A bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices witnessed a sharp recovery and turned positive to trade with tiny gains in early afternoon trade. At 12:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 8.85 points or 0.03% at 31,655.31. The Nifty 50 gained 7.15 points or 0.07% at 9,891.55. Volatility was caused due to expiry of near month futures & options contracts today, 31 August 2017 while mixed Asian cues provided no clear direction for local markets.
After opening with small gains, indices soon slipped into the red and traded with small losses till mid-morning trade. Indices recovered and turned positive in early afternoon trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.15%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.46%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,317 shares rose and 949 shares fell. A total of 135 shares were unchanged.
IndusInd Bank dropped 0.34%. The bank said that it has inaugurated a new branch in Faridkot expanding presence across Punjab. IndusInd Bank has recently inaugurated its first branch in Fardikot. The new branch is located at Ground floor, MC No. B-X-6, Balbir Avenue, Valmiki Chowk Circular Road, Faridkot, Punjab. With the inauguration of this branch, the bank now has 101 branches in Punjab.
Metal and mining stocks were mixed. Bhushan Steel (down 0.01%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.2%), Vedanta (down 0.98%), Tata Steel (down 0.54%), Hindalco Industries (down 0.06%), Steel Authority of India (down 1.05%), and JSW Steel (down 1.72%) edged lower. Hindustan Copper (up 0.16%), NMDC (up 0.47%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.51%) and National Aluminium Company (up 0.79%) gained.
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Defence stocks rose after report suggested that the Union Ministry of Defence has kicked in a series of reforms for the Indian Army, which it has also described as first ever exercise of its kind after Independence. Bharat Electronics (up 0.76%), Astra Microwave Products (up 3.39%), Punj Lloyd (up 2.63%), BEML (up 0.71%), Taneja Aerospace & Aviation (up 5.91%), Tata Power Company (up 0.32%) and Reliance Defence & Engineering (up 6.3%) edged higher. L&T fell 0.65%. The recommendations were made by Shekatkar committee. The 11-member committee was appointed by former defence minister Manohar Parrikar in May last year, to find ways to enhance the combat potential of the armed forces and re-balance defence expenditure, and improve the teeth-to-tail ratio.
Biocon shed 1.42% after the company announced after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017, that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has delayed by three months its decision on whether it will approve Biocon and Mylan's breast cancer biosimilar drug while it reviews additional information submitted by the companies. The approval was earlier expected on 3 September 2017.
USFDA has notified Mylan it will extend the target action date for their application of the drug, Trastuzumab, to 3 December 2017, Biocon said. This is in order to review some clarificatory information submitted to the regulator as part of the application review process, a Biocon spokesperson stated in a statement. This three month extension has no impact on the anticipated timetable for commercialisation of this product in the US, he added.
Biocon and Mylan have together developed the trastuzumab biosimilar, which is a copy of a complex biologic drug developed by Swiss biotech giant Roche.
Majestic Auto was locked in 20% upper circuit filter at Rs 122.40 after the company said that its board at its meeting held yesterday, 30 August 2017 considered sale of assets more than the net worth at such time in such form for an amount not exceeding Rs 300 crore. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 30 August 2017.
Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed amid volatility. An official gauge of China's factory activity rose in August, government data showed. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rebounded to 51.7 from July's 51.4. The index has now stayed above the 50 mark, which separates an expansion of activity from a contraction, for 13 months.
China's official nonmanufacturing purchasing-managers' index, a measure of activity outside the nation's factory gates, fell for a second straight month to 53.4 in August from 54.5 in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
Japan's industrial output fell more than expected in July. Industrial output fell 0.8% in July from the previous month, dragged down by production of semiconductor production equipment, turbines and power generators, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed.
US stocks climbed yesterday, 30 August 2017, after the Commerce Department said the economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter. President Donald Trump also made a speech calling on Congress to act to advance tax reform, a proposal favoured by many businesses. The Commerce Department said the US economy grew at a 3% annual rate over the three months to the end of June, up from an earlier 2.6% estimate. The revision means that growth for the quarter was at the fastest rate since the first quarter of 2015.
Private-sector hiring skyrocketed in August, according to data released. Employers added a seasonally adjusted 237,000 jobs during the month, payroll processor ADP said. That was a big gain from the 178,000 jobs ADP reported in July, and which it revised up to 201,000.
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