HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance and HDFC were the biggest drags on the Sensex Domestic stock markets started Thursday's session on a lower note, after two days of losses, while Asian peers were largely unmoved amid concerns about the changes of global fiscal stimulus.
The S-P BSE Sensex index fell as much as 176.54 points to 36,883.83 in early deals, and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark declined to 10,856.20, down 62.50 points from the previous close.
Weakness in financial, metal and energy sectors weighed on the markets, whereas a rebound in consumer goods provided some support.
At 9:36 am, the Sensex traded 108.92 points - or 0.29 per cent - lower at 36,951.45, while the Nifty was down 39.25 points - or 0.36 per cent - at 10,879.45.
Here are 10 things to know:Top percentage laggards on the 50-scrip index at the time were Indiabulls Housing Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Adani Ports, Vedanta, Bajaj Finance, and JSW Steel, trading between 1.92 per cent and 6.19 per cent lower.Market breadth favoured losses, with411 stocks on the BSE trading higher and 878 moving lower.
On the NSE, 453 stocks advanced while 1,095 declined.HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance and HDFC were the biggest drags on the Sensex.Fast-moving consumer goods recovered, with the Nifty FMCG index rising as much as 0.91 per cent in morning, after a loss of 0.94 per cent the previous day.
Britannia shares jumped3.88 per cent in intraday trade.On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India released the minutes of its last bi-monthly policy meeting.Fixing the economy's growth has become the highest priority while a benign inflation outlook has given the central bank room to cut rates although transmission remains inadequate, the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting which concluded on August 7 showed.The Sensex and Nifty had ended 0.7 per cent and 0.9 per cent lower respectively on Wednesday,extending their losses to a second straight day.Equities in other Asian markets were flat on Thursday,with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan off 0.2 per cent in very light volumes.Japan's Nikkei added 0.1 per cent, as did Shanghai blue chips.
E-Mini futures for the S-P 500 dipped 0.04 per cent, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.09 per cent.Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.93 per cent, the S-P 500 rose 0.82 per cent and the Nasdaq closed 0.90 per cent higher.Minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting showed policymakers deeply divided over whether to cut interest rates, but united in wanting to signal they were not on a preset path to more easing.(With inputs from Reuters)Get Breaking news, live coverage, and Latest News from India and around the world on TheIndianSubcontinent.com.
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