Benchmarks trim gains; cement shares slide

The market trimmed gains in early afternoon trade. At 12:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 187.50 points or 0.50% at 37,506.03. The Nifty 50 index was up 40.05 points or 0.36% at 11,262.10.

Indices opened higher and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. Gains were supported by recovery in other global stock markets. Benchmarks held firm near day's high in mid-morning trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.16%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.22%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was almost even. On BSE, 1186 shares rose and 1025 shares fell. A total of 180 shares were unchanged.

Cement shares declined. Ambuja Cements (down 0.94%), UltraTech Cement (down 0.76%) and ACC (down 0.14%), edged lower.

Grasim Industries was down 2.25%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Most realty shares rose. Unitech (up 4.86%), Godrej Properties (up 3.39%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) (up 2.70%), Anant Raj (up 2.21%), Peninsula Land (up 1.53%), Oberoi Realty (up 1.17%), Parsvnath Developers (up 0.89%), Phoenix Mills (up 0.62%), Sunteck Realty (up 0.40%) and Omaxe (up 0.39%), edged higher. Mahindra Lifespace Developers (down 0.03%), Sobha (down 0.24%), Prestige Estates Projects (down 0.29%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 1.92%), DLF (down 2.4%) and D B Realty (down 2.55%), edged lower.

Nestle India rose 1.81% after net profit rose 9.26% to Rs 463.28 crore on 9.33% rise in total income to Rs 3076.14 crore in Q1 March 2019 over Q1 March 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 14 May 2019.

Commenting on the results, Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestle India said the company has continued on the track of volume led growth with brands like MAGGI, KITKAT and Nestle MUNCH delivering strong performances. The market momentum remained strong, while the input costs have witnessed hardening.

Meanwhile, the southwest monsoon is likely to make its onset over the Indian coast around 4 June 2019, private weather forecasting agency Skymet said on Tuesday. The 4 June prediction comes with an error margin of two days.

Overseas, Asian shares were mostly higher Wednesday, following a recent slump amid escalating tensions on the US-China trade front.

Growth in China's industrial output for April increased 5.4% year-on-year from a 4-1/2 year high in March.

US stocks advanced on Tuesday, paring heavy losses sparked by a raging US-China trade war over the past week. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called the escalating dispute with China "a little squabble" but said Washington was still considering extending tariffs to another $300 billion worth of Chinese merchandise.

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