Stocks suffered modest losses in a highly volatile session of trade weighed by index pivotals ITC and Infosys. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 108.01 points or 0.31% at 35,068.41, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index fell 38.40 points or 0.36% at 10,679.65, as per the provisional closing data. The broader market depicted weakness. Negative global stocks weighed on the domestic bourses.
Vedanta rose ahead of its Q4 March 2018 result today, 3 May 2018. Realty stocks dropped.
Local stocks were trading with small losses in early trade on negative Asian stocks. Key benchmark indices extended fall in morning trade. Sustained selling pressure in index pivotals kept the key benchmark indices subdued in mid-morning trade. Market pared losses in afternoon trade. Volatility ruled the roost in mid-afternoon trade with indices extending intraday recovery. Stocks extended fall in late trade on fresh selling.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index provisionally fell 1.15%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index provisionally fell 0.89%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than two losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,885 shares fell and 761 shares rose. A total of 129 shares were unchanged.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 0.22% after the company said that it has drilled 503 wells in 2017-18, which is the highest number of wells drilled in last 27 years. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 2 May 2018.
Among the 503 wells, 119 exploratory and 384 development wells were drilled. In order to assess the prospectivity of existing acreages in a time-bound manner and add to the company's reserve base, more focus was laid on exploratory drilling.
During FY 2018, ONGC's planned capex outlay on drilling activities was Rs 16038 crore with a target to drill 496 wells including 110 exploratory and 386 development wells. However, the company has drilled 503 wells at a cost of approx Rs 14200 crore which is 11.5% lower than the budget outlay. The initiatives taken by the company to optimize cost and enhance operational efficiencies has yielded additional savings in the fiscal year ended March 31 March 2018.
This year, ONGC has set a capex outlay of Rs 17615 crore on drilling activities. There is a significant upside in the number of deepwater development wells planned by the company. The company has set an ambitious target to drill 535 wells, of which 24 are deep-water development wells as part of Cluster-2 development of KG-DWN-98/2 project, off the EastCoast of India. The company is also set to drill 30 wells as part of its CBM development project.
Infosys fell 1.37%. Infosys after market hours yesterday, 2 May 2018 announced a partnership with Astound, an enterprise software company applying machine learning and natural language processing to automate services and support for enterprises. Through this partnership, Astound's Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform will be embedded into Infosys Enterprise Service Management Cafto deliver AI-driven automation to large enterprises and their employees.
The solution reduces call volume, mean time to resolve tickets, improves customer satisfaction and reduces support costs by providing recommendations to users in real time.
Vedanta rose 1.22% ahead of its Q4 March 2018 result today, 3 May 2018.
Realty stocks dropped. Indiabulls Real Estate (down 3.35%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (down 6.45%), DLF (down 0.65%), D B Realty (down 0.71%), Unitech (down 3.29%), Prestige Estates Projects (down 0.03%), Godrej Properties (down 1.53%) and Oberoi Realty (down 4.55%) fell. Sobha (up 0.13%) rose.
Overseas, European equities were trading lower as investors closely monitored trade talks between the US and China and digested new earnings reports.
Asian stocks fell after the Federal Reserve reiterated plans to continue raising rates gradually amid firming inflation. Japan markets are closed for a four-day holiday weekend. US stocks fell yesterday, 2 May 2018 as investors assessed the US Federal Reserve's signal that it's in no rush to raise rates even as inflation rises to its target.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept a key US interest rate steady, saying that while inflation has moved higher, it's likely to run near the central bank's 2% target in the coming months. The central bank maintained its fed funds at a range of 1.5%-1.75%.
In its statement, the Fed noted the latest readings that show both overall and core inflation have moved close to the central bank's 2% goal. Fed officials were split between whether to raise rates three or four times this year.
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