Sensex, Nifty hit fresh intraday low

Key benchmark indices reversed intraday trend and hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. At 13:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 174.31 points or 0.52% at 33,196.32. The Nifty 50 index was down 51 points or 0.50% at 10,194. Selling was triggered by weakness in IT shares.

Trading for the day began on a quiet note as stocks traded with small gains in early trade. Key benchmark indices picked up steam in morning trade to hit fresh intraday high. Stocks pared gains in mid-morning trade. Indices reversed trend and hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.09%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.21%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,412 shares rose and 1,081 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged.

Most IT shares declined. Hexaware Technologies (down 3.27%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 2.24%), MindTree (down 1.9%), Persistent Systems (down 1.88%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.97%), Wipro (down 0.81%), HCL Technologies (down 0.79%) and Infosys (down 0.43%), edged lower. TCS (up 0.23%) and MphasiS (up 2.54%), edged higher.

FMCG shares were mixed. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 1.66%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 1.43%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 0.78%), Dabur India (up 0.73%), Marico (up 0.51%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.34%) and Nestle India (up 0.08%), edged higher. Bajaj Corp (down 0.66%), Tata Global Beverages (down 0.95%), Jyothy Laboratories (down 1%), Britannia Industries (down 1.24%) and Godrej Consumer Products (down 1.54%), edged lower.

Traders and investors are awaiting the outcome of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy meeting. The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets today, 4 April 2018 and tomorrow, 5 April 2018 for the first bi-monthly monetary policy for 2018-2019. The resolution of the MPC will be announced at 14:30 IST tomorrow, 5 April 2018. As per reports, the central bank is likely to keep interest rates unchanged in the first monetary policy review of the current fiscal year, amid a gradual recovery in growth and easing inflation.

In its last meeting on 7 February 2018, RBI decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6%. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains at 5.75%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the bank rate at 6.25%.

Overseas, shares in Europe and Asia were mixed as investors took a cautious stance following the latest developments in US-China trade tensions. On the macro front, the service sector in China continued to expand in March, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Caixin revealed with a services PMI score of 52.3, down from 54.2 in February.

US stocks closed higher yesterday, 3 April 2018 as Tesla, Amazon and other tech companies rebounded after recent sharp losses and as investors looked forward to earnings season.

The US unveiled 25% levies on a range of Chinese imports from high-tech industries like medicine, aviation and semiconductor machinery to intermediate goods like machinery and chemicals.

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