Domestic stocks edged higher in early trade led by gains in ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Reliance Industries. At 9:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 154.93 points or 0.44% at 35,747.43. The Nifty 50 index was up 40.15 points or 0.38% at 10,692.35.
Investors will focus on interim budget to be announced on Friday, 1 February 2019. The interim budget will be the last one presented by the current NDA government led by Prime Minister Modi, before the 2019 general elections in April.
The Budget session of Parliament will commence from tomorrow. The session will begin with the address of President Ram Nath Kovind to the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament in Central Hall. The session will conclude on 13th of next month.
Trading could be volatile this week as traders roll over positions in the F&O segment from the near month January 2019 series to February 2019 series. The January 2019 F&O contracts expire on Thursday, 31 January 2019.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.03%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.26%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 660 shares rose and 410 shares fell. A total of 53 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, Asian stocks were trading lower on Wednesday as the earnings season rolled on and investors awaited the Federal Reserve's policy meeting. In US, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed lower Tuesday as investors sorted through a fresh batch of earnings reports and awaited clarity from the Federal Reserve on its monetary policy plans. However, the Dow bucked the broader weakness, buoyed by Pfizer and 3M.
The US Fed began its two-day policy-setting meeting with Chairman Jerome Powell scheduled to hold a news conference to discuss the central bank's plans on Wednesday. Investors are eager for any new communication on the pace of rate increases and a reduction of the central bank's balance sheet as the rapidity of those processes had been cause for concern in recent months.
On the data front, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 120.2 in January, down from 126.6 in December, according to FactSet data.
In the UK, Parliament passed several amendments on Brexit, including a proposal to extend the Brexit timeline and to postpone the exit date if no deal was found until late February.
Back home, Bajaj Auto shed 0.04% ahead of its October-December 2018 quarterly result today, 30 January 2019.
ICICI Bank advanced 2.77% ahead of its October-December 2018 quarterly result today, 30 January 2019.
Axis Bank surged 4.44% after net profit rose 131.38% to Rs 1680.85 crore on 26.66% increase in total income to Rs 18130.42 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 29 January 2019.
HCL Technologies gained 3.97%. On a consolidated basis, HCL Technologies' net profit rose 2.8% to Rs 2605 crore on 5.6% increase in revenues to Rs 15699 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q2 September 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 29 January 2019.
Asian Paints rose 0.63%. Asian Paints announced that the commercial production of paints and intermediaries has successfully commenced at the Vishakhapatnam plant in Andhra Pradesh. The initial capacity of said manufacturing facility is 3 lakh kilo liter per annum (klpa). The company had earlier announced setting up of paint manufacturing facility in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, with an ultimate capacity of 5 lakh klpa to be implemented in a phased manner. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 29 January 2019.
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