After opening the day in the green, share markets in India witnessed choppy trading activity throughout the day and are presently below the dotted line. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed with stocks in the pharma sector and stocks in the realty sector leading the losses, while stocks in the auto sector are trading in green.

The BSE Sensex is down by 11 points (down 0.1%) and the NSE Nifty is trading down by 10 points (down 0.1%). Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.5%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 0.6%. The rupee is trading at 67.05 to the US$.

In news from the manufacturing sector. Activity in India's manufacturing sector expanded at its weakest pace in five months in May as new work orders rose at a weaker pace.

According to the Nikkei Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey by Markit, India's manufacturing continued to slow down the pace of expansion in March after growing marginally in February.

PMI in May stood at 51.2, a decline from the 51.6 reading in April, however indicating an expansion. This is the tenth consecutive month that the manufacturing PMI remained above the 50-point mark, which separates expansion from contraction. Notably, the PMI reading in May is still showing an expansion, albeit at a slower pace than the previous month.The PMI is the reading of the country's manufacturing sector output and is updated monthly. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while any score below the mark denotes contraction.

Manufacturing Activity Eases Pace in May

A surge in oil prices over the past few months means India's retail inflation has remained above the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) medium-term target of 4% increasing pressure on the central bank to act sooner than expected/

On the prices front, a build-up of inflationary pressures re-emerged as input cost and output inflation was at the strongest since February due to the upswing in global oil prices.

Though Indian manufacturers remained cheerful about growth prospects, worries about the possibility of unexpected policy decisions and a risk of an international trade war weighed on confidence.

Moving on to news from stocks in the auto sector. Bajaj auto share price is in focus today after the company reported robust sales data for May.

The company posted a 30% rise in total sales for the month, at 407,044 units from 313,756 units in the same period a year ago.

The company's total exports too grew at a heathy pace, clocking in 31% growth over the previous year. Meanwhile two-wheeler sales grew by 24%, while the highest growth was seen in commercial vehicle sales, which went up by 76% in the same period a year ago.

Notably, this is the best May sales growth for the company in the past eight years.

At the time of writing, Bajaj Auto share price was trading up by 5%.

Speaking of auto sales, one of the major indicators to determine growth in the India economy, is the volume of vehicles sold.

For the first nine months of FY18 at least, the auto industry has done well to grow in double digits after some lean years.

Vehicle sales grew by 11.3% YoY during this period. The best performing of the lot were commercial vehicles (CVs), volumes of which grew by 15% YoY. Two-wheelers also did well growing by around 12% YoY.

In fact, in a recent conference call, the management of the largest two-wheeler company in the country - Hero Motocorp - said they expect the two-wheeler industry to grow in double digits in FY19 as well.

We're keeping a close eye on auto stocks.