The Sensex trimmed almost entire intraday gains in mid-morning trade. At 11:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 4.24 points or 0.01% at 36,080.96
Trading for last session of calendar 2018 began on a positive note. The Sensex continued to trade with modest gains in morning trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.46%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.48%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1360 shares rose and 833 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.
Tata Steel (up 1.71%), Vedanta (up 1.18%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.98%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Larsen & Toubro rose 0.51%. The power transmission and distribution business of L&T Construction has secured engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) orders worth Rs 2084 crore. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 31 December 2018.
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KIOCL rose 9.08% after Union Cabinet decided to sell stake in the company via follow-on public offer. As on 30 September 2018, the government held 98.996% stake in KIOCL. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for initial public offering (IPO)/further public offer (FPO) in seven Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE).
The listing of CPSEs on the exchange shall unlock their value and encourage investor participation in the CPSEs. Further, alternative mechanism comprising of the Finance Minister, Minister of Road Transport & Shipping and the Minster of concerned administrative ministry has been empowered to decide on extent, mode of disinvestment, pricing, time etc. of listed CPSEs (including CPSEs to be listed in future), Ministry of Finance said in a statement on 28 December 2018.
On the macro front, the government will announce data on infrastructure output for November after market hours today, 31 December 2018.
Overseas, 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.
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.
In Europe, British lawmakers reportedly plan to force a Brexit delay if Prime Minister Theresa May's deal fails to get approved by Parliament in January. Senior members of both the Conservative and Labour parties plan to force the March 29 deadline back until July, at the latest, in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit that could be an economic catastrophe. May's deal is expected to be rejected. While the move might anger hard-line Brexit supporters, the EU has indicated it may allow a delay, though it has ruled out renegotiations. It's also conceivable that a delay could provide time to hold a second Brexit referendum, which could reverse the 2016 decision for Britain to leave the EU.
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