Market hovers in negative zone

Key benchmark indices hovered in a tidy range in negative zone in mid-morning trade. At 11:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 127.20 points or 0.47% at 27,126.24. The 50-unit CNX Nifty was down 34.25 points or 0.42% at 8,198.65.

Earlier, the Sensex and the Nifty, both, hit their lowest level in almost two weeks in morning trade. The Sensex fell 156.11 points or 0.57% at the day's low of 27,097.33 in morning trade, its lowest level since 16 October 2015. The Nifty fell 51.90 points or 0.63% at the day's low of 8,181 in morning trade, its lowest level since 16 October 2015.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,169 shares rose and 1,007 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.14%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.46%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

In overseas markets, Asian markets declined ahead of a policy statement from the US Federal Reserve later in the global day today, 28 October 2015. US stocks slipped for a second consecutive day yesterday, 27 October 2015 due to combination of slumping oil prices, soft economic data and mixed earnings. The Fed's two-day policy meeting began yesterday, 27 October 2015. Investors are bracing for whether the central bank will hint at a December hike in interest rates. The Fed has held its benchmark short-term interest rate near zero since December 2008.

Axis Bank (down 6.03%), ICICI Bank (down 2.74%) and NTPC (down 1.49%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Vedanta (up 1.76%), HDFC Bank (up 1.18%) and Bharti Airtel (up 1.16%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.

Capital goods stocks rose. Crompton Greaves (up 1.32%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (up 0.79%), ABB India (up 0.49%), BEML (up 0.72%), Bharat Electronics (up 0.25%) and Siemens (up 0.09%) rose. Shares of engineering & construction major L&T shed 0.26%.

Thermax lost 4.95% after net profit fell 24.63% to Rs 64.83 crore on 9.38% decline in total income to Rs 1069.62 crore in Q2 September 2015 over Q2 September 2014. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 27 October 2015.

The company's operating revenue fell 9% to Rs 1057 crore in Q2 September 2015 over Q2 September 2014. The order inflow of the company declined 26% to Rs 810 crore in Q2 September 2015 over Q2 September 2014. This was on account of the slack in the power sector which continued to affect the order inflow position of the company and of the group. As on 30 September 2015, Thermax has an order backlog of Rs 4006 crore against Rs 5016 crore in September 2014. Compared to last year's Rs 6067 crore, the group order backlog stands at Rs 5162 crore, the company said.

Consumer durables stocks saw mixed trend. Titan Company (up 2.12%), Videocon Industries (up 0.3%), Hitachi Home & Life Solutions (India) (up 1.31%) and Bajaj Electricals (up 0.73%) rose.

TTK Prestige (down 0.49%), Whirlpool of India (down 0.35%), Blue Star (down 0.26%) and Symphony (down 0.13%) fell.

Trident surged 6.06% after net profit jumped 142.8% to Rs 50.97 crore on 0.7% decline in total income to Rs 961.91 crore in Q2 September 2015 over Q2 September 2014. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 27 October 2015.

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