Key equity indices ended with small gains after a lackluster trading session. Investors were cautious a day ahead of consumer inflation data and the onset of Q4 corporate earnings, while voting for the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections began today, 11 April 2019.
The Nifty 50 index rose 12.40 points or 0.11% to settle at 11,596.70. The index rose 22.40 points, or 0.19% at the day's high of 11,606.70. The index fell 33.75 points, or 0.29% at the day's low of 11,550.55.
Key indices were trading near flat line in early trade. Indices were trading with small gains in morning trade. Stocks hovered in a small range in mid-morning trade amid divergent trend in index pivotals. Shares were trading with tiny gains in afternoon trade. A divergent trend was witnessed in mid-afternoon trade as the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was trading with small losses while the Nifty 50 index was trading with minor gains.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.09%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.02%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1164 shares rose and 1340 shares fell. A total of 189 shares were unchanged.
Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Telecom index (up 1.06%), the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index (up 0.94%) and the S&P BSE FMCG index (up 0.52%), outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Metal index (down 1.18%), the S&P BSE IT index (down 1.07%) and the S&P BSE Realty index (down 0.45%), underperformed the Sensex.
Vedanta (down 3.72%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.38%), Tata Steel (down 1.3%), Axis Bank (down 1.27%), TCS (down 1.21%) and Power Grid Corporation of India (down 1.14%), were the major Sensex losers.
Bajaj Auto (up 1.76%), Bajaj Finance (up 1.56%), Tata Motors (up 1.18%), State Bank of India (up 1.12%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.93%) and NTPC (up 0.86%), were the major Sensex gainers.
IT major Infosys dropped 1.46% ahead of its Q4 March 2019 results tomorrow, 12 April 2019.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) fell 1.21% ahead of its Q4 March 2019 results tomorrow, 12 April 2019. TCS announced that it has entered into an agreement with Ageas UK, one of the UK's largest insurers and part of the international group headquartered in Brussels, to digitally transform its lT infrastructure and operations to meet changing business priorities and customer expectations. The announcement was made during market hours today, 11 April 2019.
TCS announced that it has partnered with Google Cloud to build industry-specific cloud solutions that will help organizations accelerate their digital transformation and leverage data-driven insights that power superior customer experiences. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 10 April 2019.
Wipro rose 0.11% to Rs 281.30 after the company said that its board will consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares at its meeting scheduled on 16 April 2019. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 10 April 2019.
Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.29%. RIL clarified after market hours yesterday, 10 April 2019, that the company or any of its subsidiaries neither set up any gas pipeline in 2006, nor have contracts with any Netherland company for setting up of any gas pipeline and hence the report cannot relate to RIL. RIL has always complied with all rules, regulations and applicable laws and any suggestion of impropriety by RIL is emphatically denied.
Bharti Airtel rose 2.19%. Bharti Airtel said it has fixed 24 April 2019 as the record date for the purpose of determining the shareholders eligible to apply for the equity shares in the rights issue. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 10 April 2019.
L&T rose 0.58%. L&T has purchased the entire stake held by Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) in L&T Shipbuilding, a subsidiary company, on 10 April 2019. The announcement was made during market hours today, 11 April 2019.
NBCC (India) rose 1.56% to Rs 61.85 after the company announced that it has secured the total business of Rs 3,031.70 crore in March 2019. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 10 April 2019.
Shares of Rail Vikas Nigam settled at 19.05 on BSE, a small premium of 0.26% over the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 19. The stock debuted at Rs 19, at par with the IPO price. The stock hit a high of Rs 19.75 and low of Rs 18.60. On BSE, 1.11 crore shares were traded on the counter.
The IPO of Rail Vikas Nigam received bids for 46.33 crore shares. The IPO was subscribed 1.83 times. The issue opened for subscription on 29 March 2019 and closed on 3 April 2019. The price band for the issue was fixed at Rs 17 to Rs 19 per share.
On the political front, voting for the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections is being held today. Voting will take place in 91 Lok Sabha seats in 20 states and Union territories today. Elections will be held in seven phases from 11 April 2019 to 19 May 2019 and counting will take place on 23 May 2019.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 68.995, compared with its close of 69.11 during the previous trading session.
In the global commodities markets, Brent for June 2019 settlement was down 45 cents at $71.28 a barrel. The contract rose $1.12 a barrel or 1.59% to settle at $71.73 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Overseas, European stocks bounced back from early lows. European Union leaders agreed to delay Brexit for up to six months. Talks between EU leaders and British Prime Minister Theresa May culminated in a flexible extension of the U.K.'s departure from the bloc until 31 October 2019.
The European Central Bank (ECB) kept its loose monetary policy stance and warned that threats to world economic growth remained. The central bank has already delayed its first post-crisis interest rate hike and President Mario Draghi raised the prospect of further supportive policy measures if a slowdown in the euro zone economy persisted.
Asian stocks ended mixed after a dovish turn by the ECB and milder than expected US inflation. In US, technology stocks led Wall Street slightly higher on Wednesday, as US inflation data proved to be benign and the minutes from the Federal Reserve's March meeting were unsurprising.
The Federal Reserve is likely to leave interest rates unchanged this year given risks to the US economy from a global slowdown and uncertainty over trade policies and financial conditions, according to the minutes from its March 19-20 policy meeting.
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