Key benchmark indices extended fall and hit fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. At 12:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 54.64 points or 0.17% at 31,617.07. The Nifty 50 index was down 18.55 points or 0.19% at 9,896.35. Oil & gas stocks edged lower. IT stocks saw mixed trend.
Domestic stocks nudged higher in early trade, extending their prior four-day winning trend. Volatility struck bourses in morning trade as stocks trimmed gains notched in early trade. Amid a divergent trend among various index constituents, the key benchmark indices were hovering near the flat line with slightly negative bias.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.42%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.55%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,377 shares rose and 1,041 shares fell. A total of 102 shares were unchanged.
Oil & gas stocks edged lower. Among shares of oil exploration and production (E&P) companies ONGC (down 0.47%) and Oil India (down 0.94%) fell. Reliance Industries (up 0.1%) rose.
Among PSU OMCs, HPCL (down 1.81%), BPCL (down 1.16%) and Indian Oil Corporation (down 1.52%) declined.
Among gas utility stocks Indraprastha Gas (down 0.27%), Gujarat State Petronet (down 0.18%) and GAIL (India) (down 0.92%) fell. Gujarat Gas (up 4.89%) gained.
IT stocks saw mixed trend. HCL Technologies (up 1.41%), TCS (down 0.21%), Wipro (up 0.05%), MindTree (up 0.53%) and Infosys (up 0.33%) rose. Tech Mahindra (down 1.48%), Hexaware Technologies (down 1.08%), MphasiS (down 0.33%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.02%) declined.
Mahindra & Mahindra was up 1.27% to Rs 1,305.45 on reports that a foreign brokerage has upgraded its rating on the stock to outperform and raised the target to Rs 1,610. The brokerage reportedly observed that volume growth for Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is on an uptrend, while the tractor business is seeing strong demand. Moreover, the SUV business is a drag, but volumes are seeing a recovery on low base, it added.
Confidence Petroleum India hit an upper circuit limit of 5% at Rs 21.90 after the company said that its subsidiary has commenced new cylinder manufacturing unit in Jharkhand. The announcement was made after trading hours yesterday, 4 October 2017.
Confidence Petroleum India announced that its subsidiary, Blueflame Industries, has commenced new cylinder manufacturing unit at Village Gutjora, Dhanbad, Jharkhand. The unit has has capacity of 5 lakh cylinders per annum. As per the tender requirement, the company has commenced the cylinder manufacturing unit within stipulated time and has taken all the approvals and licences from respective departments/authorities well before time, the company said.
On the macro front, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services PMI Business Activity Index pointed to a return to growth of output. The headline figure rose from 47.5 in August to 50.7 in September, a reading that was indicative of a slight pace of expansion. The Indian service sector recovered from the GST-related contractions registered in the previous two months, as signalled by renewed increases in new business and output. The data was released during market hours today, 5 October 2017.
Overseas, Asian stocks were trading with small gains in holiday-thinned trade. Stock markets in Hong Kong, China, and South Korea were closed for holidays. US stocks posted modest gains yesterday, 4 October 2017 extending their recent streak of advances that's taken all major benchmarks to record levels. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a small gain of 19.97 points, or 0.1%, to 22,661.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index meanwhile, advanced 2.91 points, or less than 0.1%, to 6,534.63, as gains were limited by a slump in technology shares. The S&P 500 rose 3.16 points, or 0.1%, to 2,537.74.
In US economic news, Markit's September figure for its services purchasing managers index dipped to 55.3 in September from 56 in August. The Institute for Supply Management's index of non-manufacturing activity rose to 59.8 in September, compared with 55.3 in the prior period and marked its highest level since mid-2005. A reading of 50 or greater indicates expansion.
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