Key equity benchmarks rose for a sixth straight session on Monday amid positive global cues. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 70.75 points or 0.19% to 38,095.07, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index rose 35.35 points or 0.31% to 11,462.20, as per the provisional closing data. Strong foreign portfolio inflows in the domestic market and firmness in the rupee against the dollar also boosted sentiment.
Indices opened firmly higher, but pared gains as the session progressed. Benchmarks briefly slipped into negative terrain in early afternoon trade. After hovering near flat line in afternoon trade, the indices slipped into negative terrain once again. Benchmarks bounced back into positive terrain once again in late trade. The Sensex ended above 38,000 mark after slipping below that level in intraday trade.
Broader market ended lower. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.20%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.13%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1146 shares rose and 1557 shares fell. A total of 174 shares were unchanged.
Bajaj Finance (up 2.84%), Reliance Industries (up 2.65%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 2.57%), Axis Bank (up 2.56%) and Tata Steel (up 1.83%), were the major Sensex gainers.
Indusind Bank was up 1.72%. The bank announced during trading hours today, 18 February 2019, that it inaugurated a branch in the Sadar Bazar area of Delhi, making it the 54th branch to become operational in the city. In a separate announcement, the bank said that it inaugurated a branch in Boisar, an upcoming industrial area situated in the Palghar district of Maharashtra. This is the Bank's first branch in this region.
Maruti Suzuki India (down 2.69%), Hero MotoCorp (down 2.56%), Bharti Airtel (down 2.06%), Larsen & Toubro (down 1.39%), Infosys (down 1.27%) and HCL Technologies (down 1.18%), were the major Sensex losers.
Drug major Lupin fell 3.99%. The company said that its subsidiary Novel Laboratories Inc. has received a letter from the U.S. FDA classifying the inspection conducted at its Somerset (New Jersey) facility in December 2018 as Official Action Indicated (OAI). The U.S. FDA has stated that this facility may be subject to regulatory or administrative action and that it may withhold approval of any pending applications or supplements in which this facility is listed. The announcement was made on Saturday, 16 March 2019.
On the economic front, India's trade deficit plunged 22% to 17-month low of $9.60 billion in February 2019 from $12.30 billion in February 2018. Merchandise exports rose 2.4% to $26.67 billion in February 2019 over a year ago. Merchandise imports dipped 5.4% to $36.26 billion. Oil imports declined 8.1% to $9.38 billion, while the non-oil imports also fell 4.4% to $26.89 billion in February 2019 over February 2018. The share of oil imports in total imports was 25.9% in February 2019, compared with 26.6% in February 2018.
Overseas, most European stocks were trading higher on hopes that the US Federal Reserve could sound decidedly dovish at its policy meeting later this week. US Federal Reserve will decide on interest rates in its two-day meeting on 19-20 March 2019. The meeting will be associated with a summary of economic projections. The Fed held the target range for the federal funds rate at 2.25-2.5% on 30 January 2019.
Asian shares ended higher as investors awaited developments on the US-China trade front.
US stocks closed higher Friday, buoyed by encouraging headlines on US-China trade negotiations and Chinese assurances of forthcoming economic stimulus. According to reports, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang expressed optimism that a trade deal between China and the US can be achieved that suits both parties.
China will stick to its current targeted economic support strategy and resist the temptation to engage in large-scale stimulus like quantitative easing or a massive expansion in public spending, Li Keqiang added.
On the US data front, the New York Fed's Empire State index fell to a reading of 3.7 in March from 8.8 in the prior month. US industrial production rose by 0.1% in February. January's figure, however, was raised to show a 0.4% drop. Job openings in the US rose to 7.58 million in January, the third-highest level on record, according to the Labor Department.
Consumer sentiment rose in March to 97.8 from 93.8 in February, according to a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
