ABB India (up 0.17%), Lakshmi Machine Works (up 0.07%) and Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 0.03%), edged higher. Praj Industries (down 0.12%), Larsen & Toubro (down 0.24%), BEML (down 0.27%) and Thermax (down 0.52%), Siemens (down 0.89%), edged lower.

IT shares were mixed. HCL Technologies (up 1.93%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.16%), Persistent Systems (up 1.12%), MphasiS (up 0.07%) and CMC (up 0.03%), edged higher. Wipro (down 0.05%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.69%), Hexaware Technologies (down 0.72%), MindTree (down 1.61%) and Infosys (down 2.08%), edged lower.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was up 0.32% to Rs 2,382.45. The company during market hours today, 17 November 2015, announced the go-live of a comprehensive IT and business transformation program for Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API), a leading Australian health and beauty company. In what is believed to be a world first for an SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform integration of this nature, TCS unified and enhanced mission-critical IT systems across API's retail, franchise and wholesale operations. API's national wholesale network and its 420 Priceline and Priceline Pharmacy stores are now operating on the SAP ERP platform, which will provide enhanced customer service capabilities, improved logistics and finance processes as well as operational efficiencies. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, coupled with fast-paced business growth, API selected TCS in 2013 as a strategic partner to update and replace key IT systems with a seamlessly integrated solution. The TCS designed SAP ERP platform integrates with API's systems, providing improvements in mission-critical business operations such as Merchandising, Sales and Customer Service, Logistics and Finance, TCS said.

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