Market Pulse

Key indices edged higher in early trade on positive global cues. The Sensex, and the Nifty, hit record highs. The Sensex is now trading at 34,415.05 up 62.26 points or 0.18%, while the Nifty is seen at 10,628.90 up 5.30  or 0.05%.

Among secondary indices, the S&P Mid-Cap index rose 0.32%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.3%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,042 shares rose and 370 shares declined. A total of 53 shares were unchanged.

Tata Motors was up 0.43% at Rs 435.55. The company's subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), reported a 0.6% growth in retail sales to 55,697 vehicles in December 2017 over December 2016. Jaguar retail sales fell 7.8% to 15,079 units as solid sales of the long wheel base Jaguar XFL in China and the introduction of the E-PACE were more than offset by softer sales of XE and XJ. Land Rover retail sales rose 4.1% to 40,618 units led by the introduction of the Range Rover Velar and the sales ramp up of the all new Discovery. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 January 2018.

IndusInd Bank dropped 0.08%. IndusInd Bank and Dynamics Inc yesterday, 8 January 2018, at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), announced plans to introduce the first battery-powered, interactive payment cards to the Indian market in 2018. The new IndusInd Bank card from Dynamics has multiple buttons that let the consumers use a single card to pay in multiple ways. With a touch of a button consumers can select credit, points or monthly instalments as payment option. A different color light will activate based on the selected payment option. The solution requires no changes to the payment infrastructure or merchant systems. A consumer can pay using points or instalment anywhere MasterCard is accepted. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 January 2018.

Coal India advanced 3.89% at Rs 299.05 after the company's board at its meeting held on 8 January 2018, approved revision of non-coking coal prices with effect from 9 January 2018. This will be applicable to all subsidiaries of Coal India including NEC for regulated and non-regulated sectors. Due to this revision, Coal India will earn incremental revenue of about Rs 1956 crore for the balance period of FY 2018. The projected annual incremental revenue would be Rs 6241 crore. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 January 2018.

Bharti Airtel rose 0.37% at Rs 518. The company has issued a clarification to the stock exchanges with regard to media news titled Airtel Payments Bank removes 1,000 retailers from network. Bharti Airtel said that Airtel Payments Bank in the ordinary course of its business appoints various retailers, distributors and where necessary terminates such retailers and distributors for various reasons. Accordingly, the Payments Bank has in the ordinary course, from time to time, terminated certain retailers for various reasons including delinquency, performance and other contractual reasons, Airtel said. The clarification was issued after market hours yesterday, 8 January 2018.

Overseas, Asian stocks edged higher as investors in the region digested earnings guidance from tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics and kept an eye on ongoing inter-Korea talks. North and South Korea have begun high-level talks, the first between the countries in two years. The meeting, at the Peace House in the truce village of Panmunjom, will focus on North Korea's possible participation in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, taking place in South Korea in February. US President Donald Trump called the talks a big start, adding that it would be a great thing for all of humanity if they resulted in a positive outcome.

In the US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite finished Monday's session at all-time highs as investors remained optimistic on the US economy.

Today's Call:

#Buy LIC Housing Finance Ltd at around Rs.585, for short term target of Rs.651-660. But this is purely a chart based call and hence keep a SL at Rs.577 (Strict).

~with inputs from Capital Market - Live News....