Key equity benchmarks trimmed losses in mid-morning trade. At 11:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 47.22 points or 0.12% at 39,228.42. The Nifty 50 index was down 17.70 points or 0.15% at 11,769.45.
After opening higher, the key indices reversed trend in morning trade and hit fresh intraday low. Sentiment was fragile amid negative cues from other Asian shares.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.71%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.84%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 703 shares rose and 1435 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.
Reliance Industries (RIL) was up 2.28% to Rs 1,376, ahead of its Q4 results today, 18 April 2019.
Meanwhile, Reliance Ethane Holding Pte. Ltd. ("REHPL") (incorporated in Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of RIL, having 100% holding in six limited liability companies (LLCs) which own Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLEC or the Vessel)), Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL) of Japan and a strategic minority investor have signed binding definitive agreements for a strategic investment by MOL and minority investor in the six special purpose limited liability companies (SPVs), each owning a VLEC. The announcement was made yesterday, 17 April 2019.
Jet Airways (India) slumped 27.60% to Rs 175.10. The company yesterday, 17 April 2019, announced temporary suspension of flight operations. The airlines was informed by the State Bank of India (SBI), on behalf of the consortium of Indian lenders, that they are unable to consider its request for critical interim funding. Since no emergency funding from the lenders or any other source is forthcoming, the airline will not be able to pay for fuel or other critical services to keep the operations going. Consequently, with immediate effect, Jet Airways is compelled to cancel all its international and domestic flights. Jet Airways will now await the bid finalisation process by SBI and the consortium of Indian lenders.
Interglobe Aviation was up 1.57% to Rs 1,608. The stock hit a record high of Rs 1,650 in the intraday today.
SpiceJet surged 7.31% to Rs 142.40. The company announced during trading hours today, 18 April 2019, that it will induct six more Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft on dry lease. These six aircraft are in addition to the 16 B737s and 5 Q400s that the airline will soon induct. The total number of planes to be inducted in the immediate future now stands at 27. The airline has applied to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to import the planes. Subject to regulatory approvals the aircraft would begin joining SpiceJet's fleet in the next ten days
IT major Wipro rose 1.74% to Rs 286 after the company's board of directors approved a proposal to buyback equity shares of the company at Rs 325 per share. The announcement was made after market hours on Tuesday, 16 April 2019.
Wipro's consolidated net profit fell 1.07% to Rs 2,483.50 crore on 1.45% rise in total income to Rs 15915.30 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q3 December 2018. The result was announced after market hours on Tuesday, 16 April 2019.
Abidali Z. Neemuchwala, CEO and Executive Director, Wipro, said the company has built a strong foundation for growth on the back of healthy order book and continued investments in big bet areas of Digital, Cyber security, Engineering services and Cloud.
In its outlook for Q1 June 2019, Wipro expects revenue from IT services business to be in the range of $2,046 million to $2,087 million. This translates to a sequential growth of -1% to 1% excluding the impact of the divestment of Workday and Cornerstone On Demand business which was concluded in Q4 March 2019. The outlook is based on the following exchange rates: GBP/USD at 1.32, Euro/USD at 1.14, AUD/USD at 0.71, USD/INR at 70.16 and USD/CAD at 1.33
The board of directors of Wipro has approved a proposal to buyback up to 32.30 crore shares of the company for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 10500 crore, being 5.35% of the total paid-up equity share capital, at a price of Rs 325 per share. Members of the promoter and promoter group of the company have indicated their intention to participate in the proposed buyback.
On the political front, voting in the second phase of the 2019 general elections began today, 18 April 2019, with 95 constituencies across 11 states and one Union Territory going to polls.
The 2019 Indian general election, which is scheduled to be held in seven phases, kicked off on 11 April 2019. It will conclude on 19 May 2019. The counting of votes will be conducted on 23 May, and on the same day the results will be declared
Overseas, Asian shares traded lower on Thursday. Chinese government data showed the country's economy grew 6.4% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2019, maintaining the pace seen in the last quarter of 2018 as factory output picked up steam.
US stocks closed lower Wednesday as the health-care sector slumped on concerns over potential adverse impact from future policy changes.
The US trade deficit fell 3.4% in February to the lowest level in eight months, the Commerce Department said. Meanwhile, wholesale inventories in the US rose a mild 0.2% in February and sales increased 0.3%.
Meanwhile, most of the US Federal Reserve's 12 district banks reported economic activity expanded at a "slight-to-moderate" pace in March and early April, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report, released Wednesday.
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