Key indices held firm and hovered close to their intraday high in early afternoon trade as assembly elections results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh showed that BJP will return to power for a sixth straight term in Gujarat and will overthrow Congress rule to form government in Himachal Pradesh. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 279.94 points or 0.84% at 33,742.91. The Nifty 50 index gained 92.50 points or 0.9% at 10,425.75.
The Sensex gained 299.07 points or 0.89% at the day's high of 33,762.04 in mid-morning trade, its highest level since 28 November 2017. The index slumped 867.34 points or 2.59% at the day's low of 32,595.63 in early trade, its lowest level since 6 December 2017. The Nifty gained 97.75 points or 0.95% at the day's high of 10,431 in early afternoon trade, its highest level since 7 November 2017. The index skidded 258.45 points or 2.5% at the day's low of 10,074.80 in early trade, its lowest level since 7 December 2017.
The BJP has been ruling in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home town Gujarat for the last two decades and a win today will boost its chances to form government at the Centre once again in the 2019 general elections. The win will also help BJP to continue with its bold reforms and fulfilling mandate for economic development.
Indices had slumped in early trade after early trends of Gujarat assembly election results showed a close fight between incumbent BJP party and rival Congress party. Market soon reversed losses in morning trade as concerns eased following BJP crossing past simple majority mark in its stronghold Gujarat state. Market extended gains in mid-morning trade as BJP win was confirmed in both the states. Stocks held firm in early afternoon trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.17%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.92%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The broad market depicted strength. There were almost two gainers for every loser on BSE. 1,621 shares rose and 812 shares fell. A total of 134 shares were unchanged.
Most capital goods stocks gained on renewed buying. ABB India (up 1.8%), Bharat Electronics (up 1.67%), BEML (up 0.87%), L&T (up 1.34%), and Siemens (up 1.77%) gained. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (down 0.17%), Havells India (down 0.4%), and Thermax (down 0.17%) declined.
Realty stocks were mixed. DLF (up 1.23%), Sobha (up 5.68%), NBCC (up 0.62%), and Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL) (up 1.22%) edged higher. D B Realty (down 0.29%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 0.49%), Oberoi Realty (down 1%), Unitech (down 0.3%) and Godrej Properties (down 0.03%) declined.
Greenply Industries rose 2.58% to Rs 340 after Reliance Mutual Fund purchased stake in the company via bulk deal on BSE on Friday, 15 December 2017. Reliance Mutual Fund bought 9.90 lakh shares, or 0.81% equity, of Greenply Industries at Rs 335 each via bulk deal on BSE on Friday, 15 December 2017.
Steel Strips Wheels rose 0.76% after the company announced bagging a new exports order for supplying steel wheels to European Union (EU) caravan market. Order volume of 24,500 wheels comprises mix of 13-inch and 14-inch steel wheels to be shipped from SSWL's Chennai plant in January and February 2018. This repeat order strengthens SSWL's position as a leading supplier of caravan Steel wheels in European region, the company said in a statement. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 18 December 2017.
Ramky Infrastructure rose 3.61% after the company said it allotted 1.2 crore warrants to promoters and non-promoters. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 15 December 2017.
On the political front, counting of votes is underway for recently held assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh with trends showing that BJP will form government in both the states after early trends had showed a close fight with the rival Congress party. BJP was leading or won in 105 seats while Congress was leading or won in 71 seats out of total 181 seats in Gujarat. BJP was leading or won in 41 seats while Congress was leading or won in 22 seats out of total 68 seats in Himachal Pradesh.
Poll in Himachal Pradesh took place in single phase on 9 November 2017, while in Gujarat, poll was scheduled in two phases on 9 and 14 December 2017.
On the macroeconomic data front, India's merchandise exports surged 30.5% to $26.2 billion in November 2017 over a year ago. Meanwhile, merchandise imports increased 19.6% to $40.02 billion. The trade deficit rose 3.2% to $13.83 billion in November 2017 from $13.01 billion in November 2016.
India's services exports improved 7.9% to $14.15 billion in October 2017 over October 2016. Meanwhile, India's services imports galloped 13.3% to $8.70 billion in October 2017. India's services trade surplus rose 0.3% to $5.45 billion in October 2017 from $5.43 billion in October 2016.
Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed. Japan's export growth accelerated in November to mark a full year of annual gains. The 16.2% export growth in November, showed acceleration from a 14% year-on-year increase in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Finance.
China's central bank raised interest rates on reverse repurchase agreements, or reverse repos, used for open market operations by 5 basis points for the 14-day tenor, following upward adjustments on other tenors last week.
US stocks rose to all-time highs on Friday, 15 December 2017, as expectations of a Republican tax bill passing increased. The plan will likely cut the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%.
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