Metal and mining stocks decline

Stocks reversed early gains to sink in negative zone. At 10:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 23.50 points or 0.07% at 35,364.38. The Nifty 50 index was down 9.65 points or 0.09% at 10,731.45. Metal and mining stocks fell. Cement stocks rose.

Domestic stocks kickstarted trading for the day on a positive note after BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurppa was sworn in as Karnataka chief minister.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.24%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.36%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1074 shares rose and 814 shares fell. A total of 84 shares were unchanged.

Metal and mining stocks fell. Hindalco Industries (down 3.58%), NMDC (down 0.48%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (down 0.07%), National Aluminium Company (down 0.47%), Hindustan Zinc (down 0.6%) and Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.95%) edged lower. Vedanta (up 0.27%) and Hindustan Copper (up 2.15%) rose.

Copper edged higher in the global commodities market. High Grade Copper for July 2018 delivery was currently up 0.29% at $3.0795 per pound on the COMEX.

Tata Steel lost 2.11%. On a consolidated basis, Tata Steel reported net profit of Rs 14688.02 crore in Q4 March 2018 compared with net loss of Rs 1168.02 crore in Q4 March 2017. Net sales rose 7.05% to Rs 35737.19 crore in Q4 March 2018 over Q4 March 2017. The company received one-time exceptional gain of Rs 11376.14 crore in March quarter. The exceptional gain includes a non-cash gain of Rs 14077 crore on account of restructuring of UK pension scheme.

Commenting on the result, TV Narendran, CEO & MD said that Tata Steel performance has been robust in FY 2018 driven by strong execution strategy and supported by favourable global demand-supply balance. During the year, the company's Indian operations delivered volume growth better than the market on the back of the ramp-up at our Kalinganagar plant and the strength of the firm's marketing network and brand equity. Growth was broad-based across our marketing segments.

Gross debt as on 31 March 2018 increased to Rs 92147 crore, mainly driven by foreign exchange translation impact. Net debt declined to Rs 69215 crore. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 16 May 2018.

JSW Steel fell 1.65%. On a consolidated basis, net profit of JSW Steel rose 185.33% to Rs 2879 crore on 22.96% rise in net sales to Rs 20027 crore in Q4 March 2018 over Q4 March 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 16 May 2018.

Cement stocks rose. Ambuja Cements (up 1.75%), ACC (down 0.75%), UltraTech Cement (up 0.56%) gained. Shree Cement (down 0.72%) fell.

Grasim Industries rose 0.06%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

On the political front, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) B.S. Yeddyurppa was today, 17 May 2018 sworn in as Karnataka chief minister. The swearing-in came after a four-hour, post-midnight Supreme Court hearing on a Congress-JD(S) petition that sought to quash his candidature. The Supreme Court made it clear that the swearing-in and the government formation would be subject to its final order on the Congress-JD(S) petition before it. Yeddyurappa still has to prove the BJP's majority in the assembly.

Karnataka delivered a hung Assembly on Tuesday with no party getting a clear majority to form government in the state. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single-largest party, winning 104 seats, falling marginally short of the 113 seats needed to form a government. The Congress and the Janata Dal Secular (JDS) stood second and third with wins on 78 and 38 seats respectively.

Overseas, most Asia stocks were trading lower. US stocks rose yesterday, 16 May 2018 with major indexes advancing in a broad rally as investors appeared to shake off fears of rising bond yields, helping equities resume a recent uptrend.

On the economic front, construction on new houses dropped 3.7% in April. The annual rate of new homes being built declined to 1.29 million last month from a revised 1.34 million pace in March that was the strongest since mid-2007..

US factory output rose in April, although new estimates of manufacturing and overall industrial production showed less growth in prior months than initially believed, casting a shadow over the economic outlook. Industrial production rose 0.7% in April, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. Output rose at a 2.3% rate in the first quarter.

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