Key share indices ended marginally higher on Wednesday ahead of the RBI credit policy led by banks and capital goods shares on hopes that the central bank may announce reduction in interest rates.
The Sensex provisionally ended up 127 points at 17,941 and the Nifty provisionally ended up 34 points at 5,464.
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(Updated at 14:37 hrs)
Markets continue to remain positive amid volatility post the announcement of the Railway Budget. The Sensex was up 100 points at 17,914 and the S&P CNX Nifty had advanced 33 points at 5,462 levels. During the railway budget speech the markets had turned weak and the Sensex had touched an intra-day low of 17,837 levels.
Railway Minister, Dinesh Trivedi while presenting the railway budget announced 75 new express trains to be introduced. The minister while presenting his maiden budget also hiked fares for the first time since eight years. For AC 3 tier- 10 paise per km, AC 2 tier- 15 paise per km, 2nd class- 3 paise per km, First class AC 30 paise per km; suburban fares up 2 paise per km; Platform ticket up from Rs 3 to Rs 5
Railway related stocks were giving mixed signals. Titagarh Wagons, Stone India, Kernex Microsystems and Kalindee Rail were trading lower by 3-5% while Nelco, Transformer and Rectifiers (India) Limited (TRIL) and Zicom Electronic Security Systems have rallied more than 5% each after Dinesh Trivedi said that Railways to install security systems at 202 stations.
The BSE Capital Goods index is the top sectoral gainer, up nearly 2% at 10,796 levels. Bankex, Power, PSU and FMCG indices have also added 1-1.5% each.
At the same time, IT, realty, oil & gas and consumer durable stocks continue to reel under the selling pressure. The BSE IT index has shed 0.8% or 48 points to 6,068 levels.
Among Sensex stocks, Larsen & Toubro is the top gainer, up 2.4% to Rs 1,393. NTPC, ICICI Bank, Hindalco, ITC, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Coal India are also trading higher by 1.5-2.4% each.
On the other hand, TCS, Wipro, HDFC, Bajaj Auto, Jindal Steel, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and DLF are among the prominent losers.
The broader markets are trading on a subdued note. The mid-cap index is up 12 points at 6,487 and the small-cap index is down 14 points at 6,852 levels.
The overall market breadth remains neutral as 1,463 stocks are declining while 1,341 are advancing.