Stocks held firm in morning trade after an initial upmove triggered by upbeat Asian stocks and US index futures following a cease-fire on tariffs between Beijing and Washington over the weekend. At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 167.61 points or 0.46% at 36,361.91. The Nifty 50 index was up 41.80 points or 0.38% at 10,918.55.
Domestic stocks opened on a firm note tracking upbeat Asian stocks and US index futures following a cease-fire on tariffs between Beijing and Washington over the weekend.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.69%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.51%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1228 shares rose and 714 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, Asian stocks and US index futures jumped following a cease-fire on tariffs between Beijing and Washington at the Group of 20 meeting in Argentina over the weekend. Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could surge 471 points at the opening bell today, 3 December 2018.
US stocks ended higher Friday, as investors turned positive on the outlook for trade ahead of a meeting between the American and Chinese presidents.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping approved the deal on Saturday in Buenos Aires. It offers Beijing a reprieve from a planned increase in tariffs, scheduled for 1 January 2019, on $200 billion in Chinese goods exports to the US Tariffs were scheduled to rise to 25% from 10%. The postponement relies on progress in talks that both sides aim to complete in the next 90 days covering broader issues, including intellectual property protection.
On the data front, the MNI Chicago business barometer jumped 8 points to 66.4 in November to a 4 year high, ending a streak of three straight declines. The survey is often seen as a bellwether for the broader US economy.
Back home, Vedanta (up 3.98%), Tata Steel (up 2.64%), Coal India (up 2.42%), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.96%) and Tata Motors (up 1.48%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 7.23%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.88%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.7%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Biocon shed 0.39%. Fulphila, a biosimilar Pegfilgrastim jointly developed by Biocon and Mylan, has been approved in EU. The European Commission has granted marketing authorization for Fulphila to Biocon's partner Mylan. The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) had issued a positive opinion recommending approval of Fulphila as a biosimilar to Amgen's Neulasta, which is indicated for the reduction in the duration of neutropenia and the incidence of febrile neutropenia in adult patients treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy for malignancy, in September 2018.
Biosimilar Pegfilgrastim treatment can be used to stimulate bone marrow to produce more neutrophils to fight infection in patients undergoing chemotherapy. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 30 November 2018.
On the macro front, India's gross domestic product (GDP) rose 7.1% in July-September, down from 8.2% in the previous quarter though it still marked a comforting uptick compared to the previous year's 6.3% reading in the same quarter. The manufacturing sector expanded 7.4% following 13.5% surge in the previous quarter while the agriculture sector grew 3.8% from 5.3% in the previous quarter. Trade, Hotel, Transport, Communication &Services related to Broadcasting rose 6.80%, almost matching the growth in previous quarter. Financial, Real Estate & Professional Services expanded 6.30%, easing slightly from a 6.52% in previous quarter. The data was released by the government after market hours on Friday, 30 November 2018.
The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 134.8 in October, 2018, which was 4.8% higher as compared to the index of October, 2017. Its cumulative growth during April to October, 2018-19 was 5.4%. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The data was released by the government after market hours on Friday, 30 November 2018.
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