Key indices held firm in early afternoon trade after an intraday spurt. At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 388.12 points or 1.09% at 35,979.37. The Nifty 50 index was up 97.60 points or 0.92% at 10,749.40. Oil stocks gained.
Trading could be volatile during the day as traders roll over positions in the F&O segment from the near month January 2019 series to February 2019 series. The January 2019 F&O contracts expire today, 31 January 2019.
The Sensex was trading slightly below the psychological 36,000 mark in early afternoon trade after regaining that level in mid-morning trade. Trading for the day began on a firm note as the key benchmark indices drifted higher in early trade. Stocks held onto gains in morning trade. Strong buying demand in index pivotals propelled the key benchmark indices to intraday high in mid-morning trade.
The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds and domestic funds, both, were net buyers of Indian stocks yesterday, 30 January 2019. The trading activity on that day showed that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 130.25 crore yesterday, 30 January 2019, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 502.26 crore yesterday, 30 January 2019, as per provisional data.
Investors will focus on interim budget to be announced on Friday, 1 February 2019. The interim budget will be the last one presented by the current NDA government led by Prime Minister Modi, before the 2019 general elections in April. The government is expected to make a host of populist announcements in the budget. It is widely expected that the interim budget may contain tax sops and a certain package for the farm sector. The Budget session of Parliament began today. The session will conclude on 13th of next month.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.05%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.48%.
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The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1214 shares rose and 1004 shares fell. A total of 141 shares were unchanged.
Oil stocks gained. Among shares of oil exploration and production (E&P) companies, Reliance Industries (up 2.07%), ONGC (up 1%) and Oil India (up 0.87%) edged higher.
Among PSU OMCs, HPCL (up 1.64%), BPCL (up 0.15%), and Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.26%) gained.
EIH rose 10.42% after net profit rose 49.80% to Rs 63.89 crore on 22.61% rise in net sales to Rs 443.92 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced after trading hours yesterday, 30 January 2019.
Tata Metaliks rose 1.28% after the company said it received environmental clearance for increasing production at its existing facility in Kharagpur, West Bengal. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India has issued the environmental clearance for increasing hot metal production from 0.50 MTPA to 0.75 MTPA, ductile iron pipe production from 0.30 MTPA to 0.50 MTPA and castings of 0.1 MTPA at the company's existing facility located at Kharagpur, West Bengal. The announcement was made after trading hours yesterday, 30 January 2019.
Overseas, Asian stocks edged higher as the Federal Reserve signaled it is putting further interest-rate increases on hold. US stocks rallied to close higher Wednesday, after scoring a boost from solid corporate results and a seemingly accommodative Federal Reserve.
China's official nonmanufacturing purchasing managers index, a measure of activity outside factory gates, rose to 54.7 in January from 53.8 in December, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. An official gauge of China's factory activity unexpectedly inched higher from a near-three-year low. January's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index was up a tick at 49.5 from 49.4 in December, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.
The Fed held rates unchanged at a range of 2.25% to 2.50%, as widely expected, but dropped its longstanding reference to further gradual rate hikes. Instead, it emphasized that it will be patient as it determines what future adjustments to the target range for the federal-funds rate may be appropriate to support these outcomes. The central bank also said it would adjust the rate of its balance-sheet runoff, and may even consider ending it.
Meanwhile, US-China trade talks resumed Wednesday as federal prosecutors accused Huawei of violating US sanctions on Iran and of intellectual property theft which had obviously angered the Chinese government. Huawei has denied the allegations.
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