The Sensex provisionally settled with small decline on last trading session of calendar 2018 after alternately swinging between positive and negative zone during the day. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 8.39 points or 0.02% at 36,068.33, as per the provisional closing data. The market had logged gains in prior three trading sessions.
Trading for last session of calendar 2018 began on a positive note. The Sensex continued to trade with modest gains in morning trade. The Sensex trimmed almost entire intraday gains in mid-morning trade. Stocks reversed intraday gains to sink in negative zone in early afternoon trade. The index regained zone in afternoon trade. The Sensex hovered with small gains in afternoon trade. The index once again sink in negative zone in late trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.51%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.69%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1513 shares rose and 1089 shares fell. A total of 191 shares were unchanged.
Tata Steel (up 1.59%), Vedanta (up 1.48%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.42%), Tata Motors (up 1.05%) and IndusInd Bank (up 1.04%) were the major Sensex gainers.
Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 0.42%. RIL said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings ('RIIHL'), has entered into a binding agreement with Kanoda Energy Systems ('KESL') for acquisition of equity shares for a cash consideration not exceeding Rs 75 crore. The said investment upon completion will translate into 88% equity stake in KESL on a fully diluted basis. The total investment is likely to be completed by March 2020.
KESL is a renewable energy services company incorporated on 24 August 2007. It has presence in specialized fields of solar advisory, product design and technology validation and recently forayed into engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) and operation & maintenance (O&M) of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The aforesaid investment will assist in the group's initiatives to use renewable energy sources. The announcement was made on Saturday, 29 December 2018.
Larsen & Toubro shed 0.04%. The power transmission and distribution business of L&T Construction has secured engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) orders worth Rs 2084 crore. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 31 December 2018.
Power Grid Corporation of India declined 0.61%. The company announced that it has entered into a loan agreement for EUR 200 million with KfW, Germany on 28 December 2018 towards financing of transmission project for integration of clean energy and system strengthening. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 28 December 2018.
On the macro front, the government will announce data on infrastructure output for November after market hours today, 31 December 2018.
Overseas, European stocks were trading higher on the final day of 2018. Stocks in Hong Kong gained in an abbreviated trading session Monday, as investors were encouraged by signs that the US and China are working toward a trade deal. Most Asian stock markets, including Japan's Nikkei, Korea's Kospi and mainland China indexes, were closed ahead of the New Year's holiday, and will be closed again Tuesday.
In Europe, the deadlock around Brexit continues to concern investors. On Sunday, UK Trade Minister Liam Fox reportedly said there is a 50-50 chance that Brexit may be stopped if Parliament rejects the government's divorce deal with the European Union next month. The UK Parliament is set to vote on the Brexit deal in the week starting January 14.
On the macro front, an official gauge of China's factory activity fell. The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index dropped to 49.4 in December from 50 in November, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday. The result was the lowest since February 2016. China's official nonmanufacturing PMI, also released Monday, rose to 53.8 in December from 53.4 in November.
On Sunday, the US was reportedly seeking more details from China on trade proposals, hoping to reach an agreement before the March 1 deadline that would raise US tariffs on Chinese goods jump from 10% to 25%.
US stocks halted a two-day rally to end mostly lower in a choppy Friday session in a turbulent holiday environment marked by wild swings between gains and losses. A still-unresolved government shutdown remained as an overhang for stocks, as did concerns about the economy and the next round of company earnings.
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