Key benchmarks turned range bound near day's low in mid-morning trade. At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 843.75 points or 2.43% at 33,917.14. The Nifty 50 index was down 260.80 points or 2.49% at 10,199.30. Selling was triggered by dismal global cues.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 74.3825, compared with its close of 74.21 during the previous trading session. Rupee hit a record low of 74.50 in early deals today.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 2.24%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.92%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was quite weak. On BSE, 512 shares rose and 1665 shares fell. A total of 104 shares were unchanged.
IT shares declined. Hexaware Technologies (down 5.46%), HCL Technologies (down 4.51%), Infosys (down 3.37%), MphasiS (down 2.94%), MindTree (down 2.3%), Wipro (down 2.3%), Persistent Systems (down 1.78%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.76%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 1.04%), edged lower.
Software giant TCS was down 2.27%. The company will announce its Q2 September 2018 earnings on Thursday, 11 October 2018.
Most pharmaceutical shares declined. Piramal Enterprises (down 5.82%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 1.91%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.78%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.7%), Divi's Laboratories (down 1.65%), Cipla (down 1.58%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 1.57%), Cadila Healthcare (down 1.56%), Strides Shasun (down 1.5%), Lupin (down 1.23%), Wockhardt (down 1.15%) and Alkem Laboratories (down 0.54%), edged lower. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.45%) and IPCA Laboratories (up 0.58%), edged lower.
Three aviation stocks rose after the government cut excise duty on aviation turbine fuel or jet fuel to 11% from 14%. Interglobe Aviation (up 4.5%), SpiceJet (up 3.08%) and Jet Airways (India) (up 2.27%) edged higher.
The Central Government on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest announced cut in excise duty on aviation turbine fuel. The notification was issued by the government after market hours yesterday, 10 October 2018. The notification shall come into force with effect from today, 11 October 2018.
Jet fuel constitutes about 40% of an airline's operating costs. Prices of jet fuel are directly linked to crude oil prices.
Overseas, Asian shares slumped on Thursday after Wall Street suffered its worst drubbing in eight months.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could slump 287 points at the opening bell today, 11 October 2018.
US stocks slumped to close sharply lower Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank and the S&P 500 had its worst day since February as technology stocks went into a freefall. Investors spooked by rising bond yields dumped equities in all sectors, triggering a broad market rout. The surge in bond yields made stocks look less attractive compared to bonds while also threatening to curb economic activity and profits.
President Donald Trump reportedly knocked the US Federal Reserve for continuing to raise interest rates despite some recent market turbulence. Trump's comments on the central bank Wednesday came a day after he said he did not like what they were doing in terms of monetary policy.
In the latest US economic data, the producer-price index rose 0.2% in September, while the core PPI was up 0.4%. Separately, wholesale inventories in the US rose 1% in August.
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