Market surges on renewed buying

Key benchmark indices registered strong gains, aided by a stellar rally starting from afternoon trade, after languishing in a narrow range till then around the flat line. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 469.87 points or 1.44% at 33,066.41, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index was up 139.70 points or 1.4% at 10,137.75, as per the provisional closing data. Banking and metal & mining stocks advanced. Index heavyweights HDFC Bank, HDFC and Reliance Industries advanced.

The Sensex settled above the 33,000 and the Nifty ended past 10,000 levels. Gains in European stocks and recovery in Asian shares boosted gains on domestic bourses.

Key indices opened the session with a bit of initial volatility. Indices languished around the flat line till afternoon trade. Key indices extended gains in afternoon trade and settled with strong gains on reports of easing trade war fears between US and China.

The Sensex jumped 518.87 points, or 1.59%, at the day's high of 33,115.41 in late trade, its highest level since 22 March 2018. The index fell 81.37 points, or 0.25%, at the day's low of 32,515.17 in morning trade. The Nifty advanced 145.45 points, or 1.45%, at the day's high of 10,143.50 in late trade, its highest level since 22 March 2018. The index lost 39.50 points, or 0.39%, at the day's low of 9,958.55 in morning trade.

Among secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index provisionally rose 1.19%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index provisionally advanced 0.73%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,564 shares declined and 1,187 shares advanced. A total of 176 shares were unchanged.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 6973.14 crore, higher than the turnover of Rs 3393.42 crore registered during the previous trading session.

Metal and mining stocks advanced on reports of easing trade war fears between US and China. Steel Authority of India (up 3.99%), JSW Steel (up 2.59%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.99%), Vedanta (up 3.25%), Tata Steel (up 3.74%), NMDC (up 1.62%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.08%), National Aluminium Company (up 1.43%) and Hindustan Zinc (up 0.82%) gained. Hindustan Copper was down 0.71%.

Index heavyweight and private sector banking major HDFC Bank rose 3.27% at Rs 1,899.80.

Housing finance major HDFC advanced 2.32% at Rs 1,826.55.

Reliance Industries (RIL) was up 1.02% after the company on 23 March 2018 executed definitive agreements for combination of Saavn, a leading global music OTT platform, with its digital music service, JioMusic. The combined entity is valued at over US$1 billion, with JioMusic's implied valuation at US$ 670 million. The integrated business will be developed into a media platform of the future with global reach, cross-border original content, an independent artist marketplace, consolidated data and one of the largest mobile advertising mediums.

Reliance will also invest upto Rupee equivalent of US$100 million, out of which Rupee equivalent of US$20 million will be invested upfront, for growth and expansion of the platform into one of the largest streaming services in the world. The company will continue to operate the over-the-top media platform available on all app stores. The three co-founders of Saavn, Rishi Malhotra, Paramdeep Singh and Vinodh Bhat, will continue in their leadership roles and will drive growth of the combined entity.

In addition, Reliance is acquiring partial stake from the existing shareholders of Saavn for US$104 million, while these shareholders retain their balance stake. The shareholder base of Saavn includes Tiger Global Management, Liberty Media and Bertelsmann among others. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 23 March 2018.

Overseas, European stocks edged higher and Asian stocks were mixed on hopes that talks between the US and China could prevent any escalation of the trade dispute between the two countries.

US stocks fell sharply on Friday, 23 March 2018 as investors assessed the possibility of a trade war brewing between the US and China.

Reports suggested that China and the US have quietly started negotiating to improve US access to Chinese markets, after a week filled with harsh words from both sides over Washington's threat to use tariffs to address trade imbalances.

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