Indian shares subdued as holiday lull sets in; RCom surges 10%

sensex
A man looks at a screen across a road displaying the Sensex on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India. REUTERS

Indian stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors refrained from taking big bets ahead of the year-end holidays.

Asian shares rose to a one-month high, and were on track for their best annual performance since 2009. Trading volumes were, however, low ahead of New-Year holidays.

Japanese and Australian shares were little changed, while benchmarks in Hong Kong and Seoul were higher.

MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, also held near record highs, Reuters data showed. It has surged 21.5 percent this year.

At 0600 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.03 percent at 33,924 while the broader NSE Nifty gained 0.11 percent to 10,501.

Also Read: SGX scales past 3,400 in afternoon session; DBS, OCBC advance

Among the top Sensex gainers, Hindustan Unilever rose 1.3 percent, Tata Steel gained 1.3 percent, Coal India advanced 0.7 percent while Tata Consultancy Services was up 0.6 percent.

DLF added 2 percent after its shareholders on Wednesday approved an issue of debentures and warrants to promoters in lieu of Rs 11,250 crore equity infusion into the company to reduce debt.

Reliance Communications jumped 10 percent. The stock has gained over 150 percent in the last seven trading sessions after the company announced a Rs39,000-crore debt resolution plan.

Kotle Patil Developers climbed 4 percent after the company signed Rs 193 crore agreement with KKR.

But Axis Bank fell 1.2 percent after the markets regulator on Wednesday asked the bank to conduct an internal inquiry into the suspected leak of its June-quarter financial results.

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

This article was first published on December 28, 2017
READ MORE