The Sensex was almost flat while the Nifty declined in early trade. At 9:32 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 15.36 points or 0.04% at 36,388.80. The Nifty 50 index was down 12.85 points or 0.12% at 10,967.60.
Among secondary barometers,the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.90%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.66%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 490 shares rose and 856 shares fell. A total of 41 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, most Asian shares reversed early trend and edged lower. Japan logged a trade surplus in June, after booking a deficit the previous month, official data showed Thursday, with exports rising despite ongoing international trade tensions. Finance ministry data showed a surplus of 721.4 billion yen ($6.4 billion), up 66.5% from a year earlier. Japan's exports were up 6.7% while imports also edged up 2.5%, according to the data.
US stocks finished mostly higher Wednesday as an anecdotal account of business conditions in the Federal Reserve's 12 districts painted an upbeat picture of the domestic economy. The Fed's Beige Book revealed a domestic economy that has rapidly expanded, but one that has run out of room to grow much faster as shortages of skilled workers and rising costs of raw materials risk impeding another leg of expansion. The anecdotal account of business conditions in the Fed's 12 districts showed that 11 regions of the country were growing at a "modest" pace or even faster. Only the states around St. Louis reported "slight" growth.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appeared before the House Committee on Financial Services Wednesday, 18 July 2018, to face questioning from lawmakers on the Fed's plans going forward. Powell also faced questioning Tuesday.
Testifying on Wednesday in front of the House Financial Services Committee, Powell emphasized the US central bank's desire to raise rates further this year and said he sees few signs that an economic recession is on the horizon.
On a US data front, Housing starts in June dropped by 12.3% from lowered numbers in May and were 3% lower than year-ago levels.
Back home, Tata Steel (down 1.77%), Vedanta (down 0.96%), State Bank of India (down 0.68%), Axis Bank (down 0.5%), Coal India (down 0.49%) and HDFC (down 0.47%), were the major losers from the Sensex pack.
ONGC (up 1.56%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.30%), Bharti Airtel (up 1.05%), Asian Paints (up 0.86%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 0.81%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 0.72%), were the major Sensex gainers.
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