Sensex slips in red, Nifty tests 9,650; broader markets outperform

LATEST MARKET NEWS - The benchmark indices pared entire initial gains to slip in red as investors braced for any surprises from former FBI director James Comey's congressional appearance, the European Central Bank's policy meeting and the UK general elections.

At 12:16 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 31,236, down 34 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,653, down 10 points.

The broader market outperformed with the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices adding 0.2% each.

"Opening moves could possibly aim for the 9727-50 but there are not enough signs that the next push higher could unfold right away. Such constructs puts 9,640 in focus, until above which the near term uptrend prospects will be intact. Direct fall below may not unsettle the overall uptrend prospects though, but break of 9530-9500 might do that. That, though is less expected now," said brokerage Geojit Financial Services in a technical note.

Buzzing stocks

Tata Steel (up 3.6%), Dr Reddy's (up 2%) and HDFC (up 2%) were the leading gainers on the Sensex, while TCS (2.3%), Adani Ports (1.8%) and GAIL (1.7%) shed the most.

Petronet LNG slipped 3% to Rs 421 after GDF International said will sell its entire 10% stake in Petronet LNG in block trades on Thursday for up to $512 million.

UK goes to voting today

The British will vote today in a 'snap election' that Prime Minister Theresa May had called seven weeks ago. Polls had initially suggested a landslide win for her Conservative party, but now are suggesting a narrowing lead for May, with some pointing to the chance that the Tories may not win an outright majority. This will impact the negotiations on Britain leaving the European Union.

ECB to stick to stimulus

The European Central Bank is likely to stick to its aggressive stimulus policy at its meeting later today because inflation remains below its target, despite brisker economic growth in the euro zone.

The ECB is now forecasting inflation at 1.7 percent and growth at 1.8 percent this year. Its mandate is to keep inflation close to but below 2 percent, but inflation slowed to 1.4 percent in May.

Global markets

Asian shares wobbled in early Thursday trade. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.27% while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.3% thanks to the dollar's rebound against the yen.

Wall Street shares ticked up on Wednesday, despite sharp decline in energy prices, after written testimony from former FBI director James Comey did not add major revelations about an investigation into Russian meddling with last year's US presidential election.