Key benchmarks reversed trend and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade. At 11:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 8.13 points or 0.02% at 35,539.20. The Nifty 50 index was down 6.05 points or 0.06% at 10,766.
The indices opened higher and hit fresh intraday high in early trade. Indices reversed trend and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade as selling emerged at higher levels. The Sensex rose 131.36 points, or 0.37% at the day's high of 35,678.69 in early trade. The index fell 21.97 points, or 0.06% at the day's low of 35,525.36 in mid-morning trade. The Nifty rose 37.55 points, or 0.35% at the day's high of 10,809.60 in early trade. The index fell 9.75 points, or 0.09% at the day's low of 10,762.30 in mid-morning trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.12%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.33%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 841 shares rose and 1328 shares fell. A total of 104 shares were unchanged.
Most IT shares rose. MphasiS (up 4.57%), Persistent Systems (up 2.50%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.99%), Hexaware Technologies (up 0.92%), Infosys (up 0.36%), HCL Technologies (up 0.33%) and MindTree (up 0.19%), edged higher. TCS (down 0.07%), Wipro (down 0.54%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 1.57%), edged lower.
Majesco was up 1.70%. The company announced that NTUC Income (Income), a leading insurance company and the only insurance co-operative in Singapore, has selected the Majesco Distribution Management and Majesco Digital Solutions to optimize management of its sales and distribution channels across the insurance business. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 June 2018.
Most pharmaceutical shares declined. Strides Shasun (down 2.92%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 2.16%), Wockhardt (down 1.4%), Divi's Laboratories (down 1.2%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.92%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.85%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.82%), Lupin (down 0.77%), Alkem Laboratories (down 0.13%) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 0.07%), edged lower. IPCA Laboratories (up 0.16%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.21%) and Piramal Enterprises (up 0.88%), edged lower.
Also Read
Cipla was up 0.16%. Cipla announced before trading hours today, 21 June 2018, that it has received final approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Testosterone Cypionate Injection 100mg/ml and 200mg/ml from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). Cipla's Testosterone Cypionate Injection 100mg/ml and 200mg/ml is AO-rated generic therapeutic equivalent version of Pharmacia and Upjohn's DepoTestosterone. It is indicated for replacement therapy in males in conditions associated with symptoms of deficiency or absence of endogenous testosterone. According to IQVIA (IMS Health), Depo-Testosterone and its generic equivalents had US sales of approximately $191 million for the 12-month period ending April 2018. The product is available for shipping immediately.
On the macro front, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday, 20 June 2018, released the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held between 4-6 June 2018. All six members of the MPC maintained their neutral policy stance and also voted in favour of a repo rate increase of 25 basis points to 6.25%, revealed the minutes of the meeting.
According to the minutes, RBI governor Urjit Patel said inflation risks have increased since the April policy. Patel, therefore, voted for an increase in the policy repo rate by 25 basis points. In view of prevailing uncertainties, it is apposite to maintain the neutral stance so as to respond to the evolving situation in a flexible manner, he added.
Among the internal members, deputy governor Viral Acharya said that there were considerable uncertainties around oil and food prices as well as the playing out of trade wars and global financial market outcomes, and voted for continuing with the neutral stance. The third RBI member Michael Patra pushed for front-ending rate hikes on the grounds that there is a closing sliver of opportunity to do so.
Overseas, most Asian stocks declined, driven by uncertainty surrounding trade relations between the world's two largest economies. US stock closed mostly higher Wednesday, though the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its seventh consecutive daily decline.
The US current-account deficit increased to $124.1 billion (preliminary) in the first quarter of 2018 from $116.1 billion (revised) in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The deficit was 2.5% of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter, up from 2.4% in the fourth quarter.
Existing-home sales ran at a seasonally-adjusted annual 5.43 million rate in May, down 0.4% from April, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content