Benchmarks hit fresh intraday low

Key benchmarks further extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade. At 11:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 276.57 points or 0.77% at 35,532.38. The Nifty 50 index was down 82.70 points or 0.77% at 10,641.70. Auto and FMCG shares fell across the board.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.73%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.57%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 741 shares rose and 1418 shares fell. A total of 120 shares were unchanged.

FMCG shares declined. Nestle India (down 3.42%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 3.17%), Dabur India (down 3.14%), Marico (down 2.77%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (down 2.23%), Hindustan Unilever (down 2.05%), Tata Global Beverages (down 1.72%), Britannia Industries (down 1.5%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (down 0.76%), Bajaj Corp (down 0.6%), Jyothy Laboratories (down 0.45%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (down 0.01%), edged lower.

Auto shares tumbled. Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.69%), TVS Motor Company (down 1.64%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.53%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.94%), Escorts (down 0.88%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.73%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.54%), Tata Motors (down 0.43%) and Eicher Motors (down 0.39%), edged lower.

Larsen & Toubro rose 0.14% to Rs 1245.05 after the company announced that L&T Construction has won a mega contract for design and construction of a major airport. L&T Construction is a brand of L&T. The announcement was made during market hours today, 18 February 2019.

On the economic front, India's merchandise exports rose 3.7% to $26.36 billion in January 2019 over a year ago. Meanwhile, merchandise imports was flat at $41.09 billion. The trade deficit for January 2019 was at $14.73 billion as against the deficit of $15.67 billion in January 2018.

Overseas, Asian shares edged higher on Monday, with trade talks between the US and China set to continue in Washington this week after high-level meetings in Beijing concluded on Friday.

US stock indices surged on Friday, 15 February 2019, buoyed by growing optimism that the US and China can strike a trade truce ahead of the March 1 deadline. US stock market will be closed on Monday in observance of the Presidents Day holiday.

In political news, tensions rose in Washington D.C. when President Donald Trump declared a national emergency citing a humanitarian crisis at the Southern Border. In economic news, the Empire State manufacturing index rose 4.9 points in February to 8.8 and industrial production fell 0.6% in January, the first decline in eight months.

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