Broader market declines

Key barometers turned range bound in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 249.39 points or 0.67% at 37,370.61. The Nifty 50 index was up 64 points or 0.57% at 11,298.35.

Broader market succumbed to selling pressure. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.08%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.48%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive. On BSE, 1051 shares rose and 1373 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.

Most cement shares declined. ACC (down 1.28%) and Ambuja Cements (down 1%), edged lower. UltraTech Cement was up 0.49%.

Grasim Industries was up 0.1%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Telecom shares fell. MTNL (down 4.7%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 1.53%), Reliance Communications (down 1.04%), Idea Cellular (down 0.64%) and Bharti Airtel (down 0.32%), edged lower.

Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel was up 3.52%.

Overseas, Asia markets traded in positive territory on the final trading day of the week, following record highs on Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced by 0.63%. The moves came following after a data release earlier showed that the country's nationwide core consumer price index for the month of August rose 0.9% compared to a year ago.

In US, trade-sensitive industrial stocks led the gains on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.95% while the S&P 500 gained 0.78%, both hitting record highs.

The latest rally comes after new US and Chinese tariffs on each other's goods were set at lower rates this week than previously expected, raising hopes that hostilities between the world's two largest economies may be easing. Despite the trade risks, the outlook on corporate profit remained solid in many markets on the back of strong global growth, keeping equity valuations relatively attractive.

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