Sensex Flat In Noon Trading; Asian Paints Soars Over 3%

The domestic indices are trading marginally in the red, amid volatility, as they seem to be consolidating the big gains registered in the past 2 trading sessions. The Sensex has oscillated in a range of nearly 700 points between an intra-day low of 57,277.88 and a high of 57,918.71 and as of 1:10 pm, the BSE benchmark is trading at 57,499.57, lower by 53 points and the Nifty is at 17,114.80, down 13 points. The Sensex and Nifty hit new lifetime highs of 57,918.17 and 17,225.75 respectively earlier in the day.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices, with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices advancing 0.7 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.

On the economy front, the GDP expanded at record 20.1 per cent in April-June, the first quarter of financial year, compared with the same period a year earlier, driven mainly by manufacturing and construction, the statistics ministry said post market hours on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, manufacturing activity's growth in India was sluggish in August 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and increasing input costs, IHS Markit said in a report. IHS Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell from 55.3 in July 2021 to 52.3 in August 2021. And hiring activity came to a pause as business confidence got dampened due to Covid's impact.

On the stock-specific front, Asian Paints soared more than 3 per cent to top the gainer's list on the BSE. Axis Bank, Nestle, Hindustan Unilever and Titan also gained around 2 per cent each in the BSE pack.

On the other hand, M&M, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finserv lost 1-2 per cent each on the BSE. IT stocks are also trading weak, with Infosys, TCS and HCL Tech shedding around a per cent each on the BSE.

The BSE market breadth is weak. Out of 3,249 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1,457 advancing stocks as against 1,626 declines.