Market breadth turns negative from positive

Key benchmark indices slipped into the red and hit fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 41.16 points or 0.13% at 32,348.80. The Nifty 50 index slipped 15.20 points or 0.15% at 10,131.35.

Market opened with small gains tracking firm Asian stocks and soon extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in early trade. Stocks pared gains in morning trade and traded with small gains in mid-morning trade. Indices dropped into the red in early afternoon trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.16%, outperforming the Sensex. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.29%. The decline in this index was higher than the Sensex's fall in percentage terms.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive in early afternoon trade. On the BSE, 1,408 shares fell and 1,060 shares rose. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.

Capital goods stocks were mixed. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (up 2.06%), BEML (up 1.21%), Bharat Electronics (up 1.51%), Havells India (up 1.58%), and ABB India (up 1%) gained. L&T (down 0.28%), Thermax (down 0.95%), and Siemens (down 0.41%) declined.

Most realty stocks rose. Sobha (up 9.83%), Unitech (up 7.89%), NBCC (up 0.28%), Godrej Properties (up 2.98%), Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL) (up 0.01%), and Oberoi Realty (up 0.63%) edged higher. DLF (down 0.06%), D B Realty (down 0.41%), and Indiabulls Real Estate (down 0.02%) declined.

Meanwhile, some rejig in Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate structure is required to reduce the burden on small and medium businesses, revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia has reportedly said. The GST, which amalgamates more than a dozen central and state levies like excise duty, service tax and VAT, will take about a year to stabilize, he reportedly said.

Overseas, most Asian stocks gained led by Japanese stocks as the dollar spiked to more than three-month highs against the yen following a snap election in Japan on Sunday, 22 October 2017. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition secured a two-thirds "super majority" after winning 312 out of 465 seats available at Sunday's election, as per reports. Abe's solid win at the polls points to a continuation of fiscal and hyper-easy monetary policies under his Abenomics program.

Wall Street stocks surged to fresh records Friday, 20 October 2017, after US lawmakers took a key step toward enacting the tax reform plan sought by President Donald Trump. Investors were cheered by a party-line 51-49 vote in the Senate for a federal budget plan that permits the legislative body to pass the tax cut plan with a simple majority vote instead of a 60-person supermajority.

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