Benchmarks hold gains; cement shares rise

Key barometers were trading in narrow range with modest gains in early afternoon trade. At 12:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 137.65 points or 0.39% at 35,636.09. The Nifty 50 index was up 36.35 points or 0.34% at 10,677.30.

The indices opened higher and extended gains in early trade. After hitting fresh intraday high in morning trade, indices pared gains in mid-morning trade.

Broader market outperformed the main stock indices. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.86%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.64%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1344 shares rose and 858 shares fell. A total of 109 shares were unchanged.

Telecom shares rose across the board. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 6.53%), Bharti Airtel (up 2.38%), MTNL (up 1.26%), Reliance Communications (up 0.82%) and Vodafone Idea (up 0.49%), edged higher.

Cement shares were in demand. ACC (up 1.58%) and UltraTech Cement (up 0.82%), edged higher.

Grasim Industries was up 1.85%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Ambuja Cements was up 0.86% after consolidated net profit surged 188.02% to Rs 1377.88 crore on 9.32% rise in total income to Rs 6855.22 crore in Q4 December 2018 over Q4 December 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 18 February 2019.

Ambuja Cements' cement sales volumes increased to 13.63 million tonnes in Q4 December 2018 from 12.78 million tonnes in Q4 December 2017. In its outlook, Ambuja Cements said that the higher allocation announced in the interim Budget 2019 to roads and the housing sector will help boost economic development in rural India which is expected to have a positive impact on cement demand.

Maruti Suzuki India was up 0.75%. The company announced during trading hours today, 19 February 2019, that its Vitara Brezza has set a new sales record in the compact SUV segment. The cumulative sales of India's most preferred compact SUV touched the 4 lakh units mark in less than three years. Vitara Brezza leads the compact SUV segment with a market share of over 44% year-to-date.

Tata Motors was up 1.20%. The company announced during trading hours today, 19 February 2019, that CARE Ratings has downgraded its ratings on the auto major's long term bank facilities and non-convertible debentures to 'CARE AA' from 'CARE AA+'. Outlook remains stable.

On the economic front, the central board of the Reserve Bank of India on Monday, 18 February 2019, decided to transfer an interim surplus of Rs 28,000 crore to the central government for the half-year ended 31 December 2018. This is the second successive year that RBI will be transferring an interim surplus.

In a separate notification, RBI said that based on an assessment of prevailing liquidity conditions and also of the durable liquidity needs going forward, it has decided to conduct purchase of the following Government securities under open market operations for an aggregate amount of Rs 12,500 crore on Thursday, 21 February 2019, through multi-security auction using the multiple price method.

Overseas, most Asian shares were trading higher on Tuesday despite renewed geopolitical tensions, with China accusing the US of fueling cyber security fears. Investors also awaited developments on the US-China trade front. The White House reportedly said on Monday that trade talks between the two economic powerhouses will continue in Washington on Tuesday, with higher level negotiations starting later in the week.

According to media reports, the Chinese government said Monday that the US is attempting to curtail its technology development by claiming that Chinese mobile network gear might pose a cybersecurity threat to foreign countries which adopt the equipment. The US alleged that Beijing might use Chinese tech companies to gather intelligence about foreign countries, even though those claims have yet to be substantiated.

US stock market was shut on Monday for a public holiday.

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