Nifty hits one-week low

After seeing a bout of initial volatility, key benchmark indices drifted lower in morning trade, with the Nifty 50 index hitting one-week low. At 10:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 90.78 points or 0.35% at 25,747.36. The Nifty 50 index was down 23.35 points or 0.33% at 7,873.15. Weakness in Asian stocks spoiled investors' sentiment.

The Nifty fell 27.15 points, or 0.34% at the day's low of 7,872.15 in morning trade, its lowest level since 18 April 2016. The index rose 11.70 points, or 0.15% at the day's high of 7,911 in early trade. The Sensex fell 92.99 points, or 0.36% at the day's low of 25,745.15 in morning trade, its lowest level since 20 April 2016. The barometer index rose 52.89 points, or 0.2% at the day's high of 25,891.03 in early trade.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market turned negative from positive in morning trade. On BSE, 963 shares fell and 942 shares rose. A total of 98 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.11%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.04%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

In overseas stock markets, Asian shares edged lower as investors awaited central bank meetings in the United States and Japan this week. US stocks finished mixed during the previous trading session on Friday, 22 April 2016, as earnings misses in the previous session from Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet slackened optimism on Wall Street. The US Federal Reserve holds a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, 26 April 2016 and Wednesday, 27 April 2016. As per market expectations, the Fed is likely to hold rates steady this week and instead will opt to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points in its June meeting to 0.5-0.75% in what will be the second in its first series of rate rises in nearly a decade.

In Japan, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) holds a two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, 27 April 2016 and Thursday, 28 April 2016. Market participants are becoming more confident in their expectations of further easing from the Bank of Japan. The BOJ in January decided to begin charging 0.1% interest on some bank reserves parked with the institution, in a bid to kick-start the economy and pull it out of two decades of deflation.

Telecom shares were in demand. MTNL (up 1.93%), Reliance Communications (up 1.58%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.76%) and Idea Cellular (up 0.72%) edged higher.

Bharti Airtel was up 2.21% to Rs 360.90 after the company announced that its board of directors will consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares on 27 April 2016. The announcement was made on on Saturday, 23 April 2016. Bharti Airtel will also announce its Q4 March 2016 results on 27 April 2016.

Most power generation stocks edged lower. JSW Energy (down 2.15%), NTPC (down 2.06%), Adani Power (down 1.91%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (down 1.66%), Torrent Power (down 0.96%), Tata Power (down 0.93%), NHPC (down 0.22%) and Reliance Power (down 0.09%), edged lower. CESC (up 0.93%), GMR Infrastructure (up 1.07%) and Reliance Infrastructure (up 1.60%), edged higher.

Most pharmaceutical stocks declined. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.19%), Lupin (down 1.02%), Cadila Healthcare (down 0.81%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 0.76%), Cipla (down 0.71%), Strides Shasun (down 0.68%), Divi's Laboratories (down 0.67%), Wockhardt (down 0.64%), Piramal Enterprises (down 0.16%) and IPCA Laboratories (down 0.01%), edged lower. Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.06%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.24%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.53%) and Alkem Laboratories (up 0.57%), edged higher.

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