Market drifts lower in early trade

Stocks nudged lower in early trade. At 9:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 27.13 points or 0.07% at 38,309.63. The Nifty 50 index was down 13.70 points or 0.12% at 11,569.05.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.17%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.04%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 561 shares rose and 565 shares fell. A total of 42 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed on little signs of progress in US-China trade negotiations. US stocks dropped yesterday, 23 August 2018 as the trade dispute with China showed no signs of easing.

Closely watched trade talks between the US and China wrapped up on Thursday with no major progress. The conclusion of the talks came just hours after Beijing and Washington rolled out their latest round of tit-for-tat tariffs on Thursday. The $16 billion in imports hit by each side took the total value of goods covered as a result of President Donald Trump's trade war with China to $100 billion.

Back home, Britannia Industries fell 0.33%. The company announced that its board approved sub-division of equity shares of the company from the existing face value of Rs 2 per equity share to face value of Re 1 per equity share. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2018.

Mahanagar Gas rose 0.45%. BG Asia Pacific Holdings sold 14% stake in Mahanagar Gas in the open market yesterday, 23 August 2018, reducing its holding to 10%.

Jubilant Life Sciences rose 1.23% after the company announced that India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has upgraded the company's long term credit rating to 'IND AA/Stable' from 'IND AA-/Stable'. Ind-Ra has also affirmed company's short term credit rating of 'IND A1+'. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 August 2018.

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