Shares hover in narrow range

Key benchmark indices were hovering in a narrow range near day's high in early afternoon trade. At 12:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 175.66 points or 0.60% at 29,412.81. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 57.10 points or 0.63% at 9,102.30.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.73%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.85%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,539 shares rose and 973 shares fell. A total of 176 shares were unchanged.

State-run NTPC rose 0.49% to Rs 164.35. The company announced during trading hours today, 28 March 2017, that its board has accorded investment approval for Talaipalli Coal Mining Project (18 Million Tonnes per annum) at an appraised current estimated cost of Rs 3004 crore.

FMCG shares were in demand. Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 2.07%), Marico (up 1.05%), Dabur India (up 1.02%), Britannia Industries (up 0.96%), Tata Global Beverages (up 0.87%), Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.52%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 0.51%), Bajaj Corp (up 0.22%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 0.18%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 0.17%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 0.11%), edged higher. Nestle India was down 0.43%.

Most cement shares edged higher. ACC (up 1.27%), Ambuja Cements (up 0.83%) and UltraTech Cement (up 0.67%), edged higher.

Grasim Industries was down 0.31%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

On the economic front, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday, 27 March 2017, introduced four Goods and Services Tax (GST) bills in Lok Sabha that provide for a maximum tax rate of 40%, an anti-profiteering body and arrests for evading taxes in a bid to overhaul India's fragmented indirect tax system. All the four bills will be taken up together in Lok Sabha for discussion on Wednesday, 29 March 2017.

Overseas, most Asia stocks rose as investors looked beyond the failure of the Trump administration to replace the Affordable Care Act, aided by improving macroeconomic data out of the US and Europe. Higher oil prices and a rebound in the US dollar against the yen drove gains in Japan. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.14%.

US stocks declined yesterday, 27 March 2017, as investors reassessed the prospects for President Donald Trump's ambitious economic agenda after a Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare was scrapped last week.

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