Indian share markets  trimmed some of their early gains in the afternoon session but still finished the trading session on a firm note. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 124 points, while the NSE Nifty finished up by 37 points. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Mid Cap & the S&P BSE Small Cap finished up by 0.3% respectively. Gains were largely seen in realty stocks, PSU stocks, auto stocks and FMCG stocks.

PSU bank stocks rallied in today’s trade with Indian Bank share price and Central Bank share price leading the gains. SBI share price surged 2.1% in today’s trade.

Asian stock markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.17%, while the Nikkei 225 & the Hang Seng fell 0.44% and 0.22% respectively. European markets are lower today with shares in France off the most. The CAC 40 is down 0.87% while Germany’s DAX is off 0.66% and London’s FTSE 100 is lower by 0.56%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 64.77 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 45.77 at the time of writing.

In news from economic sector, International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that India’s economic growth outlook has improved as the impact of government’s demonetisation drive to curb black money seems to be fading and recent key structural reforms are paying off. Though, it also noted that concerns are growing on corporate debt and banking system vulnerabilities.

IMF has stated that there is ‘cautious optimism’ about the global economy but policy efforts are still required to reinforce the recovery. It pointed out that the global recovery continues, even as the composition of growth is shifting among the large economies. It also expects that global growth to be around 3.5% this year and next.