Indices fall for second straight day; Nifty holds 8,700 mark

The Indian equity market continued on yesterday’s lackluster note and lost further ground today. After opening on a flat note, indices remained under pressure and slipped lower in the second half. Weak global cues, coupled with lower crude oil prices, rupee and profit booking weighed on the domestic markets.

Finally, the BSE Sensex ended today’s trading with a loss of 115 points at 28,106. It opened at 28,298, touched an intra-day high of 28,329 and low of 28,031.

The NSE Nifty closed with a loss of 34 points at 8,710. It opened at 8,769, hit an intra-day high of 8,781 and low of 8,685.

Heavy selling was witnessed in realty, power, pharma, auto, banking, finance and consumer durables stocks, while oil & gas, telecom and energy stocks were among the gainers.

Among the 50 stocks of the Nifty, GAIL, BPCL, Grasim, RIL, HUL, Bosch, ONGC, Bharti Infratel and Hindalco were among the gainers, whereas Bank of Baroda, Cipla, Power Grid, NTPC, M&M and UltraTech Cement were among the losers today.

The India VIX (Volatility) index was down 0.60% to 14.8350. Out of 1,501 stocks traded on the NSE, 922 declined and 535 advanced today.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slipped 0.56% and 0.48%, respectively.

The rupee was trading down by 17 paise at 66.67 per US dollar.

On the global front, Asian stocks traded firm with the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Nikkei 225 each advancing 0.56%. Mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the National Day holiday.

European markets remained subdued over speculation on curtailment of stimulus measures by the European Central Bank (ECB).The CAC 40, DAX and FTSE 100 each have slipped 0.3%.

Jaiprakash Power Ventures climbed 10% to Rs.4.45 on the BSE. The company has informed BSE that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the company will be held on October 6 to consider the recommendations of the Committee of Directors (for Restructuring) regarding proposals of restructuring including divestment of one or more units and to review the progress made in the reduction of company’s debt.

Goa Carbon jumped 16% after the company reported a net profit of Rs 4.62 cr for the quarter ended September 30, 2016.

Transformers and Rectifiers (India) surged 8.7% after the company said it had entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with Chinese firm Jiangsu Jingke Smart Electric Company.

Goodyear India soared 13% on the BSE in intra-day trade, after Goldman Sachs bought stake in tyre maker through the open market.
Sagar Cements advanced 1.5% after the company reported cement production and sales figures for September 2016. The company's sales were up by 29% on a consolidated basis and lower by 15% on a standalone basis.

NMDC rallied 4% after the company fixed prices of Lump Ore at Rs 2,100/WMT, while the prices of Fines have been fixed at Rs 1,760/WMT. The Ore prices are excluding Royalty, DMF, NMET, Cess, Forest Permit Fee etc.

Phillips Carbon Black advanced 2% to Rs 275 after the Board approved amalgamation of Goodluck Dealcom unit with self.

Bosch gained 1.5% after the company expressed plans to buy back 8.78 lakh shares at a price of 23,000 a share. Bosch had fixed September 27 as the record date.

Jindal Steel & Power tanked 5% to Rs 79.20. The company has defaulted on interest repayments to its bondholders due on September 30, 2016.

A total of 141 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, whereas 14 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

Live Stock Market Updates - Sensex falls over 100 points; Power, Realty drag

Closing Bell:

Finally, the BSE Sensex ended today’s trading with a loss of 115 points at 28,106. It opened at 28,298, touched an intra-day high of 28,329 and low of 28,031.

The NSE Nifty closed with a loss of 34 points at 8,710. It opened at 8,769, hit an intra-day high of 8,781 and low of 8,685.

Live Market:

At 1:50 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28,199 down 22 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,737 down mere seven points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 0.17% at 13,594 whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading down 0.11% at 13,275.

GAIL, RIL, ONGC, RIL, HUL, Tata Steel and HDFC are among the gainers, whereas Axis Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, M&M, Cipla and Dr.Reddy's are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in oil & gas, metal, energy, utilities, telecom and power sectors, while IT and teck are showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is down 1.05% at 14.7675. Out of 1,873 stocks traded on the NSE, 805 declined, 787 advanced and 281 remained unchanged today.

