Metal stocks decline

Key benchmark indices partially recovered intraday gains in mid-afternoon trade after hovering near flat line in afternoon trade. At 14:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 69.90 points or 0.2% at 34,422.69. The Nifty 50 index advanced 6.10 points or 0.06% at 10,629.70.

Continuous foreign fund inflows and bets by investors amid optimism over Q3 FY 2018 earnings and upcoming budget helped the key indices to hit record highs in early trade amid initial volatility. Indices hovered with small gains till mid-morning trade. Indices hovered near flat line in afternoon trade.

Among secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.42%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.07%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,601 shares fell and 1,299 shares rose. A total of 112 shares were unchanged.

Metal and mining stocks dropped. NMDC (down 4.2%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.77%), Hindustan Copper (down 2.66%), Hindalco Industries (down 1.38%), Vedanta (down 1.34%), JSW Steel (down 0.87%), Nalco (down 0.87%) and SAIL (down 0.76%) declined. Hindustan Zinc (up 0.05%) and Tata Steel (up 0.45%) edged higher.

Aviation stocks declined. Jet Airways (India) (down 3.41%), SpiceJet (down 1.42%) and InterGlobe Aviation (down 0.06%) dropped.

Tejas Networks advanced 5.65% at Rs 450 after the company announced that it has successfully completed Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Networks (GPON) equipment installations in over 40,000 gram panchayats in India as part of the BharatNet phase-I project. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 9 January 2018. BharatNet is an ambitious Government of India project to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to 2.50 lakh gram panchayats of the country.

Overseas, European stocks edged slightly higher in early trade as investors monitored a fresh batch of economic data. Official data released today, 9 January 2018 showed that industrial production in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, picked up strongly in November after two months of declines. The Economy Ministry said that production was up 3.4% compared with the previous month.

Most Asian stocks edged higher as investors in the region digested earnings guidance from tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics and kept an eye on inter-Korea talks. North and South Korea have begun high-level talks, the first between the countries in two years. North Korea will reportedly send athletes and cheerleaders to next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea, after the two countries held their first official talks for more than two years. The talks represent a cautious diplomatic breakthrough after months of rising tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. US President Donald Trump called the talks a "big start", adding that it would be a "great thing for all of humanity" if they resulted in a positive outcome.

In the US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite finished Monday's session at all-time highs as investors remained optimistic on the US economy.

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