Sensex, Nifty close at record high; Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Coal India major gainers

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices on Monday (January 13) closed at record closing high. The Sensex was up 259.97 points or 0.62% at 41859.69, while Nifty ended up 72.70 points or 0.59% at 12329.50. Major gainers on the Nifty were Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Coal India, GAIL and Bharti Airtel, while top losers were Yes Bank, Bharti Infratel, UPL, TCS, and Eicher Motors.

About 1532 shares advanced, 970 shares declined, while 175 shares remain unchanged. All the sectoral indices ended in the green led by the IT, metal, FMCG, pharma, energy, and bank.

During early hours today, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 215 points to 41,814 while the Nifty 50 ticked up by 55 points at 12,312. Except for Nifty auto, all sectoral indices were in the positive zone. Nifty IT gained by 1.36 per cent, pharma by 0.87 per cent and FMCG by 0.77 per cent. 

Equity benchmark indices traded with a positive note as global investors waited for US President Donald Trump and Chinese officials to sign the long-awaited phase one trade deal later this week. 

Among stocks, Infosys rose by 4.15 per cent after the IT major reported 11 per cent jump in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 2019 (Q3 FY20) to Rs 4,457 crore from Rs 4,019 crore quarter-on-quarter due to higher other income and lower other expenses. 

Wipro gained by 1.4 per cent while HCL Technologies was up by 1.3 per cent. Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr Reddy`s ticked up by 2 per cent, 1.2 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. 

Meanwhile, world stock markets ticked higher on Monday, hovering just below record levels ahead of the expected signing of a Phase 1 China-US trade deal, although markets have yet to see details of the agreement.

After Asian shares touched 19-month highs, European bourses ticked up at the open. Germany`s DAX rose 0.2%, France`s CAC 40 gained 0.1% and Britain`s FTSE 100 added 0.3%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was marginally higher, eking out a 0.02% gain.

US S&P 500 e-mini stock futures were looking more bullish, rising 0.31% to 3,274.8, just short of record highs.

MSCI`s All Country World Index, which tracks shares across 47 markets, was up 0.1%, just short of a record high hit last week.

On Monday afternoon in Asia, MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.67%, touching its highest level since June 2018.

South Korea`s trade-sensitive Kospi added 1.04% and Hong Kong`s Hang Seng was up 1.11%, while Taiwan shares added 0.74% in the first trading day after Taiwan re-elected President Tsai Ing-wen by a landslide on Saturday.

Mainland Chinese shares lagged the regional index after China`s major equity indexes logged their sixth consecutive weekly rise last week, the longest such streak since the first quarter of 2019.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.19% in the afternoon, turning around from losses earlier in the session.

Investors in China are looking ahead to trade and economic growth data due this week, which is expected to shed more light on early signs of economic improvement after the country logged its slowest pace of growth in nearly three decades in the third quarter.

Japan`s Nikkei was closed for a holiday. It fell sharply early last week when Iran attacked bases hosting US military in Iraq, only to rally almost a thousand points when the two countries stepped back from hostilities.

The main event of the week will be the signing of the Phase 1 trade deal between the United States and China on Wednesday. The Trump administration has invited at least 200 people to the White House for the ceremony.

(With Agency Inputs)