Sensex, Nifty slip into the red; breadth turns negative

Key equity benchmarks reversed gains and turned negative in mid-morning trade. At 11:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 6.76 points or 0.02% at 38,792.32. The Nifty 50 index lost 7.50 points or 0.07% at 11,458.95.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.18% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.10%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1107 shares rose and 1378 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 219.07 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 335.64 crore in the Indian equity market on 24 August, provisional data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index fell 1.65% to 218.15. The index has lost 2.63% in two sessions while the benchmark Nifty 50 index rose 0.79% during the same period.

The Phoenix Mills (down 8.18%), Sunteck Realty (down 3.09%), Prestige Estates (down 2.97%), Sobha Developers (down 2.47%) and Oberoi Realty (down 2.09%) declined.

Meanwhile, Brigade Enterprises (up 0.85%), Omaxe (up 0.27%) and Godrej Properties (up 0.19%) bucked the trend.

Earning Impact:

LIC Housing Finance jumped 8.35% to Rs 299.80. The housing finance company posted a 35% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 824.08 crore in Q1 June 2020 from Rs 609 crore in Q1 June 2019. Total income for Q1 June 2020 stood at Rs 4,986 crore, 3.5% higher than Rs 4,816 crore registered in Q1 June 2019.

Nocil added 3.02% to Rs 124.60. The rubber chemicals maker's consolidated net profit tanked 63.7% to Rs 11.95 crore on 53.6% decrease in net sales to Rs 106.51 crore in Q1 FY21 over Q1 FY20.

Global Markets:

Most Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday following a the overnight rally on Wall Street. The positive investor sentiment in Asia on Tuesday follows reports that top U.S. and Chinese officials see progress in resolving concerns around the Phase 1 trade deal reached between the two countries in January. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, the U.S. Treasury said in a statement on Tuesday, during a "regularly scheduled call".

The US stocks finished session higher on Monday, 24 August 2020, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 scaled new highs, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval for the emergency use of blood plasma in COVID-19 patients treatment and the speeding up of a vaccine candidate buoyed investors' optimism about a potential treatment for coronavirus and bets of a quicker economic recovery.

On Sunday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization of convalescent plasma for hospitalized Covid-19 patients, a treatment that uses blood plasma donated by people who've recovered from the virus. President Donald Trump said at a news conference Sunday that the plasma treatment cuts the mortality rate by 35%.

Aiding market sentiment was a report the Trump administration is considering fast-tracking an experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University for use in the United States ahead of the nation's upcoming presidential election.

On Capitol Hill, partisan wrangling over stalled coronavirus aid talks continued, and congressional Democrats and Republicans remain at loggerheads over funding levels and unemployment benefits.

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