Closing Bell: Sensex ends 2018 on a flat note, Nifty below 10,900; midcaps outperform

It’s a rather somber end to the market on the last trading session of 2018. Mixed Asian and European cues kept the market in check. The Nifty ended 2018 below 10,900.

Weakness was visible among index heavyweights, which dragged the indices. Meanwhile, among sectors, auto, metals and pharmaceuticals were all trading in the green.

At the close of market hours, the Sensex was down 8.39 points or 0.02% at 36068.33, and the Nifty up 2.60 points or 0.02% at 10862.50. The market breadth was narrow as 1495 shares advanced, against a decline of 1095 shares, while 164 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, Vedanta, and JSW Steel were the top gainers, while Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel and Bharti Infratel lost the most.

Bharat Financial Inclusion gained 1 percent and CreditAccess Grameen rallied 3 percent intraday Monday after the completion of direct assignment transaction.

Last weekend, Bharat Financial Inclusion said it had assigned a pool of receivables of an aggregate value of Rs 849.36 crore to one of the largest private sector banks on a direct assignment basis as per the guidelines prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India.

This is the fifth direct assignment transaction in FY19 by the micro finance lender.

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State-runBHEL said it has bagged an order worth Rs 3,500 crore for setting up a 660 MW supercritical thermal power plant in West Bengal.

The order by West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL) entails setting up a 660 MW Sagardighi Thermal Power Project at Manigram village in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, BHEL said in a statement.

According to the statement, BHEL's scope of work in the project includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply, testing and commissioning of the main plant turnkey package, comprising supercritical boiler and turbine generator along with its auxiliaries, coal handling plant and ash handling plant.

DCB Bank advanced a percent after CRISIL upgraded its credit rating to AA-/Stable from A+/Stable for the Basel III Complaint Tier II bonds programme of Rs 150 crore by the bank.

The rating agency reaffirmed A1+ rating on the short term fixed deposit programme as well as Rs 2,000 crore certificates of deposit programme of the bank.

Cadila Healthcare shares gained 1.5 percent intraday after Zydus received approval from the US health regulator for anti-acne drug.

Zydus Cadila has received the final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market Clindamycin Phosphate and Benzoyl Peroxide gel, which is available in the 1.2 /5 percent strength.

This combination medication is used to treat a certain type of acne (inflammatory acne vulgaris). It helps to decrease the number of acne pimples.

Clindamycin is an antibiotic that stops the growth of acne-causing bacteria. Benzoyl peroxide can also stop the growth of bacteria as well as reduce oil production in the skin.

Reliance Communications and Reliance Jio announced that they have extended the terms of an agreement for sale of wireless assets of the Anil Ambani owned firm.

The move comes at a time when Reliance Communication's spectrum sale deal has been hanging fire, pending requisite clearance from the telecom department.

"Reliance Jio lnfocomm Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, extended the term of the definitive agreement for the acquisition of specified assets of Reliance Communications Limited and its affiliates to 28th June 2019," Reliance Industries said in a regulatory filing Monday. Source: PTI

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

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China's factory activity contracted for the first time in over two years in December, highlighting the challenges facing Beijing as it seeks to end a bruising trade war with Washington and reduce the risk of a sharper economic slowdown in 2019.

The increasing strain on factories signals a continued loss of momentum in China, adding to worries about softening global growth, especially if the Sino-USdispute drags on.

Trade frictions are already disrupting global supply chains, fuelling concerns of a bigger blow next year to world trade, investment and shaky financial markets.

The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - the first snapshot of China's economy each month - fell to 49.4 in December, below the 50-point level that separates growth from contraction, a National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) survey showed on Monday. It was the first contraction since July 2016 and the weakest reading since February 2016. Source: Reuters.