Cement, telecom stocks fall

Fresh selling in index pivotals pulled the key benchmark indices to intraday low in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 170.12 points or 0.44% at 38,142.40. The Nifty 50 index was down 73.95 points or 0.64% at 11,508.40. Cement stocks dropped sharply. Telecom stocks declined.

A bout of volatility was seen in early trade as the key benchmark indices reversed initial gains to sink in red on negative Asian stocks. Key benchmark indices were off day's low in morning trade. A divergent trend was witnessed in mid-morning trade. Stocks continued to hover near the flat line in early afternoon trade. Key indices came off day's high and were trading near flat line in afternoon trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 2.56%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.96%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 776 shares rose and 1869 shares fell. A total of 137 shares were unchanged.

Cement stocks dropped sharply. Ambuja Cements (down 5.1%), ACC (down 4.05%), UltraTech Cement (down 4.05%) and Shree Cement (down 3.63%) edged lower.

Grasim Industries was off 3.31%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Telecom stocks declined. Bharti Airtel (down 1.05%), Idea Cellular (down 1.57%), MTNL (down 2.19%) and Reliance Communications (down 3.57%) fell. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.99%) fell.

Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 0.52%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.

Overseas, most European stocks were trading higher Tuesday after emergency austerity measures in Argentina underscored the recent turbulence in emerging markets. On Monday, Argentine President Mauricio Macri announced emergency measures to try to balance next year's budget, including new taxes on exports and steep cuts to government spending.

Asian stocks were broadly positive on Tuesday afternoon, after a slightly turbulent trading day, with markets remaining uncertain over trade concerns and emerging market worries. US markets were closed yesterday, 3 September 2018 for the Labor Day holiday.

Reportedly, US and Canadian officials are still due to resume talks Wednesday on a revised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal, after they failed to reach an agreement last week. Mexico and the US have already struck a deal.

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