Sensex, Nifty, Midcap hold morning gains; Tata Motors falls

Moneycontrol News12:56 pm Market Check: Sensex continued its uptrend and was up 195.06 points at 28938.38. Meanwhile, the Nifty was eyeing 8950-mark and was up 54.80 points at 8934.40.The market breadth was marginally narrowing compared to movements in the morning. About 1,629 shares had advanced, 993 shares fell, while 159 shares remain unchanged. 12:40 pm Ex-FM on surprising GDP: Former finance minister, P Chidambaram, says it is too early to celebrate. Official data showed India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7 percent annually for the quarter, sharply beating expectations for a 6.4 percent growth rate in a Reuters poll. The economy slowed from the September quarter's 7.3 percent annual growth rate. "The GDP numbers have come as a bit of a surprise," Chidambaram told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Wednesday, adding that the 7 percent projection by India's Central Statistics Office is completely out of line with other projections he had seen, including estimates made by the IMF, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy. He said, "All these are very credible institutions which have made credible forecast in the past, so I think we'll have to take this number for what it is for the time being and examine it closely."12:20 pm FII View: "With no material change in earnings estimates and no visible evidence suggesting the risk of consensus earnings downgrades – seen over the past three consecutive years - is now firmly behind us, the liquidity-driven expansion in valuations looks unlikely to sustain," Abhay Laijawala of Deutsche Bank says.

Laijawala further says while he remains excited about the roll-out of the GST (Goods & Services Tax) in July, he sees this impacting consensus earnings in second half of FY18 following the rollout.Also read - D-Mart owner Avenue Supermarts sets IPO price band at Rs 295-29912:00 pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets maintained morning gains, driven by banking & financials, FMCG and pharma stocks after Q3 GDP data surprised street.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 194.54 points at 28937.86 and the 50share NSE Nifty rose 51.75 points to 8931.35 while the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices were up around 0.6 percent.

About 1593 shares advanced against 936 declining shares on the BSE.

India's real gross domestic product (GDP) beat consensus estimates, growing 7 percent YoY in Q3FY17 as private consumption grew at the fastest pace in 17 quarters.

Tata Motors fell over a percent ahead of February sales data due later today. Maruti Suzuki was up 0.2 percent after sales in the month gone by grew 11 percent while Eicher Motors fell 0.6 percent as Royal Enfield sales missed analysts' expectations, growing 19 percent year-on-year.

Index heavyweights HDFC, Infosys, ITC and ICICI Bank continued to support the market, up 1-2 percent.

Gold fell today as the dollar strengthened on hawkish comments overnight from US Federal Reserve officials, while an eagerly awaited speech by US President Donald Trump contained few specifics or surprises.