Benchmarks turn range bound

The Sensex and the Nifty continued trading in a narrow range near the flat line in mid-morning trade. At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 19.83 points or 0.05% at 37,134.71. The Nifty 50 index was up 14.35 points or 0.13% at 11,171.35.

Indices opened on a mixed note and turned range bound near flat line in morning trade. Weakness in index pivotals L&T, ITC and HDFC capped gains.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.10%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.03%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 830 shares rose and 1199 shares fell. A total of 108 shares were unchanged.

HDFC was down 0.72% at Rs 1930.65. ITC was down 0.98% at Rs 294.20. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was down 1.05% at Rs 1312.

Metal shares advanced. JSW Steel (up 1.45%), National Aluminium Company (up 1.36%), Steel Authority of India (up 1.19%), NMDC (up 0.83%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.79%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.77%), Vedanta (up 0.34%) and Hindustan Zinc (up 0.32%), edged higher. Hindustan Copper (down 0.25%) and Tata Steel (down 0.91%), edged lower.

IT shares were mixed. MphasiS (down 2.09%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.18%), Hexaware Technologies (down 0.1%), HCL Technologies (down 0.07%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.02%), edged lower. MindTree (up 0.07%), Persistent Systems (up 0.44%), Wipro (up 0.74%), TCS (up 0.93%) and Infosys (up 1.37%), edged higher.

Ashok Leyland was down 0.24%. The company announced during trading hours today that it bagged an order for 400 units of 'Ashok Leyland Eagle 916' mini buses valuing Euro 10.06 million from Senbus Industries.

On the data front, India's overall exports (merchandise and services combined) in April 2019 is estimated to be $44.06 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 1.34% over the April 2018. Overall imports in April 2019 is estimated to be $52.83 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 4.53% over April 2018. Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April 2019 is estimated at $8.78 billion as compared to $7.07 billion in April 2018, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement yesterday, 15 May 2019.

India's merchandise exports in April 2019 were $26.07 billion, as compared to $25.91 billion in April 2018, exhibiting a positive growth of 0.64%. In Rupee terms, exports were Rs 1,81,021.34 crore in April 2019, as compared to Rs 1,70,052.96 crore in April 2018, registering a positive growth of 6.45%. Merchandise imports in April 2019 were $41.40 billion (Rs 2,87,432.93 crore), which was 4.48% higher in dollar terms and 10.52% higher in Rupee terms over imports of $39.63 billion (Rs 2,60,084.67 crore) in April 2018. The merchandise trade deficit for April 2019 was estimated at $15.33 billion as against the deficit of $13.72 billion in April 2018.

Overseas, most Asian shares declined as trade tensions continued to weigh on investor sentiment as Trump declared a national emergency to protect US computer networks from "foreign adversaries". He signed an executive order which effectively bars US companies from using foreign telecoms believed to pose national security risks.

China reported surprisingly weaker growth in retail sales for April on Wednesday. Overall retail sales in April rose 7.2% from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

US stocks closed higher on Wednesday following reports that US President Donald Trump plans to postpone auto tariffs by up to six months. US retail sales fell 0.2% in April, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

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