Most auto shares decline

The market was trading with small losses in mid-morning trade. At 11:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 56 points or 0.16% at 35,686.07. The Nifty 50 index was down 26.05 points or 0.24% at 10,727.95. Mixed cues from other Asian markets spoiled investors sentiment.

Key indices opened with minor losses and continued trading in a narrow range with small losses in mid-morning trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.35%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.65%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 827 shares rose and 1234 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.

Most auto shares declined. Hero MotoCorp (down 3.07%), TVS Motor Company (down 2.45%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.02%), Eicher Motors (down 1%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.9%), Escorts (down 0.66%) and Tata Motors (down 0.26%), edged lower. Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.12%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.44%), edged higher.

Pharmaceuticals shares were mixed. Lupin (down 1.94%), Divi's Laboratories (down 1.64%), Strides Shasun (down 1.09%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.88%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.7%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.3%), Cipla (down 0.2%) and Cadila Healthcare (down 0.18%), edged lower. Alkem Laboratories (up 0.09%), IPCA Laboratories (up 0.54%), Piramal Enterprises (up 0.59%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.82%), Wockhardt (up 1.20%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.34%), edged higher.

Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL) rose 1.92% after the company won overseas contracts worth Rs 148 crore from Larsen & Toubro. The announcement was made yesterday, 23 December 2018.

HFCL announced that it has been awarded two contracts totalling Rs 148 crore by L&T to execute the Telecommunication Systems projects for the Mauritius Metro Express Project and for the Dhaka Metro Mass Rapid Transit System. The Mauritius Metro Express Project is along a 26 km route that will connect Curepipe to Immigration Square in the capital Port Louis and will feature 19 stations. The Dhaka Metro Mass Rapid Transit System Project is along a 20 km route and is an elevated metro rail system with 16 Stations and a Maintenance Depot, connecting Uttara and Motijheel.

On the economic front, India's GST Council in the thirty-first meeting held on Saturday, 22 December 2018, at New Delhi announced reduction in GST rates/exemptions on 23 goods and services, including movie tickets, TV/monitor screens and power banks, and exempted frozen and preserved vegetables from the levy. Of the 23 goods and services on which rates have been slashed, tax rate on seven items in the 28% slab has been brought down. With this, only 28 goods are left in the highest 28% tax bracket. The new GST rates will be effective from 1st January 2019.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed, following last week's market turmoil in the US. US stocks closed steeply lower Friday, as investors digested the implications of a tighter US monetary policy, flagging global growth and uncertainty surrounding US-China trade relations. US equity market on Monday will end early as it is Christmas Eve and will be closed on Tuesday for the Christmas holiday.

Meanwhile, the US federal government partially shut down for the third time this year early Saturday as lawmakers in Washington continued to wrangle over funding for President Donald Trump's proposed border wall.

Key lawmakers and Trump administration officials returned midday Saturday to resume negotiations over Trump's border-wall funding demand of at least $5 billion. By the middle of the afternoon, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his chamber would adjourn for the Christmas holiday, not returning until 27 December 2018.

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