Sensex crosses 34,000-mark

26-Dec-17: Trading after a long weekend resumed on a buoyant note as key benchmark indices, led by Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel, logged modest gains. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 70.31 points or 0.21% to settle at 34,010.61. The Nifty 50 index gained 38.50 points or 0.37% to settle at 10,531.50. Most of the appreciation was collected in late trading. However, the boost was sufficient to take the Sensex beyond a record 34,000-point mark and the Nifty to cross the 10,500 milestone for the first time in their history. Key indices gained for the second straight day.

Stocks edged higher early in the session. Trading was characterized by a bout of volatility. Key indices traded on a flat note in morning trade after alternately moving above and below the flat line. Stocks slipped into the negative zone and hit fresh intraday low in mid morning. Indices continued to trade with small losses till afternoon trade but firmed up in late trade.

The Sensex rose 70.31 points or 0.21% to settle at 34,010.61, its record closing high. The index gained 121.58 points or 0.36% at the day's high of 34,061.88, its record high. The index fell 50.55 points or 0.15% at the day's low of 33,889.75.

The Nifty 50 index gained 38.50 points or 0.37% to settle at 10,531.50, its record closing high. The index gained 52.45 points or 0.5% at the day's high of 10,545.45, its record high. The index fell 15.05 points or 0.14% at the day's low of 10,477.95.

Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Telecom index (up 2.28%), the S&P BSE Realty index (up 1.51%), the S&P BSE Metal index (up 1.23%), the S&P BSE Basic Materials index (up 0.92%), the S&P BSE Healthcare index (up 0.86%), the S&P BSE Industrials index (up 0.77%), the S&P BSE Energy index (up 0.56%), the S&P BSE Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services index (up 0.5%), the S&P BSE Capital Goods index (up 0.45%), the S&P BSE Teck index (up 0.44%), the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index (up 0.42%) and the S&P BSE Auto index (up 0.26%), outperformed the Sensex.

The S&P BSE Consumer Durables index rose 0.21%, matching the Sensex's gain in percentage terms. The S&P BSE Utilities index (up 0.17%), the S&P BSE Bankex (up 0.11%), the S&P BSE FMCG index (up 0.07%), the S&P BSE IT index (up 0.06%) and the S&P BSE Finance index (up 0.03%), underperforming the Sensex. The S&P BSE Power index settled on a flat note.

Among secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.76%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.64%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,679 shares rose and 1,071 shares fell. A total of 221 shares were unchanged.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4328.79 crore, lower than turnover of Rs 4833.05 crore registered during the previous trading session on Friday, 22 December 2017.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose 1.03% to Rs 928.

Most metal and mining stocks rose as copper prices edged higher in the global commodities markets. NMDC (up 3.85%), JSW Steel (up 1.19%), National Aluminium Company (up 0.55%), Tata Steel (up 1.52%), Steel Authority of India (up 5.79%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 4.45%) and Vedanta (up 1.68%) edged higher. Hindustan Copper (down 0.64%), Hindustan Zinc (down 0.26%) and Hindalco Industries (down 0.64%) fell.

Copper edged higher in the global commodities market. High Grade Copper for March 2018 delivery was currently up 0.66% at $3.26 per pound on the COMEX.

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Group shares surged after witnessing recent volatility in stocks. Reliance Communications (RCom) (up 30.78%), Reliance Infrastructure (up 2.41%), Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (up 1.16%), Reliance Capital (up 7.02%), Reliance Home Finance (up 0.45%), Reliance Naval and Engineering (up 5.63%) and Reliance Power (up 3.85%) gained.

Shares of most public sector banks declined. Syndicate Bank (down 3.08%), Punjab National Bank (down 0.94%), Allahabad Bank (down 1.04%), Bank of Baroda (down 0.8%), State Bank of India (SBI) (down 0.94%), Union Bank of India (down 0.17%), and United Bank of India (down 0.29%) edged lower. Corporation Bank (up 1.13%), Canara Bank (up 0.55%), and Bank of India (up 0.38%) gained.

Shares of private sector banks gained. Axis Bank (up 0.15%), ICICI Bank (up 0.35%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.66%), Federal Bank (up 1.81%), and IndusInd Bank (up 0.8%) edged higher. HDFC Bank declined 0.62%.

Yes Bank rose 1.74% after the bank said that it has on 22 December 2017, established a Medium Term Note Programme (MTN Programme) for an amount of $1 billion, in order to enable the bank to issue debt instruments in the international capital markets, to eligible investors, from time to time, in one or more tranches and/or series. The establishment of the MTN Programme is only an enabling step and presently, no instruments are being issued by the bank. The announcement was made on Saturday, 23 December 2017.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories rose 1.17% after the company announced that it has launched Melphalan Hydrochloride for Injection, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Alkeran (melphalan hydrochloride) for Injection in the United States market approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

The Alkeran brand and generic had US sales of approximately $107 million MAT for the most recent twelve months ending in October 2017 according to IMS Health. The announcement was made during market hours today, 26 December 2017.

Overseas, European markets remained shut for a holiday. Asian stocks were mixed in trading thinned by year-end holidays as several regional markets re-opened after the Christmas break. Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand markets remain closed today, 26 December 2017. US markets remained shut yesterday, 25 December 2017 on account of Christmas.

In Japan, the nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which includes oil goods but excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 0.9% in November from a year earlier, government data showed today, 26 December 2017. The pace of price growth was just ahead of October's 0.8%.

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