Sensex, Nifty hover near flat line

Key equity indices were trading near flat line in morning trade. At 10:40 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 6.25 points or 0.02% at 38,878.12. The Nifty 50 index was down 2.90 points or 0.02% at 11,666.25. The Sensex was trading below 39,000 mark after crossing that level in early trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.24%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.08%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was almost even. On BSE, 994 shares rose and 917 shares fell. A total of 114 shares were unchanged.

Bharti Airtel (up 2.57%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 2.51%), Tata Motors (up 2.32%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.40%) and State Bank of India (up 1.08%), were the major Sensex gainers.

HCL Technologies (down 1.56%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.25%), ICICI Bank (down 1.12%), Tata Steel (down 0.88%), ITC (down 0.62%) and HDFC Bank (down 0.53%), were the major Sensex losers.

On the economic front, the output of eight core industries, comprising 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose 2.1% in February 2019. The cumulative output has improved 4.3% in April to February 2018-19.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher Tuesday following overnight gains on Wall Street. US stocks ended higher Monday, boosted by better-than-expected economic reports, momentarily allaying fears of flagging economic growth.

Investors were also hopeful for a resolution to the US-China trade conflict, with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He set to visit Washington later this week.

On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index showed that activity in the sector accelerated, coming in at a stronger-than-expected 55.3 in March versus a two-year low of 54.2% a month earlier. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in activity.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News