 "Weakness persists dragged by defensive shares; Nifty holds 7,950")
After a dismal opening, markets finished flat tracking muted trend in the global peers after US Federal Reserve maintained a status quo stoking fears of global growth especially in China. Meanwhile, profit booking at higher levels amid a weak rupee weighed on the bourses.
However, progress of monsoons with IMD reports stating that the overall monsoon deficit has dropped to 14% of the benchmark long-period average (LPA) from 16% acted as a positive trigger and capped the downside.
Provisionally, the Sensex closed points 3 points up at 26,221 and the Nifty gained 3 points to end at 7,985
_________________________________
(updated at 3:30 PM)
Benchmark share indices were marginally weak in late noon trades with FMCG and pharma shares leading the decline after the US Federal Reserve last week maintained status quo on key rates citing global growth concerns.
At 2:20PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 59 points at 26,160 and the 50-share Nifty was down 14 points at 7,968.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.3% and the Small-cap index was up 0.8%. Market breadth was strong with 1,421 gainers and 1,044 losers on the BSE.
Markets might remain volatile ahead of the near-month September derivatives contracts expiry on Thursday, as traders roll-over positions to the October 2015 series. On the global front, China’s PMI index for the month of September will be released this week. Further, data on sales of existing homes and new homes for August in the US are also due during the week.
The Indian rupee was trading flat at Rs 65.65 to the US dollar.
Meanwhile, foreign investors were net buyers in equities to the tune of Rs 643.5 crore on Friday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
SECTORS & STOCKS
BSE Power, Bankex and Capital Goods indices were among the top gainers while FMCG, Oil and Gas, Consumer Durables were the top losers.
Among the index heavyweights, Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC were down 0.9-1.7% each.
FMCG giant ITC announced doubling its investment in Punjab from Rs 700 crore to Rs 1,400 crore.
Other Sensex losers include, HUL and pharma majors Lupin, Sun Pharma and Cipla.
Among other shares, Shares of L&T Finance Holdings were down over 3% at Rs 66.40 on concerns of expansion in equity capital after the board approved issue of shares and convertible warrants to Bain Capital.
Shares of T D Power Systems were up nearly 3% at Rs 296 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company announced that it has received an order from a large multinational company in Europe.
