Key benchmark indices continued to trade with modest losses in afternoon trade. At 13:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 293.23 points or 0.92% at 31,457.59. The Nifty 50 index shed 90 points or 0.91% at 9,822.80. Weakness in global stocks weighed on sentiment on the domestic bourses. Market sentiment was dull amid geopolitical tensions in the aftermath of North Korea firing a missile over northern Japan.
The Sensex declined 304.17 points or 0.95% at the day's low of 31,446.65 in afternoon trade, its lowest level since 23 August 2017. It fell 11.02 points or 0.03% at the day's high of 31,739.80 in early trade. The Nifty lost 97.25 points or 0.98% at the day's low of 9,815.55 in afternoon trade, its lowest level since 23 August 2017. It fell 25.45 points or 0.25% at the day's high of 9,887.35 in early trade.
After opening lower, key indices continuously traded in negative zone so far. The Sensex and the Nifty hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.28%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.42%. The losses in both the indices were lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,495 shares fell and 891 shares rose. A total of 117 shares were unchanged.
Cement stocks declined. Ambuja Cements (down 0.95%), UltraTech Cement (down 0.76%), ACC (down 0.66%), Grasim Industries (down 0.56%) and Shree Cement (down 0.51%) edged lower.
Pharma stocks edged lower. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.27%), Cipla (down 1.03%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.63%) and Cadila Healthcare (down 0.34%) declined. Lupin (up 0.07%) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.48%) gained.
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Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) was down 0.31% at Rs 127.90. The company announced that it has successfully commissioned the first unit of 2x30 megawatts (MW) Tuirial Hydro Electric Project (HEP) in Mizoram. The announcement was made during market hours today, 29 August 2017.
Overseas, European and Asian stocks declined after North Korea fired a missile over northern Japan. North Korea fired a missile early today, 29 August 2017 that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific waters off the northern region of Hokkaido, South Korea and Japan, in a sharp escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula.
In economic news, consumer confidence in Germany, Europe's largest economy, is set to improve further in September, reaching its highest level in almost 16 years, market research group GfK's monthly survey showed. GfK's forward-looking consumer sentiment index is set to rise to 10.9 points in September, from 10.8 points in August, GfK said.
US stocks closed on a mixed note yesterday, 28 August 2017, as investors tried to assess the flooding damage caused by Tropical Storm Harvey, powerful hurricane to strike Texas in more than 50 years when it came ashore last week.
In economic news, an early look at US trade patterns in July points to a wider deficit. The advanced trade gap in goods services are excluded widened by nearly 1.8% to $65.1 billion in July, the Commerce Department said. Both exports and imports declined, but exports dropped at a faster pace.
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