Market continued to languish in the red in afternoon trade, tracking weaker opening on European bourses. At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 83.01 points or 0.26% at 32,154.87. The Nifty 50 index lost 8.35 points or 0.08% at 10,005.30. Nifty was trading above the psychologically important 10,000 mark after swinging above and below that mark so far. Caution prevailed in global stocks ahead of US nonfarm payroll data for July, which is due later in the global day.
Key indices had opened slightly higher on firm Asian stocks but soon dropped in the red. Stocks swung between gains and losses near the flat line in morning trade. Market languished in the red after extending losses in mid-morning trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.03%, outperforming the Sensex. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.09%. The decline in this index was lower than the Sensex's fall in percentage terms.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,416 shares fell and 1,005 shares rose. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.
Realty stocks were mostly higher. Unitech (up 6.14%), Oberoi Realty (up 3.41%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 1.88%), D B Realty (up 0.75%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 0.7%) and Sobha (up 0.48%) edged higher. HDIL (down 8.63%), Godrej Properties (down 0.47%) and DLF (down 0.37%) declined.
Cigarette stocks declined. VST Industries (down 1.59%) and Godfrey Phillips India (down 0.27%) edged lower.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC shed 0.46% at Rs 280.10. The stock hit a high of Rs 284.50 and a low of Rs 280 so far during the day.
Biocon lost 5.22% at Rs 355.70 after the US drug regulator issued 10 observations on the drugmaker's Bangalore plant. The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) issued a Form 483 a form listing violations after an inspection between 25 May 2017 and 3 June 2017. The FDA issues a Form 483 if its investigators spot any conditions that in their judgement may constitute violations of the US Food Drug and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act and related laws.
India Meteorological Department said that actual cumulative area weighted rainfall (mm) for the country as a whole till 2 August 2017 equaled normal rainfall.
Meanwhile, the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2017 was passed by the lower house of the parliament yesterday, 3 August 2017. It will replace the Non-Performing Assets Ordinance, which came into effect earlier this year. The measure allows the RBI to initiate insolvency resolution process on specific stressed-assets. The RBI would also be empowered to issue other directions for resolution, appoint or approve for appointment, authorities or committees to advise the banking companies for stressed-asset resolution.
Overseas, European stocks edged lower as investors monitored earnings reports. The Bank of England (BOE) yesterday, 3 August 2017, held interest rates steady at 0.25%, as expected, while largely sticking to its previous assumptions for growth and inflation over the three-year forecast horizon. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted by a majority of 6-2 to keep rates at record low levels in August. Meantime, the UK's central bank maintained stock levels of government bonds and corporate bonds at 435 billion and 10 billion respectively.
The closely watched Ifo business-sentiment index rose last month to its highest level since German reunification. Germany's economics ministry said that total orders for the important manufacturing sector increased by 1% compared with May, adjusted for seasonal swings and calendar effects.
Asian stocks were mixed ahead of the US employment report.
In US, Dow Jones Industrials Average managed to post slight gains, staying above the 22,000 level and hitting fresh record high while, the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite index closed lower weighed down by Amazon.com, Apple and other top-shelf technology stocks yesterday, 3 August 2017.
Labor Department data showed weekly jobless claims fell last week, pointing to a tightening labour market, while a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed its non-manufacturing index fell to 53.9 last month from 57.4 in June. US employment report for July is due later during the global day.
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