Market hits fresh intraday high

Key benchmark indices extended early gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 235.46 points or 0.71% at 33,184.67. The Nifty 50 index was up 75.45 points or 0.74% at 10,242.15.

The Sensex rose 254.34 points, or 0.77% at the day's high of 33,203.55 in morning trade, its highest intraday level since 1 December 2017. The index rose 84.99 points, or 0.26% at the day's low of 33,034.20 at the onset of trading session. The Nifty rose 81.15 points, or 0.80% at the day's high of 10,247.85 in morning trade, its highest intraday level since 1 December 2017. The index rose 28.55 points, or 0.28% at the day's low of 10,195.25 at the onset of trading session.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.86%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.02%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,589 shares rose and 571 shares fell. A total of 108 shares were unchanged.

Metal shares were in demand. Steel Authority of India (up 3.37%), Vedanta (up 2.22%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.07%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.84%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.51%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.33%), National Aluminium Company (up 1.23%), NMDC (up 1.04%), Bhushan Steel (up 0.91%), JSW Steel (up 0.76%) and Tata Steel (up 0.36%), edged higher.

Meanwhile, copper price edged higher in the global commodities markets. High Grade Copper for March 2018 delivery was currently up 0.52% at $2.98 per pound on the COMEX.

Most IT stocks rose. MindTree (up 2.54%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 1.73%), Wipro (up 1.17%), TCS (up 0.89%), HCL Technologies (up 0.84%), Hexaware Technologies (up 0.63%), Infosys (up 0.37%) and Tech Mahindra (up 0.35%), edged higher. MphasiS (down 0.02%) and Persistent Systems (down 0.12%), edged lower.

Suzlon Energy gained 1.96% after the company announced lifting up of lockout at its Padubidri Rotor blade manufacturing unit after arriving at an amicable solution with the workers. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 7 December 2017.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher following a broad-based rally in US equities. Japan's economy grew at a much faster pace than initially estimated in the July-September quarter. The nation's gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 2.5% from the previous three months, according to government data released Friday.

US stocks closed higher Thursday, with the S&P 500 snapping a four-session losing streak on the back of gains in the technology, industrials and materials sectors. Traders looked ahead to the monthly jobs report due Friday. Initial US jobless claims, a way to measure layoffs, fell by 2,000 to 236,000 in the seven days ended 2 December 2017. The S&P 500 index rose 0.29%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.29%, to 24,211.48. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.54%.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News