Steady buying in index pivotals helped the key benchmark indices held firm in mid-morning trade. At 11:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 91.48 points or 0.27% at 34,423.16. The Nifty 50 index was up 32.10 points or 0.3% at 10,558.30. Cement stocks rose after cement major ACC reported good Q1 result. Telecom stocks declined. Positive Asian stocks boosted sentiment on the domestic bourses.
Key indices resumed uptrend after taking a one-day pause yesterday, 18 April 2018 on positive Asian stocks. Indices hovered in near day's high in morning trade. Stocks had corrected yesterday, 18 April 2018 after rising in past nine consecutive sessions. On that day, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 63.38 points or 0.18% at 34,331.68 while the Nifty 50 index fell 22.50 points or 0.21% at 10,526.20. The Sensex had jumped 1,375.99 points, or 4.17% in nine trading sessions to settle at 34,395.06 on 17 April 2017, from its low of 33,019.07 on 4 April 2018.
Coming back to today's trade, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.31%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.37%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,216 shares rose and 1,010 shares fell. A total of 140 shares were unchanged.
Cement stocks rose after cement major ACC reported good Q1 result. Ambuja Cements (up 1.8%) and UltraTech Cement (up 3.42%) gained. Shree Cement (down 0.03%) fell.
Grasim Industries was up 1.31%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
ACC rose 1.85% after consolidated profit after tax rose 18.48% to Rs 250 crore on 14.45% increase in net sales to Rs 3557 crore in Q1 March 2018 over Q1 March 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 18 April 2018.
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Operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 17.99% to Rs 492 crore in Q1 March 2018 over Q1 March 2017. Cement sales volume rose 7.73% to 7.11 million tonnes in Q1 March 2018 over Q1 March 2017.
A rise in energy and slag prices adversely impacted operating costs during the quarter as compared to the same quarter a year ago. Despite a challenging external environment, cost savings were achieved through sustained improvement in operational efficiencies, optimization and robust control on fixed costs, the company said in a statement.
In its outlook, ACC said increased government spending on infrastructure development including roads and railways, housing and other schemes as announced in the Union Budget are expected to reinvigorate the construction sector and boost demand for cement and concrete during 2018.
Telecom stocks declined. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 1.04%), Reliance Communications (down 2.38%), Idea Cellular (down 0.77%) and MTNL (down 0.25%) fell. Bharti Airtel (up 1.68%) rose.
Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 0.31%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.
Overseas, Asian stocks rose, building on gains a day earlier, with oil prices at 3-year highs helping to boost sentiment for the region's equities.
In US, the Dow industrials ended lower yesterday, 18 April 2018 as IBM's shares got walloped; however, gains in shares of energy-related firms helped the broader market post modest gains. Wall Street showed a muted reaction to the release of the Beige Book report, which underscored that economic activity remained at a modest to moderate pace in March and early April.
The Fed's Beige Book showed that economic activity remained at a modest to moderate pace, though nine of the 12 regional banks expressed concerns about trade tariffs, centered on the tit-for-tat spat between Beijing and Washington.
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