A bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices wiped off early gains and entered negative terrain in morning trade. At 10:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 100.92 points or 0.29% at 34,344.83. The Nifty 50 index was down 28.70 points or 0.27% at 10,553.90.
The Sensex rose 165.04 points, or 0.48% at the day's high of 34,610.79 in early trade, its highest level since 8 February 2018. The index fell 117.22 points, or 0.34% at the day's low of 34,328.53 in morning trade. The Nifty rose 49.05 points, or 0.46% at the day's high of 10,631.65 in early trade, its highest level since 8 February 2018. The index fell 38.30 points, or 0.36% at the day's low of 10,544.30 in morning trade.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.35%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.18%, outperforming the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive in morning trade. On BSE, 1,216 shares fell and 936 shares rose. A total of 104 shares were unchanged.
Metal shares were mixed. National Aluminium Company (up 0.88%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.74%), NMDC (up 0.38%), Tata Steel (up 0.33%), JSW Steel (up 0.22%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.14%), edged higher. Bhushan Steel (down 0.1%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.15%), Steel Authority of India (down 0.46%), Vedanta (down 0.74%) and Hindustan Zinc (down 1.09%), edged lower.
Meanwhile, copper price edged lower in the global commodities markets. High Grade Copper for May 2018 delivery was currently down 0.08% at $3.222 per pound on the COMEX.
FMCG shares bucked weak market trend. Marico (up 2.29%), Nestle India (up 2.03%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 1.65%), Tata Global Beverages (up 1.50%), Bajaj Corp (up 1.35%), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.13%), Dabur India (up 0.36%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 0.19%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 0.16%) and Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.09%), edged higher. Britannia Industries (down 0.58%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (down 0.71%), edged lower.
Jain Irrigation Systems rose 1.67% after the company's subsidiary, through its multi generation wholly-owned subsidiary in Belgium acquired 100% stake in INNOVAFOOD N.V. Belgium and its affiliate companies. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 26 February 2018.
Overseas, most Asian shares were trading higher following gains on Wall Street overnight. The US market rose on Monday, 26 February 2018, in a broad-based rally led by technology shares. In the latest economic data, US new home sales fell 7.8% in January 2018 from the previous month, to an annualised pace of 593,000, the Commerce Department said.
Investors are focusing on the US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's congressional testimony on monetary policy and the economy. Powell will testify on the central bank's semi-annual report on monetary policy and the economy on Tuesday, 27 February 2018, before the US House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee.
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