Sensex, Nifty hit intraday high

Strong buying demand in index pivotals pushed the key benchmark indices to intraday high in early afternoon trade. At 11:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 351.34 points or 0.98% at 36,204.90. The Nifty 50 index was up 104 points or 0.97% at 10,841.60. Stocks from realty and IT sectors gained. Gains were triggered on hopes of interest rate cut by RBI after latest data revealed that retail inflation as dropped sharply in December. Positive Asian stocks also boosted sentiment.

The Sensex was trading above the psychological 36,000 level after regaining that level in early trade. Domestic stocks opened on a firm note on positive Asian stocks. Key indices were trading firm in morning trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.64%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.66%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1347 shares rose and 688 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.

Software stocks gained. TCS (up 2.21%), Infosys (up 3.45%), HCL Technologies (up 0.26%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 1.11%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.31%), MindTree (up 0.66%), Hexaware Technologies (up 0.9%) and Mphasis (up 0.83%) rose.

Wipro rose 3.62% after the company announced that its board will consider bonus issue of shares in its meeting on 17-18 January 2019. The decision of the board of directors will be informed to the stock exchanges on the evening of 18 January 2019. The company is also slated to announce its third-quarter earnings on 18 January 2019. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 14 January 2019.

Realty stocks rose. Sobha (up 2.74%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 5.98%), Oberoi Realty (up 4.08%), DLF (up 0.44%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 0.41%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (up 1.81%) and D B Realty (up 0.72%) gained. Godrej Properties (down 1.2%) fell.

On the macro front, the all-India general CPI inflation eased to 2.19% in December 2018 (new base 2012=100), compared with 2.33% in November 2018. The corresponding provisional inflation rate for rural area was 1.65% and urban area 2.91% in December 2018 as against 1.71% and 3.12% in November 2018. The core CPI inflation was flat at 5.73% in December 2018 compared with 5.70% in November 2018. The data was announced after market hours yesterday, 14 January 2019.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher as markets recovered from the impact of weak economic data in Europe and China that sparked concerns about slowing global growth.

US stocks closed lower Monday as weaker-than-expected China trade data sparked fresh fears of a global economic slowdown. Corporate results were also in the spotlight as fourth-quarter earnings season got under way.

In Europe, Brexit concerns will rise to the forefront this week as UK lawmakers get ready to vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's separation deal with the European Union Tuesday. UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said Sunday the Labor Party would push for a general election if Parliament rejects May's deal, and that he might force a vote of no-confidence soon.

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