Sensex, Nifty hit fresh intraday high

Key equity indices firmed up once again and hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. At 11:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 183.97 points or 0.49% at 38,071.53. The Nifty 50 index was up 38.15 points or 0.33% at 11,488.15. The Sensex was trading above the psychologically important 38,000 mark. The Sensex and the Nifty, both, hit fresh record high levels.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.48%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.31%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1319 shares rose and 1100 shares fell. A total of 125 shares were unchanged.

Cement shares were mixed. ACC (up 1.68%) and Ambuja Cements (up 0.59%), edged higher. UltraTech Cement was down 0.04%.

Grasim Industries was down 0.69%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Most telecom shares rose. Reliance Communications (up 6.75%), MTNL (up 1.91%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 1.36%) and Idea Cellular (up 1.18%), edged higher.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel was down 4.71%. Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel was up 1.34%.

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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