Share Market News: Sensex, Nifty climb as inflation cools; Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, TechM top gainers

Share Market Updates Today: Indian equity benchmarks on Tuesday started on a higher note as retail inflation cooled below the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance limit (6 per cent) in November. The consumer price-based inflation rose 5.88 per cent last month from 6.77 per cent in October.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 238 points or 0.38 per cent to trade at 62,368, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 57 points or 0.31 per cent to trade at 18,555.

Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Tata Steel were among the top gainers on the NSE platform today with their shares up as much as 1.21 per cent. In contrast, Apollo Hospitals, PowerGrid, HUL, BPCL and Asian Paints were among the top laggards.

Mid- and small-cap shares were positive as Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.12 per cent and small-cap climbed 0.30 per cent.

Nine out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Private Bank were outperforming the NSE platform by rising 0.98 per cent and 0.58 per cent, respectively. On the flip side, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Pharma slipped 0.30 per cent and 0.21 per cent, each.

The overall market breadth stood strong as 1,974 shares were seen advancing while 858 were declining on BSE.

Yes Bank, JP Power, JP Associates, Suzlon, IRFC, PNB, South Indian Bank, Central Bank of India, IFCI and Dhanlaxmi Bank were the most active stocks on the NSE platform, in terms of volume.

On the global front, Asian shares mostly climbed, tracking an overnight surge in Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.30 per cent, South Korea's Kospi edged 0.03 per cent higher and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.56 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite, however, shed 0.21 per cent.

All three major US stock indexes settled sharply higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 529 points or 1.58 per cent to close at 34,005; the S&P 500 jumped 56 points or 1.43 per cent to finish at 3,991; and the Nasdaq Composite gained 139 points or 1.26 per cent to settle at 11,144.

investors would now focus on the US inflation data, due at 7:00 pm today, and the Federal Reserve's rate decision, scheduled later this week.

Oil price

Brent crude futures rose 94 cents, or 1.21 per cent, to $78.93 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 84 cents, or 1.15 per cent, to $74.01. Oil prices moved higher after falling to the lowest level this year on global recession fears.

Stocks in F&O ban

BHEL, Delta Corp, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC) and Punjab National Bank (PNB) are in F&O (Futures and Options) ban period today. Stocks are placed under F&O ban when the derivative contracts in their securities cross 95 per cent of the market-wide position limit.

FII-DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Rs 138.81 crore worth of shares, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 695.60 crore worth of shares on December 12, provisional NSE data showed.