Weakness in European stocks and decline in US index futures pulled the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, and the 50-unit CNX Nifty into the red from green in afternoon trade. At 13:17 IST, the Sensex was down 42.54 points or 0.16% at 26,150.44. The Nifty was down 16.15 points or 0.2% at 7,960.95. The Nifty was currently trading below the psychological 8,000 mark. Earlier, the Nifty pierced the psychological 8,000 level in early trade.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could slide 157.50 points at the opening bell today, 22 September 2015. Chinese stocks led gains in Asian markets after Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly said in a newspaper interview that China's slowing growth and stock market fluctuations won't deter needed reforms. Xi sought to dispel any concern that China is faltering in its transition toward more sustainable growth.
Closer home, the market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,370 shares rose and 1,029 shares fell. A total of 117 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.09%. The decline in this index was lower than Sensex's decline in percentage terms. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.41%, outperforming the Sensex.
In sectoral trends, pharma stocks gained. Strides Arcolab (up 1.21%), Ipca Laboratories (up 1.39%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.88%), Wockhardt (up 0.95%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.77%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.91%), Lupin (up 0.31%) and GlaxoSmithkline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.22%) edged higher. Divi's Laboratories (down 0.61%) and Cipla (down 0.19%) edged lower.
Telecom stocks declined. Reliance Communications (down 3.26%), Bharti Airtel (down 2.01%), Idea Cellular (down 1.2%) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (down 1.82%) edged lower. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.63%) edged higher.
Among individual stocks, UltraTech Cement was down 1.25% at Rs 2,869.75. The stock hit a high of Rs 2,929.10 and a low of Rs 2,869.75 so far during the day. The company said during market hours today, 22 September 2015, that it has commissioned a cement grinding unit with a capacity of 1.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) at Jhajjar in Haryana.
MMTC rose 3.91% at Rs 43.85 after the company said that its board of directors at a meeting held on 11 September 2015 approved the proposal for sale of 10% stake in Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) to two bidders who participated in the global tender for the stake sale. The company made the announcement after market hours yesterday, 21 September 2015. The stake sale is subject to the approval by the Government of India and Forward Markets Commission. After the stake sale, MMTC's holding in ICEX will decline to 16% from current 26%.
Amtek Auto tumbled 10.02% at Rs 46.70 on reports that the company has missed payments on the Rs 800 crore worth of bonds that matured on 20 September 2015. The company had issued bonds with a coupon rate of 10.25% and maturity of five years in 2010.
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