Stocks trimmed gains in morning trade after an initial upmove. At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 122.55 points or 0.34% at 36,276.17. The Nifty 50 index was 28.15 points or 0.26% at 10,859.55.
Domestic stocks edged higher in early trade boosted by improved industrial production data for December.
On the macro front, India's industrial production (base year 2011-12=100) increased at improved pace of 2.4% in December 2018, compared with 0.3% growth recorded in November 2018. The industrial production growth for November 2018 has been revised downwards from 0.5% increase reported provisionally. The data was released by government after market hours yesterday, 12 February 2019.
The all-India general CPI inflation eased to 2.05% in January 2019 (new base 2012=100), compared with 2.11% in December 2018. The corresponding provisional inflation rate for rural area was 1.29% and urban area 2.91% in January 2019 as against 1.50% and 2.91% in December 2018. The core CPI inflation eased to 5.36% in January 2019 compared with 5.66% in December 2018. The data was released by government after market hours yesterday, 12 February 2019.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.09%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.08%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 958 shares rose and 895 shares fell. A total of 103 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, Asian stocks nudged higher on Wednesday, lifted by optimism that the United States and China might be able to hammer out a deal to resolve their nearly year-long trade dispute. US stock indexes closed at their highest levels for 2019 on Tuesday after lawmakers reached a tentative deal to prevent a government shutdown and as optimism grew over a potential trade deal between the U.S. and China.
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Democratic and Republican lawmakers reached a deal late Monday to avert another government closure after GOP negotiators agreed to a border-security deal that will involve far less money for an extension of the southern U.S. border wall than President Donald Trump has been demanding.
Bilateral trade negotiations entered a second day in Beijing, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer due to arrive Thursday for more high-level discussions.
Back home, ITC (up 1.98%), Tata Motors (up 1.16%), TCS (up 1.01%), HDFC (up 0.89%) and Reliance Industries (up 0.82%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Hero MotoCorp (down 1.6%), Tata Steel (down 1.12%), Yes Bank (down 1.04%), M&M (down 1.01%) and Vedanta (down 0.82%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 2.06% after consolidated net profit rose 310% to Rs 1461.03 crore on 16.04% increase in net sales to Rs 7656.71 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The company said that net profit for Q3 last year was adversely impacted by one-time deferred tax adjustment of Rs 513 crore related to changes in US tax rates. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 12 February 2019.
EBITDA was reported at Rs 2,069 crore in Q3 December 2018, up by 48% over Q3 December 2017, with resulting EBITDA margin of 27%. Margins were partly driven by forex gains, the company said.
Sale of branded formulations in India in Q3 was Rs 2,235 crore, up by 7% and accounted for 29% of total sales. Sales in the US were $362 million for the quarter, a growth of 10% over same period last year and accounted for 34% of total sales. Sales in emerging markets were at $203 million in Q3, up 7% over same quarter last year and accounted for 19% of total sales. Formulation sales in Rest of World (ROW) markets excluding US and Emerging Markets were $125 million in Q3, a growth of 4% over Q3 last year and accounted for approximately 12% of revenues.
Lumax Auto Technologies rose 2.56%. Lumax Auto Technologies informed that, the newly set-up unit of the company situated at Aurangabad in Pune (Maharashtra) has started commercial production/supply with effect from 12 February 2019. This unit has been set-up to manufacture and supply chassis frame, swing arm and trail arm to its customer, Bajaj Auto. The unit has been setup with a capacity of about 700,000 annually. The unit was inaugurated by D.V. Rangnath, Sr. Vice President - Materials, Bajaj Auto and Anmol Jain, managing director of the company. The announcement was made after trading hours yesterday, 12 February 2019.
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