Market extends gains

Stocks extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in afternoon trade. At 13:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 132.38 points or 0.37% at 35,443.06. The Nifty 50 index was up 31.90 points or 0.3% at 10,731.80. Shares of index heavyweights HDFC and Reliance Industries gained.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.49%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.08%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1137 shares rose and 1280 shares fell. A total of 120 shares were unchanged.

Bajaj Auto (up 2.27%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.56%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.39%) and Coal India (up 1.06%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.

Vedanta (down 1.23%), ONGC (down 1.11%) and Yes Bank (down 0.64%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Index heavyweight and housing finance major HDFC gained 1.62%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries advanced 1.15%.

Astron Paper & Board Mill rose 3.23%. Astron Paper & Board Mill said that the company has received an export order for supply of 4,000 MT kraft paper valued at about Rs 12 crore (net of taxes) which will be executed up to last week of August 2018. The announcement was made during market hours today, 4 July 2018.

On the macro front, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index rose from 49.6 in May to 52.6 in June. The latest upturn pointed to solid growth that was the fastest since last June. The rise in activity was supported by greater inflows of new work. Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index rose from 50.4 in May to 53.3 in June, supported by output growth in both the manufacturing and service sectors. The latest reading was the strongest seen since October 2016 and indicative of a solid rate of expansion. The data was announced during trading hours today, 4 July 2018.

Overseas, European shares slipped as worries over global trade persisted, with sentiment souring around semiconductor stocks in particular after US peer Micron was banned from selling chips in China.

Asian stocks were mixed as trade jitters continued to simmer ahead of a deadline when tariffs are due to take effect. A looming 6 July 2018 deadline is set to see the US impose a 25% tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods from more than 800 product categories. China has also announced that it will retaliate with duties on the same value of US products.

US stock-market indexes closed lower on Tuesday, reversing earlier gains as losses in the technology and financials sectors outweighed advances in energy, telecoms and real-estate shares. On the data front, US factory orders climbed 0.4% in May.

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