Key equity benchmarks were trading with small gains in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 98.90 points or 0.25% at 39,130.45. The Nifty 50 index was up 23.50 points or 0.20% at 11,771.65.
Indices opened lower, but bounced back in morning trade. After some range bound trading in mid-morning trade, the indices sharply pared gains in early afternoon trade. Benchmarks firmed up once again in mid-afternoon trade.
Broader market was trading lower. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.36%. The BSE Small-Cap index was flat at 14,623.91.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1036 shares rose and 1365 shares fell. A total of 153 shares were unchanged.
Realty shares were mixed. Parsvnath Developers (down 2.77%), Unitech (down 1.52%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) (down 1.08%), Phoenix Mills (down 1.01%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 0.96%), D B Realty (down 0.94%), Sunteck Realty (down 0.08%), Sobha (down 0.07%) and Omaxe (down 0.05%), edged lower. Anant Raj (up 0.33%), Godrej Properties (up 0.51%), DLF (up 0.55%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 0.70%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 0.71%), Oberoi Realty (up 0.74%) and Peninsula Land (up 2.30%), edged higher.
Power generation stocks were mixed. Reliance Power (down 11.74%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (down 3.51%), Tata Power (down 2.07%), Adani Power (down 1.9%), NHPC (down 0.43%), NTPC (down 0.19%) and CESC (down 0.1%), edged lower. GMR Infrastructure (up 0.30%), JSW Energy (up 0.93%), Torrent Power (up 1.05%) and Reliance Infrastructure (up 2.31%), edged higher.
State-run Power Grid Corporation of India was up 1.96%. State-run Coal India was up 0.40%.
On the economic front, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) declined from 52.6 in March to 51.8 in April. A print above 50 means expansion while a score below indicates contraction.
The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 145.0 in March 2019, which was 4.7% higher as compared to the index of March 2018 - recording its best performance in five months. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Meanwhile, the total gross GST revenue collected in the month of April 2019 is Rs 1,13,865 crore. The revenue in April 2018 was Rs 1,03,459 crore and the revenue during April 2019 is a growth of 10.05% over the revenue in the same month last year. The revenue in April 2019 is 16.05% higher than the monthly average of GST revenue in FY 2018-19 (Rs 98,114 crore). The total number of GSTR 3B Returns filed for the month of March up to 30th April 2019 is 72.13 lakh.
Overseas, most European stocks were trading lower as investors were disappointed by earnings and as mining shares fell on the stronger US dollar. Asian shares were mixed on Thursday with two major centres - Japan and China - shut for holidays. Trading in Japan will resume next Tuesday while China will be back in action on Monday.
US stocks fell on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged a slowdown in business and household spending, but described low inflation as "transitory" and denied there was a "strong case" to expect an interest-rate cut in the near term.
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept its benchmark interest rate in a range of 2.25% to 2.5%. Senior officials sounded more upbeat about the economy after a slow start in early 2019 and pointed to a recent decline in inflation as reasons to stand pat.
On the US-China trade front, a trade deal between the two economic powerhouses could reportedly be announced by next Friday.
Among the US economic data, payroll firm ADP released its estimate of private-sector job growth in April, showing the US economy added 275,000 new jobs. Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers index for April came in at 52.6, a slight uptick from the near two-year low seen last month. The more closely watched Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index came in at 52.8%, below the March reading of 55.3%. The Commerce Department said construction spending fell by 0.9% in March, compared with February.
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