Domestic stocks nudged lower in early trade as most Asian stocks fell. At 9:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 27.18 points or 0.08% at 35,075.96. The Nifty 50 index was down 19.75 points or 0.18% at 10,659.90.
The market sentiment was hit by data showing that foreign funds and domestic institutional investors were net sellers of Indian stocks yesterday, 3 May 2018. The trading activity showed that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 148.42 crore yesterday, 3 May 2018, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 578.92 crore yesterday, 3 May 2018, as per provisional data.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.14%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.11%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 793 shares rose and 696 shares fell. A total of 70 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, most Asian stocks were trading lower as investors awaited the April jobs report out of the US. The Nikkei in Japan remained closed for a holiday.
US stock benchmarks ended off their lows yesterday, 3 May 2018 and the Dow ended higher, in choppy action as investors awaited a key reading of monthly employment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5.17 points, or less than 0.1%, to 23,930.15. The S&P 500 index declined 5.94 points, or 0.2%, to 2,629.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed 12.75 points, or 0.2%, lower at 7,088.15.
On the economic data front, the Markit services purchasing managers index for April came in at 54.6, compared with 54 in March. The Institute for Supply Management's nonmanufacturing index fell more than expected in April, dropping to 56.8, while factory orders rose 1.6% in the month.
Back home, Ambuja Cements rose 0.71% ahead of its Q1 March 2018 result today, 4 May 2018.
Vedanta rose 0.24%. On a consolidated basis, Vedanta's net profit rose 34.29% to Rs 5675 crore on 22.74% increase in net sales to Rs 27630 crore in Q4 March 2018 over Q4 March 2017. The result was announced after trading hours yesterday, 3 May 2018.
Hero MotoCorp rose 0.19% after the company said its total vehicles sales rose 16.50% to 6.94 lakh units in April 2018 over April 2017. With the forecast of a normal monsoon this year and a strong pipeline of new products coming up, Hero MotoCorp is confident of sustaining its growth momentum in the coming months. The announcement was made after trading hours yesterday, 3 May 2018.
Tata Motors (TML) shed 0.13%. TML announced after trading hours yesterday, 3 May 2018, that its board approved the sale of its defense business to group entity Tata Advanced Systems (TASL). This will not include the pure civilian vehicles which will continue to be with TML. TML will receive an upfront consideration of Rs 100 crore, adjusted for capex incurred and changes in working capital in the intervening period until closure date, and a deferred consideration of 3% of the revenue generated from identified specialized defence projects for upto 15 years from FY 2020 subject to a maximum of Rs 1750 crore.
Further, the board also approved the sale of its shareholding in its wholly-owned subsidiary, TAL Manufacturing Solutions (TAL) to TASL at an enterprise value of Rs 625 crore. As a condition precedent, Tata Motors will acquire the non-aerospace business from TAL at a value of Rs 10 lakh. This is in line with Tata Motor's plan to drive Turnaround 2.0, take necessary steps to further its defense business by leveraging the scale and strengths of the unified aerospace and defense entity at the group level, while monetizing its non-core assets to reduce net-debt.
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