Benchmarks turn range bound

Key indices were range bound near flat line in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 29.05 points or 0.08% at 34,503.43. The Nifty 50 index was up 14.65 points or 0.14% at 10,362.70.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.08%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.36%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 986 shares rose and 1534 shares fell. A total of 143 shares were unchanged.

IT shares were mixed. MphasiS (down 3.06%), Hexaware Technologies (down 2.96%), Infosys (down 0.55%) and HCL Technologies (down 0.41%), edged lower. Persistent Systems (up 0.03%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.41%), TCS (up 0.6%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.64%), MindTree (up 1.05%) and Wipro (up 1.3%), edged higher.

Most pharmaceutical shares rose. Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 4.32%), Strides Shasun (up 4.30%), Lupin (up 3.36%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 3.33%), IPCA Laboratories (up 2.29%), Wockhardt (up 1.82%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.60%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.40%) and Alkem Laboratories (up 0.20%), edged higher. Piramal Enterprises (down 0.27%), Cipla (down 0.37%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 0.49%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 1.35%) and Divi's Laboratories (down 2.04%), edged lower.

India's growth is expected to increase to 7.3% in 2018 and to 7.4% in 2019 (slightly lower than in the April 2018 World Economic Outlook (WEO) for 2019, given the recent increase in oil prices and the tightening of global financial conditions), up from 6.7% in 2017, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest World Economic Outlook report. This acceleration reflected a rebound from transitory shocks (the currency exchange initiative and implementation of the national Goods and Services Tax), with strengthening investment and robust private consumption. India's medium-term growth prospects remain strong at 7.75%, benefiting from ongoing structural reform, but have been marked down by just under 50 percentage point relative to the April 2018 WEO, the fund noted. If projections are true, then India would likely retain the tag of fastest growing major economies of the world.

Meanwhile, the National Housing Bank (NHB) has decided to increase the Refinance limit to Rs.30,000 crore. Now, eligible Housing Finance Companies & Other entities will have increased availability of funds. National Housing Bank had set an initial limit to sanction Rs 24,000 crore this year (July 2018-June 2019) towards refinancing eligible institutions. Till date, Rs 8835 crore has been sanctioned. This refinancing is a credit flow to Housing Finance Companies & other Institutions.

National Housing Bank (NHB) is the Principal Agency to promote Housing Finance Institutions, currently 97 in number, and to provide financial support to eligible institutions. As a regulator, National Housing Bank regularly monitors the liquidity position of Housing Finance Companies.

Overseas, European shares were trading higher amid simmering tensions between Italy and the European Union (EU) over the former's 2019 budget. Traders are closely monitoring the political situation in Italy, where tensions are growing between Rome and Brussels over the new coalition government's first budget and deficit targets.

Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday as China allowed its currency to slip past a psychological bulwark amid sharp losses in domestic share markets, a shift that pressured other emerging currencies to depreciate to stay competitive. South Korea's markets are closed for a public holiday.

IMF added to the malaise by cutting forecasts of global growth for both this year and next, including downgrades to the outlook for the United States, China and Europe.

In US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced back from earlier losses to finish higher Monday, but the broader stock market closed lower as fears over rapidly rising rates continued to weigh on sentiment. The market was influenced by worries that US economic growth may be jeopardized by higher interest rates.

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