BSE midcap, smallcap indices close at new highs   The S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices settled at their respective new highs on the closing basis on the BSE, following a strong rally in education, pharmaceutical, chemicals, infrastructure and jewellery stocks.   The S&P BSE Smallcap index ended at record high of 17,943.86 on closing level on Thursday surpassed its previous high of 17,910.90 on November 6, 2017. The S&P Midcap index too closed at new high of 16,836.18, surpassed it earlier high of 16,794.23 on November 21, 2017. READ MORE

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services    Market traded between gains and losses due to subdued trend in global market. After the completion of Q2 results, investors are looking for fresh triggers, upcoming state elections will be a key catalyst in the direction. On the global front, US Fed’s divergence in opinion on inflation growth in the minutes may refrain the chair to take aggressive rate hike in December which is positive for Indian market.

Sectoral trend Source: NSE

Market breadth   Market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, remained positive. 1,442 shares gained, 1,254 shares declined, while 158 shares remained unchanged. 

Sensex heatmap at close Source: BSE

Markets at close The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 33,588, up 26 points, while the broader Nifty50 ended at 10,348, up 6 points. 

Insurance stocks trade weak    Shares of insurance companies were trading lower by up to 5% on the BSE on fears of higher tax rate.   HDFC Standard Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance and Max Financial Services were down in the range of 3% to 5% on the BSE. By comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.11% at 33,597 at 02:45 PM. READ MORE DETAILS

China shares tumble on bond rout   Chinese shares tumbled on Thursday with the blue-chip index suffering its worst fall in nearly 1-1/2 years as worries about a sell-off in the bond market bled into equities.   Consumer and healthcare firms led the fall and dragged the CSI300 index down sharply by 2.93 per cent, to 4103.73, its biggest fall in percentage terms since June 13, 2016. The broader Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.26 per cent to 3352.99 points, its worst day since December. READ FULL REPORT

Govt exempts oil & gas PSU mergers from CCI approval   Merger and acquisition deals involving public sector oil and gas companies have been exempted from seeking the Competition Commission's approval, says a notification.   The corporate affairs ministry's decision to exempt such deals from the ambit of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) comes against the backdrop of the proposed consolidation and stake purchases among state-owned oil and gas companies. READ MORE

Aditya Birla Fashion fails to join the retail rally   Stocks of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) have not been a favourite on the bourses but brokerages remain bullish, hoping the network expansion of Pantaloons will bring growth.   Stocks of most retailers have surged in the current financial year. Future Retail and Avenue Supermart (D-Mart) rose 100 per cent and 74 per cent, respectively.   But ABFRL has moved less than one per cent. Despite this slow movement, CLSA has maintained a ‘buy’ on the stock in a note sent to its clients early this week. READ FULL REPORT

Markets check At 2:00 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 33,536, down 25 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,329, down 13 points. Index Current Pt. Change % Change   S&P BSE SENSEX 33,523.07 -38.48 -0.11   S&P BSE SENSEX 50 10,767.46 -12.67 -0.12   S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50 35,558.62 -61.95 -0.17   S&P BSE 100 10,787.55 -13.82 -0.13   S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index 3,732.91 -5.94 -0.16 Source: BSE