Cement shares decline

After hovering in a range, key benchmark indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. At 12:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 237.75 points or 0.66% at 36,045.50. The Nifty 50 index was down 87.35 points or 0.78% at 11,043.05.

Shares witnessed selling pressure as profit booking set in after a recent rally. Negative cues from other Asian shares also spoiled investors sentiment. Investors were cautious ahead of Union Budget 2018-2019 on Thursday, 1 February 2018.

Key indices opened lower and extended losses to hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. Key indices turned range bound in mid-morning trade. The Sensex rose 8.57 points, or 0.02% at the day's high of 36,291.82 in early trade. The index fell 255.87 points, or 0.71% at the day's low of 36,027.38 in early afternoon trade, its lowest level since 25 January 2018. The Nifty fell 9.30 points, or 0.08% at the day's high of 11,121.10 in early trade. The index fell 90.65 points, or 0.81% at the day's low of 11,039.75 in early afternoon trade, its lowest level since 25 January 2018.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.57%, outperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.99%, underperforming the Sensex.

The broad market depicted weakness. There were almost three losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,940 shares fell and 666 shares rose. A total of 143 shares were unchanged.

Cement shares declined. Ambuja Cements (down 1.65%), UltraTech Cement (down 1.49%) and ACC (down 0.5%), edged lower.

Grasim Industries was down 1.08%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Most telecom shares rose. Reliance Communications (up 13.58%), Bharti Airtel (up 1.52%), MTNL (up 1.16%) and Idea Cellular (up 0.96%), edged higher. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) was down 1.54%.

Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel was down 2.53%.

Shares of Amber Enterprises India were trading at Rs 1,250.40 at 12:18 IST on BSE, a premium of 45.56% to its offer price of Rs 859, on its debut on the bourses today, 30 January 2018. Shares of Amber Enterprises India were listed on the bourses at Rs 1,180, a premium of 37.37% over the issue price of Rs 859. The stock had hit a high of Rs 1,256.30 and low of Rs 1,114.10 so far during the day. So far, 12.15 lakh shares were traded on the counter.

The next major trigger for the market is Union Budget 2018-2019, which will be presented by the finance minister Arun Jaitley in the parliament on Thursday, 1 February 2018.

The Budget Session of the parliament began yesterday, 29 January 2018. The first phase of the budget session of the parliament is being held from 29 January 2018 to 9 February 2018. After a recess, Parliament will meet again from 5 March 2018 to 6 April 2018, as per reports.

The Economic Survey 2017-18 was tabled in Parliament yesterday, 29 January 2018. The survey estimated that India's economy should grow between 7% and 7.5% in the 2018/19 (April-March) with exports and private investment set to rebound. The survey estimated that gross domestic product will have grown 6.75% in the current fiscal year ending in March 2018.

Overseas, Asian stocks fell across the board, tracking declines seen on Wall Street in the previous session. US stocks declined as the yield for benchmark 10-year Treasury note hit the highest level since April 2014 above 2.7%, raising concerns that rising borrowing costs could upend a relentless uptrend for equities. The Dow closed down about 0.7%, the S&P 500 index closed off 0.7%, at 2,853, registering its worst daily fall since August, while the Nasdaq Composite Index closed down 0.5%.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve holds its next two-day monetary policy meet on Tuesday, 30 January 2018 and Wednesday, 31 January 2018. The Federal Reserve will announce its interest rates decision on Wednesday. The Fed, in a widely expected move, had raised interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to a range of 1.25-1.5% in its December monetary policy meeting.

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