 "Markets end positive amid choppy trades")
Markets ended marginally positive amid a choppy session as traders remained cautious ahead of the key economic events such as Railway Budget, Economic Survey and Union Budget along with expiry of February derivative contracts this week.
Provisionally, the 30-share Sensex ended higher by 14 points at 28,989 and the 50-share Nifty gained 6 points at 8,761.
____________________(updated at 3.30PM)
Benchmark indices remained flat, amid choppy trades, as investors turned cautious and booked profits ahead of key events such as Railway Budget, Economic Survey and Union Budget along with the expiry of February series due later during the week.
At 14:20 PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 36 points at 29,010 and the 50-share Nifty was down 10 points at 8,765.
Meanwhile, global ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) on Monday said the government must deliver on its reform promises, as low income levels and weak fiscal indicators were constraining the sovereign’s credit worthiness compared to its peers.
However, the broader markets are underperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap index is trading flat whereas BSE Smallcap index has slipped by 0.5%.
Market breadth in BSE is negative with 1,669 declines against 1,041 advances.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 601.91 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 163.79 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
In the currency front, the Indian rupee was tad stronger at 62.27 per dollar versus Monday's close of 62.32/33, tracking Asian peers and local shares.
STOCKS IN ACTION
BSE Realty index has surged by 2% followed by counters like FMCG, Capital Goods, IT and Banks, all gaining between 0.5-1.4%. However, BSE Oil & Gas and Metal indices are down 0.5-1%.
Shares of real estate companies were trading higher on the bourses on hopes that the forthcoming budget may include sops to the housing sector.
Oberoi Realty has rallied 8% to Rs 334, also its 52-week high on BSE. Ajmera Realty, Puravankara Projects, Prestige Estates Projects, National Building Construction Corporation, Unitech, DLF, Sobha and Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) are up 1-8% on the BSE.
From the FMCG space, ITC Hotels, India's second largest hotel chain, has gained over 2% to Rs 3958 on the BSE after it won the bid to acquire Park Hyatt Hotel property in Goa owned by Blue Coast Hotels that had been put up for public auction by IFCI. HUL has risen over 2%.
Capital Goods majors like BHEL and L&T have gained by 2% each. Capital Goods shares are trading positive on hopes of concession to the infra sector in the upcoming Union Budget.
Soon after closing its first investment in the start-up space, Infosys, India’s second largest IT services company is learnt to be in the process of making one more investment in a company which develops cloud-based air quality detectors. The stock is up 1%.
Car market leader Maruti Suzuki has gained over 1% after the company launched refreshed version of its popular compact sedan Dzire with introductory prices ranging from Rs 5.07 lakh to Rs 7.81 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
Boosting the prospects of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s promise of providing adequate power supply by 2016-17, NTPC Limited has said it will supply an additional 1,657 Megawatt (Mw) to the state in two years. NTPC has gained over 1%.
Other notable gainers are Cipla, GAIL, Coal India, TCS, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank.
On the losing side, shares of oil and gas companies are under pressure with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) hitting 11-month low on the BSE today.
ONGC has dipped 3.5% to Rs 313, its lowest level since March 2014, on BSE. Cairn India too slipped 3.3% at Rs 241, while Oil India down 2% at Rs 478 and Reliance Industries by 1.5% at Rs 838.
Other prominent losers include Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and Hindalco.
Among other shares, TVS Motor Company has slipped 4% to Rs 277, extending its previous day’s 2.4% fall on NSE, after Venu Srinivasan, chairman and managing director of the company sold 1.5 million shares for about Rs 45 crore.
Shares of budget airline SpiceJet are trading higher by 2% to Rs 25 on the BSE after Ajay Singh became the promoter after acquiring the entire 58.46% stake from the Marans.