Markets end at highest level since December 3

Benchmark share indices ended at three-week closing highs on Wednesday, amid strong global cues, led by oil & gas and metal shares.

Renewed buying interest by foreign funds also boosted investor sentiment.

Stock exchanges will remain closed on Friday on account of Christmas Day holiday. Further, the winter session of the parliament ends today.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended up 260 points at 25,850 and the NIfty50 closed 80 points higher at 7,866.

On December 3, 2015, the S&P BSE Sensex had ended at 25,887 and the Nifty50 had ended at 7,864.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.3%-0.6% each. Market breadth remained positive with 1,598 gainers and 962 losers on the BSE.

"Market have been rangebound over the past few sessions and would continue to do so till the expiry of November F&O contracts next week.

Further, the metal sector which was beaten down is witnessing buying at lower levels as valuations have turned attractive," said Kunj Bansal, CIO, Centrum Wealth Management.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 169 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

India's current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $8.2 billion (1.6% of gross domestic product) in the September 2015 quarter from $10.9 billion (2.2% of GDP) in the year-ago quarter.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Most Asian markets ended trading higher on Wednesday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street and stability in global crude oil prices. However, market participation was lacklustre on account of the Christmas holidays during the weekend.Japanese markets were closed for trading today.

Shanghai COmposite ended down 0.40% while Hang Seng gained nearly 1% and Straits Times ended up 0.4%.

European shares surged on Wednesday led by mining stocks tracking gains in copper prices. Major stock indices were up over 1% each with FTSE-100, CAC-40 and DAX were each trading 1.5% higher.

NEW LISTINGS

Dr Lal PathLabs ended up 16% at Rs 835 on the National Stock Exchange after hitting an intra-day high of Rs 844. Earlier, the stock listed at Rs 720, a 31% premium to its issue price of Rs 550 per share on the NSE.

Alkem Laboratories ended flat at Rs 1,381 after hitting an intra-day high of Rs 1,414 on the National Stock Exchange. Earlier, the stock made its debut at Rs 1,380, a 31% premium against its issue price of Rs 1,050 per share, on the NSE.

STOCKS IN FOCUS

All sectoral indices on the BSE ended higher led by BSE Metal index up 1.9% followed by Healthcare, Capital Goods, Power and Realty indices among others.

Oil and gas shares gained after global crude oil stabilised after they hit 11-year lows early this week.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries ended up 1.6% contributing the most to the Sensex gains.

ONGC gained 2% after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Tuesday, 22 December 2015, has given its approval for investment of Rs 5000 crore by ONGC into the equity share capital of ONGC Videsh by conversion of existing loan of equivalent amount into equity.

GAIL was the top Sensex gainer up 5.8%. GAIL India has extended last date of bidding for its $7 billion tender for hiring nine newly built ships for ferrying LNG from the US by over two months to allow Indian shipyards to tie up technology for building the specialised vessels.

Hindalco ended was up 5.6% tracking firm global copper prices. Among mining stocks, Vedanta closed 3.7% higher.

Tata Steel ended up 2.5% after its overseas subsidiary Tata Steel UK has signed a letter of intent with Greybull Capital, an investment company, to enter exclusive negotiations for a potential sale of its long products Europe business.

IT majors which had weakened in the previous on account of sharp hike in US visa fees gained in today's session. Infosys and TCS ended up 0.6%-1.3% each. However, Wipro ended flat.

Sun Pharma extended gains to end 3.5% higher on short-covering. The stock which had witnessed sharp decline on Monday rebounded today after domestic brokerage Kotak said that the warning letter from the USFDA did not indicate any major data integrity issues.

Capital goods shares witnessed renewed buying interest. L&T ended up 1% while PSU engineering major BHEL gained nearly 4%.

Image: The Bombay Stock Exchange. Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com