Shares witnessed sudden selling pressure in afternoon trade after Supreme Court (SC) judges reportedly said working of Supreme Court was not in order. At 13:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 36.16 points or 0.10% at 34,467.33. The Nifty 50 index was down 13.55 points or 0.13% at 10,637.65.
Justice J Chelameswar, the second senior most judge in the Supreme Court, today, 12 January 2018, reportedly said the administration of the apex court is sometimes not in order and many less than desirable things have taken place. In an unprecedented move, Justice Chelameswar and three other senior judges today held a press conference on various issues relating to the apex court judiciary. Besides Justice Chelameswar, the other judges were Justices Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph. Unless this institution is preserved, democracy will not survive in this country, Justice Chelameswar reportedly said.
The Sensex and Nifty had hit record highs in early trade on the back of positive trading sentiment in Asian stocks fueled by strong lead from Wall Street. Also, expectations of recovery in domestic earnings in Q3 FY 18 aided sentiment. Indices hovered with modest gains till mid-morning trade. Suddenly selling pressure emerged in afternoon trade after Supreme Court (SC) judges reportedly said working of Supreme Court was not in order.
Among the secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.50%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.30%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned weak from positive. On the BSE, 1,702 shares advanced and 1,089 shares declined. A total of 138 shares were unchanged.
Tata Steel was down 0.73% to Rs 766. The company announced during trading hours today, 12 January 2018, that its total steel production in India rose 3.16% to 3.26 million tonnes in Q3 December 2017 over Q3 December 2016. Total sales in India rose 10.37% to 3.30 million tonnes in Q3 December 2017 over Q3 December 2016.
Most power generation stocks declined. Adani Power (down 4.34%), GMR Infrastructure (down 2.99%), Reliance Infrastructure (down 2.82%), Reliance Power (down 2.78%), CESC (down 1.77%), NHPC (down 1.4%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (down 1.16%), JSW Energy (down 1.1%) and Tata Power (down 0.85%), edged lower. NTPC (up 0.03%) and Torrent Power (up 0.77%), edged higher. State-run Coal India was down 0.54%. State-run Power Grid Corporation of India was down 0.5%.
Most FMCG shares declined. Hindustan Unilever (down 1.05%), Marico (down 1.04%), Nestle India (down 0.65%), Dabur India (down 0.58%), Britannia Industries (down 0.42%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 0.26%), Bajaj Corp (down 0.22%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (down 0.02%), edged lower. Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.04%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 0.35%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 1.19%) and Tata Global Beverages (up 1.79%), edged higher.
Himalya International gained 3.54% to Rs 38 after the company said that will open its first franchisee store 'Himalaya Food Company' on 14 January 2018 at D-448 G.F Ramphal Chowk, Sector-7 Dwarka, New Delhi. The store will sell 'All Natural-No Preservatives', healthier range of Himalaya products and also serve select appetizers, burgers, french fries and specially innovated healthier drinks developed under the brand 'BURGERS'N'FRIES - ITS NOT JUNK FOOD'. The announcement was made during market hours today, 12 January 2018.
On the macro front, the government is scheduled to announce industrial production data for November 2017 today, 12 January 2018. India's industrial production increased by 2.2% year-on-year in October, easing from an upwardly revised 4.1% gain in September.
The government will also announce today, 12 January 2018, inflation data based on consumer price index (CPI) for December 2017. Consumer prices increased 4.88% year-on-year in November, higher than 3.58% in October.
Overseas, Asian stocks edged higher after strong lead from Wall Street. China reported trade data for December with exports up 10.9% and imports rising 4.5%, resulting in a trade surplus at $54.69 billion. China reported a 7.9% jump in exports and 15.9% rise in imports both in dollar terms for 2017, the country's General Administration of Customs said today, 12 January 2018. China's overall trade surplus for 2017 was $422.5 billion.
US stocks surged to close the session at record highs yesterday, 11 January 2018 as investors bet economic growth would pick up steam.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
