Indian shares close flat as auto, consumer stocks offset slide in financials

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Indian shares were little changed on Wednesday as a rise in auto and consumer stocks offset the slide in high-weightage financials. The Nifty index settled 0.05% higher at 19,398.50, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.05% to 65,446.04. Both the indexes had hit all-time highs at each of the four previous sessions.

Financials lost 0.82%, dragged by HDFC and HDFC Bank, down over 3% each, after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) announced the exclusion of HDFC from Nifty 50 beginning July 13. Fast moving consumer goods index hit a record high, led by ITC on a report that the process to demerge its hotels business was underway. Among individual stocks, Hero MotoCorp extended gains to a fresh two-year high on the launch of a bike developed with Harley Davidson, while rival Bajaj Auto advanced 5.72% after launching two 400 cc bikes in partnership with UK's Triumph Motorcycles.

Broader indexes outperformed their larger peers, with smallcaps and midcaps rising over 0.7% each to log new 52-week and record highs, respectively. «While the medium-term and long-term outlook for domestic equities remain promising, it would be prudent for investors to exercise caution after the recent rise to all-time highs,» said G Chokkalingam, managing director for research at Equinomics Research. Weakness in other Asian indexes, selective selling at near record high levels and uncertainty over monsoons could further add to the caution, said three analysts.

Asian markets fell on concerns over a faltering economic recovery in China and worries of a trade conflict between Washington and Beijing.[MKTS/GLOB] Investors now await the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's June policy meeting, due at 11:30 p.m. IST on Wednesday.