Market breadth turns negative

Key benchmark indices trimmed gains in morning trade after an initial upmove. At 10:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 56.82 points or 0.15% at 37,592.48. The Nifty 50 index was up 3.75 points or 0.03% at 11,304.95.

A bout of volatility was seen in early trade as the key indices regained positive zone soon after erasing early gains.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was off 0.42%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was off 0.28%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive. On the BSE, 844 shares rose and 1137 shares fell. A total of 125 shares were unchanged.

On the macro front, industrial production and inflation data was released by the government after market hours yesterday, 12 March 2019. India's industrial production (base year 2011-12=100) rose at slower pace of 1.7% in January 2019, compared with 2.6% growth recorded in December 2018. The industrial production growth for December 2018 has been revised upwards from 2.4% increase reported provisionally.

The all-India general CPI inflation rose to 2.57% in February 2019 (new base 2012=100), compared with 1.97% in January 2019. The corresponding provisional inflation rate for rural area was 1.81% and urban area 3.43% in February 2019 as against 1.22% and 2.91% in January 2019. The core CPI inflation eased to 5.29% in February 2019 compared with 5.35% in January 2019.

Overseas, most Asian stocks were trading lower as investors awaited another make-or-break parliamentary vote on Brexit. US stocks closed mostly higher Tuesday, led by the health care and utilities sectors.

In US economic data, the consumer-price index rose 0.2% in February following three months of no change, the Labor Department said. Core prices, which strip out volatile changes in the cost of food an energy rose 0.1%. Year-over-year, overall inflation fell from growth of 1.6% in January to 1.5%, while annual core inflation fell from 2.2% to 2.1%.

In Europe, UK lawmakers once again rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal. Parliament will vote later Wednesday on whether to leave the EU with no deal and if that fails, another vote on Thursday to decide whether to extend the Brexit deadline.

Back home, HCL Technologies (up 1.7%), Infosys (up 1.38%), HDFC Bank (up 1.29%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.27%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 0.83%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.

NTPC (down 2.75%), Vedanta (down 2.55%), ONGC (down 2.3%), Coal India (down 2.08%) and Bharti Airtel (down 1.97%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company rose 1.17% after the company announced a research collaboration with HitGen to identify novel small molecule leads for targets of interest. The announcement was made before market hours today, 13 March 2019.

CMI rose 2.51% after the company said it executed its maiden export order from Mauritius for the supply of underground power cables. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 12 March 2019.

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