Key indices continued to trade with weakness in early afternoon trade. At 12:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 55.40 points or 0.16% at 35,601.30. The Nifty 50 index was down 8.45 points or 0.08% at 10,653.10. Most pharma shares rose.
Domestic stocks were trading lower in early trade on negative Asian stocks. A bout of volatility was seen in morning trade as fresh selling derailed a brief intraday recovery. Stocks hovered with small losses in mid-morning trade.
Investors will focus on interim budget to be announced on Friday, 1 February 2019. The interim budget will be the last one presented by the current NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before the 2019 general elections in April.
Trading could be volatile this week as traders roll over positions in the F&O segment from the near month January 2019 series to February 2019 series. The January 2019 F&O contracts expire on Thursday, 31 January 2019.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.28%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.14%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1078 shares rose and 1158 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.
Most pharma shares rose. Cipla (up 2.22%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.66%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.23%), Lupin (up 0.66%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 2.66%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.23%) and Wockhardt (up 1.92%) rose. Cadila Healthcare (down 2.55%), Alkem Laboratories (down 0.39%) and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.21%) fell.
Adani Power rose 7.47% to Rs 43.15 on bargain hunting after a recent selloff. Shares of Adani Power slumped 22.94% in two trading sessions to settle at Rs 40.15 yesterday, 28 January 2019, from its close of Rs 52.10 on 24 January 2019.
Persistent Systems rose 2.45% after consolidated net profit rose 4.06% to Rs 91.72 crore on 3.43% increase in net sales to Rs 864.25 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q2 September 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 28 January 2019.
Further, Persistent Systems' board approved buyback of equity shares under open market route for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 225 crore (10% of net worth) at a maximum buyback price not exceeding Rs 750 per share.
Overseas, Asian shares edged lower on Tuesday as prospects for a long-awaited U.S-China trade deal was dealt another blow after the United States leveled sweeping criminal charges against China's telecom giant Huawei. The US Justice Department unsealed indictments against China's top telecom equipment maker, Huawei, accusing it of bank and wire fraud to evade Iran sanctions and conspiring to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile US Inc.
US stocks closed lower Monday in the wake of disappointing earnings and Nvidia Corp. Investors turned cautious at the start of a busy week packed with earnings, economic data, a Federal Reserve meeting and a new round of U.S-China trade talks.
On the data front, the Federal Reserve of Chicago's national activity index rose to 0.27 in December, up from 0.21 in November. Growth in Texas manufacturing activity accelerating in January, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. It's monthly manufacturing index rose from 7.3 to 14.5.
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