Negative market breadth

Key benchmarks sharply pared gains in morning trade as profit booking emerged at higher levels. At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 27.47 points or 0.08% at 36,569.74. The Nifty 50 index was flat at 11,053.60.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.72%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.35%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive. On BSE, 921 shares rose and 1076 shares fell. A total of 101 shares were unchanged.

Metal shares were mixed. Tata Steel (up 1%), National Aluminium Company (up 0.3%), Vedanta (up 0.25%), Steel Authority of India (up 0.2%), Hindustan Copper (up 0.09%) and JSW Steel (up 0.04%), edged higher. Hindalco Industries (down 0.18%), NMDC (down 0.26%), Hindustan Zinc (down 0.56%) and Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.82%), edged lower.

Most FMCG shares declined. Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (down 1.3%), Nestle India (down 0.94%), Jyothy Laboratories (down 0.87%), Bajaj Corp (down 0.8%), Britannia Industries (down 0.67%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 0.47%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (down 0.37%) and Tata Global Beverages (down 0.21%), edged lower. Dabur India (up 0.14%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.27%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 0.53%) and Marico (up 0.70%), edged higher.

Overseas, Asian shares were mixed. US stocks surrendered earlier gains to close lower on 26 September 2018 after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points, as widely anticipated, and indicated its intent to tighten once more in December.

Monetary-policy makers unanimously voted to hike the benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point to a range of 2% to 2.25% and predicted another hike by December and three more in 2019. The Fed also dropped the phrase that its policy remains "accommodative."

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told the media that the US Fed did not see inflation surprising to the upside. Powell also discussed the issue of trade tariffs and the ongoing trade war between the US and China, saying the Fed had heard a "rising chorus of concerns from businesses all over the country."

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