Metals shine in a flat market; Hindalco soars 4%

Markets continue to trade flat with Nifty holding on to the 7,600 mark with metal shares leading the rally on fresh bouts of buying. However, losses in the financial pack have capped the upside.

At 11:05 am, the S&P BSE Sensex is up 16 points to quote at 24,899 and the Nifty50 is up 10 points to trade at 7,613.

In the metal space, Tata Steel, Hindalco, NMDC, Jindal Steel, Vedanta, JSW Steel and Coal India have gained 1%-4%. Meanwhile, Hindustan Zinc is 1% down after the stock turned ex-dividend for Rs 24 per share today.

Read more from our special coverage on "MARKETS"

• Sensex tanks 516 points as weak global cues negate RBI rate cut
• Weak global cues to weigh on markets; RBI policy in focus
• Nifty ends above 7,750 amid choppy trades; all eyes on RBI policy
• Majority of economic ownership should be in the hands of Indians: Nilesh Shah
• Positive opening seen; Auto shares in focus

Among other shares, Ashoka Buildcon is locked in lower circuit of 20% at Rs 136, also its 52-week low on the BSE on back of heavy volumes.

RPG Life Sciences has rallied 11% after the pharmaceutical company announced that it has received GMP Certificate from Bavarian Authority, a competent authority in Germany.

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(updated at 9:35 am)

After posting huge losses in the past session, benchmark indices have opened the Wednesday session on a higher mirroring a mixed trend among the Asian peers. Volatility in the commodity prices and movement in the oil prices are likely to dictate the trend later during the day.

At 9:35 am, the S&P BSE Sensex is down 6 points to quote at 24,878 and the Nifty50 is up 2 points to trade at 7,605.

 “Nifty’s yesterday drop brought prices straight away to the key 7,600 region, which had acted as a lid to upside attempts this year, until mid March, a feeble pull back is anticipated early in the day. But such a move is expected to be shortlived and long liquidation attempts could re emerge once near 7,680. However, volatility could be the dominant bias rather a directional fall. Alternatively, direct push above 7,680 could negate the overall bearish tendencies, reviving the 8,100-8,300 objectives for the medium term,” according to Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services technical note.

 Yesterday, markets ended sharply lower on Tuesday as weak global cues took precedence over Reserve Bank of India’s rate cut by 25 bps which was in line with economists’ expectations. The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 516 points to end at 24,884 and the Nifty50 plunged 156 points to finish at 7,603.

GLOBAL MARKET

Asian equities signed relief after a sharp decline in the previous session, however the gains remain modest as sluggish economic data from the United States and Europe rekindled fears regarding the global economic outlook. Japan’s Nikkei is trading flat with negative bias. On the flip side, China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hnag Seng have gained 0.1%-0.2% up.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 lost 1.01% on Tuesday on account of profit booking ahead of a quarterly reporting season that is expected to indicate sharply lower earnings. Meanwhile, IMF chief Christian Lagarde, on Tuesday, said that stronger action needs to be taken by global economies to boost growth. She also said that India continues to remain a bright spot. 

STOCKS IN NEWS

Tata Steel is trading 1.5% higher after Sanjeev Gupta, a potential buyer of Tata Steel’s British assets, decides to meet Britain’s business secretary on Tuesday to discuss his plan to turn around the struggling operations without the loss of thousands of jobs. Prime Minister David Cameron’s government has said it was working to broker a deal with potential buyers after India’s Tata Steel put its British operations up for sale last week, threatening thousands of jobs.

Cipla plans to deploy more funds for research and development in respiratory, dermatology, neurology and oncology segments and hopes for the first commercial launch in the US around 2020. However, the stock is trading nearly 1% lower. 

Reliance Jio Infocomm has plans to offer 0.5 paisa per 10 kb of data usage, which is substantially lower than the 4 paise per 10 Kb data being charged by India's top telcos Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular. Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular are up 1% each.

TCS has set up an open innovation centre in Nashik to solve social problems in local communities. The stock is trading with modest gains.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki have been hammered by investors of late. The stock has fallen 2% over the past three months due to rising concerns over capacity crunch and lower margins. The delay in the Gujarat plant will impact the company’s ability to meet new demand in the new financial year (FY17). The sharp fall in operating margin in the December 2015 quarter also impacted the stock’s performance. The stock has inched up in today’s trade.

Mahindra and Mahindra has launched a new range of tractors in the 30-45 HP category under brand name Mahindra YUVO on Tuesday. The company said the YUVO range was built on a new platform with industry first 12F+3R full constant-mesh gearbox in the category and it can be used across more than 30 different farming applications. The stock is up nearly 1%.

Two airlines are giving offers of cheaper tickets and discounts at hotels/cafes. GoAir is offering discounts up to 50 per cent at select hotels, cafes, spas and gift outlets through its boarding pass privilege scheme. SpiceJet has launched a pre-paid-cum-loyalty card called SpiceClub, which gives members discounted and free tickets on occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. SpiceJet has soared 2%.

The arguments over whether Maggi noodles is safe for consumption are to be heard on July 19, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, a laboratory in Mysuru gave the test reports it conducted on 16 Maggi noodle samples to the SC. The SC in December had directed the CFTRI laboratory in Mysuru to submit complete test report on Maggi noodles to determine whether Maggi contains any harmful elements for human consumption. Shares of Nestle India are down 0.5%.

Apollo Hospitals has partnered with Google to provide additional healthcare information to Google's Knowledge in India. The stock is down nearly 1%.