Telecom, cement stocks see mixed trend

Key benchmark indices continued to languish near the flat line in mid-morning trade amid subdued trading in Asian stocks. At 11:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was almost unchanged at 34,432.74. The Nifty 50 index was down 4.65 points or 0.04% at 10,627.55.

Among secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.42%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.78%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,601 shares rose and 991 shares declined. A total of 116 shares were unchanged.

Telecom stocks were mixed. Reliance Communications (down 0.45%), Bharti Infratel (down 0.72%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.43%) edged lower. Bharti Airtel (up 1.61%) and Idea Cellular (up 0.98%) edged higher.

Cement stocks also witnessed a mixed trend. Ambuja Cements (down 0.83%), ACC (down 0.09%) and Grasim Industries (down 0.06%) edged lower. Shree Cement (up 0.67%) and UltraTech Cement (up 0.06%) edged higher.

Welspun Enterprises rose 1.61% at Rs 192.30 after the company entered into a concession agreement with Madhya Pradesh government for Dewas water supply project. The announcement was made after trading hours yesterday, 10 January 2018.

On the macro front, according to the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects report released yesterday, 10 January 2018, India is likely to reclaim its position from China as the fastest growing major economy in 2018, with growth expected to accelerate to 7.3% in the year. The World Bank also revised India's growth estimate for 2017 to 6.7% from 7% projected in October, blaming short-term disruptions caused by the newly introduced goods and services tax (GST) and a softer-than-envisioned recovery in private investment. The report projected China's economic growth to slow to 6.4% in 2018 from 6.8% in 2017.

Meanwhile, the government is scheduled to announce industrial production data for November 2017 tomorrow, 12 January 2018. India's industrial production increased by 2.2% year-on-year in October, easing from an upwardly revised 4.1% gain in September.

The government will also announce tomorrow, 12 January 2018, inflation data based on consumer price index (CPI) for December 2017. Consumer prices increased 4.88% year-on-year in November, higher than 3.58% in October.

Overseas, Asian stocks edged lower after Wall Street slipped overnight on China bond report. US stocks fell yesterday, 10 January 2018 as investors fretted over the possibility of China halting its Treasury bond purchases and the US pulling out of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

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