Key benchmark indices trimmed intraday gains to trade near the flat line in morning trade. At 10:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 17.30 points or 0.05% at 32,263.17. The Nifty 50 index advanced 5.40 points or 0.05% at 9,971.80. The Nifty was currently trading below the historic 10,000 mark after crossing that mark in early trade. Earlier, both the Sensex, and the Nifty, had hit record high in early trade.
Among other indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.25%, outperforming the Sensex. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.01%, underperforming the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,079 shares declined and 995 shares rose. A total of 101 shares were unchanged.
Telecom stocks advanced. Reliance Communications (up 1.61%) gained. Bharti Airtel was up 0.73%. The company is scheduled to announce Q1 June 2017 results today, 25 July 2017.
Bharti Infratel was up 2.93%. The company's consolidated net profit fell 12.2% to Rs 663.90 crore on 9.7% increase in net sales to Rs 1593.40 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q1 June 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 24 July 2017. Bharti Infratel is a telecom tower infrastructure arm of Bharti Airtel.
Idea Cellular advanced 3.97% after the company announced that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the proposed merger of Vodafone India, Vodafone Mobile Services and Idea Cellular. The transaction is expected to close during calendar year 2018 subject to customary approvals. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 24 July 2017.
Cement stocks were mostly lower. Shree Cement (down 0.65%), ACC (down 0.3%) and UltraTech Cement (down 0.13%) edged lower. Grasim Industries (up 0.31%) gained.
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Ambuja Cements rose 0.63% after consolidated net profit rose 11.9% to Rs 718.24 on 14.7% increase in net sales to Rs 6145.33 crore in Q2 June 2017 over Q2 June 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 24 July 2017.
Ambuja Cements said that the Government's focus on infrastructure, backed by a good monsoon, should help in spurring economic growth in the second half of the year. The company said it was well prepared for the implementation of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) with effect from 1 July 2017. The resulting simplification of the tax structure will make it easier to do business and benefit the overall economy in the long run.
Wipro declined 0.43%. The company announced a partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to offer IT infrastructure solutions in a consumption-based or pay-per-use business model for enterprises. This model for IT infrastructure procurement and provisioning will be offered to both Wipro and HPE's customers, globally. The announcement was made during market hours today, 25 July 2017.
Overseas, Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend amid subdued trading on Wall Street overnight. US equities closed mixed yesterday, 24 July 2017 as Wall Street geared up for a major week of earnings and Federal Reserve news. The US Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision tomorrow, 26 July 2017. The Federal Reserve had raised the target range for its federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 1% to 1.25% during its June 2017 meeting.
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