Key benchmarks came off day's low and were trading with small losses in early afternoon trade. At 12:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 79.85 points or 0.21% at 38,610.25. The Nifty 50 index was down 20.95 points or 0.18% at 11,655.85. Negative global cues spoiled investors sentiment.
The indices opened lower, but bounced back in early trade. Indices once again slipped into negative terrain in morning trade and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade. Indices came off day's low and were trading with small losses in early afternoon trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.01%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.15%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1251 shares rose and 1185 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.
Cement shares were mixed. Ambuja Cements (up 0.61%) and ACC (up 0.17%), edged higher. UltraTech Cement was down 0.02%.
Grasim Industries was down 0.4%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
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Most telecom shares declined. Reliance Communications (down 1.99%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 1.75%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.22%) and MTNL (down 0.61%), edged lower.
Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel was up 2.43%.
Idea Cellular was up 0.70%. The company announced during trading hours today, 31 August 2018, that it completed its merger with Vodafone's India unit after approval from the National Company Law Tribunal.
Overseas, Asia shares declined as Wall Street ended its four-day winning streak in the last session, following a report that US President Donald Trump voiced his support for moving forward with more proposed tariffs.
China reported on Friday that factory activity was higher than expected in August, with the official manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) coming in at 51.3. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that signals contraction. China's official services PMI for August rose to 54.2 for August against 54.0 in July, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.
In US, stocks snapped a four-day winning streak to finish lower Thursday, with the Dow falling back below 26,000. Media reported that Trump said to his aides that he supports going ahead with the imposition of proposed tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods. The report did, however, also mention that Trump has not made up his mind on the matter. The White House declined to comment on the report.
On the US data front, initial jobless claims, a barometer of layoffs, rose by 3,000 to 213,000 in the week ended 25 August 2018. Nonetheless, the monthly average of claims fell by 1,500 to 212,250, the lowest level since December 1969.
Consumer spending climbed 0.4% in July, according to a government reading. Incomes rose 0.3%. And the 12-month increase in the PCE index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, rose to 2.3% from 2.2%, marking the highest level since April 2012, suggesting the Fed is likely to maintain its hawkish bias.
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