A total of 135 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while 11 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The rupee opened lower four paise at 66.56/$ against US Dollar Thursday as against the previous close of 66.50/$.

Sagar Cements Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 745.45, up by Rs. 11.6 or 1.58% from its previous closing of Rs. 733.85 on the BSE. Sagar Cements reported the cement production and sales figures for September 2016. The company's sales were up by 29% on a consolidated basis and lower by 15% on standalone basis.

Goa Carbon Ltd soared 16.5% to Rs 137. The company reported a net profit of Rs 4.62 crore in June quarter against net loss of Rs 2.96 crore. Its net sales increased 0.3% to Rs 79.03 crore.

NMDC Ltd is currently trading at Rs.116.05, up by Rs.4.6 or 4.13% from its previous closing of Rs.111.45 on the BSE. The company has fixed the prices of Lump Ore at Rs.2,100/WMT, while the prices of Fines have been fixed at Rs.1,760/WMT. The Ore prices are excluding Royalty, DMF, NMET, Cess, Forest Permit Fee etc.

Bosch gained 1.3% after the company plans to buy back 8.78 lakh shares at a price of 23,000 a share. Bosch had fixed September 27 as the record date.

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd tanked 5% to Rs.79.20. The company has defaulted on interest repayments to its bondholders due on September 30, 2016. Those NCDs had a coupon rate of 9.8% with about two-10 year maturities with banks, provident funds believed to be the investors.

Bharti Airtel is trading marginally lower at Rs.321.45 on the BSE. The company announced the launch of 4G data services in Gujarat as it rolls out services in Ahmedabad, thereby providing 4G in 17 circles across India.

Cosmo Films Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 419, up by Rs. 1.3 or 0.31% from its previous closing of Rs. 417.7 on the BSE. The company has entered into a definitive MOU for purchase of about 34 acres of industrial land adjacent to its existing manufacturing plant on 16 acres of land at Waluj, Aurangabad, Maharashtra for setting up new production facilities in due course.

Hexaware Tech slipped 1.6% to Rs.187. The company has opened a new global delivery centre in Bucharest, Romania.

Jubilant Life Sciences dropped 1.5% to Rs.635 on the BSE. The company said its wholly-owned subsidiary has received approval from the Australian health regulator Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for Lyophilised kit for the preparation of injection used for lung scan.

ONGC inched up 1% to Rs.269. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval to an acquisition by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas investment arm of ONGC, for 11% stake in JSC Vankorneft from Rosneft Oil Company (Rosneft), Russia’s national oil company.

Vedanta zoomed 3% after the company said it will raise up to Rs.12.50 bn through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

Live Stock Market Updates - Nifty holds 8700 mark

At 1:50 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28,199 down 22 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,737 down mere seven points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 0.17% at 13,594 whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading down 0.11% at 13,275.

GAIL, RIL, ONGC, RIL, HUL, Tata Steel and HDFC are among the gainers, whereas Axis Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, M&M, Cipla and Dr.Reddy's are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in oil & gas, metal, energy, utilities, telecom and power sectors, while IT and teck are showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is down 1.05% at 14.7675. Out of 1,873 stocks traded on the NSE, 805 declined, 787 advanced and 281 remained unchanged today.

A total of 135 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while 11 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The rupee opened lower four paise at 66.56/$ against US Dollar Thursday as against the previous close of 66.50/$.

Sagar Cements Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 745.45, up by Rs. 11.6 or 1.58% from its previous closing of Rs. 733.85 on the BSE. Sagar Cements reported the cement production and sales figures for September 2016. The company's sales were up by 29% on a consolidated basis and lower by 15% on standalone basis.

Goa Carbon Ltd soared 16.5% to Rs 137. The company reported a net profit of Rs 4.62 crore in June quarter against net loss of Rs 2.96 crore. Its net sales increased 0.3% to Rs 79.03 crore.

NMDC Ltd is currently trading at Rs.116.05, up by Rs.4.6 or 4.13% from its previous closing of Rs.111.45 on the BSE. The company has fixed the prices of Lump Ore at Rs.2,100/WMT, while the prices of Fines have been fixed at Rs.1,760/WMT. The Ore prices are excluding Royalty, DMF, NMET, Cess, Forest Permit Fee etc.

Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd is currently trading at Rs.4.55, up by Rs.0.41 or 9.9% from its previous closing of Rs.4.14 on the BSE. The company has informed BSE that meeting of the Board of Directors of the company will be held on October 6, to consider the recommendations of Committee of Directors (for Restructuring) regarding proposals of restructuring including divestment of one or more units and review the progress made in the reduction of company’s debt.

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 652.5, up by Rs. 36.55 or 5.93% from its previous closing of Rs. 615.95 on the BSE, after fixing October 19 as the record date for the purpose of ascertaining the eligibility of shareholders, for issuance of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 i.e. one new bonus equity share of Rs.10 each for every one existing equity share of Rs.10 each held.

Grasim Industries Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 1008.05, up by Rs. 21.43 or 2.17% from its previous closing of Rs. 986.62 on the BSE. The company has fixed October 8, as the Record Date for the purpose of sub-division of each Equity Share of the Company having a face value of Rs 10 each fully paid-up into 5 Equity Shares of the face value of Rs 2 each fully paid-up.

Phillips Carbon Black advanced 1.9% to Rs.275 after the board approved amalgamation of Goodluck Dealcom unit with self.
 
Bosch gained 1.3% after the company plans to buy back 8.78 lakh shares at a price of 23,000 a share. Bosch had fixed September 27 as the record date.

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd tanked 5% to Rs.79.20. The company has defaulted on interest repayments to its bondholders due on September 30, 2016. Those NCDs had a coupon rate of 9.8% with about two-10 year maturities with banks, provident funds believed to be the investors.

Bharti Airtel is trading marginally lower at Rs.321.45 on the BSE. The company announced the launch of 4G data services in Gujarat as it rolls out services in Ahmedabad, thereby providing 4G in 17 circles across India.

Cosmo Films Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 419, up by Rs. 1.3 or 0.31% from its previous closing of Rs. 417.7 on the BSE. The company has entered into a definitive MOU for purchase of about 34 acres of industrial land adjacent to its existing manufacturing plant on 16 acres of land at Waluj, Aurangabad, Maharashtra for setting up new production facilities in due course.

Hexaware Tech slipped 1.6% to Rs.187. The company has opened a new global delivery centre in Bucharest, Romania.

Jubilant Life Sciences dropped 1.5% to Rs.635 on the BSE. The company said its wholly-owned subsidiary has received approval from the Australian health regulator Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for Lyophilised kit for the preparation of injection used for lung scan.

ONGC inched up 1% to Rs.269. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval to an acquisition by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas investment arm of ONGC, for 11% stake in JSC Vankorneft from Rosneft Oil Company (Rosneft), Russia’s national oil company.

Vedanta zoomed 3% after the company said it will raise up to Rs.12.50 bn through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

Top 14 stocks in focus today: Bharti Airtel, Reliance Infrastructure, Bank of India

Bank of India and Syndicate Bank: Both the banks has taken a cue from the Reserve Bank of India and reduced marginal cost of fund based lending rates (MCLR) in the range of 5bps to 10 bps.

Reliance Infrastructure: Reliance Infrastructure is in pact to sell its power transmission assets to billionaire Gautam Adani's Adani Transmission, to raise funds to pare debt.

Bharat Electronics: The company plans to buy back 1.66 crore shares at a price of Rs.1,305 apiece. BEL fixed September 6 as record dates for the respective buybacks.

Bosch: Bosch plans to buy back 8.78 lakh shares at a price of 23,000 a share. Bosch had fixed September 27 as the record date.

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd: The company has defaulted on interest repayments to its bondholders due on September 30, 2016. Those NCDs had a coupon rate of 9.8% with about two-10 year maturities with banks, provident funds believed to be the investors.

Bharti Airtel Ltd: Bharti Airtel announced the launch of 4G data services in Gujarat as it rolls out services in Ahmedabad, thereby providing 4G in 17 circles across India.

