Key benchmarks trade with small losses

The Sensex and the Nifty came off intraday low and were trading with small losses in mid-morning trade. At 11:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 27.46 points or 0.08% at 34,418.29. The Nifty 50 index was down 8.40 points or 0.08% at 10,574.20.

The Sensex rose 165.04 points, or 0.48% at the day's high of 34,610.79 in early trade, its highest level since 8 February 2018. The index fell 117.22 points, or 0.34% at the day's low of 34,328.53 in morning trade. The Nifty rose 49.05 points, or 0.46% at the day's high of 10,631.65 in early trade, its highest level since 8 February 2018. The index fell 41.60 points, or 0.39% at the day's low of 10,541 in morning trade.

Overseas, most Asian shares were trading higher following gains on Wall Street overnight. The US market rose on Monday, 26 February 2018, in a broad-based rally led by technology shares. In the latest economic data, US new home sales fell 7.8% in January 2018 from the previous month, to an annualised pace of 593,000, the Commerce Department said.

Investors are focusing on the US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's congressional testimony on monetary policy and the economy. Powell will testify on the central bank's semi-annual report on monetary policy and the economy on Tuesday, 27 February 2018, before the US House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,291 shares fell and 1,066 shares rose. A total of 120 shares were unchanged.

Among secondary barometers back home, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.16%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.06%, outperforming the Sensex.

IT shares were mixed. TCS (up 0.98%), HCL Technologies (up 0.91%), MindTree (up 0.56%), Wipro (up 0.38%) and Persistent Systems (up 0.33%), edged higher. Hexaware Technologies (down 0.52%), Infosys (down 0.55%), MphasiS (down 0.88%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.89%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 1.07%), edged lower.

Pharmaceutical shares were mixed. Wockhardt (up 1.4%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.18%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.84%), Lupin (up 0.78%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.63%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.35%), Cipla (up 0.23%) and Cadila Healthcare (up 0.12%), edged higher. Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.11%), Divi's Laboratories (down 0.22%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.39%), Strides Shasun (down 0.6%), IPCA Laboratories (down 0.66%) and Piramal Enterprises (down 0.94%), edged lower.

Scooters India gained 4.94% after the company announced that its board of directors approved hiving off of its non core land. The announcement was made during market hours today, 27 February 2018.

Scooters India said that considering the strategic disinvestment process initiated by the government, the board of directors of the company has subject to the approval of its shareholders, government and other statutory authorities, if any, has accorded its consent for hive off of its 89.69 acres of non core land.

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