Auto, cement stocks trade mixed

Key benchmark indices hovered with small gains in mid-morning trade. At 11:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 31.01 points or 0.1% at 31.176.81. The Nifty 50 index rose 1.90 points or 0.02% at 9,623.15.

Key indices witnessed initial volatility before hovering near the flat line till morning trade on softer global cues and amid weak gross domestic product (GDP) data.

The Sensex rose 67.32 points or 0.21% at the day's high of 31,213.12 in mid-morning trade. It lost 75.33 points or 0.24% at the day's low of 31,070.47 in early trade.

The Nifty rose 13.40 points or 0.13% at the day's high of 9,634.65 in mid-morning trade. It lost 22.80 points or 0.23% at the day's low of 9,598.45 in early trade.

Meanwhile, latest data released by Markit Economics during market hours today, 1 June 2017 showed that Indian manufacturing sector stayed in expansion mode in May as a further upturn in new business supported output growth. That said, the headline Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to a 3-month low of 51.6 in May from 52.5 in April.

Back to market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.45%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.85%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,337 shares rose and 928 shares declined. A total of 137 shares were unchanged.

Auto stocks witnessed mixed trend. Hero MotoCorp (up 1.37%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.27%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.83%) advanced. Tata Motors (down 0.44%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.37%) and TVS Motor Company (down 0.12%) declined.

Eicher Motors advanced 1.15% after the company reported a 25% growth in its motorcycles sales at 60,696 units in May 2017 over May 2016. Exports surged 49% to 2,049 units in May 2017 over May 2016. The announcement was made during market hours today, 1 June 2017.

Maruti Suzuki India was down 0.73%. The company's total sales rose 11.3% to 1.36 lakh units in May 2017 over May 2016. Domestic sales grew by 15.5% to 1.30 lakh units in May 2017 over May 2016. Export sales declined 36.3% to 6,286 units in May 2017 over May 2016. The announcement was made during market hours today, 1 June 2017.

Cement stocks were also mixed. ACC (up 0.52%), Ambuja Cements (up 0.25%) and UltraTech Cement (up 0.05%) edged higher. Shree Cement (down 1.38%) and Grasim Industries (down 0.82%) edged lower.

Bharat Gears gained 2.02% at Rs 133.60 after the company said that the finance committee of board of directors of the company approved the proposal to avail a term loan of Rs 110 crore from KKR India Financial Services for repaying some of the existing term debts, working capital requirements and capital expenditure, among others. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 31 May 2017.

On the macro front, India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose at moderated pace of 6.1% in Q4 March 2017, which is the lowest pace of growth in last nine quarters. The GDP growth decelerated sharply from 7% growth recorded in the preceding last quarter and 8.7% surge posted in the corresponding quarter last year. The data was released by the government after market hours yesterday, 31 May 2017.

The Eight core infrastructure industries have showed 2.5% growth in output for April 2017 over April 2016. Its cumulative output growth had stood at 4.8% in FY 2017. The Base Year of the Index of Eight Core Industries has been revised from the year 2004-05 to 2011-12 from April 2017. The shift is in line with the new base year of Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The data was released by the government after market hours yesterday, 31 May 2017.

Overseas, Asian stocks mostly edged higher. US equities closed lower yesterday, 31 May 2017, as a drop in the financial sector pressured stocks.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News