Barometers recover; breadth remains weak

The Sensex and the Nifty bounced back in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was almost flat at 39,275.77. The Nifty 50 index was up 2.85 points or 0.02% at 11,790.

After opening higher, the key indices reversed trend in morning trade. Sentiment was fragile amid negative cues from other Asian shares. Some range bound trading was witnessed in mid-morning trade. Fresh bout of selling pressure emerged in early afternoon trade. Indices sharply pared losses in mid-afternoon trade.

Broader markets indices were still reeling under pressure. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.63%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.74%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 853 shares rose and 1590 shares fell. A total of 160 shares were unchanged.

RBL Bank was down 0.16%. The bank's net profit rose 38.77% to Rs 247.18 crore on 46.18% increase in total income to Rs 2,243.35 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q4 March 2018. The result was announced during trading hours today, 18 April 2019.

Telecom shares declined. Reliance Communications (down 4.76%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 1.96%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.06%) and Vodafone Idea (down 0.56%), edged lower. MTNL was up 3.13%.

Auto shares were mixed. Tata Motors (up 3.34%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.56%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.50%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.41%) and Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.22%), edged higher. Eicher Motors (down 0.52%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.88%) and Escorts (down 1.79%), edged lower.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was down 0.76%. Mahindra Group and Ford Motor Company today, 18 April 2019, took the next step in strengthening their ongoing strategic alliance in India with a definitive agreement to co-develop a midsize sports utility vehicle (SUV). Under the new agreement, Mahindra and Ford will work together to introduce a benchmark product for India and emerging markets. The new agreement reinforces the steady progress made since the announcement of the strategic alliance between the two companies in September 2017, followed by an announcement on powertrain sharing and connected car solutions in October 2018. The new midsize sports utility vehicle (C-SUV) will have a common Mahindra product platform and powertrain, thus driving engineering and commercial efficiencies.

Overseas, European shares drifted lower in early trade on Thursday, as investors cautiously awaited manufacturing data to gauge the health of euro zone economies ahead of the Easter holiday. European markets will remain closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter holiday.

Asian shares slipped on Thursday. Chinese government data showed the country's economy grew 6.4% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2019, maintaining the pace seen in the last quarter of 2018 as factory output picked up steam.

US stocks closed lower Wednesday as the health-care sector slumped on concerns over potential adverse impact from future policy changes.

The US trade deficit fell 3.4% in February to the lowest level in eight months, the Commerce Department said. Meanwhile, wholesale inventories in the US rose a mild 0.2% in February and sales increased 0.3%.

Meanwhile, most of the US Federal Reserve's 12 district banks reported economic activity expanded at a "slight-to-moderate" pace in March and early April, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report, released Wednesday.

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