A divergent trend was witnessed in afternoon trade as the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading with small losses while the Nifty 50 index was trading with minor gains. At 13:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 20.17 points or 0.06% at 34,163.87. The Nifty 50 index was up 1.75 points or 0.02% at 10,494.60. Auto and telecom stocks saw mixed trend. Gains triggered by by better-than-expected domestic economic growth were almost offset by losses due to negative Asian stocks.
Main barometers opened higher and hit fresh intraday high in early trade. Selling at higher levels dragged the key indices to the day's low in mid-morning trade. Key indices pared losses in early afternoon trade. The Sensex rose 94.59 points, or 0.28% at the day's high of 34,278.63 in early trade. The index fell 103.43 points, or 0.30% at the day's low of 34,080.61 in mid-morning trade. The Nifty rose 32.65 points, or 0.31% at the day's high of 10,525.50 in early trade. The index fell 23 points, or 0.22% at the day's low of 10,469.85 in mid-morning trade.
Among secondary barometers back home, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.06%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.31%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,368 shares rose and 1,155 shares fell. A total of 147 shares were unchanged.
Auto stocks saw mixed trend. Tata Motors (up 1.2%), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (up 0.73%), Eicher Motors (up 0.93%) and Escorts (up 0.14%) gained. SML Isuzu (down 0.45%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.63%) and TVS Motor Company (down 0.59%) fell.
Car major Maruti Suzuki India was down 0.06%. The company said that its total sales rose 15% to 1.49 lakh units in February 2018 over February 2017. The announcement was made during market hours today, 1 March 2018. Domestic sales rose 14.2% to Rs 1.37 lakh units in February 2018 over February 2017. Exports jumped 24.9% to 11,924 units in February 2018 over February 2017.
Commercial vehicles maker Ashok Leyland was off 0.07%. The company said that its total sales rose 29% to 18,181 units in February 2018 over February 2017. The announcement was made during market hours today, 1 March 2018.
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Motorcycle maker Bajaj Auto was up 0.54% after the company said that its total sales rose 31% to 3.57 lakh units in February 2018 over February 2017. Bajaj Auto's domestic sales rose 35% to 2.14 lakh units in February 2018 over February 2017. Exports surged 26% to 1.43 lakh units. The announcement was made before market hours today, 1 March 2018.
Telecom stocks saw mixed trend. Bharti Airtel (up 1.24%), MTNL (up 0.44%) and Reliance Communications (up 1.94%) rose. Idea Cellular (down 0.42%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.97%) fell.
Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 0.5%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.
Sanghi Industries gained 1.12% to Rs 117.65 as the meeting of the business operations and finance committee will be held on 6 March 2018 to approve the allotment of non convertible debentures on private placement basis. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 28 February 2018.
On the macro front, India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth further accelerated to 7.2% in Q3 December 2017, showing improvement from 6.5% growth in the preceding last quarter and 6.8% in the corresponding quarter last year. The GDP growth stood at 6.4% in April-December 2017, compared with 7.5% recorded in the corresponding period last year. The GDP growth estimate for 2017-18 has been revised upwards to 6.6% at second advances estimates level from 6.5% at first advance estimate level released in early January 2018.
Meanwhile, the output of eight core infrastructure sector comprising 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), improved to 6.7% in January 2018 over January 2017.
Overseas, most Asian stocks declined, tracking overnight slide in US equities. Growth in China's manufacturing sector unexpectedly picked up to a six-month high in February. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) edged up to 51.6 last month, from 51.5 in January. The 50-mark divides expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.
US stocks ended lower on Wednesday, as Wall Street digested data that were seen as underlining the economy's robust health. Strong economy could warrant the Federal Reserve to turn more hawkish.
In the latest economic data, the pace of growth in the US economy was trimmed to 2.5% from 2.6% in the fourth quarter, largely because of a slower buildup in inventories of unsold goods.
Separately, the Chicago PMI came in at 61.9 in February. Pending-home sales fell 4.7% in January, the lowest reading since October 2014, and the biggest monthly decline since 2010.
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