Key benchmark indices traded with small losses in mid-morning trade. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 75.57 points or 0.23% at 32,982. The Nifty 50 index dropped 5.90 points or 0.06% at 10,289.45. Indices dropped on profit booking after a sharp jump yesterday, 25 October 2017, propelled indices to their record closing highs.
Indices see-sawed between gains and losses near the flat line in early trade. Market extended losses in morning trade. The Sensex fell below the psychological 33,000 level after closing above that mark for the first time in history yesterday, 25 October 2017.
Among secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.34%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.61%. Both the indices outperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,221 shares rose and 1,099 shares declined. A total of 114 shares were unchanged.
Cement stocks were mixed. ACC (down 0.45%) and Shree Cement (down 1.25%) declined. Ambuja Cements (up 0.21%), and UltraTech Cement (up 0.34%) gained.
Grasim Industries declined 1.76%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
Metal & mining stocks gained for the fourth straight day. JSW Steel (up 0.56%), Hindustan Copper (up 2.58%), Vedanta (up 1.21%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.22%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.8%), Tata Steel (up 1.07%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (up 7.32%), National Aluminum Company (up 0.45%) and NMDC (up 2.85%) gained. Bhushan Steel (down 1.82%) and Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.27%) declined.
Steel companies are going to benefit from government's massive road building program announced on 24 October 2017. In order to further optimise the efficiency of movement of goods and people across the country, government has launched a new umbrella program. This road building program, for 83,677 kilometers of roads, involves capex of Rs 6.92 lakh crore over next 5 years. Out of this, Bharatmala Pariyojana to be implemented with an outlay of Rs 5.35 lakh crore will generate 14.2 crore mandays of jobs.
High Grade Copper for December 2017 delivery was currently up 0.11% at $3.186 per pound on the COMEX.
KEC International rose 2.21% after the company said it secured new orders of Rs 1931 crore. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 26 October 2017.
KEC International said that the transmission & distribution business has secured orders of Rs 1756 crore across India, SAARC, Middle East, Africa and the Americas. The cables business has secured orders of Rs 112 crore covering various types of cables. The railways business has secured an order from IRCON of Rs 54 crore for railway electrification Works in Northern India. The solar business has received orders of Rs 9 crore for the construction of a 6 megawatt peak (MWp) ground mount project in Northern India.
Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed after Wall Street shares pulled back from record highs overnight. US stocks fell yesterday, 25 October 2017, on a batch of soft quarterly earnings, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffering its worst day in seven weeks after rising to a record peak the previous session.
Among macro data, durable-goods orders in US rose 2.2% in September. Excluding transportation, orders increased 0.7%. New-home sales ran at a 667,000 annual pace in September, an 18.9% increase compared with August, and a 17% increase compared with a year ago.
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