Indices trade with decent gains; European mkt opens higher

The key equity indices continued to trade with modest gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 26,100 level. Media, auto and IT shares advanced while consumer durables, pharma and realty shares declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 351.58 points or 0.41% to 85,524.60. The Nifty 50 index added 105.70 points or 0.41% to 26,094.10

The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 85,525.31 and 26,112.95, respectively in afternoon trade.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.63% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.52%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,612 shares rose and 2,304 shares fell. A total of 108 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Maruti Suzuki India (up 4.30%), Tata Motors (up 2.32%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.98%), Tata Steel (up 1.92%) and Grasim Industries (up 1.65%) were major Nifty gainers.

Cipla (down 2.32%), Divi's Laboratories (down 1.59%), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) (down 1.42%), Larsen and Toubro (down 1.21%) and NTPC (down 0.93%) were major Nifty losers.

Cipla added 2.32% after the companys UK-based arm has signed a pact to acquire a 6.9% stake held by Jiangsu Xidi Pharma in a China-based unit post-acquisition Jiangsu to become a wholly owned step-down subsidiary of the company.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation fell 1.42%. The company said that its board has approved an investment of Rs 10,501 crore in equity shares of ONGC Petro additions (OPaL), in one or more tranches.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Infosys rose 0.74%. The IT major announced that it has collaborated with Swedish electric performance car brand Polestar to create a base for the latter's development of in-car infotainment, software and electrical engineering and cloud-powered digital services.

Vedanta advanced 3.42% after the company said that its board will meet on 8 October 2024 to consider a proposal for fourth interim dividend on equity shares for the financial year 2024-25.

KPI Green Energy declined 1.07%. The company said that it has received a letter of award (LoA) for the development of a 66.20 MW hybrid power project under the captive power producer (CPP) segment of the company.

Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services jumped 2.86% after the companys board approved to acquire 26% stake in Mobileware Technologies for total consideration of Rs 15.6 crore. Meanwhile, the board has also approved to acquire 98.32% stake in Span Across IT Solutions. The company will acquire 10,66,314 equity shares with a face value of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 300.80 per share.

Easy Trip Planners (EaseMyTrip) jumped 5.68% after the company said that it has entered into an exclusive partnership with PhonePe to launch its Hotels segment on the platform. The said collaboration aimed to enhance the user experience by providing seamless access to millions of domestic and international hotels.

Prestige Estates Projects fell 1.58%. The real estate developer has announced the launch of its luxury residential project Prestige Pine Forest, which is located at Whitefield, Bangalore. The project has a revenue potential of Rs 1,100 crore.

Global Markets:

European and Asian stocks traded higher on Thursday, driven by continued optimism surrounding China's recent stimulus measures and a robust rally in technology stocks, particularly semiconductor manufacturers. The latter was fueled by strong earnings from U.S. chipmaker Micron.

Chinese markets have been on a roll this week following Beijing's announcement of a series of stimulus measures, including a reduction in bank reserve requirements and lower mortgage rates. These measures have sparked a wave of bargain buying, as Chinese markets had been lagging behind global peers for some time due to concerns about a slowing economy.

U.S. stocks experienced a pullback on Wednesday, with the three major indices closing mixed as investors weighed the health of the economy and the likelihood of further interest rate cuts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by around 0.7%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.19% and Nasdaq Composite (+0.04%) saw more modest gains.

On the economic data front, new home sales in the United States decreased in August compared to the previous month, primarily due to high mortgage rates and elevated prices deterring potential buyers. However, mortgage applications rose to their highest level since 2022, driven by homeowners seeking to refinance their loans as interest rates decline.

This week's market focus is on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming speech and the release of the PCE price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge.

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