Sensex, Nifty hit fresh intraday high

Key benchmark indices bounced back and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade led by strength in index pivotals ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Larsen & Toubro. At 10:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 60.57 points or 0.17% at 34,676.70. The Nifty 50 index was up 24.45 points or 0.23% at 10,541.15.

After opening lower, the market bounced and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. The Sensex rose 138.47 points, or 0.40% at the day's high of 34,754.60 in morning trade. The index fell 65.91 points, or 0.19% at the day's low of 34,550.22 in early trade. The Nifty rose 41.90 points, or 0.40% at the day's high of 10,558.60 in morning trade. The index fell 26.15 points, or 0.25% at the day's low of 10,490.55 in early trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.32%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.47%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned positive from negative. On BSE, 1,144 shares rose and 857 shares fell. A total of 97 shares were unchanged.

ICICI Bank was up 1.28% at Rs 293.35. HDFC Bank was up 1.08% at Rs 2013.50. Larsen & Toubro was up 1.08% at Rs 1328.15.

Most metal shares rose. JSW Steel (up 2.36%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.69%), Steel Authority of India (up 1.18%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.83%), NMDC (up 0.62%), Tata Steel (up 0.59%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.39%), edged higher. Vedanta (down 0.15%), Hindustan Zinc (down 0.16%) and National Aluminium Company (down 0.34%), edged lower.

FMCG shares were mixed. Britannia Industries (up 1.38%), Tata Global Beverages (up 1.30%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 0.92%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.56%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 0.48%), Marico (up 0.39%) and Nestle India (up 0.21%), edged higher. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (down 0.01%), Bajaj Corp (down 0.49%), Jyothy Laboratories (down 0.49%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 0.56%) and Dabur India (down 0.62%), edged lower.

On the political front, Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), leader H D Kumaraswamy will take oath as Chief Minister of Karnataka on Wednesday, 23 May 2018 at 16.30 IST on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat. Governor Vajubhai Vala will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Kumaraswamy.

The 12 May 2018 Karnataka assembly polls threw up a hung verdict with BJP emerging as the single largest party with 104 seats. The Congress was next with 78 and the JD(S) followed with 37. The BSP has one MLA and two seats went to Independents.

Overseas, Asian shares were mixed. The US market jumped overnight as investors applauded easing trade animosities between the US and China.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reportedly said that bilateral trade talks with China had made very meaningful progress and that it was now up to both parties to implement what had been discussed. Mnuchin said over the weekend that the Trump administration would delay implementation of tariffs on Chinese goods and put the trade war on hold while working out details of a deal between the countries.

A focus for global markets this week is Wednesday's release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting. Investors will be watching the minutes for clues about the pace of the current tightening cycle.

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