Barometers come off day's low

Key indices trimmed losses after hitting fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 70.62 points or 0.21% at 34,371.43. The Nifty 50 index was down 22.95 points or 0.22% at 10,363.65.

Broader market was trading on a strong note. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.91%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.17%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1516 shares rose and 784 shares fell. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.

Cement shares were in demand. ACC (up 1.33%), Ambuja Cements (up 0.51%) and UltraTech Cement (up 1.34%), edged higher.

Grasim Industries was up 0.09%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Telecom shares rose. Bharti Airtel (up 0.94%), MTNL (up 5.28%), Reliance Communications (up 7.62%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 2.48%) and Vodafone Idea (up 0.26%), edged higher.

Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel was up 0.59%.

On the economic front, the combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 127.20 in September 2018, which was 4.3% higher as compared to the index of September 2017. Its cumulative growth during April to September 2018-2019 was 5.5%. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The data was unveiled after market hours yesterday, 31 October 2018.

Meanwhile, India climbed another 23 points in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking to 77th place, becoming the top ranked country in South Asia for the first time and third among the BRICS. The details were revealed in World Bank's Doing Business Report which is an assessment of business regulation across 190 economies.

India has improved its rank in 6 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices (Distance to Frontier score) on 7 out of the 10 indicators. But, the most dramatic improvements have been registered in the indicators related to 'Construction Permits' and 'Trading across Borders'.

Overseas, shares in Asia were trading higher on the first day of November trading after a roller coaster October rocked stocks in the region.

The Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers' index edged up to 50.1 in October from 50.0 in September, Caixin Media Co. and research firm Markit said Thursday. The 50 level separates an expansion in manufacturing activity from a contraction.

The Bank of Japan kept its ultra-easy monetary policy in place as concerns grow about the impact of US-China trade tensions on the Japanese economy. The board voted 7-2 to maintain short-term interest rates at minus 0.1% and the target for the 10-year Japanese government bond yield at around zero. The BOJ reiterated Wednesday that it would keep extremely low interest rates for an extended period and allow the 10-year JGB yield to move in a more flexible manner.

US stocks climbed Wednesday to close out an ugly October on a positive note as solid earnings from high-profile brands cheered investors and revived strong buying interest in equities.

On the US data front, private-sector employers added 227,000 new jobs in October, according to payroll firm Automatic Data Processing.

Labor costs rose 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the Labor Department's employment cost index report. Year-over-year, compensation growth remained at the 2.8% level seen in the second quarter, a 10-year high.

Chicago-area PMI came in at 58.4, down from 60.4, according to FactSet. While a reading above 50 indicates expanding activity, this was the lowest reading of the index since April.

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