Sensex, Nifty pare gains; Europe opens higher

Key benchmark indices sharply pared gains in afternoon trade. Broader market, however, continued to trade firm. Investors kept an eye on the geopolitical developments following Washington's targeted killing of Iran's top military commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq. After falling for the past two sessions amid a flight to safety, the markets around the globe took a sigh of relief and resume uptrend as Monday passed with no new escalation in tensions.

At 13:31 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 53.37 points or 0.13% and traded at 40,730. The Nifty 50 index was up 21.50 points or 0.18% at 12,014.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.32% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.67%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1507 shares rose and 649 shares fell. A total of 143 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 42 stocks advanced while 8 stocks declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Vedanta (up 2.96%), UPL (up 1.84%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 1.36%), NTPC (up 1.05%) and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (up 1.04%) advanced.

Tata Motors (down 1.48%), Bharti Infratel (down 1.44%), IndusInd Bank (down 1.32%), BPCL (down 1.03%) and Bharti Airtel (down 0.93%) declined.

HDFC Bank rose 1.16% to Rs 1255.50. The bank's advances grew by 20% to Rs 9.34 lakh crore as of 31 December 2019 as compared to Rs 7.81 lakh crore as of December 31, 2018. Lender's advances stood at Rs 8.97 lakh crore as of September 30, 2019.

Deposits for HDFC Bank stood at Rs 10.67 lakh crore as of 31 December 2019 growing by 25% compared to Rs 8.52 lakh crore as of 31 December 2018. In September 2019, deposits stood at Rs 10.21 lakh crore.

The bank's current and saving account (CASA) ratio stood at around 39.5% as of 31 December 2019, as compared to 40.7% as of 31 December 2018 and 39.3% as of 30 September 2019.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) advanced 0.04% to Rs 524.40 after reporting 22.54% rise in production at 33,888 units in December 2019 as against 27,653 units during the same month last year.

Foreign Markets:

European shares opened higher while most Asian shares traded higher on Tuesday amid an easing of concerns over geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

US stocks staged a U-turn on Monday to close at session highs, as investors brushed aside concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East.

In economic data, the IHS Markit purchasing managers index for the US services sector came in at 52.8 in December, versus 51.6 in November, indicating continued expansion.

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