Market holds firm

Stocks hovered in a small range with positive bias in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 71.13 points or 0.21% at 34,402.81. The Nifty 50 index was up 29.95 points or 0.28% at 10,556.15. Realty stocks saw mixed trend. Most FMCG stocks rose. Positive global stocks boosted sentiment on the domestic bourses.

Key indices resumed uptrend after taking a one-day pause yesterday, 18 April 2018, on positive Asian stocks. Indices hovered in near day's high in morning trade. Indices were range bound in afternoon trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.52%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.41%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,311 shares rose and 1,224 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.

IndusInd Bank lost 1.68%. The bank's net profit rose 26.81% to Rs 953.09 crore on 16.21% rise in total income to Rs 5858.62 crore in Q4 March 2018 over Q4 March 2017. The result was declared during market hours today, 19 April 2018.

Index heavyweight and engineering and construction major L&T advanced 1.42% to Rs 1,380.

Most FMCG stocks rose. Britannia Industries (up 0.59%), GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare (up 0.84%), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (up 0.64%), Dabur India (up 0.87%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.02%), Marico (up 0.52%), Nestle India (up 0.42%), Tata Global Beverages (up 0.62%) and Bajaj Corp (up 0.45%) rose.

Godrej Consumer Products (down 1.79%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (down 0.19%) and Jyothy Laboratories (down 0.22%) fell.

Realty stocks saw mixed trend. DLF (up 1.13%), Sobha (up 0.67%), Godrej Properties (up 0.76%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 0.21%) and Oberoi Realty (up 2.09%) rose.

Indiabulls Real Estate (down 1.16%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (down 1.31%), D B Realty (down 2.16%) and Unitech (down 0.64%) fell.

Overseas, most European shares rose as soaring oil prices triggered a broader rally across commodities. Asian stocks rose, building on gains a day earlier, with oil prices at 3-year highs helping to boost sentiment for the region's equities.

In US, the Dow industrials ended lower yesterday, 18 April 2018 as IBM's shares got walloped; however, gains in shares of energy-related firms helped the broader market post modest gains. Wall Street showed a muted reaction to the release of the Beige Book report, which underscored that economic activity remained at a modest to moderate pace in March and early April.

The Fed's Beige Book showed that economic activity remained at a modest to moderate pace, though nine of the 12 regional banks expressed concerns about trade tariffs, centered on the tit-for-tat spat between Beijing and Washington.

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