The Sensex and the Nifty were trading with small losses in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 10.79 points or 0.03% at 34,431.26. The Nifty 50 index was down 6.50 points or 0.06% at 10,380.10.
Broader market was trading on a strong note. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.98%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.26%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1569 shares rose and 911 shares fell. A total of 125 shares were unchanged.
Metal shares were in demand. Steel Authority of India (up 4.19%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.79%), NMDC (up 2.48%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.30%), Hindustan Copper (up 2.13%), JSW Steel (up 1.65%), National Aluminium Company (up 1.17%) and Tata Steel (up 1.16%), edged higher. Hindustan Zinc was down 0.34%.
Vedanta rose 0.31% after the company announced Q2 result after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2018. Consolidated net profit fell 34.82% to Rs 1900 crore on 4.06% rise in total income to Rs 23617 crore in Q2 September 2018 over Q2 September 2017. EBITDA for Q2 at Rs 5342 crore was down 8% on y-o-y primarily on account of higher costs due to input commodity inflation, lower volume at Zinc India, Zinc International, and closure of Tuticorin smelter. This was partially offset by higher commodity prices, acquisition of ESL and currency depreciation.
Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, Chief Executive Officer, Vedanta, said the company is uniquely poised to grow in commodities that have rising demand especially in India with an enviable growth pipeline which is systematically being brought to fruition.
Vedanta's board of directors declared an interim dividend of Rs 17 per share for the financial year 2018-19. The company has fixed 10 November 2018 as the record date for the purpose of payment of interim dividend.
FMCG shares were mixed. Jyothy Laboratories (up 1.58%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 0.56%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 0.37%), Marico (up 0.36%) and Bajaj Corp (up 0.24%), edged higher. Nestle India (down 0.06%), Britannia Industries (down 0.6%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (down 0.98%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.08%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 1.93%) and Dabur India (down 3.72%), edged lower.
On the economic front, manufacturing sector growth in India gathered momentum in October as firms responded to stronger order inflows by scaling up production, input purchasing and employment. Rising from 52.2 in September to 53.1 in October, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) highlighted the joint-strongest upturn in the health of the sector in 2018 so far. Moreover, the current growth spell was stretched to 15 months.
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, European stocks were slightly positive on Thursday morning, as investors monitored another batch of earnings results.
Shares in Asia were trading higher on the first day of November trading after a roller coaster October rocked stocks in the region.
The Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers' index edged up to 50.1 in October from 50.0 in September, Caixin Media Co. and research firm Markit said Thursday. The 50 level separates an expansion in manufacturing activity from a contraction.
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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