UFO Moviez: UFO Moviez India Ltd informed BSE that the Company has filed an application of Scheme of Arrangement between UFO Moviez India Limited and Southern Digital Screenz India Pvt. Ltd., V N Films Pvt. Ltd., Edridge Ltd. and UFO International Ltd.

Hexaware Tech: The company has opened a new global delivery centre in Bucharest, Romania.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals: Alembic Pharma received the Establishment Inspection Report from the US health regulator for its formulation facility located at Panelav in Gujarat.

Jubilant Life Sciences: The company said its wholly-owned subsidiary has received approval from the Australian health regulator Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for Lyophilised kit for the preparation of injection used for lung scan.

Pidilite Industries: The company said its arm in the US has initiated recall of Tempra and Finger paints over quality concerns.

ONGC: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval to an acquisition by ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas investment arm of ONGC, for 11% stake in JSC Vankorneft from Rosneft Oil Company (Rosneft), Russia’s national oil company.

Vedanta: Vedanta said it will raise up to Rs.12.50 bn through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

Premier Explosives: Premier Explosives Ltd has announced that it has bagged a Rs278mn order from Bharat Dynamics Ltd.

Live Stock Market Updates - Nifty above 8750 mark

At 9:26 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28,267 up 46 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,754 up 10 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.31% at 13,660 whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.49% at 13,355.

ONGC, RIL, GAIL, HUL, Power Grid and Tata Motors are among the gainers, whereas Axis Bank, Coal India, Infosys, SBI and Dr.Reddy's are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in oil & gas, industrial, energy, metal, capital goods and telecom sectors, while banking, IT, teck, finance and realty are showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is up 0.80% at 15.0450. Out of 1,834 stocks traded on the NSE, 408 declined, 1,013 advanced and 413 remained unchanged today.

A total of 69 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while three stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The rupee opened lower four paise at 66.56/$ against US Dollar Thursday as against the previous close of 66.50/$.

Asian markets are showing a mixed trend on Thursday. Hang Seng and Nikkei 225 are trading in green. Mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the National Day holiday.

Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 112.58 points, or 0.62%, to 18,281.03, the S&P 500 gained 9.24 points, or 0.43%, to 2,159.73 and the Nasdaq Composite added 26.36 points, or 0.5%, to 5,316.02.

Oil prices hit US$ 50, bond yields hit 1.7% highest in last 6 months & US$ hit 96.17 new 3 month highs as probability of Fed rate hike in US grew to 72%.This in turn saw commodities rise with emerging market indices also rising in tandem & the Brazilian 'Ibovespa" hitting new 52 week highs.

The Japanese "yen' weakened to 103.4 which also was a 3 month high as the 'Nikkei" stock index closed onto 17000, which was last seen 3 months back. Jobs data on Friday will see the Dow Jones react to further direction as rate hike speculation grows in the US.

On the economy front, Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index eased to 52 in September from 54.7 in August.

Live Stock Market Updates - Sensex, Nifty flat; Banking, IT drag

At 9:26 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28,267 up 46 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,754 up 10 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.31% at 13,660 whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.49% at 13,355.

ONGC, RIL, GAIL, HUL, Power Grid and Tata Motors are among the gainers, whereas Axis Bank, Coal India, Infosys, SBI and Dr.Reddy's are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in oil & gas, industrial, energy, metal, capital goods and telecom sectors, while banking, IT, teck, finance and realty are showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is up 0.80% at 15.0450. Out of 1,834 stocks traded on the NSE, 408 declined, 1,013 advanced and 413 remained unchanged today.

A total of 69 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while three stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The rupee opened lower four paise at 66.56/$ against US Dollar Thursday as against the previous close of 66.50/$.

Nifty snaps 3-day winning streak...shuts below 8,750

Indian equities snapped their three-day winning streak; the market was weighed down on profit-booking particularly in IT, banking and technology stocks.

Finally, the BSE Sensex ended today’s trading with a loss of 114 points at 28,221. It opened at 28,426, touched an intra-day high of 28,478 and low of 28,189.

The NSE Nifty closed with a loss of 25 points at 8,743. It opened at 8,806, hit an intra-day high of 8,807 and low of 8,731.

