Key barometers firmed up further and hit fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 175.82 points or 0.47% at 37,290.70. The Nifty 50 index was up 75.25 points or 0.67% at 11,232.25.
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.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.13%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.09%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 994 shares rose and 1310 shares fell. A total of 141 shares were unchanged.
Hindalco Industries was up 1.91%. 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.
Power sector stocks were mixed. Jaiprakash Power Ventures (down 4.91%), Torrent Power (down 2.1%), NHPC (down 1.57%), Reliance Power (down 1.22%), GMR Infrastructure (down 0.97%) and Tata Power (down 0.33%), edged lower. JSW Energy (up 0.3%), Adani Power (up 0.52%), NTPC (up 0.69%), Reliance Infrastructure (up 0.72%) and CESC (up 3.33%), edged higher.
State-run Power Grid Corporation of India was up 1.85%. State-run Coal India was down 1.93%.
Most auto shares advanced. Tata Motors (up 2.65%), Escorts (up 1.15%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.61%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.44%), Eicher Motors (up 0.21%) and TVS Motor Company (up 0.03%), edged higher. Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.24%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.03%), edged lower.
Ashok Leyland was up 0.55%. 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 traded lower while Asian shares ended mixed on Thursday, as 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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