Key benchmark indices were trading with small gains in morning trade after opening higher. At 10:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 86.15 points or 0.27% at 32,396.03. The Nifty 50 index was up 13.25 points or 0.13% at 10,027.75. Sentiment was positive on market buzz that the Reserve Bank of India could cut rates after its meet later this week on 2 August 2017.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.03%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.15%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,161 shares rose and 867 shares fell. A total of 95 shares were unchanged.
Most telecom stocks extended losses for the fourth straight day. Bharti Airtel (down 0.54%), Reliance Communications (down 0.57%) and Idea Cellular (down 0.89%) declined. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 1.17%) and MTNL (up 0.48%) gained.
Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 0.9%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.
Most cement stocks gained. ACC (up 1.19%), Ambuja Cements (up 0.38%), and UltraTech Cement (up 0.08%), gained.
Grasim Industries advanced 0.58%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
Shree Cement shed 0.19% ahead of its Q1 results today, 31 July 2017.
Elgi Equipments lost 4.04% after consolidated net profit fell 39.6% to Rs 13.60 crore on 4.5% increase in net sales to Rs 354.83 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q1 June 2016. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 28 July 2017.
Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed. Meanwhile, there was another missile launch from North Korea late Friday, 28 July 2017, and experts said it put the continental US in range of Pyongyang's arsenal.
On the data front, growth in China's manufacturing sector slowed marginally in July. The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 51.4 in July, down from the previous month's 51.7 but still well above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.
Japanese industrial production rose 1.6% on month in June, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. The increase came after a 3.6% drop in May. Industrial output rose 1.9% in the April-June period from the previous quarter.
In US, the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite index both finished slightly lower on Friday, 28 July 2017 for weekly losses as Amazon.com shares slumped on disappointing earnings, while the Dow Jones Industrials Average finished at a record for a weekly gain.
On the data front, a second-quarter reading on gross domestic product rose 2.6%, below the expectations. First-quarter GDP growth was revised to 1.2% from 1.4%. The final reading of the University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment survey for July was lifted to 93.4 from a preliminary 93.1. That's a decline, however, from June's level of 95.1.
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