Key equity indices edged lower on profit booking after four-day gains. The Sensex ended below 39,000 mark and the Nifty ended below 11,700 mark. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 179.53 points or 0.46% to 38,877.12. The index hit high of 39,270.14 and low of 38,826.56 in intraday trade.
The Nifty 50 index fell 69.25 points or 0.59% to 11,643.95. The index hit high of 11,761 and low of 11,629.15 in intraday trade.
Indices opened higher and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade amid positive global cues. Benchmarks pared gains in mid-morning trade and turned range bound in afternoon trade. Indices sharply pared gains in mid-afternoon trade and hit fresh intraday low in late trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.77%. The BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.87%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 996 shares rose and 1605 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.
Also Read
Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index (down 2.06%), the S&P BSE Telecom index (down 1.58%), the S&P BSE Energy index (down 1.41%) underperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE FMCG index (down 0.17%), the S&P BSE Metal index (down 0.1%) and the S&P BSE Auto index (down 0.16%) outperformed the Sensex.
State Bank of India (down 2.4%), Yes Bank (down 2.37%), Bharti Airtel (down 2.11%), Larsen & Toubro (down 2.11%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.48%) were the major Sensex losers.
Maruti Suzuki India (up 2.78%), HCL Technologies (up 1.48%), HDFC (up 1.02%), Tata Steel (up 0.81%) and Hero MotoCorp (up 0.5%) were the major Sensex gainers.
Infosys fell 0.4%. EdgeVerve Systems, a subsidiary of Infosys, has been selected by Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait to automate the bank's operational processes using the AssistEdge RPA platform. Ahli United Bank is one of the pioneering banks in Kuwait to innovate its banking operations using RPA. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2019.
Shares of the state-run oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) fell after Brent crude prices firmed up in international market. HPCL (down 5.05%), BPCL (down 4.26%) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) (down 2.81%) declined.
Higher crude oil prices could increase under-recoveries of PSU OMCs on domestic sale of LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. The government has already freed pricing of petrol and diesel.
In the global commodities markets, Brent for May 2019 settlement was up 37 cents at $69.74 a barrel. The contract rose 36 cents, or 0.52% to settle at $69.37 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Telecom shares dropped. Reliance Communications (down 4.77%), Bharti Airtel (down 2.11%), MTNL (down 3.53%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.64%) edged lower.
Vodafone Idea fell 5.62% at Rs 15.95. The stock hit a record low of Rs 15.85 in intraday today, 3 April 2019.
Indraprastha Gas rose 1.02%. The company has received three letters dated March 29, 2019 from Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) for grant of authorization to the company for development of CGD network in the geographical areas of (i) Kaithal District (ii) Ajmer, Pali and Rajsamand District & (iii) Kanpur (Except area already authorized) District, Fatehpur and Hamirpur Districts. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2019.
Karnataka Bank fell 1.65%. The bank entered into Memorandum of Understanding with Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company for distribution of latter's life insurance products. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2019.
Private weather forecaster, Skymet, predicted below normal monsoon rains this year. Monsoon in 2019 is likely to be 'below normal' to the tune of 93% (with an error margin of +/-5%) of the long period average (LPA) of 887 mm for the four-month period from June to September. The monsoon is considered 'normal' if the average rainfall is between 96 and 104% of the long-period average (LPA). Anything less than 90% is 'deficient', while 90-95% is 'below normal'. Between 105 to 110% is 'above normal' and beyond 110 is 'excess'.
Overseas, shares in European and Asia edged higher on Wednesday, as market participants monitored signs of progress in US-China trade talks. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will ask the EU for an extension to the Brexit deadline in order to break the logjam in Parliament.
The US and China are set to resume trade negotiations in Washington on Wednesday, following last week's talks in Beijing. Ahead of the meeting, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the two countries "expect to make more headway" in this week's talks. Both economic powerhouses are closer to reaching a deal, according to media reports.
In US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed with small gains on Tuesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended in the red.
In economic reports, a report on long-lasting factory goods, or durable goods, in February showed a 1.6% decline, the Commerce Department said.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content