Telecom stocks edge lower

Key benchmark indices trimmed intraday gains in mid-morning trade. At 11:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 94.65 points or 0.27% at 34,598.14. The Nifty 50 index advanced 27.40 points or 0.26% at 10,678.60.

The Sensex and Nifty had hit record highs in early trade on the back of positive trading sentiment in Asian stocks fueled by strong lead from Wall Street. Also, expectations of recovery in domestic earnings in Q3 FY 18 aided sentiment.

Among the secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.22%, underperforming the Sensex. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.72%, outperforming the Sensex.

Overseas, Asian stocks edged higher after strong lead from Wall Street. China reported trade data for December with exports up 10.9% and imports rising 4.5%, resulting in a trade surplus at $54.69 billion. China reported a 7.9% jump in exports and 15.9% rise in imports both in dollar terms for 2017, the country's General Administration of Customs said today, 12 January 2018. China's overall trade surplus for 2017 was $422.5 billion.

US stocks surged to close the session at record highs yesterday, 11 January 2018 as investors bet economic growth would pick up steam.

Back home, the breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,609 shares advanced and 988 shares declined. A total of 120 shares were unchanged.

Telecom stocks declined. Reliance Communications (down 0.92%), Idea Cellular (down 0.84%) and Bharti Airtel (down 0.71%) edged lower.

Cement stocks were mixed. ACC (up 0.5%), UltraTech Cement (up 0.16%) and Ambuja Cements (up 0.09%) edged higher. Shree Cement (down 1.23%) and Grasim Industries (down 0.96%) edged lower.

Bodhtree Consulting jumped 4.71% at Rs 100 after the company announced about receipt of contract from Magadh University, Bihar to provide the Digital University Platform in a managed services model. The project value is expected to cross Rs 43 crore inclusive of taxes for a period of 3 years. The company made the announcement during market hours today, 12 January 2018.

On the macro front, the government is scheduled to announce industrial production data for November 2017 today, 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 today, 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.

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