Weak market breadth

Key equity indices pared losses in morning trade after hitting fresh intraday low in early trade. At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 24.89 points or 0.07% at 36,299.28. The Nifty 50 index was down 14.05 points or 0.13% at 10,963.50.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.46%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.42%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 538 shares rose and 1524 shares fell. A total of 101 shares were unchanged.

Metal shares declined. Tata Steel (down 3.67%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 3.44%), Hindustan Zinc (down 2.78%), Hindustan Copper (down 2.74%), Vedanta (down 2.6%), NMDC (down 2.24%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.15%), Steel Authority of India (down 2.09%) and National Aluminium Company (down 1.16%), edged lower.

JSW Steel was down 3.76%. Lupin was up 1.53%. JSW Steel will replace Lupin in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 index today, 28 September 2018.

FMCG shares were mixed. Bajaj Corp (up 2.47%), Nestle India (up 1.05%), Marico (up 0.94%), Tata Global Beverages (up 0.88%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 0.74%), Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.62%) and Britannia Industries (up 0.57%), edged higher. Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (down 0.35%), Hindustan Unilever (down 0.78%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (down 0.9%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 0.94%) and Dabur India (down 1.27%), edged lower.

Overseas, Asian shares edge higher on Friday, following the rebound of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street overnight.

The moves in Japanese stocks came after the release of data that showed the country's unemployment rate fell 0.1% from the previous month to 2.4%. The country also saw an increase in its month-on-month industrial output in August, while retail sales in August was higher as compared to a year earlier.

In the Bank of Japan's release of its summary of opinions for its meeting earlier in September, the central bank said "the contrast between the favorable US economy and other economies is becoming more evident, mainly reflecting US trade policy, and uncertainties regarding their outlook have been heightening as well."

US stocks closed higher Thursday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapping a multiday losing streak, as solid data bolstered confidence in the economy a day after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the third time this year.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Thursday that the US does not face a large chance of a recession in the next two years and the Federal Reserve plans to keep gradually raising interest rates.

In the latest US economic data, jobless claims rose less than expected in the latest week, remaining near multi-decade lows. Orders for durable goods rose 4.5%, faster than had been expected. US real gross domestic product for the second quarter rose at a 4.2% annualized rate, unchanged from the earlier estimate, the Commerce Department said. US pending home sales unexpectedly dropped in August, falling 1.8% in the latest example of weak housing data.

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