Sensex crosses 38,000 mark

Key indices extended early gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 152.99 points or 0.40% at 38,040.55. The Nifty 50 index was up 30.45 points or 0.27% at 11,480.45. The Sensex crossed the psychologically important 38,000 mark in morning trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.67%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.57%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1275 shares rose and 790 shares fell. A total of 96 shares were unchanged.

Most metal shares rose. Jindal Steel & Power (up 3.30%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.84%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.51%), Steel Authority of India (up 1.51%), Tata Steel (up 1.28%), JSW Steel (up 0.69%) and Vedanta (up 0.18%), edged higher. Hindustan Zinc (down 0.9%) and NMDC (down 5.88%), edged lower.

National Aluminium Company (Nalco) was up 5.42%. The company reported 432.8% rise in net profit to Rs 687.05 crore on 64.9% increase in net sales to Rs 2973.31 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q1 June 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 8 August 2018.

FMCG shares were mixed. Tata Global Beverages (up 1.25%), Nestle India (up 0.68%), Britannia Industries (up 0.67%), Marico (up 0.61%), Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.57%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 0.43%) and Bajaj Corp (up 0.23%), edged higher. Hindustan Unilever (down 0.42%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 0.48%), Dabur India (down 0.57%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (down 0.78%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (down 0.95%), edged lower.

Overseas, Asian shares were mixed on Thursday amid rising trade tensions between the US and China. Beijing said on Wednesday that it will retaliate against the latest round of US tariffs on Chinese imports. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced a 25% tariff on $16 billion worth of American goods. The 333 goods being targeted by China include vehicles such as large passenger cars and motorcycles.

The announcement came after the US Trade Representative's office released a finalised list of $16 billion worth of Chinese goods that will be hit with tariffs, taking effect on 23 August 2018. The latest US list brings the total amount of Chinese goods facing a 25% tariff to $50 billion.

US stock-market indices closed mostly lower on Wednesday as investors grappled with a fresh round of tariff clashes between the Trump administration and China and a batch of weak earnings from high-profile firms such as Walt Disney Co. and Snap Inc.

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