Market breadth turns negative

Stocks trimmed gains in morning trade after an initial upmove. At 10:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 58.52 points or 0.17% at 33762.11. The Nifty 50 index was up 7.10 points or 0.07% at 10,367.50. Metal and mining stocks declined. Telecom stocks saw mixed trend.

Trading for the day began on a positive note as domestic stocks logged modest gains in early trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was off 0.17%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.02%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,092 shares fell and 1,029 shares rose. A total of 97 shares were unchanged. Breadth was strong in early trade.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading on a mixed note. Chinese markets will reopen tomorrow, 22 February 2018 after holidays. Japanese manufacturing activity expanded at a slower pace in February as growth of new export orders slowed due to the yen's appreciation. The Flash Markit/Nikkei Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to a seasonally adjusted 54 in February from a final 54.8 in January.

US stocks snapped a six-day winning streak yesterday, 20 February 2018 with the Dow and S&P 500 weighed down by a steep loss for Walmart as investors also watched climbing bond yields, which could make equities less attractive at current levels.

The US Federal Reserve will today, 21 February 2018 release minutes of its Jan. 30-31 meeting, Janet Yellen's last as chair, where officials kept the rate unchanged.

Back home, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 2.19%), Coal India (down 1.34%) and Axis Bank (down 1.05%) were the top losers from the Sensex pack.

Metal and mining stocks declined. Hindalco Industries (down 3.28%), Vedanta (down 1.42%), JSW Steel (down 0.98%), Tata Steel (down 0.78%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (down 1.5%), National Aluminium Company (down 1.11%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.13%), NMDC (down 0.54%) and Hindustan Copper (down 0.94%) edged lower. Hindustan Zinc (up 0.3%) rose.

Telecom stocks saw mixed trend. Bharti Airtel (up 0.5%), MTNL (up 0.88%) and Reliance Communications (up 0.18%) rose. Idea Cellular (down 0.18%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.48%) fell.

Shares of Bharti Infratel rose 0.24%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.

Dilip Buildcon rose 2.13% after the company said it has been declared as the lowest (L-1) bidder for a new engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) road project valued at Rs 380.07 crore by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Karnataka. The length of the road project is 52.30 kilometers and the project is expected to be completed in 30 months. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 February 2018.

Max India rose 3.25% after the company said it is exploring options of acquiring joint venture partner's shares in Max Healthcare Institute. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 February 2018.

Max India announced that its equal joint-venture partner in the healthcare business, Life Healthcare Group Holdings, South Africa (Life Healthcare), has initiated preliminary discussions with the company to explore the possibility of acquisition of Life Healthcare's shares in Max Healthcare Institute by the company.

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