Lacklustre trade on the bourses

Benchmark indices traded in a range-bound horizon in negative zone in afternoon trade. At 13:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 90.07 points or 0.34% at 26,284.63. The Nifty 50 index was currently down 30.20 points or 0.37% at 8,074.15. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently down 1.13%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently off 0.67%. The decline in both these indices was higher than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.

Both the Sensex and the Nifty extended losses after slipping into the red in mid-morning trade after hovering near the flat line in positive terrain earlier during the session. Trading has been lackluster and range-bound so far during the session amid mixed cues in Asian stocks and in the absence of economic triggers back home.

The Sensex lost 108.30 points or 0.41% at the day's low of 26,266.40 in early afternoon trade, its lowest level since 7 December 2016. It rose 60.86 points or 0.23% at the day's high of 26,435.56 in early trade. The Nifty lost 33.25 points or 0.41% at the day's low of 8,071.10 in early afternoon trade, its lowest level since 5 December 2016. It rose 19.75 points or 0.24% at the day's high of 8,124.10 in early trade.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept monetary policy steady while offering a brighter view of the economy today, 20 December 2016.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Average ended 0.53% higher. The BOJ maintained the 0.1% interest it charges on a portion of excess reserves that financial institutions park with the central bank. It also left unchanged its 10-year government bond yield target of around zero percent. Japan's economy is projected to grow 1.5% in inflation-adjusted terms in the fiscal year starting in April, thanks to a gradual uptick in the global economy and a recent weakening of the yen against the dollar.

US stocks closed with modest gains yesterday, 19 December 2016, in low volume trade as traders bought some recently less-favored sectors, while some top postelection plays lagged. In the economic news, the flash US Markit PMI services for December was 53.4, down slightly from 54.6 in November.

In her first speech after raising interest rates for only the second time this decade, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said the US has the strongest jobs market in nearly a decade, and there are indications wage growth is picking up. But Yellen also noted the economy is growing more slowly than in past recoveries and productivity growth has been disappointing. Yellen was speaking at a University of Baltimore commencement ceremony.

The Federal Reserve had raised rates for the second time in a decade last week and surprised by forecasting three rate hikes for 2017, more than the consensus two

Back home, the broad market depicted weakness. There were two losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,608 shares fell and 788 shares rose. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

Telecom stocks declined inline with the subdued market sentiment. Idea Cellular (down 2.62%), Reliance Communications (down 2.36%) and Bharti Airtel (down 0.9%) edged lower.

Bharti Infratel was up 0.22%. Bharti Infratel is a telecom tower arm of Bharti Airtel.

Cement stocks advanced bucking the weak market trend. Ambuja Cements (up 1.87%), UltraTech Cement (up 1.32%) and ACC (up 1.08%) edged higher. Shree Cement (down 1.39%) edged lower.

Grasim Industries was up 0.27%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Welspun Enterprises surged 11.84% at Rs 66.60 after the company said its board will meet on 22 December 2016 to consider buyback of equity shares. The announcement was made after market hours hours yesterday, 19 December 2016.

Siti Networks rose 1.63% to Rs 37.50 after a large bulk deal of 1.41 crore shares was executed on the scrip at Rs 39 per share in early trade on BSE.

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