The market further extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 317.94 points or 0.86% at 37,408.76. The Nifty 50 index was up 100.65 points or 0.90% at 11,248.85.
The domestic indices opened lower and briefly bounced into positive terrain in early trade. Recovery was short lived as indices once again dipped into the red in morning trade. Indices turned range bound in mid-morning trade. Volatility was witnessed in early afternoon trade as indices trimmed losses after hitting fresh intraday low. Benchmarks bounced back into positive terrain in afternoon trade and hit fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.75%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.25%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1114 shares rose and 1250 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel surged 6.47%. Media reports suggested that Bharti Airtel has scrapped its low-valued postpaid plans of less than Rs 499 across circles and halved the total number of its offers for this higher-paying user segment to four, to boost its revenue per user, lower costs, and improve profitability. Airtel has reportedly discontinued its Rs 299 and Rs 399 postpaid plans along with higher value plans of Rs 649, Rs 1,199 and Rs 2,999. It now offers just four postpaid plans (Rs 499, Rs 749, Rs 999 and Rs 1,599) that came into effect from 1 May 2019.
Cement shares were in demand. UltraTech Cement (up 2.37%), Ambuja Cements (up 1.33%) and ACC (up 0.01%), edged higher.
Grasim Industries was up 1.2%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
Realty shares were mixed. D B Realty (down 3.56%), Oberoi Realty (down 3.34%), Omaxe (down 2.07%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) (down 1.69%), Peninsula Land (down 1.38%), Anant Raj (down 1.09%), Parsvnath Developers (down 0.9%) and Sunteck Realty (down 0.75%), edged lower. Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 0.55%), DLF (up 0.79%), Sobha (up 0.95%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 1.21%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 2.01%), Phoenix Mills (up 2.60%), Unitech (up 4.35%) and Godrej Properties (up 5.13%), edged higher.
On the economic front, the annual rate of inflation, based on monthly Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 3.07% (provisional) in April 2019 (over April 2018) as compared to 3.18% (provisional) in the previous month and 3.62% during the corresponding month of the previous year, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a release during trading hours today, 14 May 2019.
The all-India general Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose to 2.92% in April 2019, compared with 2.86% in March 2019. The inflation based on CPI was 4.58% in April 2018. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the data after market hours yesterday, 13 May 2019.
Overseas, European stocks climbed on Tuesday after a downbeat session in Asia, as investors awaited a resolution to the US-China trade negotiations following the recent escalation in tensions. Asian shares declined Tuesday following a sharp fall in US stocks overnight as the trade war between China and the United States escalated.
China announced on Monday that it will raise tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods, beginning on 1 June 2019. The goods targeted include a broad range of agricultural products. Last week, US President Donald Trump raised duties on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25% from 10%.
US Trade Representative's office reportedly said it planned to hold a public hearing next month on the possibility of imposing duties of up to 25% on a further $300 billion worth of imports from China.
In US, stocks closed sharply lower Monday, as investors weighed an escalating tariff fight that could pose risks to the US, Chinese and global economies.
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