Barometers trade near the flat line; FMCG shares in demand

The key equity indices continued to trade near the flat line, with some positive bias in mid-morning trade. The Nifty was trading above 17,550 level. FMCG shares witnessed some buying after declining in the past two sessions.

At 11:26 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 33.35 points or 0.06% to 58,609.72. The Nifty 50 index added 17.55 points or 0.10% to 17,547.85.

In the broader market traded, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.27% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.66%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, shares 2,080 rose and 1,143 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged

Economy:

India's industrial growth, as per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), edged up to 1.7% in February from 1.5% in January, government data released yesterday showed.

India's retail inflation jumped to a 17-month high of 6.95% in March from 6.07% in February, government data released yesterday showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index rose 0.32% to 38,051.35. The index had declined 1.02% in the past two session.

Varun Beverages (up 2.23%), Britannia Industries (up 0.74%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene (up 0.70%), Radico Khaitan (up 0.61%), United Spirits (up 0.57%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 0.44%) advanced.

Meanwhile, Emami (down 0.89%), Godrej Consumer (down 0.53%) and Dabur India (down 0.23%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

RITES rose 1.37% while Tata Steel gained 0.30%. The two companies have entered into a memorandum of understanding for jointly exploring integrated infra services.

Thermax advanced 1.29%. The company has won an order of Rs 522 crore for utility boilers and associated systems for a grass root refinery and petrochemical complex in Rajasthan.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks edged higher on Wednesday as investors watched for market reaction to the release of a slightly hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation report.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand on Wednesday announced its decision to raise the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.5%. The Committee agreed it is appropriate to continue to tighten monetary conditions at pace to best maintain price stability and support maximum sustainable employment, the RBNZ said in a release.

US stocks fell on Tuesday, after an early morning bounce gave way to selling as investors weighed the latest U.S. inflation data. The report showed another sharp increase in prices for last month.

U.S. consumer prices rose 8.5% in March as compared with a year ago, the fastest annual gain since December 1981, according to official data released Tuesday. The core consumer price index which excludes food and energy, however, showed signs it may be ebbing. It rose 0.3% for the month.

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