Sensex, Nifty hover near flat line

The Sensex and the Nifty were trading near flat line in afternoon trade. At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 9.21 points or 0.03% at 34,465.17. The Nifty 50 index was down 12.95 points or 0.13% at 10,335.10.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.50%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.79%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 861 shares rose and 1553 shares fell. A total of 138 shares were unchanged.

Asian Paints (down 3.47%), Hindustan Unilever (down 2.71%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 2.53%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.49%) and State Bank of India (down 1.35%), were the major Sensex losers.

Auto major Tata Motors was down 15.79%. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported total retail sales of 57,114 vehicles in September 2018, down 12.3% year on year despite strong sales for new models including the Range Rover Velar and the Jaguar I-PACE and E-PACE. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 October 2018.

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (up 3.76%), Yes Bank (up 3.49%), HDFC (up 3.43%), Vedanta (up 2.88%) and Tata Steel (up 1.73%), were the major Sensex gainers.

State-run Coal India (up 2.37%) and NLC India (up 0.83%) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for formation of joint venture (JV) company for solar power generation of 3,000 MW and thermal power projects of 2,000 MW capacity. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 October 2018.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) retained its India growth forecast for the current year and marginally pared it for next fiscal, citing the drag from higher crude prices and tightening of the global financial situation. But it will remain the fastest-growing major economy, well ahead of China, it said.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF said India will grow 7.3% in FY19 and 7.4% in FY20. It had in January forecast FY20 growth at 7.5%. China is forecast to grow 6.6% and 6.2% in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The Indian economy grew 6.7% in FY18.

Overseas, European shares were trading higher amid simmering tensions between Italy and the European Union (EU) over the former's 2019 budget. Traders are closely monitoring the political situation in Italy, where tensions are growing between Rome and Brussels over the new coalition government's first budget and deficit targets.

Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday as China allowed its currency to slip past a psychological bulwark amid sharp losses in domestic share markets, a shift that pressured other emerging currencies to depreciate to stay competitive. South Korea's markets are closed for a public holiday.

IMF added to the malaise by cutting forecasts of global growth for both this year and next, including downgrades to the outlook for the United States, China and Europe.

In US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced back from earlier losses to finish higher Monday, but the broader stock market closed lower as fears over rapidly rising rates continued to weigh on sentiment. The market was influenced by worries that US economic growth may be jeopardized by higher interest rates.

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