Firmness prevailed on the bourses in afternoon trade on sustained buying demand in index pivotals. At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 264.89 points or 0.73% at 36,651.50. The Nifty 50 index was up 62.65 points or 0.57% at 10,969.60. Positive Asian stocks boosted sentiment.
After opening on a flat note, key benchmarks reversed trend and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. Indices came off day's high in mid-morning trade. Benchmarks turned range bound in early afternoon trade.
Broader market lagged. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.03%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.27%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 991 shares rose and 1411 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.
Wipro lost 1.69% after company declared its Q3 result after market hours on Friday, 18 January 2019. Wipro's consolidated net profit rose 32.89% to Rs 2510.40 crore on 3.17% rise in total income to Rs 15687.50 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q2 September 2018. Wipro's board of directors recommended issue of bonus shares to shareholders (including stock dividend to ADS holders) in the ratio of 1:3 (one equity share for every three equity shares held).
Abidali Z. Neemuchwala, CEO and Executive Director, Wipro said that the company's strategic investments, backed by strong client relationships and client spends towards enterprise modernization and digital transformation have enabled it to deliver a very satisfying quarter.
HDFC Bank was up 1.08%. The bank's net profit rose 20.32% to Rs 5585.85 crore on 26.02% rise in total income to Rs 30811.27 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced on Saturday, 19 January 2019.
HDFC Bank's gross non-performing assets were at 1.38% of gross advances as on 31 December 2018, as against 1.33% as on 30 September 2018 and 1.29% as on 31 December 2017. Coverage ratio as on 31 December 2018 was 70%. Net non-performing assets were at 0.4% of net advances as on 31 December 2018. Provisions and contingencies for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 were Rs 2211.5 crore (consisting of specific loan loss provisions Rs 1734.6 crore and general provisions and other provisions Rs 476.9 crore) as against Rs 1351.4 crore (consisting of specific loan loss provisions Rs 1356 crore and write back of general provisions and other provisions Rs 4.5 crore) for the quarter ended 31 December 2017. The bank's total Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) as per Basel III guidelines was at 17.3% as on 31 December 2018 (15.5% as on 31 December 2017).
Overseas, Asian shares were trading higher. China on Monday announced that its official economic growth came in at 6.6% in 2018, the slowest pace since 1990. Fourth quarter GDP growth was 6.4%. That was a decline from the 6.5% year-over-year growth in the third quarter of 2018.
In Europe, investors are waiting to hear British Prime Minister Theresa May's 'Plan B' for Brexit which is due to be presented to parliament later on Monday.
US markets will be closed Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The US stock market closed higher Friday, extending its winning streak to a fourth session, on media reports that stoked hopes for progress in trade talks between the US and China. Optimism over a potential bilateral deal helped to offset worries about the prolonged partial government shutdown and mixed corporate results.
On the US data front, US industrial production rose 0.3% in December, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index fell to a more than two-year low of 90.7 in January, down from 98.3 in December.
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