NEW DELHI: The BSE Smallcap index was trading with a nominal gain of 0.08 per cent at 16,756 around 02:20 pm on Thursday, still better off than the equity benchmark Sensex.The BSE Sensex was 0.26 per cent down at 37,753, while NSE Nifty50 was 0.28 per cent down at 11,403 around that time.
Shares of WPIL (up 20 per cent), Patel Engineering (up 14.99 per cent), Housing Development Infrastructure (HDIL) (up 12.88 per cent), Tamil Nadu Newsprint And Papers (up 11.81 per cent) and Zensar Technologies (up 10.97 per cent) were among the top gainers in the smallcap index.Intrasoft Technologies (down 19.99 per cent), Vishnu Chemicals (down 17.20 per cent), Ester Industries (down 11.71 per cent), Shreyas Shipping Logistics (down 10.11 per cent) and Mangalam Drugs and Organics (down 9.97 per cent) were among the top losers in the index around the same time.
Equity market was reflecting weak sentiment, tracking weak Asian peers.
China stocks hit a near two-and-half-year low in early trading on Thursday as the yuan's recent fall dampened investor confidence, but news of Sino-United States trade talks later this month helped recoup some of the losses, Reuters reported.
An unabated fall of the Indian rupee and sustained capital outflow in the wake of a continuous rise of US dollar also hit the market.
In the Sensex index, 17 stocks were advancing, while 14 were declining.Kotak Mahindra Bank, Vedanta and HDFC were among the top losers in the Sensex kitty.