Market drifts higher in early trade

Trading for the day began on a positive note. At 9:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 112.87 points or 0.31% at 36,369.56. The Nifty 50 index was up 31.05 points or 0.29% at 10,862. Investors are awaiting the interim budget to be announced today, 1 February 2019.

The interim budget will be the last one presented by the current NDA government led by Prime Minister Modi, before the 2019 general elections in April. The government is expected to make a host of populist announcements in the budget. It is widely expected that the interim budget may contain tax sops and a certain package for the farm sector. The Budget session of Parliament began yesterday. The session will conclude on 13th of next month.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.38%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.39%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 810 shares rose and 584 shares fell. A total of 74 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks were little changed on Friday with US-China trade talks set to continue later this month. US stocks closed mostly higher Thursday led by technology shares after some solid corporate reports.

Meanwhile, market observers were watching developments between the U.S. and China as officials there attempted to forge the framework toward a resolution of tariff disputes in the final day of this round of negotiations.

On the data front, the Chicago purchasing managers index for January came in at 56.7, down from 65.4 in December. New home sales in November rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000, up from 562,000 in October.

State Bank of India (SBI) shed 0.1%. SBI will announce its October-December 2018 quarterly result today, 1 February 2019.

Hero MotoCorp gained 2.77%. The company's net profit fell 4.5% to Rs 769.10 crore on 7.5% increase in net sales to Rs 7,864.82 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 31 January 2019.

Bharti Airtel advanced 2.26%. On a consolidated basis, Bharti Airtel's net profit fell 71.81% to Rs 86.20 crore on 0.99% increase in net sales to Rs 20,519.20 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 31 January 2019.

Power Grid Corporation of India fell 0.98%. The company's net profit rose 14.2% to Rs 2,331.17 crore on 12.8% increase in net sales to Rs 8,471.17 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 31 January 2019.

Vedanta slumped 17.86%. On a consolidated basis, Vedanta's net profit fell 21.06% to Rs 1,574 crore on 2.84% decrease in net sales to Rs 23,669 crore in Q3 December 2018 over Q3 December 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 31 January 2019.

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