Domestic stocks ended with modest gains, supported by firmness in index pivotals. Gains were boosted by index heavyweights Infosys, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.
Indices opened on a mixed note and turned range bound near flat line in morning trade. After hovering in a narrow range mid-morning trade, indices firmed up in early afternoon trade and hit fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade. Barometers spurted in late trade.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 278.60 points or 0.75% to 37,393.48. The index hit high of 37,518.94 and low of 37,052.30 in intraday trade.
The Nifty 50 index rose 100.10 points or 0.90% to 11,257.10. The index hit high of 11,281.55 and low of 11,143.35 in intraday trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.27%. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.25%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1164 shares rose and 1315 shares fell. A total of 146 shares were unchanged.
Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index (up 1.53%), the S&P BSE IT index (up 1.25%), the S&P BSE Power index (up 1.33%) outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Telecom index (down 1.15%), the S&P BSE Healthcare index (down 0.13%), the S&P BSE FMCG index (down 0.02%) underperformed the Sensex.
Tata Motors (up 3.48%), Vedanta (up 2.22%) and ONGC (up 2%) were the major Sensex gainers.
Yes Bank (down 4.07%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.87%), IndusInd Bank (down 1.37%), Coal India (down 1.29%), ITC (down 0.81%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.63%) were the major Sensex losers.
Among index pivotals, Infosys (up 2.47%), ICICI Bank (up 1.26%) and HDFC Bank (up 1.09%) advanced.
Bajaj Finance jumped 3.64%. The company's net profit rose 57.32% to Rs 1,176.06 on 52.04% increase in total income to Rs 5,308.47 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q4 March 2018. The result was announced during trading hours today, 16 May 2019.
TCS rose 1.03% after the company announced partnership with Juniper Networks' to enhance product assurance process with AI and Automation. TCS announced that it has been selected by Juniper Networks, an industry leader in automated, scalable and secure networks, to enhance its product assurance using TCS' AI-powered Smart QE platform, a 350-degree holistic assurance solution, to deliver first-time-right quality across its hardware and software security products. The announcement was made during market hours today, 16 May 2019.
Hindalco Industries rose 1.99%. The company's net profit fell 17.86% to Rs 506 crore on 6.57% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 12,455 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q4 March 2018. The financials include relevant numbers of Utkal Alumina International (100% subsidiary of Hindalco), from its accounts, to present a comprehensive view of the business.
Lupin fell 0.22%. The company announced the completion of the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspection carried out at its Aurangabad manufacturing facility. The inspection was carried out from May 6 to May 15, 2019. The inspection at the Aurangabad facility closed with three observations. The company is confident of addressing them satisfactorily. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 15 May 2019.
InterGlobe Aviation slumped 8.82% amid media reports of an alleged rift between the promoters of IndiGo. According to media reports, the founders of the budget carrier Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal locked horns over strategies and ambitions for the airline.
Tata Chemicals rose 8.29%. Tata Global Beverages rose 10.99%. The boards of directors of Tata Global Beverages (TGBL) and Tata Chemicals ('TCL) have approved the de-merger of the consumer products business of TCL into TGBL through a National Company Law Tribunal ("NCLT") approved scheme of arrangement ("Scheme"). Each shareholder of TCL will get 1.14 new equity shares of TGBL for every 1 equity share held in TCL i.e. a shareholder holding 100 shares in TCL will receive 114 shares in TGBL. The proposed transaction will create a focused consumer products company with a combined turnover and EBITDA of Rs. 9,099 crore and Rs. 1,154 crore respectively, for the twelve months period ended March 31, 2019 on a proforma basis.
Ashok Leyland rose 1.1%. The company announced during trading hours today that it bagged an order for 400 units of 'Ashok Leyland Eagle 916' mini buses valuing Euro 10.06 million from Senbus Industries.
On the data front, India's overall exports (merchandise and services combined) in April 2019 is estimated to be $44.06 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 1.34% over the April 2018. Overall imports in April 2019 is estimated to be $52.83 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 4.53% over April 2018. Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April 2019 is estimated at $8.78 billion as compared to $7.07 billion in April 2018, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement yesterday, 15 May 2019.
India's merchandise exports in April 2019 were $26.07 billion, as compared to $25.91 billion in April 2018, exhibiting a positive growth of 0.64%. In Rupee terms, exports were Rs 1,81,021.34 crore in April 2019, as compared to Rs 1,70,052.96 crore in April 2018, registering a positive growth of 6.45%. Merchandise imports in April 2019 were $41.40 billion (Rs 2,87,432.93 crore), which was 4.48% higher in dollar terms and 10.52% higher in Rupee terms over imports of $39.63 billion (Rs 2,60,084.67 crore) in April 2018. The merchandise trade deficit for April 2019 was estimated at $15.33 billion as against the deficit of $13.72 billion in April 2018.
Overseas, European shares reversed early losses while Asian shares ended mixed on Thursday. Trade tensions continued to weigh on investor sentiment after Trump declared a national emergency to protect US computer networks from "foreign adversaries". He signed an executive order which effectively bars US companies from using foreign telecoms believed to pose national security risks.
China reported surprisingly weaker growth in retail sales for April on Wednesday. Overall retail sales in April rose 7.2% from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.
US stocks closed higher on Wednesday following reports that US President Donald Trump plans to postpone auto tariffs by up to six months. US retail sales fell 0.2% in April, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.
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