Market continued to trade with tiny gains in afternoon trade amid lack of substantial global or domestic cues. At 13:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 69.11 points or 0.23% at 29,995.26. The Nifty 50 index rose 18.85 points or 0.2% at 9,332.90.
Sluggish trade in Indian stocks was in line with quiet trade in Asian stocks and tiny gains in US stocks overnight. Marginal gains in European indices in early trade also kept investors' spirits low. Auto and pharma stocks witnessed mixed trend.
The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.28%. The BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.71%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,473 shares rose and 1,139 shares fell. A total of 162 shares were unchanged.
Auto stocks were mixed. Tata Motors (up 1.04%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.71%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.59%), Eicher Motors (up 0.33%) and Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.23%) edged higher. Hero MotoCorp (down 1.79%), Escorts (down 0.73%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.42%) and TVS Motor Company (down 0.12%) edged lower.
Pharma stocks also witnessed a mixed trend. Divi's Laboratories (up 0.92%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.89%) and GlaxoSmithkline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.11%) edged higher. Aurobindo Pharma (down 1.09%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.3%), Cipla (down 0.25%) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.09%) edged lower.
Gillette India rose 2.94% at Rs 4,950.55, with the stock extending yesterday's rally triggered by the company reporting good Q3 March 2017 results. The stock had surged 9.09% to settle at Rs 4,809.20 yesterday, 8 May 2017.
Also Read
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said yesterday, 8 May 2017 that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is on schedule for implementation from 1 July 2017 and will not lead to any significant increase in prices of goods although cost of some services may see a marginal hike.
Overseas, European stocks edged higher in early trade as investors searched for the next catalyst following the French election.
German industrial production fell by less than expected in March and trade proved resilient, data showed, supporting expectations for a robust performance of Europe's biggest economy in the first quarter. Industrial output edged down by 0.4% on the month, data from the Economy Ministry showed.
Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend. Markets in Korea are closed as voters there elect a new president after former President Park Geun-hye was removed from office over a corruption scandal.
In US, the S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite indices notched records yesterday, 8 May 2017, but indexes finished little-changed as materials shares capped a climb in the energy sector. Trading activity was listless after Emmanuel Macron's closely watched, but expected, presidential election victory in France on Sunday, 7 May 2017.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content