Sentiment was also dampened as Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index eased to 52 in September from 54.7 in August.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised India's growth forecast a tad, citing the resilience of its economy and robust growth momentum. The IMF now expects the economy to expand 7.6% in 2016-17, up from its earlier projection of 7.4%.

Global economic growth will remain subdued this year following a slowdown in the United States and Britain's vote to leave the European Union, the IMF said in its October 2016 World Economic Outlook yesterday, 4 October 2016. The world economy will expand 3.1% this year, the IMF said, unchanged from its July projection.

Today’s major decline was led by banking, IT, finance, oil & gas, teck, and energy, stocks; while realty, telecom, industrial, FMCG and metal stocks were among the gainers.

The mid-cap and small-cap stocks’ representative indices on the BSE gained by 0.50% and 0.62% respectively, taking a contrary direction to the decline in the large-cap stocks’ representative bellwether indices.

Among the 50 stocks of the Nifty, Tata MotorsDVR, Bharti Infratel, BPCL, UltraTech Cement, Eicher Motors, Hindalco, Tata Motors and Tata Power were among the gainers, whereas ONGC, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Idea Cellular, Kotak Mahindra Bank and M&M were among the losers today.

The India VIX (Volatility) index was down 0.45% to 14.9250.

Out of 1,406 stocks traded on the NSE, 574 declined and 777 advanced today.

The rupee was trading down by 9 paise at 66.54 per US dollar.

On the global front, Asian stocks traded firm with the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Nikkei 225 each advancing 0.5%. Mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the National Day holiday.

European stocks are trading soft as markets digest hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials. The CAC 40, DAX and FTSE 100 each have slipped 0.48%.

Sensex, Nifty slip further

Indian shares erased its gains initial gains and were trading marginally lower due to weak Asian cues. The Nifty reclaimed its crucial level of 8,800 supported by gains in realty, power, metal, consumer durable, capital goods, auto, and banks. 

The Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index registered 52 in September, down from August’s 43 month high of 54.7, the latest reading pointed to a slower rate of expansion that was moderate overall.   

The S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28,302 down 34 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,755 down 14 points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.19% at 13,576 whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.33% at 13,253.

Asian Paints, HUL, SBI, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki are among the gainers, whereas ONGC, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Wipro and Infosys are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in realty, metal, telecom, industrial, auto, FMCG and utilities sectors, while IT, teck, banking, finance, capital goods, pharma, energy and oil & gas are showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is up 0.25% at 15.0300. Out of 1,870 stocks traded on the NSE, 672 declined, 844 advanced and 358 remained unchanged today.

A total of 92 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while eight stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The rupee opened lower 16 paise at 66.62/$ against US Dollar Wednesday as against the previous close of 66.46/$.

Asian indices resumed trading in the red with the exception of the Japanese 'Nikkei" index which rallied as the yen weakened against the US$.
The latest round of pessimism now emanates from 65% probability of a US rate hike in December & unwinding of stimulus by the ECB. With the 'elexir' of cheap money seeming to be withdrawn caution seems the buzzword in most global equity markets. Weaker than expected macro numbers from Brazil & lowering of global growth targets by the IMF will be the other points of concern.

Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85.40 points, or 0.5%, to close at 18,168.45.The S&P 500 Index declined 10.71 points, or 0.5% to 2,150.49, and the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 11.22 points, or 0.2% to 5,289.66.

Crude oil was unable to fight back above $50 on Tuesday amid signs of increased production from Iran and Libya.

On the economy front, RBI Governor in his debut policy cut rates to get the 'repo' @ 6.25% which is the lowest in the last 7 years. The RBI Governor, Urjit R. Patel said in the policy review that global growth has been slowing more than anticipated through 2016 so far, with weak investment and trade damping aggregate demand.

Nifty hits 8800 mark; Banking, Metal stocks lead

The S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28,472 up 138 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,806 up 37 points.

The rupee opened lower 16 paise at 66.62/$ against US Dollar Wednesday as against the previous close of 66.46/$.

Asian indices resumed trading in the red with the exception of the Japanese 'Nikkei" index which rallied as the yen weakened against the US$.

