Shares turn range bound

The market continued trading in a narrow band in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 108.33 points or 0.28% at 39,089.76. The Nifty 50 index was up 26.50 points or 0.23% at 11,751.25.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.02%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.09%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1014 shares rose and 1362 shares fell. A total of 184 shares were unchanged.

Realty shares were mixed. Peninsula Land (down 2.62%), Anant Raj (down 2.31%), Parsvnath Developers (down 2.15%), D B Realty (down 1.83%), Unitech (down 1.57%), Phoenix Mills (down 1.05%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (down 0.89%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) (down 0.44%) and Omaxe (down 0.07%), edged lower. Indiabulls Real Estate (up 0.22%), Sobha (up 0.66%), Oberoi Realty (up 1.24%), Sunteck Realty (up 1.47%), DLF (up 2.97%) and Prestige Estates Projects (up 3.65%), edged higher.

Godrej Properties was up 0.92%. after the company announced purchase of R.K. Studios' land in Chembur, Mumbai to develop a mixed-use project at the iconic location. Spread across 2.2 acres, this project will offer approximately 33,000 square meters (approximately 0.35 million square feet) of saleable area comprising modern residential apartments of various configurations as well as a luxury retail experience. The site is strategically located on the main Sion-Panvel Road and offers an extremely well developed social and civic infrastructure with multiple schools, hospitals, retail malls, residential, and commercial spaces in close proximity. The announcement was made before market hours today, 3 May 2019.

Most FMCG shares declined. Britannia Industries (down 2.71%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 2.56%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (down 2.1%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (down 1.95%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.87%), Nestle India (down 1.2%), Dabur India (down 0.98%), Tata Global Beverages (down 0.48%) and Jyothy Laboratories (down 0.22%), edged lower. Marico (up 0.15%), Bajaj Corp (up 0.43%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 1.42%), edged higher.

In the global commodities markets, Brent for July 2019 settlement was down 70 cents at $70.05 a barrel. The contract fell $1.43 a barrel or 1.98% to settle at $70.75 a barrel during the previous trading session. India imports majority of its crude requirements and a decline in crude eases concerns on fiscal deficit and inflation.

On the economic front, India's unemployment rate in April rose to 7.6%, the highest since October 2016, and up from 6.71% in March, according to data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) released late on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, India's economy slowed down slightly in the last fiscal due to declining growth in private consumption, slow increase in fixed investment and muted exports though it is still fastest growing major economy, said the Finance Ministry's monthly report. It further said there is slowdown of growth in agriculture and sustained growth in industry as well as some challenges.

Overseas, European shares were trading higher Friday as investors digested fresh corporate earnings and looked ahead to payrolls data out in the US. Asian shares were mixed following losses in US shares overnight. Markets in Japan and China are closed for holidays.

In US, stocks ended lower on Thursday, marking a second straight loss for the S&P and Dow, as equity investors hopeful of further policy easing remain disappointed with the Federal Reserve's Wednesday meeting.

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