Markets remain rangebound, banks lead

 

Benchmark share indices remained rangebound in the first hour of trade amid profit taking at higher levels. Bank shares continue to remain the top gainers along with index heavyweight Reliance Industries.

At 10:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 75 points at 20,288 after touching an intra-day high of 20,326 and the 50-share Nifty was up 30 points at 6,177 after hitting a high of 6,187 so far.

Asian shares were trading firm with the exception of Japan. Nikkei touched a fresh five-and-a-half year high, before reversing direction amid profit taking after sharp gains in the past few sessions. The Nikkei slipped further and was down 1.4% while the Hang Seng was up 0.3%, Shanghai Composite gained 1% and Straits Times was trading flat with negative bias.

The BSE Healthcare was the top gainer among sectoral indices on the BSE followed by Bankex, Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, Power and Realty indices.

Bank shares extended gains and were up on hopes of rate cut by the central bank. In the Sensex pack, ICICI Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank were up 0.7%-1.8% each.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries extended gains and was up 1%.

Bajaj Auto extended gains and was up 1% ahead of its fourth quarter earnings later today.

Other Sensex gainers include, L&T, Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla and Bharti Airtel.

Among other shares, Credit Analysis and Research (CARE) has rallied 6% to Rs 753 after the rating agency announced a special dividend of 80% or Rs 8 per share on competition of 20 years of Analytical Excellence by the company.

Adani Ports and SEZ is trading higher by 6% at Rs 161 after reporting almost three-fold jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 710 crore for the fourth quarter ended March, 2013, on account of one-time gain of Rs 420 crore as it divested its holding in Australia's Abbot Point terminal to promoters.

IRB Infra extended gains and was up 2% at Rs 127 on good fourth quarter earnings. According to Angel Broking, IRB is looking at both organic and inorganic options for growth with a threshold of 18% equity IRR and intends to allot 20% of consolidated cash flow post debt repayment towards acquisitions. Although a slowdown in order awarding by NHAI in road sector has been witnessed in FY2013 IRB expects ordering activity to improve going ahead, the brokerage added. The brokerage said it maintains 'Buy' view on the stock with a target price of  Rs 163.

In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap was up 0.5% and the Small-cap index gained 0.3%.

Market breadth was positive with 635 gainers and 380 losers on the BSE.