Metal stocks gain

Key indices traded with small gains with movement restricted near the flat line in early afternoon trade amid listless and rangebound session of trade so far. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 9.33 points or 0.03% at 29,935.48. The Nifty 50 index rose 6.50 points or 0.07% at 9,320.55.

Sluggish trade in Indian stocks was in line with quiet trade in Asian stocks and tiny gains in US stocks overnight. Metal & mining stocks gained. IT stocks advanced.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.34%. The BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.62%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,426 shares rose and 1,107 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

IT stocks advanced in firm market. Tech Mahindra (up 2%), HCL Technologies (up 1.55%), TCS (up 0.37%), Infosys (up 1.83%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.64%), and Wipro (up 0.56%) edged higher.

Metal & mining stocks gained. JSW Steel (up 1.67%), Bhushan Steel (up 2.7%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.55%), Vedanta (up 2.95%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.93%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2.64%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 3.06%), Tata Steel (up 1.75%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (up 1.24%), National Aluminum Company (up 1.97%) and NMDC (up 1.77%) gained.

Mangalam Drugs & Organics rose 2.72% after net profit rose 18.63% to Rs 6.56 crore on 17.52% growth in net sales to Rs 82.91 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 8 May 2017.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said yesterday, 8 May 2017 that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is on schedule for implementation from 1 July 2017 and will not lead to any significant increase in prices of goods although cost of some services may see a marginal hike.

Overseas, Asian stocks traded mixed after strong gains a day earlier as investors looked for the next catalyst after France's presidential election. Markets in Korea are closed as voters there elect a new president after former President Park Geun-hye was removed from office over a corruption scandal.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund said Asia's economic outlook faces "significant" uncertainty and downside growth risks from any sudden tightening in global financial conditions or rise in protectionist trade policies. The IMF, which in April raised its 2017 Asia-Pacific growth forecast to 5.5% from its previous October forecast of 5.4%, said loose monetary and fiscal policies across most of the region would underpin domestic demand. India's growth is expected to rebound to 7.2% in the FY 2018 and 7.7% in FY 2019 after disruptions caused by demonetisation, the IMF said.

In US, the S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite indices notched records yesterday, 8 May 2017, but indexes finished little-changed as materials shares capped a climb in the energy sector. Trading activity was listless after Emmanuel Macron's closely watched, but expected, presidential election victory in France on Sunday, 7 May 2017.

In the latest commentary from Federal Reserve officials, Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said the Fed must be very vigilant against falling behind on needed interest-rate hikes, adding that we could risk a recession if the central bank delayed too long on normalizing rates. Separately, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the Fed's benchmark federal-funds rate is close to where a famous mathematical rule recommends it should be.

A measure of fear on Wall Street ended at its lowest level since 1993 yesterday, 8 May 2017, according to FactSet data. The CBOE Volatility Index VIX, -7.57% or VIX, closed at 9.77, off 7.6%, and marking its lowest level since 27 December1993.

In Europe, German industrial production fell by less than expected in March and trade proved resilient, data showed, supporting expectations for a robust performance of Europe's biggest economy in the first quarter. Industrial output edged down by 0.4% on the month, data from the Economy Ministry showed.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News