Strong market breadth

A bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices bounced back from the day's low and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 92.84 points or 0.29% at 31,907.06. The Nifty 50 index was up 24.55 points or 0.25% at 10,004.25.

The Sensex hit its highest intraday level in two weeks. The Nifty hit its highest intraday level in more than two weeks. The Sensex rose 121.41 points, or 0.38% at the day's high of 31,935.63 in morning trade, its highest level since 25 September 2017. The index fell 32.47 points, or 0.10% at the day's low of 31,781.75 in early trade. The Nifty rose 36.05 points, or 0.36% at the day's high of 10,015.75 in morning trade, its highest level since 22 September 2017. The index fell 20.25 points, or 0.20% at the day's low of 9,959.45 in early trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.34%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.56%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,497 shares rose and 671 shares fell. A total of 77 shares were unchanged.

Most metal shares rose. Jindal Steel & Power (up 4.53%), Steel Authority of India (up 1.69%), Tata Steel (up 1.45%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.18%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.76%), JSW Steel (up 0.76%), National Aluminium Company (up 0.55%), Vedanta (up 0.51%) and Hindustan Zinc (up 0.30%), edged higher. Bhushan Steel (down 0.52%) and NMDC (down 0.53%), edged lower.

Meanwhile, copper price edged lower in the global commodities markets. High Grade Copper for December 2017 delivery was currently down 0.13% at $3.025 per pound on the COMEX.

Cement shares were trading higher. UltraTech Cement (up 1.20%), ACC (up 0.87%) and Ambuja Cements (up 0.59%), edged higher.

Grasim Industries was up 1.03%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed. Stock markets in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan were shut for public holiday. China's Shanghai Composite was up 1.24%. Growth in activity in China's service sector slowed sharply in September, a private gauge showed Monday. The Caixin China services purchasing managers' index slipped to 50.6 in September 2017 from 52.7 in August 2017, marking a 21-month low, Caixin Media Co. and research firm Markit said. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in activity from the previous month, while a result below that points to a contraction.

In US, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average logged minor losses on Friday, 6 October 2017, though the Nasdaq eked out a closing record as investors mostly shrugged off a September jobs report that showed the first monthly drop in payrolls in seven years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.72 points, or 0.01%, to 22,773.67. The S&P 500 fell 2.74 points, or 0.11%, to finish at 2,549.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended slightly higher, eking out a record close. The tech-heavy index ended up 4.82 points, or 0.07%, to 6,590.18.

Nonfarm payrolls shrank by 33,000 in September, the first monthly decline since 2010. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.4% in August while wages increased by 0.5% to an average of $26.55 an hour, per Labor Department data.

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