Shares slide amid broad-based sell off

Key benchmark indices hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. At 10:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 56.31 points or 0.18% at 31,234.43. The Nifty 50 index was down 34.40 points or 0.36% at 9,595.60.

The Sensex rose 74.65 points, or 0.24% at the day's high of 31,365.39 in early trade. The index fell 93.38 points, or 0.30% at the day's low of 31,197.36 in morning trade, its lowest level since 21 June 2017. The Nifty rose 17.65 points, or 0.18% at the day's high of 9,647.65 in early trade. The index fell 44.85 points, or 0.47% at the day's low of 9,585.15 in morning trade, its lowest level since 16 June 2017.

Broader market declined. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.16%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.32%. The decline in both these indices was higher than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.

The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than three losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,563 shares fell and 484 shares rose. A total of 84 shares were unchanged.

Metal shares declined. Hindalco Industries (down 1.54%), Steel Authority of India (down 1.37%), Tata Steel (down 0.96%), NMDC (down 0.82%), Hindustan Zinc (down 0.53%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.53%), JSW Steel (down 0.51%), Vedanta (down 0.38%) and National Aluminium Company (down 0.16%), edged lower. Hindustan Copper (up 0.23%) and Bhushan Steel (up 0.51%), edged higher.

Meanwhile, copper price edged lower in the global commodities markets. High Grade Copper for July 2017 delivery was currently down 0.23% at $2.593 per pound on the COMEX.

Cement shares declined. Ambuja Cements (down 0.7%), ACC (down 0.54%) and UltraTech Cement (down 0.34%), edged lower.

Grasim Industries was down 0.79%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Overseas, Asian shares were mixed, but remained on track for a weekly gain, while crude oil prices pulled away from this week's 10-month lows.

In US, stocks closed mostly lower as weak financials and consumer staples shares eclipsed a rally in the healthcare and biotechnology sectors. Health-care stocks were among the biggest gainers as lawmakers released a discussion draft of the health-care bill that aims to cut Medicaid and eliminate penalties for people who don't buy insurance, among other changes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 12.74 points to end at 21,397.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index bucked the trend for a second day to edge up 2.73 points to close at 6,236.69.

A report on weekly jobless claims showed that fewer than 250,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits in mid-June. Initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 to 241,000 in the seven days stretching from 11 June to 17 June 2017, Labor Department said.

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