Sensex, Nifty hover near flat line

After a sharp recovery from negative zone in early afternoon trade, key benchmark indices hovered within a narrow range around the flat line in afternoon trade. At 13:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 13.48 points or 0.04% at 31,632.98. The Nifty 50 index lost 3.15 points or 0.03% at 9,881.25. Volatility was witnessed due to expiry of near month futures & options contracts today, 31 August 2017.

After opening with small gains, indices soon slipped into the red and traded with small losses till mid-morning trade. Indices recovered and turned positive in early afternoon trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.01%. The decline in this index was lower than the Sensex's slide in percentage terms. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.45%, outperforming the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,362 shares rose and 1,002 shares fell. A total of 137 shares were unchanged.

Realty stocks were mixed. Sobha (up 2.95%), Godrej Properties (up 1.38%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 0.26%) and Oberoi Realty (up 0.15%) advanced. DLF (down 0.68%), HDIL (down 0.64%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 0.52%) and Unitech (down 0.27%) declined.

Auto stocks mostly edged higher. Bajaj Auto (up 1.84%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.26%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.62%) and Tata Motors (up 0.04%) advanced. Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.91%) and Eicher Motors (down 0.08%) declined.

Lupin rose 0.51% at Rs 992 after the company announced the launch of Lanthanum Carbonate Chewable Tablets 500 mg (base), 750 mg (base), and 1000 mg (base). Lupin's alliance partner Natco had received an approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier. Lanthanum Carbonate Chewable Tablets are indicated to reduce serum phosphate in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). The announcement was made during market hours today, 31 August 2017.

IndusInd Bank was up 0.08% at Rs 1,659.05 after the bank said it has inaugurated a new branch in Faridkot, Punjab. The bank now has 101 branches in Punjab. The announcement was made during market hours today, 31 August 2017.

Vedanta was up 0.07% at Rs 305.65. The company said its board of directors today, 31 August 2017, appointed Kuldip Kaura as the Interim Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 September 2017. The announcement was made during market hours today, 31 August 2017.

Overseas, European stocks opened higher as investors look to upcoming data and news coming out of the political sphere. Sentiment was positive following a positive close on Wall Street overnight, and a mixed session from Asia.

Asian stocks were mixed amid volatility. An official gauge of China's factory activity rose in August, government data showed. China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rebounded to 51.7 from July's 51.4. The index has now stayed above the 50 mark, which separates an expansion of activity from a contraction, for 13 months.

China's official non-manufacturing purchasing-managers' index, a measure of activity outside the nation's factory gates, fell for a second straight month to 53.4 in August from 54.5 in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Japan's industrial output fell more than expected in July. Industrial output fell 0.8% in July from the previous month, dragged down by production of semiconductor production equipment, turbines and power generators, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed.

US stocks climbed yesterday, 30 August 2017, after the Commerce Department said the economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter. President Donald Trump also made a speech calling on Congress to act to advance tax reform, a proposal favoured by many businesses. The Commerce Department said the US economy grew at a 3% annual rate over the three months to the end of June, up from an earlier 2.6% estimate. The revision means that growth for the quarter was at the fastest rate since the first quarter of 2015.

Private-sector hiring skyrocketed in August, according to data released. Employers added a seasonally adjusted 237,000 jobs during the month, payroll processor ADP said. That was a big gain from the 178,000 jobs ADP reported in July, and which it revised up to 201,000.

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