Cement stocks nudge higher

After a modest opening, key benchmark indices continued to hover in a positive zone in morning trade. At 10:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 136.78 points or 0.46% at 29,757.28. The Nifty 50 index was up 28.30 points or 0.31% at 9,202.05.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.54%. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.94%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,664 shares rose and 589 shares declined. A total of 100 shares were unchanged.

Realty stocks were mostly higher. Godrej Properties (up 2.66%), HDIL (up 0.67%), Oberoi Realty (up 0.65%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 0.51%) and Sobha (up 0.23%) edged higher. Unitech (down 9.87%), Prestige Estates Projects (down 1.2%) and DLF (down 0.71%) edged lower.

Cement stocks gained. ACC (up 1.38%), Ambuja Cements (up 1.35%) and UltraTech Cement (up 1.38%) advanced.

Grasim Industries was up 0.06%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Bajaj Auto was down 0.51%. The company's total sales declined 11% to 2.72 lakh units in March 2017 over March 2016. Domestic sales fell 17% to 1.69 lakh units in March 2017 over March 2016. Exports rose 1% to 1.02 lakh units in March 2017 over March 2016. The announcement was made during market hours today, 3 April 2017.

Among economic data, the output of eight core industries comprising nearly 38% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose at moderated pace of 1% in February 2017, compared with 3.4% growth recorded in January 2017. The data was released by the government after market hours on Friday, 31 March 2017.

Another data released after market hours on Friday, 31 March 2017 showed that India's external debt stock fell by $29 billion (6%) to $456.1 billion, at end-December 2016 over the level at end-March 2016. The decline in external debt during the period was due to the fall in long-term external debt, particularly the fall in NRI deposits reflecting the redemption of FCNR (B) deposits and decline in commercial borrowings with fall in both commercial bank loans and securitized borrowings. On a sequential basis, total external debt at end-December 2016 declined by $28.1 billion (5.8%) from the end-September 2016 level.

Overseas, Asian shares were mostly higher. US stocks closed lower on Friday, 31 March 2017, as investors digested a slew of economic data. In economic news, personal income rose 0.4% in February, while consumer spending rose 0.1%.

Among global developments, US President Donald was quoted as saying that the US will take unilateral action to eliminate nuclear threats from North Korea, unless China, one of the hermit state's closest ally, intensifies pressure on Pyongyang. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet in this week for a two-day meeting.

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