Stocks trimmed gains in morning trade after an initial upmove. At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 86.63 points or 0.24% at 35,992.06. The Nifty 50 index was up 18.60 points or 0.17% at 10,825.25. The Sensex was trading a tad below the psychological 36,000 level after regaining that level in opening trade.
Trading for the day began on positive note as the key benchmark indices drifted higher in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals.
Trading could be volatile as traders roll over positions in the F&O segment from the near month February 2019 series to March 2019 series. The February 2019 F&O contracts expire today, 28 February 2019.
On the economic front, the government will announce data on infrastructure output for January today, 28 February 2019. The government will also announce data on fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) today, 28 February 2019. The Indian economy advanced 7.1% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018, well below 8.2% in the previous period.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.28%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.56%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1154 shares rose and 592 shares fell. A total of 97 shares were unchanged.
ONGC (up 2.03%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.88%), Vedanta (up 1.7%), Tata Motors (up 1.44%) and Coal India (up 1.26%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
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Hero MotoCorp (down 1.39%), Axis Bank (down 0.61%), M&M (down 0.56%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.51%) and HCL Technologies (down 0.48%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Allahabad Bank fell 0.32%. Allahabad Bank said that its board approved raising equity capital of the bank by an amount aggregating upto Rs 6896 crore through preferential issue of equity shares to the Government of India against their capital infusion of Rs 6896 crore in the bank, subject to requisite approval of shareholders and other statutory/regulatory authorities. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 February 2019.
Odisha Cement lost 2.57%. Odisha Cement informed that certain mutual fund units, valued at approximately Rs 344 crore have been illegally and unauthorisedly transferred by the depository participant ('DP') from the demat accounts held by erstwhile subsidiaries, OCL India (OCL) and Dalmia Cement East (DCEL). The company has reported the matter to National Securities Depository (NSDL), National Stock Exchange (NSE) and other appropriate authorities including Sebi. The investigation has already been initiated by Sebi and appropriate actions are being taken including keeping the transfer/redemption of the said units on hold. The firm has also filed a criminal complaint with the Economic Offences Wing, New Delhi. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 February 2019.
Overseas, Asian stocks were trading lower on Thursday after cautious comments from US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer dented some of the recent optimism towards China-US trade relations. US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are beginning the second day of their high-stakes nuclear summit with a one-on-one discussion in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
U.S. stocks bounced off intraday lows but still closed mostly lower Wednesday as investors focused on separate congressional testimonies from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on U.S.-China trade negotiations and a second day of Congressional hearings featuring Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell.
Powell testified in front of the House, a day after he affirmed the central bank's wait-and-see approach to rate increases, citing slower global growth and its effect on the U.S. Lighthizer appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee on U.S.-China trade to provide more insight into the progress of negotiations between the world's two largest economies. He also said the U.S. plans to officially abandon an increase in tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25%, from 10% currently.
In Europe, investors have been keeping tabs on Britain's tumultuous exit from the European Union with a March 29 deadline looming. British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday said she would look to delay Brexit if a departure deal isn't agreed upon.
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