Key benchmark indices extended initial losses in morning trade. At 10:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 226.18 points or 0.78% at 28,819.10. The Nifty 50 index was currently down 71 points or 0.79% at 8,881.50. The Sensex was currently trading below the psychologically important 29,000 level after falling below that level in early trade. Weakness in global stocks weighed on sentiment on the domestic bourses.
The Sensex lost 229.57 points or 0.79% at the day's low of 28,815.71 in morning trade, its lowest level since 6 September 2016. The barometer index rose 17.62 points or 0.06% at the day's high of 29,062.90 in opening trade. The Nifty lost 73.90 points or 0.82% at the day's low of 8,878.60 in morning trade, its lowest level since 6 September 2016. The index fell 13.35 points or 0.14% at the day's high of 8,939.15 at the onset of trading session.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market turned negative from positive in morning trade. On BSE, 1,028 shares declined and 888 shares rose. A total of 108 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently down 0.46%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 0.15%. The losses for both these indices were lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks edged lower after the European Central Bank (ECB) decided not to extend the deadline of its bond-buying program after the conclusion of its monetary policy meeting yesterday, 8 September 2016. Also, reports on earthquake in North Korea possibly due to an explosion from a nuclear test in that nation weighed on sentiment. US stocks closed lower yesterday, 8 September 2016, as the outcome of ECB's latest monetary policy meeting suggested that central banks have little left to spur up demand.
Cement stocks declined. ACC (down 0.97%), Ambuja Cements (down 0.51%) and UltraTech Cement (down 1.51%) edged lower.
Grasim Industries was down 0.54%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC fell 1.47% at Rs 261.40. The stock hit a high of Rs 264.40 and a low of Rs 260.25 so far during the day
IT stocks edged higher. HCL Technologies (up 1.42%), TCS (up 1.04%), Wipro (up 0.8%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.44%) rose. Tech Mahindra (down 0.72%) edged lower.
Index heavyweight and software major Infosys was down 0.69% at Rs 1,030.75. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,038 and a low of Rs 1,027.65 so far during the day.
Zensar Technologies surged 7.98% to Rs 1,085 after the company said it has secured a multi-million dollar digital transformation project from Avis Fleet in South Africa. Spread over a time-period of two years, the project involves adding scalability and agility to the company's strategic technology roadmap, Zensar Technologies said in a statement. Zensar will enable realization of Avis Fleet's strategic project, 'Next Generation Fleet Management System'. Zensar will leverage its digital technology skills and expertise to enable Avis Fleet in improving overall customer experience and visible enhancement in the quality of service. The key business objective is to secure and grow Avis' market leadership position in this field across Africa. The overall implementation, to be divided into two phases will focus on enhancing the varied legacy technology platforms and integration of digital technologies like Agile and DevOps in building a strategic IT framework. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 8 September 2016.
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