Strong market breadth

Stocks held firm in mid-morning trade on sustained buying demand in index pivotals. At 11:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 312.70 points or 0.85% at 37,297.34. The Nifty 50 index was up 79.90 points or 0.72% at 11,247.20. FMCG stocks rose. Positive Asian stocks boosted sentiment on the domestic bourses.

Key benchmark indices saw a gap-up opening triggered by positive Asian stocks. Stocks extended gains and hit fresh record high in morning trade. The Sensex and the Nifty, both, scaled fresh record high in morning trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.78%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.74%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1418 shares rose and 790 shares fell. A total of 120 shares were unchanged.

ITC surged 4.86%. The company's net profit rose 10.1% to Rs 2818.68 crore on 6.9% increase in net sales to Rs 10554.66 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q1 June 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 26 July 2018.

FMCG stocks rose. Dabur India (up 2.71%), Britannia Industries (up 0.1%), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (up 0.93%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 0.03%), Marico (up 1.58%), Tata Global Beverages (up 0.75%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (up 0.34%), Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.51%) and Bajaj Corp (up 0.06%) rose. Hindustan Unilever (down 1.19%), GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare (down 0.26%) and Nestle India (down 0.17%) fell.

Overseas, most Asian stocks edged higher following a series of steps by China shifting to stimulus mode. Investors are awaiting the second-quarter US GDP report due later in the day. US equity indexes closed mostly lower Thursday thanks to Facebook Inc.'s historic plunge, as gains in the energy and industrial sectors weren't enough to offset the social network's meltdown.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News