Key benchmarks turn range bound

Key benchmark indices were hovering in a narrow range near day's low in mid-morning trade. At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 202.27 points or 0.56% at 36,080.98. The Nifty 50 index was down 70.10 points or 0.63% at 11,060.30.

Key indices opened lower and extended losses to hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. Key indices turned range bound in mid-morning trade. The Sensex rose 8.57 points, or 0.02% at the day's high of 36,291.82 in early trade. The index fell 248.85 points, or 0.69% at the day's low of 36,034.40 in morning trade, its lowest level since 25 January 2018. The Nifty fell 9.30 points, or 0.08% at the day's high of 11,121.10 in early trade. The index fell 88.30 points, or 0.79% at the day's low of 11,042.10 in morning trade, its lowest level since 25 January 2018.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.33%, outperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.84%, underperforming the Sensex.

The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than two losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,859 shares fell and 661 shares rose. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks fell across the board, tracking declines seen on Wall Street in the previous session. US stocks declined as the yield for benchmark 10-year Treasury note hit the highest level since April 2014 above 2.7%, raising concerns that rising borrowing costs could upend a relentless uptrend for equities. The Dow closed down about 0.7%, the S&P 500 index closed off 0.7%, at 2,853, registering its worst daily fall since August, while the Nasdaq Composite Index closed down 0.5%.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve holds its next two-day monetary policy meet on Tuesday, 30 January 2018 and Wednesday, 31 January 2018. The Federal Reserve will announce its interest rates decision on Wednesday. The Fed, in a widely expected move, had raised interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to a range of 1.25-1.5% in its December monetary policy meeting.

Closer home, IT shares were mixed. Wipro (down 1.91%), Infosys (down 1.11%), TCS (down 0.96%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.63%) and HCL Technologies (down 0.58%), edged lower. MindTree (up 0.13%), Hexaware Technologies (up 0.55%), MphasiS (up 0.97%) and Persistent Systems (up 1.26%), edged higher.

Tech Mahindra was down 0.71% to Rs 601.10 after consolidated net profit rose 12.8% to Rs 943 crore on 2.2% rise in revenue to Rs 7776 crore in Q3 December 2017 over Q2 September 2017. Earnings before interest, tax and depreciation (EBITDA) margin rose 1.8% to 16.3% in Q3 December 2017 compared with Q2 September 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 29 January 2018.

Vineet Nayyar, Vice Chairman, Tech Mahindra, said that the focus on digital transformation, continuous reskilling of workforce to meet the future demands of market space is showing encouraging results. The quarterly results also demonstrate company's focus on execution, which is key in an otherwise unpredictable macro business environment.

C P Gurnani, CEO & MD, Tech Mahindra, said that the company has continued to clock steady growth in the quarter across revenue, profits and new business. The company's commitment to 'DAVID' strategy (digitization, automation, verticalization, innovation, disruption) has yielded marquee deals in the digital space.

Auto shares were mixed. Eicher Motors (down 2.34%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.83%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.8%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.04%) and Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.02%), edged lower. Tata Motors (up 0.28%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.65%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.67%) and Escorts (up 1.18%), edged higher.

Laurus Labs fell 4.12% to Rs 516.45 after consolidated net profit fell 22.5% to Rs 34.87 crore on 5.3% decline in net sales to Rs 478.93 crore in Q3 December 2017 over Q3 December 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 29 January 2018.

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