Shares hold firm at higher levels

Shares held firm at higher levels in afternoon trade, tracking positive global stocks. At 13:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 288.46 points or 0.82% at 35,326.10. The Nifty 50 index was up 88.65 points or 0.84% at 10,677.75.

The market opened higher and firmed up further as the session advanced. Indices turned range bound at higher levels in mid-morning trade. Benchmarks extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in early afternoon trade. Indices held firm at higher levels in afternoon trade.

Overseas, European stocks were trading higher, although underlying sentiment was fragile due to ongoing global trade frictions. Market focus is largely attuned to concerns over global trade, a week before initial US and Chinese tariffs are due to take effect.

Asian stocks were trading higher. Japan's industrial production decreased in May following three consecutive months of improvement, government data showed Friday. Industrial output fell 0.2% in May from a month earlier, following April's 0.5% gain, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

US stocks recovered from earlier declines on Thursday to finish the session higher on the back of gains in banks and technology stocks.

The growth in the US economy in the first quarter was trimmed to 2% from 2.2%. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims rose by 9,000 in the latest week.

Among secondary barometers back home, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.18%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.40%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1697 shares rose and 701 shares fell. A total of 131 shares were unchanged.

IndusInd Bank (down 1.67%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.01%), HDFC Bank (down 0.75%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.52%), Asian Paints (down 0.49%) and Hero MotoCorp (down 0.19%), were the major Sensex losers.

Bajaj Auto (up 2.68%), Reliance Industries (up 2.57%), ONGC (up 2.30%), Larsen & Toubro (up 1.99%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 1.84%), were the major Sensex gainers.

Tata Steel was up 2.71%. Media reports suggested that Thyssenkrupp AG and Tata Steel are closing in on a European steel joint venture after a last-minute change to the deal terms that won approval from Thyssenkrupp's union. In the revised deal, Thyssenkrupp will reportedly own about 55% of the equity in the new company and Tata will have 45%. The changes happened after Thyssenkrupp's activist shareholders pressured management to squeeze better terms from the deal, which was originally a 50-50 split. The voting rights will be equally split. The talks over the joint venture have dragged on for more than a year and faced opposition from labour representatives, as well as activist shareholders. Thyssenkrupp's labour representatives said on Thursday they would vote in favour of the joint venture, paving the way for it to go through, reports added.

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