Key benchmark indices continued to trade with small losses in early afternoon trade as caution prevailed ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision later in the day. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 24.24 points or 0.08% at 32,554.90. The Nifty 50 index was down 14.15 points or 0.14% at 10,100.50. The market traded in a narrow range near the flat line so far during the session.
Indices opened higher and hit fresh record highs in early trade tracking firm Asian stocks. Market hovered in the positive terrain near the flat line in morning trade. Indices traded with small losses after slipping into the red in mid-morning trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.23%. The decline in the index was higher than the Sensex's fall in percentage terms. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.18%, outperforming the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,244 shares fell and 1,134 shares rose. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.
Telecom stocks were mixed. MTNL (up 0.73%) and Idea Cellular (up 0.43%) gained. Reliance Communications (down 0.58%), Bharti Airtel (down 0.12%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.13%) declined.
Shares of Bharti Infratel rose 0.26%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.
Shares of fertiliser companies rose on anticipation of strong demand of fertilisers during the first half of financial year ending March 2018. Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (up 10.95%), Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals (up 4.41%), Fertilisers & Chemicals Travancore (up 4.1%), Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (up 2.66%), National Fertilizers (up 2.17%), Coromandel International (up 0.22%), Tata Chemicals (up 0.65%), Zuari Global (up 0.12%) and Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation (up 0.14%), edged higher.
According to media reports, demand for fertilisers during the first half of financial year ending March 2018 (H1 FY18) is likely to witness good recovery due to satisfactory progress shown by monsoon leading to growth in Kharif sowing.
SML Isuzu lost 5.02% after total sales dropped 42.4% to 788 units in July 2017 over July 2016. The announcement was made after trading hours yesterday, 1 August 2017.
On the macro front, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s monetary policy meeting is scheduled at 14:30 IST today, 2 August 2017. RBI is likely to cut policy rates by 25 basis points. In June 2017, RBI kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.25%. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remained at 6%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.5%.
Meanwhile, Arvind Panagariya, the first vice-chairman of Niti Aayog, reportedly announced yesterday, 1 August 2017, that he will step down from the post and return to academia in the United States. The decision is understood to have followed the economist having informed the government a couple of months ago that he would like to return to Columbia University.
The Government of India has garnered over Rs 1.8 lakh crore in direct tax till 15 July 2017 in the current FY 2018, representing a growth of 21.4% over the same period last year. The current growth rate is higher than the target rate of 15.32% required to achieve the budget estimate. Through direct taxes, the government aims to collect Rs 9.8 lakh crore in FY 2018.
Overseas, most Asian stocks rose helped by strong results from Apple. US stocks closed higher yesterday, 1 August 2017 and the Dow Jones Industrials Average racked up a fifth straight record high powered by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other banks.
Economic data showed US consumer spending barely rose in June as income failed to increase for the first time in seven months. Also, American manufacturers tapped on the brakes lightly in July but were still expanding near the fastest pace in three years. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index fell slightly to 56.3% last month after reaching a three-year high of 57.8% in June.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
