Telecom stocks rise

Key benchmark indices were hovering in positive zone in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 40.52 points or 0.11% at 36,358.85. The Nifty 50 index was up 9.80 points or 0.09% at 10,896.60. Telecom stocks rose.

Local stocks drifted higher in early trade on positive Asian stocks. Stocks trimmed gains in morning trade. Key indices erased intraday gains and sink in negative zone in mid-morning trade. The market was trading in a narrow range with small gains in afternoon trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.15%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.23%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive. On the BSE, 1210 shares rose and 1255 shares fell. A total of 161 shares were unchanged.

M&M shed 0.02%. Automobili Pininfarina GmbH ('APF'), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra Automotive Mauritius ('MAML') which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of M&M, has acquired 100% of the membership interests in Harkey Acquisition, L.L.C., USA on 15 January 2019. Going forward Harkey would be re-christened as Automobili Pininfarina Americas Inc., subject to necessary approvals. Pursuant to this, Harkey has become a wholly owned subsidiary of APF and in turn of MAML and of the company with effect from 15 January 2019. The announcement was made during market hours today, 16 January 2019.

Telecom stocks rose. Bharti Airtel (up 0.1%), Vodafone Idea (up 0.14%), MTNL (up 3.34%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.52%) and Reliance Communications (up 2.75%) gained.

Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 1.53%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.

Indiabulls Integrated Services hit an upper circuit limit of 5% at Rs 332.05. Indiabulls Integrated Services announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Indiabulls Life Insurance Company, has received regulatory R1 acceptance from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) for its proposed life insurance business. The company is in the process of putting in place the necessary systems and move ahead with the next step of filing its application for registration (R2) with IRDAI to undertake life insurance business in India. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 15 January 2019.

On the macro front, trade deficit narrowed in December 2018, government data released after market hours yesterday, 15 January 2019 showed. India's merchandise exports rose 0.3% to US$ 27.93 billion in December 2018 over a year ago. Meanwhile, merchandise imports declined 2.4% to US$ 41.01 billion, leading to 7.9% dip in the trade deficit to 10-month low of US$ 13.08 billion in December 2018 from US$ 14.20 billion in December 2017.

Merchandise exports in rupees increased 10.5% to Rs 197536 crore, while imports moved up 7.4% to Rs 290033 crore in December 2018 over December 2017. The trade deficit declined to Rs 92497 crore in December 2018 compared with Rs 95594 crore in December 2017.

Overseas, European stocks were higher Wednesday morning, with market participants assessing their options after British lawmakers voted against Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal by a crushing margin.

Market focus is now largely attuned to political uncertainty in the UK, with investors turning their attention to a confidence vote on May's government on Wednesday evening. Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to leave the European Union by a March 29 deadline was rejected overwhelmingly by the parliament, triggering more uncertainty as the country struggles to engineer an orderly exit from the trade bloc. In a crushing defeat, 432 members voted against May's proposal while 202 voted in favor.

Most Asian stock markets were trading higher supported by positive sentiment to China signaling more stimulus measures to come, including larger tax cuts, amid concerns of a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

US stocks snapped a two-session skid Tuesday, as a robust tech rally offset lackluster results from major US banks, including Dow-component JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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