A rangebound movement was witnessed as key benchmark indices languished in negative zone in mid-morning trade. At 11:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 88.46 points or 0.34% at 25,734.53. The 50-unit CNX Nifty was down 18.45 points or 0.24% at 7,827.50.
Earlier during the trading session, a bout of volatility was witnessed as traders rolled over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the September 2015 series to October 2015 series ahead of the expiry of the near month September 2015 contracts. The Sensex fell 152.03 points at the day's low of 25,670.96 in early trade. The Nifty fell 41.85 points at the day's low of 7,804.10 in early trade. The near month September 2015 derivatives contracts are set to expire today, 24 September 2015.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 1,303 shares rose and 822 shares fell. A total of 85 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.45%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.67%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
In overseas markets, Japanese stocks led decline in Asian markets amid continued concerns about a global economic slowdown. The Nikkei 225 Average was off 2.45% as trading resumed after a three-day holiday. US stocks fell yesterday, 23 September 2015, dragged down by economic reports portraying US factory growth as tepid and China in its worst manufacturing contraction since the global financial crisis.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was down 1.57% to Rs 838. The stock hit a high of Rs 848 and a low of Rs 836.20 so far during the day.
IT stocks edged higher on weak rupee. MindTree (up 2.01%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 1.77%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.45%), HCL Technologies (up 1.29%), TCS (up 0.59%), MphasiS (up 0.49%), CMC (up 0.16%) and Hexaware Technologies (up 0.10%), edged higher. Persistent Systems (down 0.48%) and Wipro (down 0.72%), edged lower. A weak rupee boosts revenue of IT firms in rupee terms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports.
Index heavyweight and IT major Infosys was up 1.18% to Rs 1,129.80. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,131.50 and a low of Rs 1,110.05 so far during the day.
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee was currently hovering at 66.1175, compared with its close of 65.99 during the previous trading session.
Most telecom stocks edged lower. Bharti Airtel (down 1.06%), Reliance Communications (down 0.69%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.16%), edged lower. Idea Cellular (up 0.04%) and MTNL (up 1.25%), edged higher.
Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) rose 3.36% after National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) awarded contract worth Rs 1783.42 crore to the company. The company made announcement during market hours today, 24 September 2015. The contract is for constructing a 36 kilometers (km) highway which includes 3 kms of tunnels between Ramban and Banihal in Jammu & Kashmir.
Elder Pharmaceuticals surged 13.09% after the company scheduled a board meeting on 28 September 2015 to consider the proposal for sale of step down overseas subsidiaries. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 September 2015.
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