At 11:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 71.94 points or 0.13% at 54,297.95. The Nifty 50 index was down 18.55 points or 0.11% at 16,240.55.
The broader market saw more selling than frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.31% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.9%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 780 shares rose and 2,257 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 200,193,983 with 4,255,638 global deaths.
India reported 411,076 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 426,290 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index gained 0.95% to 31,271 and was the top gainer on NSE Sectoral indices. The index saw bargain hunting after losing 0.94% in previous trading session.
HCL Tech (down 2.27%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.13%), Coforge (up 1.68%), Wipro (up 1.44%), Mphasis (up 1.32%), Larsen Toubro Infotech (up 1.25%) and Mindtree (up 0.86%) were top gainers in IT space.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Vodafone Idea slumped 11.44% after the company said that Kumar Mangalam Birla will step down as the chairman of the company. In an exchange filing made after market hours yesterday, the company said that the board of directors have accepted the request of Kumar Mangalam Birla to step down as non-executive director and non-executive chairman of the board with effect from close of business hours on 4 August 2021. Consequently, the company's board unanimously elected Himanshu Kapania, currently a non-executive director, as the non-executive chairman.
Ion Exchange (India) rose 1.14% to Rs 2,535 after the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) awarded an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract to the company worth Rs 357.465 crore. The scope of the work involves design and installation of effluent treatment plant on turn key basis for the para xylene (PX) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) complex project of IOC, which is located at Paradip, Orissa. PTA is a major raw material used to manufacture polyester fibers, PET bottles and polyester film used in packaging applications.
Global Markets:Asian stocks are trading mixed on Thursday, following declines overnight on Wall Street.
U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 falling from a record high after data signaled a slowdown in jobs growth in July, and General Motors tracked its worst day since early March.
Shares of General Motors dropped sharply, weighing on the broader market, after the automaker missed earnings expectations for the second quarter. The automaker did raise its guidance for a key profit metric for the rest of the year.
Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said the Fed is on track for a liftoff in interest rates in 2023 and an announcement later this year on paring bond purchases. Clarida painted an upbeat picture of the outlook while acknowledging that the rapid spread of the delta virus strain poses a downside risk.
A measure of US services industry activity jumped to a record high in July. The Institute for Supply Management said on Wednesday its non-manufacturing activity index raced to 64.1 last month, the highest reading in the series' history, from 60.1 in June.
The ADP private payroll survey showed a gain of 330,000 jobs for July. The Labor Department's official jobs report, which typically has more impact with investors, will be released on Friday.
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