The latest round of pessimism now emanates from 65% probability of a US rate hike in December & unwinding of stimulus by the ECB. With the 'elexir' of cheap money seeming to be withdrawn caution seems the buzzword in most global equity markets. Weaker than expected macro numbers from Brazil & lowering of global growth targets by the IMF will be the other points of concern.

Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85.40 points, or 0.5%, to close at 18,168.45.The S&P 500 Index declined 10.71 points, or 0.5% to 2,150.49, and the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 11.22 points, or 0.2% to 5,289.66.

Crude oil was unable to fight back above $50 on Tuesday amid signs of increased production from Iran and Libya.

On data front, Nikkei India Service PMI data is scheduled today.

On the economy front, RBI Governor in his debut policy cut rates to get the 'repo' @ 6.25% which is the lowest in the last 7 years. The RBI Governor, Urjit R. Patel said in the policy review that global growth has been slowing more than anticipated through 2016 so far, with weak investment and trade damping aggregate demand.

Nifty settles above 8750 mark after RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps

Indian stocks rallied for the third consecutive day today after theReserve Bank of India (RBI) cut its key lending rate or the repo rate by 25 basis points to a six-year low of 6.25%, from 6.5% earlier.

The RBI Governor, Urjit R. Patel said in the policy review that global growth has been slowing more than anticipated through 2016 so far, with weak investment and trade damping aggregate demand.

Coming back to domestic action, oil & gas stocks staged a strong rally as is reflected in the gain of over 2% today in the BSE oil & gas index. The BSE telecom index was up 1.3% in today’s trade. Realty, utilities, IT, finance and banking indices were up 1% each and the pharma index was up by 0.5%.

On the other hand, capital goods and consumer discretionary stocks were among the major losers.

Finally, the BSE Sensex ended with a gain of 91 points at 28,335. It opened at 28,378, touched an intra-day high of 28,405 and low of 28,242.

The NSE Nifty closed with a gain of 31 points at 8,769. It opened at 8,770, hit an intra-day high of 8,784 and low of 8,736.

Sentiments were on optimistic note after World Bank stated that India’s GDP growth will remain strong at 7.6% in 2016 and 7.7% in 2017.

The mid-cap and small-cap stocks’ representative indices on the BSE gained by 0.50% and 0.66% respectively.

Among the 50 stocks of the Nifty, ONGC, GAIL, Tata Steel, SBI, Tata Motors and Bharti Infratel were among the gainers, whereas Zee, Coal India, M&M, L&T, HUL and Ambuja Cement were among the losers today.

The India VIX (Volatility) index was down 4.01% to 14.9925. Out of 1,406 stocks traded on the NSE, 574 declined and 777 advanced today.

The rupee was trading up by 5 paise at 66.53 per US dollar.

On the global front, Asian stocks traded firm with the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advancing 0.82% and China’s Shanghai Composite too ending marginally higher.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 and DAX have gained 1% each, while the CAC 40 is up 0.60%.

Amtek Auto rallied 7.2% to Rs.48.45 on the BSE after Mahindra CIE Automotive was interested in buying the assets of the debt-ridden auto component maker.

Majesco climbed 4% after the company announced a five-year partnership with IBM to jointly offer a new cognitive, cloud based platform to help insurance carriers worldwide to create new services on IBM Cloud.

HPL Electric shares got listed on the NSE at a discount, ie at Rs.190 to an issue price of Rs.202. The stock ended at Rs.189.05, lower by Rs.12.95 or 6.41% to its issue price.

Piramal Enterprises slipped 1%. SEBI has fined Piramal Enterprises Ltd and its promoters - Ajay G. Piramal, Swati A. Piramal, Nandini Piramal and N. Santhanam - for violating insider trading norms while selling its healthcare business to Abbott Laboratories Ltd in May 2010.

Wockhardt rallied 3% after the pharma company said the US health regulator has excluded Ceftriazone Sodium from import alerts issued earlier against its active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facility at Ankleshwar.

Hero MotoCorp inched up 0.24% on the BSE. The company reported an 11.24% increase in sales at 6,74,961 units in September.

A total of 116 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, whereas 13 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.