Sensex, Nifty hover in negative terrain

Key benchmark indices hovered in a narrow range in negative zone in the afternoon trade. At 13:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 120.10 points or 0.4% at 29,909.64. The Nifty 50 index was down 40.60 points or 0.43% at 9,301.55. The Sensex was trading below the psychologically important 30,000 mark. It had closed above that level during the previous trading session.

Weakness in European and Asian indices amid persisting geopolitical worries spoiled investors' risk appetite.

Among other indices, the BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 0.38%. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.41%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,327 shares fell and 1,308 shares rose. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.

Cement stocks were mixed. Grasim Industries (up 0.61%), UltraTech Cement (up 0.1%) and Shree Cement (up 0.08%) edged higher. ACC (down 0.87%) edged lower.

Ambuja Cements fell 1.62%. The company is scheduled to announce March 2017 quarter earnings today, 28 April 2017.

Telecom stocks were mostly higher. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (up 1.37%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 0.87%), Idea Cellular (up 0.59%) and Reliance Communications (up 0.29%) edged higher. Bharti Airtel (down 1.58%) and Bharti Infratel (down 1.93%) edged lower.

Uttam Sugar Mills lost 3.95% at Rs 136.05 after net profit fell 8.4% to Rs 61.86 crore on 1.2% decline in net sales to Rs 407.60 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 27 April 2017.

Overseas, European and Asian stocks edged lower as geopolitical concerns continued to loom over the markets. US President Donald Trump threatened to terminate the US trade agreement with South Korea, declaring that the five-year-old accord with a key ally was "a horrible deal that has left America destroyed. Trump also warned that conflict with North Korea was possible, even though he said he preferred peaceful resolution more.

Among economic events, the European Central Bank (ECB) left its monetary policy unchanged on Thursday, 27 April 2017, even as ECB President Mario Draghi acknowledged the economic recovery taking place in the Eurozone. The ECB chief stressed that while risks remained tilted toward the negative, the Eurozone's economic recovery had improved the bloc's outlook.

US stocks closed higher on Thursday, 27 April 2017, ahead of major tech company earnings.

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