10:30AM The Sensex advances in volatile trading boosted by domestic growth.
The Sensex on BSE finished 79.58 points, or 0.58%, higher at 13,696.31. The market-breadth was negative. For 1,341 shares that declined on BSE, 1,217 advanced and 58 shares were unchanged. From the Sensex 30 stocks, 18 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,954 crore, lower than Rs 4,409 crore on Wednesday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 12,725.13 crore, much higher than Rs 8,083.89 crore on Wednesday.

Economic news

The economic growth of India unexpectedly accelerated to 9.2% last quarter, driven by government and consumer spending that may force the central bank to raise interest rates to curb inflation. The expansion reported by the Central Statistical Organisation in New Delhi today was more than the 8.9% predicted by economists for the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier.

Most Active

Recent IPO Parsvnath was the most active stock with a turnover of Rs 865 crore followed by Action Construction, Info Edge, Lanco Infrastructure and Indiabulls.

Advancers

Private sector banking large-cap HDFC Bank led the gainers, up 3.21% to Rs 1,122, on a volume of 71,305 shares. ICICI Bank was up 1.53% to Rs 870, State Bank of India advanced 1% to Rs 1314, Karnataka Bank gained 3.89% to Rs 129.50, UTI Bank added 0.83% to Rs 475 and Kotak Mahindra Bank edged up 1.86% to Rs 380.

IT shares were in focus. Satyam Computers gained 0.73% to Rs 455, Wipro jumped 1.70% to Rs 593 and Infosys added 0.51% to Rs 2,168.20. The ADRs of the three software export leaders, Infosys, Satyam and Wipro, rose between 0.5% and 1.8% on Wednesday.

Software large-cap TCS surged 2.11% to Rs 1,189, after signing a 7-year deal worth $65 million for reorganising IT services of Somerfield. Somerfield is a leading UK-based, small-format food retailer.

Dr Reddy’s Lab advanced 2.91% to Rs 756, as ICICI Securities reiterated a buy on the stock, fairly valuing it at Rs 997.

Among non-Sensex stocks, Raipur Alloys & Steel jumped 20% to Rs 122.70, as Reliance Mutual Fund acquired 12.5 lakh shares at Rs 100.47 per share, vide block deals, on Wednesday. Gujarat Apollo Equipments surged 8.03% to Rs 197.10, as the company deferred the rights issue indefinitely on Tuesday.

Decliners

Tata Steel led the decliners, down 1.99% to Rs 467.50, as 4.36 lakh shares changed hands on BSE. Index heavy Reliance Industries lost 0.24% to Rs 1,246.10, on a volume of 4.84 lakh shares. Hindalco and Gujarat Ambuja declined 1.5% each to Rs 173 and Rs 144, respectively.

Oil & refinery stocks declined after the government announced a reduction in retail prices of diesel and petrol by Re 1 and Rs 2, respectively, on Wednesday. Indian Oil Corporation shed 3.74% to Rs 446, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation lost 2.72% to Rs 284 and Bharat Petroleum Corporation was off 2.88% to Rs 344.

Other news

Real estate developer Parsvnath Developers closed at Rs 540, up 80% from its listing price of Rs 240 and issue price of Rs 300 on the BSE.


9:45AM Stocks opened flat on mixed retail sales and rising oil.
Stocks were flat at opening after retailers posted mixed sales results for November and consumer spending rebounded, showing its biggest increase in three months in October. Blue-chip stocks edged higher, helped by same-store sales from retailers including solid numbers from Target Corp. (TGT: chart) and disappointing data from J.C. Penney Co. (JCP: chart). Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) weighed as it projected flat sales in December after reporting 0.1% decline in November same-store sales. Shares of Federated (FD: chart) rose 1.7% after the company posted a stronger-than-expected gain in November same-store sales. Shares of shoe retailer DSW Inc. shot up 13% after the company posted strong quarterly earnings and raised its yearly forecast. Crude oil prices rose to a two-month high, helping energy shares. Exxon (XOM: chart) shares gave the biggest lift to the S&P 500, up 1%, hitting an all-time high. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 14.26 points, or 0.12%, at 12,240.99. The Standard & Poor''s 500 Index was up 1.13 points, or 0.08%, at 1,400.61. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.15 points, or 0.01%, at 2,432.08.