Sensex hovers around 28,000; IT shares weigh

Markets continued to trade weak in noon deals on Monday with IT majors leading the decline.

At 1:40pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 70 points at 28,007 and the Nifty 50 was down 29 points at 8,638.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap was down 0.2% while the Smallcap index was trading flat. Market breadth was weak with 1319 losers and 1224 gainers on the BSE.

Among the IT majors, TCS was down 2.3% while Infosys eased 1% and Wipro was also down nearly 1%.

Pharma shares also witnessed profit taking with Lupin and Sun Pharma down over 1.5% each. However, FMCG shares continued to trade higher with Hindustan Unilever and ITC up 1.3%-1.8% each.

HDFC and HDFC Bank were also among the top index gainers. Among other shares, Infinite Computer Solutions (India) was trading higher by 7% to Rs 215 on the BSE after the company announced that its board will meet on Wednesday, August 24, 2016 to consider a share buyback proposal.

Mahanagar Gas (MGL) has moved higher by 1.5% to Rs 586, its highest level since listing on bourses on July 1, 2016. The stock is now trading at a 39% premium against issue price of Rs 421 per share.

____________________

(updated at 11:15am)

After extending losses in morning trade, key benchmark indices languished in negative zone in mid-morning trade.

At 11:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 110.86 points or 0.39% at 27,966.14. The Nifty 50 index was currently down 36.80 points or 0.42% at 8,630.10.

The Sensex was currently trading below the psychologically important 28,000 level. The Sensex lost 153.21 points or 0.54% at the day's low of 27,923.79 in morning trade, its lowest level since 12 August 2016.

The barometer index rose 66.28 points or 0.23% at the day's high of 28,143.28 in early trade. The Nifty lost 51.60 points or 0.59% at the day's low of 8,615.30 in morning trade, its lowest level since 17 August 2016. The index rose 17.95 points or 0.2% at the day's high of 8,684.85 in early trade.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market turned negative from positive in mid-morning trade. On BSE, 1,166 shares declined and 1,063 shares rose. A total of 141 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently down 0.27%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 0.12%. The losses for both these indices were lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.

The latest slide on the bourses materialized after the government on Saturday, 20 August 2016, named Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Urjit Patel as new RBI governor. Patel is known for his hawkish view on inflation just like Raghuram Rajan whose term as the RBI governor ends on 4 September 2016.

Patel will take charge as RBI governor for a 3 year term from 4 September 2016. Patel handles the monetary policy department as the RBI deputy governor. By naming Patel who is a deputy governor at the central bank as the new RBI governor, the government is sending signal to markets that there will be continuity of central bank's policies.

The government early this month notified consumer price inflation target of 4% with upper tolerance level of 6% and lower tolerance level of 2% to be achieved by RBI. This target is valid until 31 March 2021.

In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks were trading mixed amid uncertainty whether the US Federal Reserve is readying an interest rate hike next month. US stocks registered small losses on Friday, 19 August 2016, with traders holding their horses ahead of a speech from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen at Jackson Hole later this week.

Yellen's speech at the Kansas City Fed's annual Monetary Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is scheduled on Friday, 26 August 2016. Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) July meeting showed officials were split on whether an increase in interest rate was needed soon.

Cement stocks declined. UltraTech Cement (down 1.39% at Rs 3,860.40), Ambuja Cements (down 1.14% at Rs 273.15), ACC (down 0.89% at Rs 1,674) and Shree Cement (down 1.36% at Rs 16,766.50) edged lower.

Grasim Industries was down 1% at Rs 4,572. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Telecom stocks edged lower. Reliance Communications (down 1.5% at Rs 49.35) and Bharti Airtel (down 1% at Rs 347.35) declined. Idea Cellular (up 0.16% at Rs 93.75) edged higher.

Bharti Infratel was down 0.2% at Rs 341.60. Bharti Infratel is a telecom tower arm of Bharti Airtel.

TVS Srichakra fell 1.48% at Rs 2,500 after net profit fell 6% to Rs 46.51 crore on 8.4% growth in net sales to Rs 507.99 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015. The result was announced on Saturday, 20 August 2016.

Oberoi Realty surged 5.24% at Rs 313.50 after consolidated net profit rose 32.89% to Rs 108.88 crore on 50.56% growth in total income to Rs 330.26 crore in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015. The result was announced on Saturday, 20 August 2016. Oberoi Realty said that total area booked was 1.47 lakh square feet in Q1 June 2016 as against 0.81 lakh square feet in Q1 June 2015. The order book stands at Rs 3993 crore at the end of Q1 June 2016 as against Rs 2705 crore at the end of Q1 June 2015.

Commenting on the results, Vikas Oberoi, Chairman & Managing Director, Oberoi Realty said that major policy and process changes along with the government's ease-of-doing-business initiative and focus on fast-tracking of the approval process, have brought in fresh optimism to the markets and have been major enablers for the realty sector.