Key indices trade near flat line

Key benchmark indices traded in a narrow range near the flat line in early afternoon trade. At 12:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 44.27 points or 0.13% at 34,397.06. The Nifty 50 index fell 2.75 points or 0.03% at 10,620.85.

Continuous foreign fund inflows and bets by investors amid optimism over Q3 FY 2018 earnings and upcoming budget helped the key indices to hit record highs in early trade amid initial volatility. Indices hovered with small gains till mid-morning trade.

Among secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.31%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.1%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed as investors in the region digested earnings guidance from tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics and kept an eye on ongoing inter-Korea talks.

North and South Korea have begun high-level talks, the first between the countries in two years. North Korea will reportedly send athletes and cheerleaders to next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea, after the two countries held their first official talks for more than two years. The talks represent a cautious diplomatic breakthrough after months of rising tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. US President Donald Trump called the talks a "big start", adding that it would be a "great thing for all of humanity" if they resulted in a positive outcome.

In the US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite finished Monday's session at all-time highs as investors remained optimistic on the US economy.

Back home, the breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was almost flat. On the BSE, 1,367 shares rose and 1,376 shares declined. A total of 107 shares were unchanged.

Capital goods stocks were mixed. Suzlon Energy (up 4.15%), Thermax (up 1.53%), Siemens (up 1.12%), ABB India (up 0.39%) and Bharat Electronics (up 0.05%) edged higher. Bhel (down 1.46%), Havells India (down 1.29%), praj Industries (down 1.05%) and BEML (down 0.46%) edged lower.

L&T was down 0.5%. The company said it has successfully commissioned and handed over the state-of-the-art 360 MW Bheramara combined cycle power plant development project to North West Power Generation Company, a fully owned subsidiary of Bangladesh Power Development Board, on 5 January 2018. After performance testing, the plant capacity has been declared as 410 MW by the customer, L&T said in a statement. The announcement was made during market hours today, 9 January 2018.

IT stocks also witnessed a mixed trend. Persistent Systems (up 2.55%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.33%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.15%) and Infosys (up 0.1%) gained. HCL Technologies (down 1.1%), Wipro (down 0.98%) and TCS (down 0.4%) declined.

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