Closing Bell: Bulls make a comeback and how! Sensex ends 180 pts higher, Nifty above 10,700

Bulls made a roaring comeback on a day that looked like a bearish day. A sharp recovery across sectors, particularly in the broader markets, helped the indices end sharply higher.

The Nifty clocked 10,700 again and ended above that mark.

Among sectors, maximum surge was seen among banks and infrastructure names, while IT and pharmaceuticals lost the most.

At the close of market hours, the Sensex closed up 179.79 points or 0.51% at 35649.94, while the Nifty was up 66.40 points or 0.62% at 10729.90. The market breadth was negative as 1089 shares advanced, against a decline of 1441 shares, while 155 shares were unchanged.

Airtel, Adani Ports, and Zee were the top gainers, while Sun Pharma and Yes Bank lost the most.

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Two-wheeler sales in India is expected to grow at 8-10 percent in 2018-19 amid concerns over increasing cost of acquisition disturbing positive demand drivers, according to ratings agency ICRA.

Supported by growing per capita income, improved farm sentiment following near-normal monsoon over the last three financial years, higher minimum support price (MSP) and farm loan waiver in select states, the domestic two-wheeler industry volumes are expected to grow at 8-10 per cent during FY2019, ICRA said in a statement.

The ratings agency further said it has a stable outlook on the Indian two-wheeler industry.

The sector has reported 11.1 percent year-on-year volume growth in April-October 2019. (Source: PTI

Company said board of directors declared a one-time special (Interim) dividend of Rs 5 per share for the financial year 2018-19 and approved the buyback of fully paid up equity shares of Re 1 each not exceeding 5 crore share at a price of Rs 140 per share.

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Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kurodawarned of heightening global economic uncertainties but stressed that Japan's recovery had become resilient enough to fend off any external shocks.

"The stock market has been somewhat unstable. The fluctuations are partly attributable to changes in perception of various risks surrounding the global economy," he said.

"The BOJ will continue to carefully examine global market developments and various risks," Kuroda said in a speech at an annual meeting of the business lobby Keidanren.(Source: Reuters)

Gold prices hit a six-month high as concerns over global growth and a partial government shutdown in the United States fuelled risk aversion, prompting investors to seek refuge in the metal.

USgold futures were up 0.46 percent at $1,277.60 per ounce.

Asian equities were shaky following a Christmas eve USstocks plunge. Wall Street has dropped sharply in recent weeks on concerns over weaker economic growth, compounded by political instability in the United States after a partial government shutdown.(Source: Reuters)

National Fertilizers shares rallied 3 percent intraday after the company signed loan agreement with country's largest lender State Bank of India.

On December 24, the fertiliser maker has signed rupee loan agreement with SBI for an amount of Rs 1,044 crore.

Hence, NFL has achieved financial closure for its energy reduction schemes at Panipat, Nangal and Bathinda projects and other capex at various units with total project cost of Rs 1,160 crore.

With the coal demand from power sector exceeding the supply in 2018, the government is hopeful of higher output in the new year from already allocated mines and plans to further allot 10 mines to state-run behemoth Coal India Ltd (CIL) in 2019.

Of the 85 mines already allotted, 23 have already started production and the Coal Ministry expects 20 more mines to begin production in the current financial year ending March 2019 or early in the next fiscal.

"This will increase our production substantially... This will also address additional coal demand from power sector," Coal Joint Secretary Ashish Upadhyaya told PTI.

Autoline Industries shares rallied 8.8 percent intraday after the company decided to sell land & building in Chakan unit in Pune to reduce debt burden.

"To achieve the operational efficiency, cost reduction and reduce the debt, the company has taken one more major step by way of consolidating one of its manufacturing facility situated at Mhalunge, Pune to its Chakan units situated at Pune," the auto ancillary company said in its filing.

Accordingly, the company has entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Poddar Habitat Pvt Ltd to transfer the said land and buildings thereon.

Autoline said it would utilise the sale proceeds to settle the debt that has a charge on the above said immovable property and reduce overall debt exposure of the company.

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Benchmark indices showed slight recovery from day's low in late morning deals. Index heavyweight ITC turned positive and flat HDFC Bank continued to support the market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 321.64 points to 35,148.51and the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 86.20 points to 10,577.30.