The Sensex was moving in a small range in mid-afternoon trade amid divergent trend in index pivotals. At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 18.43 points or 0.05% at 36,095.15. Broader market continued trading on a firm note.
Trading for last session of calendar 2018 began on a positive note. The Sensex continued to trade with modest gains in morning trade. The Sensex trimmed almost entire intraday gains in mid-morning trade. The indices turned flat in afternoon trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.57%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.6%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1425 shares rose and 995 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.
Tata Steel (up 1.94%), Vedanta (up 1.65%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.61%), Tata Motors (up 0.94%) and IndusInd Bank (up 0.8%) were the major Sensex gainers.
Syndicate Bank shed 0.63%. Syndicate Bank announced that Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services has conveyed the sanction of the President of India for release of Rs 1632 crore to Syndicate Bank towards contribution of the central government in the preferential allotment of equity shares (special securities/bonds) of the bank during the Financial Year 2018-19, as government's investment. The announcement was made on Friday, 28 December 2018.
Aavas Financiers (Aavas) rose 1.06%. Aavas Financiers has received fresh refinance assistance of Rs 400 crore in addition to the approval of undrawn limit of Rs 100 crore pertaining to previous year, in December 2018. Such refinance assistance will further strengthen liquidity position of the company, post the successful round of fund raise of Rs 200 crore from CDC Group through issuance of rupee denominated masala bonds. The National Housing Bank (NHB) funds are for a tenure up to 15 years which will provide a strong boost to our retail home loan lending activities in semi-urban and rural areas. Such refinance facility will be disbursed in accordance with the norms of refinance schemes of NHB. The announcement was made on Friday, 28 December 2018.
On the macro front, the government will announce data on infrastructure output for November after market hours today, 31 December 2018.
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Overseas, European stocks trade slightly higher on the final day of 2018. Stocks in Hong Kong rose more than 1% in an abbreviated trading session Monday, as investors were encouraged by signs that the US and China are working toward a trade deal. Most Asian stock markets, including Japan's Nikkei, Korea's Kospi and mainland China indexes, were closed ahead of the New Year's holiday, and will be closed again Tuesday.
In Europe, the deadlock around Brexit continues to concern investors. On Sunday, UK Trade Minister Liam Fox reportedly said there is a 50-50 chance that Brexit may be stopped if Parliament rejects the government's divorce deal with the European Union next month. The UK Parliament is set to vote on the Brexit deal in the week starting January 14.
On the macro front, an official gauge of China's factory activity fell. The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index dropped to 49.4 in December from 50 in November, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday. The result was the lowest since February 2016. China's official nonmanufacturing PMI, also released Monday, rose to 53.8 in December from 53.4 in November.
On Sunday, the US was reportedly seeking more details from China on trade proposals, hoping to reach an agreement before the March 1 deadline that would raise US tariffs on Chinese goods jump from 10% to 25%.
US stocks halted a two-day rally to end mostly lower in a choppy Friday session in a turbulent holiday environment marked by wild swings between gains and losses. A still-unresolved government shutdown remained as an overhang for stocks, as did concerns about the economy and the next round of company earnings.
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