Sensex spurts above 32,000

Key benchmark indices saw gap up opening on positive global cues. At 9:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 213.80 points or 0.67% at 32,018.62. The Nifty index was up 59.55 points or 0.61% at 9,875.65. Both the Sensex and the Nifty hit record high in early trade. Expectations of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after latest data showed that retail inflation has eased to a record in June and factory output growth slowed sharply in May underpinned the sentiment.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.55%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.56%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,177 shares rose and 432 shares fell. A total of 69 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher as dovish comments from US Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen improved risk-taking appetite.

US stocks closed higher yesterday, 12 July 2017 with the Dow industrials setting its first closing record in nearly a month as Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen emphasized the central bank's gradual approach to normalizing monetary policy and expressed optimism about the economy in congressional testimony.

In her testimony on Capitol Hill, Yellen signaled that the Fed would take a cautious approach to tightening policy in the face of an uncertain inflation outlook. She said the Fed would continue to raise interest rates gradually, though it would change plans if inflation weakness persisted.

Back home, ITC (up 1.54%), L&T (up 1.49%) and ICICI Bank (up 1.28%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.

IT major TCS rose 0.62% ahead of its Q1 June 2017 results today, 13 July 2017.

Bharti Airtel rose 0.93%. The stock turned ex-dividend today, 13 July 2017, for dividend of Re 1 per share for the year ended March 2017.

Mahindra & Mahindra slipped 0.37% as the stock turned ex-dividend today, 13 July 2017, for dividend of Rs 13 per share for the year ended March 2017.

Reliance Industries rose 0.18%. The stock turned ex-dividend today, 13 July 2017, for dividend of Rs 11 per share for the year ended March 2017.

On the macro front, government data released after market hours yesterday, 12 July 2017 showed that retail inflation has eased to a record in June and factory output growth slowed sharply in May. Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) slowed to 1.54% in June from 2.18% in May. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 1.7% in May compared with 3.1% in April.

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