Nifty above 17,300; strong market breadth

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with strong gains in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals. The Nifty was trading above the 17,300 mark.

At 09:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 335.49 points or 0.58% to 58,129.81. The Nifty 50 index added 103.15 points or 0.60% to 17,307.10.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, Hindalco (up 3.61%), Titan (up 2.09%), Axis Bank (up 1.71%), Kotak Bank (up 1.32%) and Tata Motors (up 1.25%) were the top index gainers.

Meanwhile, NTPC (down 1.34%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.50%), Dr. Reddy`s Lab (down 0.40%), ONGC (down 0.32%) and IndusInd Bank (down 0.30%) edged lower.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.55% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.78%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2046 shares rose and 477 shares fell. A total of 67 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.73% to Rs 2373.55. Reliance New Energy Solar (RNESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% shareholding in Faradion for an enterprise value of GBP 100 million. In addition, RNESL will also invest GBP 25 million as growth capital to accelerate commercial roll out.

Power Grid Corporation of India added 0.05% to Rs 205.45. The company has approved investment proposal for expansion of POWERGRID telecom into data centre business and to establish a data centre at Manesar at an estimated cost of about around Rs 322 crore.

Biocon advanced 0.40% to Rs 362.60. Biocon Biologics, a subsidiary of Biocon, announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (USCAFC) has upheld the U.S. Patent and Trademark Appeal Board`s decisions for unpatentability of five device patents for Sanofi`s Lantus SoloSTAR, as well as a district court decision on one of these patents.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are trading mixed on Friday in thin year-end trading, with markets in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand closed for holidays while those in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong are set to close early.

China`s factory activity saw an acceleration in growth during December, with the official manufacturing Purchasing Managers` Index (PMI) coming in at 50.3 for that month from November`s reading of 50.1, according to data released Friday by the country`s National Bureau of Statistics.

Wall Street closed lower on Thursday, retreating late in thin holiday volume from record highs set early in the session on strong U.S. data including a drop in weekly claims for U.S. unemployment benefits.

On the data front, new claims for US unemployment benefits fell in the week leading up to Christmas and benefits rolls slid to their lowest level of the coronavirus pandemic era the week earlier, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 198,000 for the week ended December 25 from a revised 206,000 a week earlier.

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