Key benchmark indices were hovering in a narrow range near flat line in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 30.69 points or 0.10% at 32,217.10. The Nifty 50 index was down 2 points or 0.02% at 10,077.30.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.17%. The BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.54%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive. On BSE, 1,295 shares fell and 1,236 shares rose. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.
Most capital goods shares declined. Bharat Electronics (down 2.69%), Jindal Saw (down 2.68%), Punj Lloyd (down 2.64%), SKF India (down 1.53%), Crompton Greaves (down 1.11%), Lakshmi Machine Works (down 0.76%), GE T&D India (down 0.64%), Praj Industries (down 0.42%), Reliance Defence and Engineering (down 0.42%) and AIA Engineering (down 0.03%), edged lower. Havells India (up 0.46%), BEML (up 1.01%), GE Power India (up 1.58%), ABB India (up 2.02%), Siemens (up 2.03%) and Thermax (up 6.23%), edged higher.
State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals was up 4.22% after report suggested that the company and Kawasaki will make rolling stock for the country's first bullet train from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for Rs 1.1 lakh crore bullet train project today, 14 September 2017. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said that PM Modi wants the train to start a year ahead of schedule, on 15 August 2022, when India completes 75 years of Independence.
Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was down 0.27%.
Most FMCG shares declined. Marico (down 1.51%), Bajaj Corp (down 1.15%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (down 0.77%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (down 0.76%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 0.61%), Dabur India (down 0.39%), Hindustan Unilever (down 0.09%) and Nestle India (down 0.02%), edged lower. Britannia Industries (up 0.35%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 0.36%), Tata Global Beverages (up 0.82%) and Jyothy Laboratories (up 1.04%), edged higher.
On macro front, the annual rate of inflation, based on monthly Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 3.24% (provisional) for August 2017, compared with 1.88% (provisional) in July 2017 and 1.09% in August 2016. The data was announced during trading hours today, 14 September 2017.
Overseas, European stocks were trading lower as investors assessed geopolitical developments and looked ahead to the Bank of England's latest policy decision. Asian stocks were mixed after disappointing economic data out of China. China's National Bureau of Statistics said the world's second-largest economy saw 6% annual growth in its industrial output in August, slower than 6.4% growth in July. Retail sales expanded 10.1% on year in August, compared with 10.4% in July. The data suggested that China's economy continued to cool.
Investors are waiting for the latest updates on the US economy ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting due next week. Later in the global day today, the US Labor Department is scheduled to release reports on consumer price for August and the number of people who applied for unemployment benefit last week.
US market edged higher overnight, but trading was subdued as investors searched for catalysts that could breathe new life into the rally.
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)