Market drifts lower in early trade

Domestic stocks drifted lower in early trade. At 9:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 75.38 points or 0.21% at 35,073.74. The Nifty 50 index was down 23.60 points or 0.22% at 10,659.10.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.04%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.13%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 571 shares rose and 545 shares fell. A total of 40 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, most Asian stocks were trading higher as investors appeared to be readjusting their expectations about trade negotiations between the US and China.

As high-level meetings between the world's two largest economies were being conducted in Washington, President Donald Trump kept expectations low, reportedly saying that China had become spoiled and that he doubted negotiations would be successful.

The three main US equity benchmarks finished lower yesterday, 17 May 2018 as selling in technology shares offset an advance in the energy sector.

In US economic data, initial jobless claims rose by 11,000 to 222,000 in the latest week, the highest level in a month. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index came in at 34.4 in May.

Back home, L&T (down 1.32%), Wipro (down 1.1%) and Axis Bank (down 1.02%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Bajaj Auto rose 1.24% ahead of its Q4 result today, 18 May 2018.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 0.94% after the company announced that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has launched in US, the Authorized Generic (AG) version for Daiichi Sankyo Inc.'s Welchol (colesevelam hydrochloride) 625mg tablets. The launch is pursuant to a distribution and supply agreement between Sun Pharma's wholly owned subsidiary and Daiichi Sankyo Inc., which grants the Sun Pharma subsidiary, exclusive rights to distribute these tablets in the US for a pre-determined period.

Welchol Tablets recorded US sales of approximately $520 million for the 12 months ending March 2018, as per IQVIA. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 May 2018.

Godrej Agrovet rose 0.92% after the company announced that its subsidiary, Creamline Dairy Products (CDPL), as a part of its expansion plans, intends to invest Rs 400 crore in 3 greenfield milk processing plants in Tamil Nadu, North Karnataka and Maharashtra over the period of next 3 years. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 May 2018.

CDPL had recently acquired a processing plant in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu and is in the process of setting up another plant in Visakhapatnam. The objectives behind this proposed expansion includes growing the share of value-added milk products. In view of the same, it is expected that the milk processing capacity of CDPL would increase from 12 lakh litres per day to 15 lakh litres per day. Further, CDPL may plan to raise funds through debt or by way of public issue, if required, subject to necessary approvals.

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