Market extends intraday gains

Key benchmarks further extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 291.86 points or 0.77% at 37,955.42. The Nifty 50 index was up 86.10 points or 0.76% at 11,471.15. Positive global cues boosted trading sentiment. Pharmaceutical shares rose across the board.

The market firmed up further after a gap-up opening. The Sensex rose 313.48 points, or 0.83% at the day's high of 37,977.04 in mid-morning trade. The index rose 176.60 points, or 0.47% at the day's low of 37,840.16 in early trade. The Nifty rose 92.45 points, or 0.81% at the day's high of 11,477.50 in mid-morning trade. The index rose 46.75 points, or 0.41% at the day's low of 11,431.80 in early trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.90%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.95%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1637 shares rose and 652 shares fell. A total of 116 shares were unchanged.

Most IT shares rose. Tech Mahindra (up 1.60%), HCL Technologies (up 0.95%), MphasiS (up 0.93%), Persistent Systems (up 0.68%), Infosys (up 0.65%) and Hexaware Technologies (up 0.21%), edged higher. Wipro (down 0.16%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.3%) and MindTree (down 0.83%), edged lower.

IT major TCS was up 0.12%. The company was awarded a new contract by the Improvement Service, the national organisation for improving local government services and digital transformation in Scotland. TCS will continue to deliver a digital platform for the award-winning authentication "myaccount" service and its broader portfolio, providing Scottish households with beneficial online public services. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 16 August 2018.

Pharmaceutical shares were in demand. Cadila Healthcare (up 4.16%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 3.45%), Strides Shasun (up 2.90%), Lupin (up 2.64%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 2.32%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.81%), Wockhardt (up 1.43%), IPCA Laboratories (up 0.87%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.87%), Piramal Enterprises (up 0.81%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.76%), Cipla (up 0.52%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.44%) and Divi's Laboratories (up 0.35%), edged higher.

Overseas, most Asian shares were trading higher after China and the United States agreed to hold their first trade talks since June, next week and as the Turkish lira extended gains from its record low earlier this week.

US stocks rallied to close higher Thursday, on strong corporate earnings from Walmart Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. News that the US and China are prepared to resume trade talks next week also bolstered investors' sentiment.

On the data front, initial jobless claims, a measure of layoffs in the US, fell in early August and returned near a post-recession low. New claims declined by 2,000 to 212,000 in the seven days from August 5 to August 11. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index sank to a 21-month low of 11.9 in August. Construction of new houses increased by less than 1% in July, reflecting a recent slowdown in building that is likely tied to higher mortgage rates and growing shortages of skilled craftsmen.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News