Key barometers were hovering near the day's high in early afternoon trade. At 12:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 168.07 points or 0.49% at 34,512.98. The Nifty 50 index was up 39.55 points or 0.38% at 10,469.90. Gains were triggered by bargain hunting following a steep sell off in the previous session.
The market opened on a positive note and build up gains as the session progressed. Indices held firm at higher levels in early afternoon trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.21%. The BSE Small-Cap index were down 0.06%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1176 shares rose and 1144 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.
Cement shares declined. UltraTech Cement (down 1.35%), ACC (down 0.56%) and Ambuja Cements (down 0.02%, edged lower.
Grasim Industries was down 2.74%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
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Most telecom shares declined. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 4.74%), Bharti Airtel (up 2.17%), Idea Cellular (up 1.10%) and Reliance Communications (up 1.05%), edged higher. MTNL was down 0.62%.
Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel was down 0.54%.
On the political front, Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Kumaraswamy took oath as Karnataka chief minister on Wednesday, 23 May 2018. The southern state got its second CM in a week after BJP's BS Yeddyurappa resigned moments before floor test in the Karnataka Assembly on last Saturday, 19 May 2018.
Kumaraswamy was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Vajubhai Vala in front of the Vidhana Soudha. Following Kumaraswamy, senior Congress leader G Parameshwara took oath as Karnataka's deputy CM. 22 of Karnataka's 34 ministries will be from the Congress while the JD(S) will head the 12 others. The portfolios will be decided after the floor test which is reportedly scheduled on Friday.
Overseas, Asian shares were mixed as the trade dispute between the US and China remained in focus. US stocks closed higher Wednesday, after the minutes from the Federal Reserve's 2 May 2018 meeting appeared to have reassured investors that the central bank will not be too aggressive with raising interest rates. Stocks were under pressure earlier as geopolitical and trade concerns continued to dent investor sentiment.
The US Department of Commerce started an investigation into automobile imports to determine whether they threaten to impair the national security of the United States. The new US probe will be carried out under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. That section of the law authorizes the secretary of Commerce to determine the effects of imports of any article on the national security of the United States.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve officials would be content to let inflation briefly run above their 2% target as the economy continues to recover, according to minutes from the central bank's most recent meeting. Following the May 1-2 session, the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said it was not raising rates yet but added the word symmetric to describe its inflation goal. The summary released Wednesday indicates a substantial level of debate over how the Fed should approach inflation. The minutes also pointed to an interest rate hike at the June meeting amid debate over how close the Fed might be getting to the end of this rate-hiking cycle
On the US data front, the IHS Markit purchasing managers index for May inched up to 56.6 from 56.5 in the previous reading. Separately, Markit's PMI for services rose to 55.7 from April's 54.6. New-home sales came in at a 662,000 seasonally adjusted rate in April.
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