Sensex, Nifty come off day's high

A bout of volatility was witnessed as key barometers pared gains after hitting fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 91.89 points or 0.27% at 33,880.43. The Nifty 50 index was up 30.75 points or 0.30% at 10,410.10. Domestic shares were trading higher, mirroring gains in other Asian indices, as remarks by Chinese President Xi Jinping helped soothe investor jitters over US-China trade tensions.

The Sensex rose 161.44 points, or 0.48% at the day's high of 33,949.98 in morning trade, its highest intraday level since 13 March 2018. The index rose 78.44 points, or 0.23% at the day's low of 33,866.98 in early trade. The Nifty rose 45.50 points, or 0.44% at the day's high of 10,424.85 in morning trade, its highest intraday level since 13 March 2018. The index rose 23.55 points, or 0.23% at the day's low of 10,402.90 in early trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.28%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.30%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1282 shares rose and 833 shares fell. A total of 93 shares were unchanged.

Metal shares were in demand. Hindalco Industries (up 4.29%), National Aluminium Company (up 3.13%), Steel Authority of India (up 2.79%), NMDC (up 2.52%), Tata Steel (up 2.12%), Vedanta (up 2.1%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.97%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.09%), JSW Steel (up 0.95%) and Hindustan Zinc (up 0.30%), edged higher.

Meanwhile, copper price edged higher in the global commodities markets. High Grade Copper for May 2018 delivery was currently up 0.71% at $3.099 per pound on the COMEX.

FMCG stocks were mixed. Bajaj Corp (up 1.33%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 0.48%), Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.34%), Dabur India (up 0.18%), Tata Global Beverages (up 0.13%), Nestle India (up 0.05%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 0.01%), edged higher. Godrej Consumer Products (down 0.19%), Marico (down 0.34%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (down 0.73%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (down 0.91%) and Britannia Industries (down 0.94%), edged lower.

Overseas, Asian markets advanced as investors digested comments from Chinese President Xi Jinping on measures planned to further open up the Chinese economy. Those measures, which Xi brought up in his speech at the Boao Forum for Asia, included lowering import tariffs for autos and other products, as well as enforcing legal intellectual property of foreign firms.

US stock futures also edged up amid improved investor confidence. Dow Jones industrial average futures were higher by 252 points in Asia morning trade.

US stock market finished well off session highs on Monday following a report that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officers had raided the office of Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime personal lawyer. US stocks had rallied earlier in the session as comments from Trump and administration officials alleviated fears about rising trade hostilities between the US and China.

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