Markets choppy; Hero Motocorp, Wipro top gainers

Markets are swinging between the positive territory and negative territory in the morning trades as gains in Auto and IT stocks cap losses in metal and banking shares.

 

At 10.15 AM, the 30-share Sensex is down 6 points at 26,624 and 50-share Nifty is down 5 points at 7,960.

 

However, the broader markets are trading firm with the midcap index up 0.2% and the smallcap index up 0.3%.

 

Market breadth is strong with 1,089 gainers and 835 losers on the BSE.

 

Rupee:

 

The rupee fell as low as 61.95 per dollar on Wednesday, its weakest level since March 4, as traders unwound positions ahead of holidays and at a time when the greenback is gaining globally.

Meanwhile, the provisional data released by the stock exchanges after trading hours on Tuesday, 30 September 2014, showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 485.93 crore on that day.

 

Buzzing stocks:

 

Hero Motocorp is up 2% after after the company reported growth of over 30 percent for September 2014. M&M, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto are up between 0.5-2%. However, Maruti Suzuki is down 0.5%. The company will recall 69,555 units of the Dzire, Swift and Ritz models manufactured between March 2010 and August 2013 to repair wiring harness fitment.

 

Brent tumbled to its lowest since July 2012 while benchmark US oil also recorded a heavy fall on Tuesday, amid further signs of excess oil crude supplies on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

ICE November Brent, the international oil benchmark, fell 2.8 per cent to $94.47 after hitting an intraday level of $94.24 – the lowest in more than two years.

 

Thus, oil marketing companies like IOC, HPCL, BPCL have cut petrol prices by 65 paise per litre and are trading higher between 0.5-1%.

 

Aviation stocks have rallied by up to 6% on the bourse today as state-owned oil companies reduced the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) or jet fuel by a steep 3% on the back of falling international oil rates.

 

Shares of Spicejet has surged 6% to Rs 13.01, while Kingfisher Airlines locked in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 2.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).  Similarly, Jet Airways up nearly 5% to Rs 218.
 

In the technology pack, TCS and Wipro have gained between 1.5-3% on the back of depreciating rupee.

On the flip side, financial stocks are trading lower after Reserve Bank of India's neutral stance on key policy rates. Axis Bank, SBI and HDFC twins have lost between 0.3-0.6%.

Global Markets:

 

Asian shares got off on the back foot on Wednesday as continued civil unrest in Hong Kong sapped confidence, while the dollar index was in sight of a four-year high after marking its best quarterly gain in six years.

 

Trading in Asia was expected to be more subdued than usual, with China closed for National Day and investors warily monitoring developments in Hong Kong's pro-democracy unrest, as thousands of protesters stepped up pressure on the city's pro-Beijing government.

 

US stocks slipped on Tuesday, dragged down by energy and materials shares as economic data disappointed.

 

Major indexes also posted losses for the month, but ended the quarter with gains.

 

US consumer confidence fell in September for the first time in five months and home prices in July rose less than expected from a year earlier, underscoring the unsteady nature of U.S. growth. Analysts are skeptical of how many more gains are in store for the market this year.

 

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.17%, to 17,043, the S&P 500 lost 0.28%, to 1,972 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.28%, to 4,493.