 "Markets remain range-bound; midcap, smallcap outperform")
Investors have turned cautious ahead of an annual meeting of central bankers from around the world in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, next week.
By 10:30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was higher 34 points at 28,098 and the Nifty50 gained 2 points to begin at 8,645. Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.4%-1%.
Top gainers from the Sensex pack are Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Coal India, Axis Bank and Tata Steel, all surging between 2%-4%.
On the losing side, TCS, Infosys, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank and NTPC are down between 0.5%-1.5%.
Shares of Zee Learn and Tree House Education & Accessories have rallied up to 17% on the BSE in intra-day trade, after their respective boards approved a revised share swap ratio for the merger.
Suzlon Energy has risen over 2% after the company said that ReNew Power Ventures issued 132 megawatts repeat turnkey order on the company
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Updated at 9:30 am
Markets continue to maintain range-bound trade in opening deals tracking mixed global cues.
By 9:30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was higher 52 points at 28,117 and the Nifty50 gained 7 points to begin at 8,651. Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.4%.
"Directional trades are yet to emerge and volatility is likely to continue to be the dominant theme. However, free moves are favoured to be on the downside, than on the upside, given the weakness in ADX and above neutral positioning of several oscillators in the hourly periodicities. Downside extremity in a worst case scenario is estimated to be in the 8,440-8,340 band," said Geojit BNP Paribas in its technical note.
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On Tuesday, markets snapped a two-day winning streak, amid a volatile trading session, with Infosys among the top losers after its key client Royal Bank of Scotland cancelled a project. Further, higher-than-expected increase in July wholesale price inflation and weak global cues also dampened sentiment.
In the overseas markets, Asian shares were mixed after the US Federal Reserve Bank president said the Fed could raise interest rates as soon as September, prompting investors to pause after rallies in recent weeks.
US stocks eased from record highs yesterday, with the S&P 500 losing 0.55% as investors weigh hawkish comments by Federal Reserve officials against sharp gains for oil futures, a weakening dollar and fresh consumer-price data that showed US inflation remains tepid.
Back home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 684.73 crore yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Hero Moto, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto are the top five Sensex gainers, all up between 1%-2%.
Tata Steel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) to set up a research centre in IIT Madras Research Park as part of its long term strategic roadmap in the area of advanced materials. The stock is up over 1%.
Hero MotoCorp said before market hours today that Sunil Kant Munjal's tenure as Joint Managing Director of the company ended on 16 August 2016. The stock is up over 2%.
On the losing side, Infosys, TCS, Sun Pharma, Cipla and GAIL are down 1% each.
Infosys has extended yesterday’s losses and is down over 1% after a key client Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) scrapped a project to set up a separate bank in the United Kingdom, for which IT major was a key technology partner.
Shares of Cipla have taken a breather today after witnessing a sharp rally on Tuesday. The company announced an improvement of around 200 basis points in base business EBITDA (earnings before interest, depreciation and taxes) margin.