Breadth turns positive

Key barometers were trading in narrow range with modest losses in early afternoon trade. At 12:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 183.56 points or 0.49% at 37,338.06. The Nifty 50 index was down 53.70 points or 0.47% at 11,292.50. Domestic shares mirrored losses in other Asian counterparts as trade worries resurfaced.

After trading lower in early trade, the market slipped further and hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. Indices trimmed losses in mid-morning trade and turned range bound in early afternoon trade.

Broader market bounced back from early losses. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.46%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.17%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned positive from negative. On BSE, 1,200 shares rose and 1,158 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged.

Most cement shares declined. Ambuja Cements (down 1.07%) and UltraTech Cement (down 0.17%), edged lower. ACC was up 0.53%.

Grasim Industries was down 1.37%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Most telecom shares fell. Bharti Airtel (down 2.27%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 1.22%), MTNL (down 0.63%) and Reliance Communications (down 0.61%), edged lower. Idea Cellular was up 0.28%.

Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel was down 0.15%.

Dilip Buildcon surged 7.81% after the company announced that it has emerged as the lowest bidder for mining project valued at Rs 717.45 crore. The announcement was made during market hours today, 2 August 2018.

Overseas, Asian stocks tumbled on renewed US-China trade concerns. US stocks closed mostly lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but signaled another imminent rate increase. Fresh worries over US-China trade friction dampened sentiment although positive results from Apple buoyed the tech sector and helped the Nasdaq buck the weak trend.

The Trump administration announced it is looking at the possibility of slapping a 25% tariff on $200 billion worth of imported Chinese goods from the initial 10% announced earlier.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve concluded a two-day meeting on monetary policy and left its main interest rate unchanged at 1.75% to 2%, as widely expected, and indicated that it is likely to raise rates next month as the economy remains strong.

On the US data front, the latest data on private-sector employment showed 219,000 jobs added in July. Separately, the Markit manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 55.3 in July. The Institute for Supply Management's July manufacturing index was 58.1%.

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