Positive market breadth

Key equity benchmarks extended early gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 151.02 points or 0.42% at 36,321.43. The Nifty 50 index was up 38.50 points or 0.35% at 10,897.20. Pharmaceutical shares were in demand.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.43%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.47%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1132 shares rose and 773 shares fell. A total of 90 shares were unchanged.

IT shares advanced. Wipro (up 2.08%), Infosys (up 1.43%), MindTree (up 1.21%), TCS (up 1.12%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.80%), Hexaware Technologies (up 0.73%), MphasiS (up 0.37%) and HCL Technologies (up 0.20%), edged higher. Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.61%) and Persistent Systems (down 1.24%), edged lower.

Pharmaceutical shares were in demand. Strides Shasun (up 2.34%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 2.07%), Lupin (up 1.77%), Cipla (up 1.45%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.29%), Wockhardt (up 0.97%), Piramal Enterprises (up 0.95%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.93%), Divi's Laboratories (up 0.90%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.80%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.60%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.55%), IPCA Laboratories (up 0.48%) and Alkem Laboratories (up 0.11%), edged higher.

On the macro front, the government will announce data on September quarter gross domestic product (GDP) later today, 30 November 2018. The Indian economy grew 8.2% year-on-year in the previous quarter, above 7.7% in the previous three months.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday, 29 November 2018, relaxed rules for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to sell or securitise their loan books. In order to encourage non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to securitise/assign their eligible assets, RBI has been decided to relax the minimum holding period (MHP) requirement for originating NBFCs, in respect of loans of original maturity above 5 years, to receipt of repayment of six monthly instalments or two quarterly instalments (as applicable). However, minimum retention requirement (MRR) for such securitisation/assignment transactions shall be 20% of the book value of the loans being securitised/20% of the cash flows from the assets assigned. The above dispensation shall be applicable to securitisation/assignment transactions carried out during a period of six months from the date of issuance of this circular. Other terms and conditions of the above referred directions remain the same, RBI said.s

Overseas, Asian markets were mixed as investors waited for a highly-anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Argentina.

Growth in China's services industry slowed for the second straight month in November, an official survey showed. The official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released on Friday fell to 53.4 from 53.9 in October, but remained well above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction.

Growth in China's manufacturing sector stalled for the first time in over two years in November. The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 50.0 in November from 50.2 in October, data showed on Friday. The 50-point mark is considered neutral territory, indicating no growth in activity or contraction on a monthly basis.

US stocks reversed direction to close lower Thursday as investors' attention shifted to a weekend meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Speaking to the media, Trump said he was "close to doing something with China" but that he wasn't sure he wanted to, citing revenue from tariffs on Chinese imports. Trump on Thursday tweeted that "billions of dollars" are pouring into the US Treasury from tariffs and that there is "a long way to go."

On the US data front, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week rose to 234,000, their highest level in six months, according to the Labor Department.

The Commerce Department reported that consumer spending in October rose by 0.6%, while income rose by 0.5%. The same release showed personal-consumption expenditures, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation, right at the central bank's target of 2% year-over-year.

The National Association of Realtors reported that US pending home sales slid 2.6% in October from September, to their lowest level since June 2014.

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