Stocks hovered in negative zone near intraday low in mid-morning trade. At 11:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 125.45 points or 0.39% at 31,766.78. The Nifty index was down 31.75 points or 0.32% at 9,942.65. Negative Asian stocks weighed on the domestic bourses.
Trading for the week began on subdued note as the key benchmark indices edged lower in early trade on negative Asian stocks. Stocks extended fall and hit fresh intraday low in morning trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was off 0.10%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was off 0.06%. The fall 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 the BSE, 1,241 shares declined and 1,053 shares rose. A total of 125 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, Asian stocks were trading lower after North Korea on Sunday said it tested a hydrogen bomb with unprecedentedly big power, raising geo-political tensions between North Korea and US. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump threatened to increase economic sanctions and halt trade with any nation doing business with North Korea.
US equities finished higher on Friday, 1 September 2017 on expectations that a weaker-than-expected rise in August nonfarm payrolls could dull the Federal Reserve's desire to further raise borrowing costs in 2017. Meanwhile, US financial markets will remain closed today, 4 September 2017 in observance of Labor Day.
In economic data, the US economy added 156,000 jobs in August. The unemployment rate stood at 4.4% in August, rising by 0.1 percentage point from July. Average hourly wages increased by 0.1% in August from a 0.3% increase in the previous month.
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In other economic data, the closely watched Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index jumped to a six-year high in August. The University of Michigan said its final gauge of consumer sentiment for August came in at 96.8 versus a preliminary reading of 97.6.
Back home, cement stocks saw mixed trend. Ambuja Cements (down 1.4%) and ACC (down 1.16%) fell. UltraTech Cement (up 0.08%) and Shree Cement (up 0.59%) fell.
Grasim Industries was up 0.73%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
Realty stocks declined. DLF (down 2.06%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 1.54%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (down 1.79%), Sobha (down 0.18%), Prestige Estates Projects (down 1.85%) and Oberoi Realty (up 0.6%) declined.
Unitech (up 3.42%), Godrej Properties (up 1.59%) and D B Realty (up 4.46%) rose.
GTPL Hathway rose 2.86% after the company said it bagged multiple orders worth Rs 48.16 crore from Government of Gujarat. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 September 2017.
GTPL Hathway said its wholly-owned subsidiary, GTPL Broadband, won a five-year contract from Gujarat Informatics worth an estimated sum of Rs 28.88 crore. The order is for providing Wi-Fi services on service/rental module including (design, built, and operations & management) for state-wide public wi-fi hotspots under Gujarat State Urban Area Network (GSUAN).
In a separate announcement after market hours on Friday, 1 September 2017, the company said that it won a five-year contract worth Rs 19.28 crore from the Home Department, Government of Gujarat. The order is for supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of Internet bandwidth for various offices of Home Department, Government of Gujarat across the state.
AU Small Finance Bank rose 1.05% after the bank said it obtained certificate of registration to act as a corporate agent from the insurance regulator. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 September 2017.
AU Small Finance Bank said it obtained certificate of registration to act as corporate agent from the Insurance Regulatory And Development Authority of India (IRDAI) on 31 August 2017.
On the political front, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expansion and reshuffle of his Council of Ministers took place on Sunday, 3 September 2017. Nine new Ministers of State made it to the Union Cabinet, while four existing ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were promoted to Cabinet rank.
Nirmala Sitharaman was named as Defence Minister. Piyush Goyal was named the Railway Minister with additional charge of Ministry of Coal. Suresh Prabhu was moved to the Commerce Ministry. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was given additional charge of the Skill Development Ministry. Uma Bharti has been divested of her portfolio of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, which is now with Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore replaced Vijay Goel in the Sports Ministry.
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