 "Markets end flat; Amtek Auto zooms 49%")
Markets finished the last session of the week on a weak note amid a rollercoaster ride as investors remained on their toes ahead of the US Fed meet due next week and the IIP data for the month of July due to be unveiled later today.
Provisionally, the Sensex closed 27 points lower at 25,596 and the Nifty ended 3 points lower at 7,785.
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(updated at 3:30 PM)Benchmark share indices came off their day's highs and were trading flat as investors booked profits in capital goods shares ahead of the July IIP data to be released later today while losses in private lenders also weighed on market sentiment.
At 2:20PM, the Sensex was up 40 points at 25,662 and the Nifty was up 6 points at 7,794.
In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap was trading flat while the Small-cap index was up 0.5%. Market breadth was marginally strong with 1,466 gainers and 1,015 losers on the BSE.
Further, foreign funds continue to book profits in domestic equities after they remained net sellers in equities worth Rs 121 crore on Thursday.
RUPEE
The rupee remained volatile and is trading marginally lower at 66.46 against the US dollar amid bouts of selling of the US currency by some banks and exporters.
SECTORS & STOCKS
The BSE Metal index was the top loser down 0.9% followed by Bankex, Capital Goods and Power indices.
Infosys was up 1.3%. The IT majoar announced that it will increase the stipends of interns during the internship instead of increasing entrant salaries.
Private banks such as ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank are trading lower on profit taking after recent gains contributing the most to the Sensex decline along with capital goods shares. Meanwhile, mortgage lender HDFC was up 1.3%.
Capital Goods majors, BHEL and L&T are trading lower by 0.5% and 1.8% ahead of the July IIP data due today.
Tata Motors trimmed early losses and was trading with marginal losses. The company’s sales of commercial vehicles in August declined by 2.79% to 29,683 units from 30,536 units in the previous year. However, Tata Motors reported a 1.51% increase in its global sales, including that of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicles, to 74,639 units last month.
FMCG majors ITC and HUL are up 0.5% each ahead of the consumer price inflation data scheduled to be released on Monday.
Among other shares, Shares of logistics companies are trading higher erasing most of their yesterday’s losses on the bourses after the government indicated that it was reworking the goods and services tax (GST) rollout deadline to October 1, 2016.
Patel Integrated Logistics (6% at Rs 84), Snowman Logistics (6% at Rs 99), Sical Logistics (3% at Rs 159), VRL Logistics (2% at Rs 410), Transport Corporation of India (1% at Rs 228) and Navkar Corporation (1% at Rs 165) are up more than 1% each.
Shares of Automotive Axles have dipped 6% to Rs 641 on the BSE after a huge block deal executed on the counter. Around 270,000 equity shares representing 1.8% of total equity of Automotive Axles have changed hands, BSE data showed