Key benchmark indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low after slipping into the red and hovering near the flat line in morning trade as weakness in Asian stocks weighed on sentiment. At 10:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 78.23 points or 0.25% at 31,548.40. The Nifty 50 index declined 30.10 points or 0.3% at 9,842.50.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.07%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.41%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,244 shares rose and 727 shares fell. A total of 77 shares were unchanged.
Telecom stocks were mixed. Reliance Communications (down 0.75%) and Bharti Airtel (down 0.24%) declined. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.33%) and Idea Cellular (up 0.33%) gained.
Shares of Bharti Infratel rose 0.44%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.
Most capital goods stocks snapped three-day losses on bargain hunting. ABB India (up 0.45%), CG Power & Industries (up 0.25%), BEML (up 1.52%), and Siemens (up 0.71%) gained. Havells India (down 0.09%) and L&T (down 0.33%) declined.
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Bhel rose 0.12% after the company said that it received shareholders' approval for the proposal to issue 1 new equity bonus share for every 2 existing shares. The proposal to issue bonus share was listed on the agenda for annual general meeting held on 22 September, 2017, which was passed by the requisite majority.
The shareholder have also approved the proposal to give a final dividend of 39%. With this, the total dividend for the year 2016-2017 will stand at 79%. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 25 September 2017.
State Bank of India declined 0.83%. The bank said that the prospectus of SBI Life Insurance Company was registered with the Registrar of the companies, Maharashtra yesterday, 25 September 2017. The offer price for the initial public offering of SBI Life has been decided to be Rs 700 per share aggregating Rs 8386.40 crore. The IPO of SBI Life was open from 20 to 22 September 2017, with IPO oversubscribed by 3.58 times. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 25 September 2017.
Infosys rose 0.17% after the company said that it has launched a private cloud solution in collaboration with Micro Focus SUSE, a pioneer in open source software, providing software-defined data center infrastructure and application delivery solutions.
This solution will help businesses significantly accelerate their digital transformation journey by being hardware agnostic, enabling faster time to market through rapid adoption, providing faster delivery of services, and greater infrastructure agility and control. The announcement was made during market hours today, 26 September 2017.
IFCI rose 1.75% to Rs 23.20 after the company said its board approved sale of 0.86% stake in NSE to investors. At present, IFCI holds 1.51 crore equity shares, comprising of 3.05% of the total equity shares in National Stock Exchange (NSE). Out of 3.05% equity stake, IFCI has offered to offload 34.31 lakh equity shares comprising of 0.69% of the total equity shares of NSE through initial public offer (IPO) of NSE.
Out of the remaining 2.36% of the total equity stake in NSE comprising of 1.16 crore equity shares, the board at its meeting held on 25 September 2017 has approved the sale of 42.43 lakh equity shares comprising of 0.86% of the total equity shares of NSE to one or more interested buyers in part or full. The sale would be subject to obtaining prior consent/no-objection of NSE and any other approval, required as per law.
Great Eastern Shipping Company rose 0.92% after the company announced that it took delivery of a secondhand medium gas carrier "Jag Vijaya" (1997 Built) of about 35,420 cubic metres (cbm). The company had contracted to buy the vessel in September 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 25 September 2017.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a economic advisory council, the government said yesterday, 25 September 2017, as concerns grow about a slowdown in Asia's third largest economy. The new council, headed by Bibek Debroy, a member of Modi's federal think tank Niti Aayog, will address issues of macroeconomic importance and present its views to the prime minister.
Overseas, most Asian stocks dropped taking cues from weak close in US stocks overnight hurt by fresh threats from North Korea and weakness among key technology stocks. On Wall Street, a sharp selloff in technology stocks dragged down the Nasdaq Composite index by around 1% yesterday, 25 September 2017, with North Korea's latest warnings to Washington adding to the downbeat mood. North Korea's foreign minister said President Donald Trump had declared war on the country and that it reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down US bombers even if they are not in its airspace.
Meanwhile, Developing Asia is on track to grow faster this year and next, the Asian Development Bank said, buoyed by a pick-up in world trade and China's expansion, but it flagged risks from tightening US monetary policy. Developing Asia is expected to grow by 5.9% and 5.8% in 2017 and 2018, respectively, the Manila-based lender said. India's growth was seen at 7% and 7.4% for this year and next, weaker than the July forecasts of 7.4% and 7.6%.
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