Positive market breadth

Key benchmark indices once again sink in negative zone in morning trade after staging a pullback from lower levels in early trade. At 10:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 16.84 points or 0.05% at 33,238.52. The Nifty 50 index was down 8.35 points or 0.08% at 10,203.45. Telecom stocks saw mixed trend. Cement stocks rose.

A bout of volatility was seen in early trade as domestic stocks turned positive soon after a subdued start triggered by negative Asian stocks.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.24%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.31%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,256 shares rose and 849 shares fell. A total of 80 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks declined as a sell-off in once much-favored US technology shares deepened and volatility soared. US stocks fell sharply yesterday, 2 April 2018 driven by both uncertainty surrounding trade policy and weakness in the large-capitalization technology and internet sectors.

The IHS Markit manufacturing purchasing managers index hit a three-year high of 55.6 in March, up from 55.3. The ISM manufacturing report for the same month came in at 59.3, compared with a previous monthly reading of 60.8. A reading of 50 or above indicates improving conditions.

Back home, Wipro (down 1.95%), ONGC (down 1.53%) and Tata Steel (down 1.48%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Telecom stocks saw mixed trend. Bharti Airtel (up 0.19%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.53%) and Reliance Communications (up 0.22%) rose. Idea Cellular (down 0.71%) and MTNL (down 0.26%) fell.

Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 1.53%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.

Cement stocks rose. Ambuja Cements (up 0.12%), ACC (up 0.68%) and Shree Cement (up 0.8%) gained. UltraTech Cement (down 0.5%) fell.

Grasim Industries was off 1%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Markit Economics will today, 3 April 2018 unveil the result of a monthly survey on the performance of India's manufacturing sector in March 2018. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 52.1 in February 2018 from 52.4 in January 2018.

The output of eight core infrastructure sector, constituting 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production, increased 5.3% in February 2018 over February 2017. Its cumulative output moved up 4.3% in April to February 2017-18. The data was announced after market hours yesterday, 2 April 2018.

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