The market came off day's high in mid-morning trade. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 140.43 points or 0.40% at 35,638.87. The Nifty 50 index was up 37.10 points or 0.35% at 10,678.05.
Broader market outperformed the main stock indices. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.60%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.59%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1269 shares rose and 753 shares fell. A total of 107 shares were unchanged.
Auto shares were in demand. Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.37%), Tata Motors (up 1.66%), Escorts (up 1.23%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.87%), Ashok Leyland (up 0.82%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.59%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.51%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.48%) and Eicher Motors (up 0.47%), edged higher.
Realty shares firmed up. Peninsula Land (up 6.74%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 5.50%), Unitech (up 4.42%), DLF (up 3.97%), D B Realty (up 3.10%), Sunteck Realty (up 2.20%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) (up 2.05%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 1.85%), Oberoi Realty (up 1.77%), Anant Raj (up 1.54%), Godrej Properties (up 1.47%), Sobha (up 0.69%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 0.27%) and Omaxe (up 0.05%), edged higher. Phoenix Mills (down 1.23%) and Parsvnath Developers (down 3.49%), edged lower.
Future Consumer rose 2.18% after the company said it is entering into an arrangement with the Middle East's leading chain of retail supermarkets, T Choithrams & Sons. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 18 February 2019.
Future Consumer (FCL) and Choithrams have identified an opportunity to strategically partner across the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar to bring FCL's portfolio of leading brands to consumers across the Middle East. With a network of more than 60 supermarkets across UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, Choithrams will, under this arrangement, market, distribute and retail FCL brand products for sale through its own stores, as well as distribute FCL brands to other retail stores.
In terms of this arrangement, FCL will be leveraging Choithrams' reach to export and distribute its core brands under various product categories, comprising initially the - Tasty Treat, Sangi's Kitchen, Desi Atta Company, Golden Harvest and Mother Earth.
On the economic front, the central board of the Reserve Bank of India on Monday, 18 February 2019, decided to transfer an interim surplus of Rs 28,000 crore to the central government for the half-year ended 31 December 2018. This is the second successive year that RBI will be transferring an interim surplus.
In a separate notification, RBI said that based on an assessment of prevailing liquidity conditions and also of the durable liquidity needs going forward, it has decided to conduct purchase of the following Government securities under open market operations for an aggregate amount of Rs 12,500 crore on Thursday, 21 February 2019, through multi-security auction using the multiple price method.
Overseas, Asian shares were mixed on renewed geopolitical tensions, with China accusing the US of fueling cyber security fears. Investors also awaited developments on the US-China trade front. The White House reportedly said on Monday that trade talks between the two economic powerhouses will continue in Washington on Tuesday, with higher level negotiations starting later in the week.
According to media reports, the Chinese government said Monday that the US is attempting to curtail its technology development by claiming that Chinese mobile network gear might pose a cybersecurity threat to foreign countries which adopt the equipment. The US alleged that Beijing might use Chinese tech companies to gather intelligence about foreign countries, even though those claims have yet to be substantiated.
US stock market was shut on Monday for a public holiday.
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