Markets remain listless; Nifty hovers at 8,775

There is a lot of action on the broader market front; the midcap index has strengthened by 0.6% and the smallcap index has raced ahead by nearly 1%.

The benchmark indices are trading in a listless manner this morning. The benchmark BSE Sensex regained the 29,000-mark by rising 125.65 points, or 0.43%, to 29,005.03 in early trade, only to surrender its gains in quick time. At 10:45 AM, the Sensex is quoting at 28,864, lower by 15 points and the Nifty is at 8,768, down 12 points.

There is, however, a lot of action on the broader market front. Taking off from where they left last week, the midcap index has strengthened by 68 points or 0.6% at 11,159 and the smallcap index has raced ahead by 110 points or 0.9% at 11,956.

In the midcap space, Bayer CropScience has vaulted by 7.4% at Rs 3575, KEC International has zoomed by 6.7% at Rs 103 and CEAT has jumped by 6% at Rs 932. And the smallcap space has seen Munjal Auto gaining 11.8% at Rs 90, Foseco adding 11% at Rs 1276 and Ess Dee gaining 10% at Rs 283.

Meanwhile, the government will release data for March consumer price inflation later in the day.

OIL PRICES

Oil prices inched up this morning, following a strong trading session on Friday, as traders have seemingly hiked their bets on higher prices amid a slowdown in US drilling. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate added 31 cents to $51.95 while Brent was up 24 cents at $58.11 in late-morning trade.

But the persistent global supply glut is likely to cap advances, analysts said.

RUPEE

The rupee has fallen by 5 paise to 62.36 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on rising demand for the American currency from importers.

Forex dealers attributed the fall in the rupee to the dollar's strength against other global currencies and increased demand for the greenback from importers.

However, a higher opening in the domestic stock market capped the rupee's fall.

The rupee on Friday had lost 7 paise to 62.31 on fresh demand for US dollar from banks and importers as the greenback firmed up overseas on upbeat US jobs data.

SECTORS & BUZZING STOCKS

The top gainers on the BSE come from a slew of sectors ranging from capital goods and telecom to power and steel. Bhel, Bharti Airtel, Tata Power and Tata Steel have gained between 15 and 2% each.

On the other hand, Gail has weakened by 3% at Rs 387 to top the losers'list on the BSE. Select auto and metal stocks are also seeing some pressure. In the auto space, M&M and Tata Motors have weakened between 1% and 2% each, while the metal space has seen Hindalco and Sesa Sterlite shedding around a percent each.

Global Markets

The Chinese markets are leading gains in Asia to touch fresh seven-year highs early Monday. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index elevated 0.4% to its highest level since January 2008 and South Korea's Kospi index has hit its highest level since August 2014. On the other hand, Japan's Nikkei is struggling to find momentum shy of the key 20,000 mark.

The major US share indices ended with marginal gains with General Electric leading the gains on Wall Street after the global major announced plans to divest GE Capital business and also buyback of shares upto $50 billion. The Dow Jone gained 0.6% to end above 18,000 at 18,057.65, the tech-laden Nasdaq gained 0.4% at 4,995.98 and the broader S&P 500 ended up 0.5% at 2,102.06.