Market turns range bound

Key benchmark indices were range bound in early afternoon trade. At 12:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 245.79 points or 0.77% at 31,828.99. The Nifty 50 index was down 59.75 points or 0.60% at 9,856.20. The Sensex was trading below the psychologically important 32,000 mark.

Heavy selling in index heavyweight ITC dragged the Sensex lower. Selling in index pivotal Reliance Industries (RIL) also put pressure on the Sensex.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.15%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.01%. The decline in both these indices was lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,347 shares fell and 1,051 shares rose. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.

Cigarette major ITC was down 11.65% at Rs 287.80 after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council yesterday, 17 July 2017, increased the compensation cess on cigarettes by 48.50 paise to 79.20 paise per stick with effect from 18 July 2017. The stock hit a high of Rs 293.20 and low of Rs 276.90 so far during the day.

While the peak Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate of 28% stays and so does 5% ad valorem cess on top of it on the cigarettes, the fixed cess has been hiked between Rs 485 and Rs 792 per thousand sticks. The increase in cess is expected to help the government raise around Rs 5000 crore of additional tax revenue, reports suggested.

Index pivotal Reliance Industries (RIL) was down 2.19% at Rs 1,517.45. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,551.50 and low of Rs 1,512 so far during the day.

Most capital goods shares declined. ABB India (down 1.8%), Havells India (down 1.72%), Suzlon Energy (down 1.59%), Punj Lloyd (down 1.26%), Reliance Defence and Engineering (down 0.91%), Thermax (down 0.82%), Lakshmi Machine Works (down 0.75%), Praj Industries (down 0.63%), SKF India (down 0.62%), GE T&D India (down 0.53%), BEML (down 0.33%), GE Power India (down 0.19%) and Siemens (down 0.12%), edged lower. AIA Engineering (up 0.02%), Crompton Greaves (up 0.12%), Bharat Electronics (up 0.49%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 0.78%) and Jindal Saw (up 2.28%), edged higher.

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was up 0.97% at Rs 1,181.95.

Most auto shares rose. Eicher Motors (up 1.25%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.68%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.59%), Tata Motors (up 0.57%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.49%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.34%) and Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.33%), edged higher. Ashok Leyland (down 0.05%) and Escorts (down 0.38%), edged lower.

Axis Bank rose 1.33% to Rs 517.75 after the bank said it reviewed and decided to keep the marginal cost of funds based lending rates of the bank unchanged with effect from 18 July 2017. The announcement was made by the bank after market hours yesterday, 17 July 2017.

Axis Bank's marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) for overnight loans will be 7.8%, the rate for one month will be 7.8% and for three months it will be 8%. The MCLR on 6-month loans will be 8.15% and for one-year loans the rate will be 8.25%, the bank said. MCLR on two-year loans will be 8.3% and for three-year loans the rate will be 8.35%.

Jubilant FoodWorks advanced 3.02% to Rs 1,313.10, with the stock extending Monday's rally triggered by the company reporting good Q1 June 2017 results during market hours yesterday, 17 July 2017. The stock had rallied 9.31% to settle at Rs 1,274.55 yesterday, 17 July 2017.

Jubilant FoodWorks' net profit rose 25.53% to Rs 23.84 crore on 10.62% growth in total income to Rs 681.81 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q1 June 2016.

Overseas, most Asian shares bounced back from the day's low. US market ended little changed yesterday, 17 July 2017, as investors braced for a flood of second-quarter earnings reports later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 8.02 points to close at 21,629.72. The S&P 500 declined 0.13 points to close at 2,459.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.97 points to close at 6,314.43.

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