 "Markets end higher amid volatility; Nifty ends near 8,900")
The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended up 144 points and the 50-share Nifty ended up 28 points at 8,897.
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(At 2:20PM)
Benchmark shares indices are likely to snap their six-day winning streak amid profit taking in select financials and FMCG majors.
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At 2:20PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 172 points at 29,148 and the 50-share Nifty was down 62 points at 8,807.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities after they bought equities worth Rs2,188 crore on Wednesday, as per the provisional stock exchange data.
BSE Bankex was the top loser down 2.1% followed by FMCG, Power, Auto and Healthcare among others. Metal and IT indices were the top gainers.
IT stocks are trading mixed in today’s session. Infosys was up 1.5% after it today announced a multi-year, multimillion dollar partnership with ABN AMRO, to provide IT services for the bank's operations. TCS gained 1.2% and Wipro was down 1.4%.
Housing finance major, HDFC has gained around 1.3% while bank stocks are under pressure on profit-booking. ICICI Bank has lost around 2.4%, Axis Bank is down 2.3%, SBI is down 2.3% and HDFC Bank is down 0.8%. Yesterday, Axis Bank raised Senior Notes in international market worth $55 million under the Medium Term Note (MTN) Programme through its Hong Kong branch.
Hindalco Industries is up 1.4% after it won the Gare Palma coal mine in Chhattisgarh by outbidding companies like BALCO, Sesa Sterlite, Ambuja Cements, which were also vying for the same block.
ITC is down 2% after over 5% rally of past three days following the acquisition of the trademarks for 'Savlon' and 'Shower To Shower' in India from Johnson & Johnson for an undisclosed amount.
Other Sensex losers include, Reliance Industries and Tata Motors among others.
Among other shares, Jindal Steel and Power surged 21% to Rs 189 on reports that the company has won Gare Palma IV/2 and IV/3 blocks in fierce bidding at the ongoing coal block e-auctions. According to reports, the company has won the bids at Rs 108/tonne for both the blocks which have a mining capacity of about 6 mtpa. Other bidders for the said coal blocks include Adani and GMR.
The broader markets were also trading with marginal losses with BSE Mid-cap down 0.7% and Small-cap index down 0.4%.
Market breadth was weak with 1,642 losers and 1,126 gainers on the BSE.