Strong market breadth

Stocks trimmed gains soon after hitting fresh intraday high in morning trade. At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 139.26 points or 0.37% at 37,695.42. The Nifty 50 index was up 33.05 points or 0.29% at 11,393.85. The Sensex and the Nifty, both, scaled record high in morning trade.

Domestic stocks saw a gap-up opening on positive Asian stocks.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.34%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.35%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1335 shares rose and 766 shares fell. A total of 114 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher as earnings seasons rolls on. US stocks closed higher Friday, 3 August 2018 as positive earnings surprises lifted shares.

On the data front, the US posted another solid spurt in hiring in July. Some 157,000 new jobs were created last month despite widespread complaints among businesses about a shortage of skilled labor, the Labor Department said Friday. The total number of new jobs created in June and May was upwardly revised by a combined 59,000. Unemployment, meanwhile, slipped below 4% again, to 3.9%, as more people found work. The jobless rate is at a nearly two-decade low.

Back home, cement stocks fell. Ambuja Cements (down 0.91%), ACC (down 0.88%), UltraTech Cement (down 0.36%) and Shree Cement (down 0.84%) declined.

Grasim Industries was off 0.6%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Telecom stocks rose. Reliance Communications (up 1.91%), Bharti Airtel (up 0.75%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 1.96%) and Idea Cellular (up 0.36%) rose. MTNL (down 0.31%) fell.

Shares of Bharti Infratel fell 0.07%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.

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