Barometers hover in range

The market was trading in narrow range in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 255.11 points or 0.73% at 35,120.21. The Nifty 50 index was up 74.70 points or 0.71% at 10,587.20. The Sensex was trading above the psychologically important 35,000 mark after opening above that level.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1750 shares rose and 798 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.01%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.64%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

Most auto shares rose. Escorts (up 5.77%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.23%), Ashok Leyland (up 2.13%), TVS Motor Company (up 1.63%), Tata Motors (up 0.76%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.28%) and Hero MotoCorp (up 0.27%), edged higher. Bajaj Auto (down 0.43%) and Eicher Motors (down 1%), edged lower.

Most realty shares rose. Parsvnath Developers (up 6.84%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 3.85%), Sobha (up 3.37%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) (up 2.66%), Godrej Properties (up 1.47%), Anant Raj (up 1.43%), DLF (up 1.05%), D B Realty (up 0.71%), Sunteck Realty (up 0.67%), Peninsula Land (up 0.48%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 0.32%), Phoenix Mills (up 0.26%) and Omaxe (up 0.02%), edged higher. Oberoi Realty (down 1.44%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 1.63%) and Unitech (down 4.94%), edged lower.

On the macro front, India's merchandise trade deficit during April-September 2018 was reported at $94.32 billion and $13.98 billion in September 2018, which is the lowest in last 5 months, despite high oil prices.

Merchandise exports in September 2018 exhibited a positive growth of 9.65% in Rupee terms. In dollar terms there was a marginal negative growth in merchandise exports of 2.15% in September 2018. In the first six months (April-September 2018), merchandise exports exhibited a positive growth of 19.93% in Rupee terms and 12.54% in US$ terms over same period last year.

Imports during April-September 2018 exhibited a positive growth of 16.16% in US$ terms. In September 2018, imports exhibited a positive growth of 10.45% in US$ terms (which is the lowest in last 5 months) and 23.78 in Rupee terms.

Overseas, shares in Europe and Asia were mixed Tuesday, as escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and the West exacerbate geopolitical concerns and limit gains.

Market focus is still focused on the disappearance of a prominent journalist critical of Saudi Arabia's policies earlier this month. The disappearance has triggered international outcry against the OPEC kingpin, rattling financial markets. Jamal Khashoggi a US resident and prominent critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on 2 October 2018. Turkish authorities claim Khashoggi was murdered and his body removed. Saudi Arabia has fiercely denied that.

China's consumer inflation in September rose 2.5% compared to a year ago and 0.7% higher than August, government data on Tuesday showed.

In US, major benchmarks closed lower Monday as tech weakness prevented stocks from holding on to earlier gains. Investors also remained cautious following last week's equity-market rout, sparked in part by rising US interest rates.

On the data front, US retail sales rose 0.1% in September, less than expected. Excluding car sales, the figure remained flat last month. The Empire State Index meanwhile rose 2.1 points to 21.1 in October, compared with 19 previously. Business inventories for August rose 0.5%.

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