Trading turned volatile as key benchmarks bounced back after briefly turning negative in morning trade. At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 43.65 points or 0.13% at 34,485.70. The Nifty 50 index was up 10.20 points or 0.10% at 10,396.80. Selling in IT shares put pressure on bourses.
Broader market was trading on a strong note. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.12%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.19%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1373 shares rose and 579 shares fell. A total of 85 shares were unchanged.
IT shares declined. HCL Technologies (down 2.17%), Hexaware Technologies (down 2.56%), Infosys (down 1.09%), TCS (down 1.16%), Tech Mahindra (down 2.15%) and Wipro (down 1.48%), edged lower.
Larsen & Toubro gained 4.63% after consolidated net profit rose 28.37% to Rs 2593.41 crore on 21.6% rise in total income to Rs 32800.85 crore in Q2 September 2018 over Q2 September 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2018.
L&T said that the company has witnessed a strong growth of 46%, with order wins worth Rs 41921 crore at the group level during Q2 September 2018 due to pick-up in domestic ordering activity. International orders at Rs 8268 crore constituted 20% of the total order inflow. Infrastructure, Hydrocarbon, Heavy Engineering and Power businesses largely contributed to the growth in order inflows. The consolidated order book stood at Rs 281166 crore as at 30 September 2018. International order book constituted 22% of the total order book.
In its outlook, L&T said that investment by private sector however remains cautious with increased economic volatility in terms of hardening commodity prices, weakening INR, rising crude oil prices, tight liquidity in the financial markets, coupled with unevenly distributed monsoon. Global challenges are also being witnessed in terms of increasing trade barriers and activation of sanctions impacting free trade. The company continues to focus on operational excellence and cost competitiveness for profitable execution of its large order book.
On the economic front, the combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 127.20 in September 2018, which was 4.3% higher as compared to the index of September 2017. Its cumulative growth during April to September 2018-2019 was 5.5%. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The data was unveiled after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2018.
Meanwhile, India climbed another 23 points in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking to 77th place, becoming the top ranked country in South Asia for the first time and third among the BRICS. The details were revealed in World Bank's Doing Business Report which is an assessment of business regulation across 190 economies.
India has improved its rank in 6 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices (Distance to Frontier score) on 7 out of the 10 indicators. But, the most dramatic improvements have been registered in the indicators related to 'Construction Permits' and 'Trading across Borders'.
Overseas, shares in Asia were trading higher on the first day of November trading after a roller coaster October rocked stocks in the region.
The Bank of Japan kept its ultra-easy monetary policy in place as concerns grow about the impact of US-China trade tensions on the Japanese economy. The board voted 7-2 to maintain short-term interest rates at minus 0.1% and the target for the 10-year Japanese government bond yield at around zero. The BOJ reiterated Wednesday that it would keep extremely low interest rates for an extended period and allow the 10-year JGB yield to move in a more flexible manner.
US stocks climbed Wednesday to close out an ugly October on a positive note as solid earnings from high-profile brands cheered investors and revived strong buying interest in equities.
On the US data front, private-sector employers added 227,000 new jobs in October, according to payroll firm Automatic Data Processing.
Labor costs rose 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the Labor Department's employment cost index report. Year-over-year, compensation growth remained at the 2.8% level seen in the second quarter, a 10-year high.
Chicago-area PMI came in at 58.4, down from 60.4, according to FactSet. While a reading above 50 indicates expanding activity, this was the lowest reading of the index since April.
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