Broad market depicts weakness

Weakness persisted on the bourses in early afternoon trade led by slide in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and L&T. At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 121.28 points or 0.34% at 35,055.14. The Nifty 50 index was down 56.85 points or 0.53% at 10,661.20. The broad market depicted weakness. Cement stocks declined. Among side counters, shares of Hindustan Construction Company and PC Jeweller dropped on high volume. Negative Asian stocks weighed on the domestic bourses.

Domestic stocks were trading with small losses in early trade on negative Asian stocks. Key benchmark indices extended fall in morning trade. Sustained selling pressure in index pivotals kept the key benchmark indices subdued in mid-morning trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.33%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.17%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than three losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,865 shares fell and 579 shares rose. A total of 100 shares were unchanged.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries dropped 1.03% to Rs 963.

Index heavyweight and engineering & construction major L&T declined 1.68% to Rs 1,378.

Cement stocks declined. Ambuja Cements (down 1.45%), ACC (down 0.7%) and UltraTech Cement (down 0.28%) fell. Shree Cement (up 1.31%) rose.

Grasim Industries was up 0.48%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Shares of the construction firm Hindustan Construction Company dropped 18.2% to Rs 19.10. The stock slumped on high volume. On the BSE, 55.03 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 7.65 lakh shares in the past two weeks.

Shares of the jewellery firm PC Jeweller extended its recent slide. The stock lost 3.48% to Rs 106.80. The stock dropped on high volume. On the BSE, 1.39 crore shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 37.64 lakh shares in the past two weeks.

Overseas, Asian stocks fell after the Federal Reserve reiterated plans to continue raising rates gradually amid firming inflation. Japan markets are closed for a four-day holiday weekend. US stocks fell yesterday, 2 May 2018 as investors assessed the US Federal Reserve's signal that it's in no rush to raise rates even as inflation rises to its target.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept a key US interest rate steady, saying that while inflation has moved higher, it's likely to run near the central bank's 2% target in the coming months. The central bank maintained its fed funds at a range of 1.5%-1.75%.

In its statement, the Fed noted the latest readings that show both overall and core inflation have moved close to the central bank's 2% goal. Fed officials were split between whether to raise rates three or four times this year.

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