Sensex, Nifty Remain Sluggish; SBI, BHEL, NTPC drag 2%

TCS, ITC, Lupin, Reliance and Infosys are top gainers. Among the losers are BHEL, NTPC, Axis Bank, Hero and SBI are losers in the Sensex.

The market continues to remain flat after early gains. The Sensex is up 14.73 points at 25711.17 and the Nifty is up 7.80 points or 0.10% at 7793.65. About 1205 shares have advanced, 842 shares declined, and 79 shares are unchanged. TCS, ITC, Lupin, Reliance and Infosys are top gainers. Among the losers are BHEL, NTPC, Axis Bank, Hero and SBI are losers in the Sensex.

Gold edged lower after a four-day advance that had been fuelled as uncertainty over the fate of China's economy hit global equities. Asian shares slipped after weak manufacturing activity reports from both the US and China sent Wall Street reeling, while the dollar steadied after steep losses. All eyes will be on Friday's US nonfarm payrolls with economists saying strong employment growth in August could help cement expectations that the Fed will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade at its next meeting on Sept. 16-17.
 

One of the reasons why many private sector banks had been enjoying premium valuations in the last few years was because of limited competition, feels Ajay Srivastava of Dimensions Consulting. With the entry of payment banks, more banks will have to cut their interest rates to protect market share, and this could lead to a shrinking of the juicy valuations, Srivastava tells CNBC-TV18. 








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