Nifty holds 8,100; FMCG and Oil shares drop

Markets are trading in a tight range in the negative territory weighed down by weakness in FMCG and Oil & Gas shares. Further, weakness in the global markets has dampened the sentiments of the market participants.

 

At 11.50 AM, the 30-share Sensex is down 132 points at 27,134 and the 50-share Nifty is down 38 points at 8,115.

 

The broader markets are outperforming the large counter parts, the BSE Mid-cap index is up 0.4% and Small-cap index is up 0.7%.

 

Market breadth is strong with 1,584 advances and 1,015 declines on the BSE.

 

Asian Markets:

 

Asian shares are down, after growing expectations the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates earlier than expected. Nikkei is up 0.2% and Hang Seng has lost 1.8%. Shanghai Composite is down 0.7% and Straits Times is trading with marginal losses.

 

Rupee:

 

The Indian rupee is trading lower at Rs 60.78 against the US dollar compared ot the previous close of Rs 60.60 tracking weakness in the domestic stock markets.

 

Maenwhile, Overseas investors bought Indian shares worth 4.79 billion rupees ($79 million) on Tuesday, exchange data shows.

 

Sectors & Stocks:

 

On the sectoral front, FMCG index is the biggest loser down over 1% followed by Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, IT and Consumer Durables indices. Bankex is down 0.5%. However, Metal, Realty and Healthcare indices are trading in the positive territory up 0.3%.

 

IT major Infosys is the biggest loser of this hour and has lost 1.8% in the late morning trades. 

 

Oil and Gas stocks which gained in the recent trading sessions on decline in crude oil prices are trading lower today. RIL is down 1.4% and ONGC has dipped 0.5%.

 

Cigarette maker ITC has lost 1.3% on media reports that the government may ban the sale of loose cigarettes. HUL is trading marginally in red.

 

Among the Auto shares, Hero Motocorp, M&M and Maruti Suzuki are trading lower between 0.5-1.5%  

 

SUV maker M&M is under pressure today after Kotak Institutional Equities downgraded the stock.

 

In the financial segment, SBI, HDFC twins and Axis Bank are trading lower between 0.5-1.2%. However, ICICI Bank is up 1% after the board announced stock split of equity share of face value Rs 10 each into five equity shares of face value Rs 2 each.

 

L&T, Coal India and Wipro are some of the notable names in red among others.

 

On the flip side, power and metal shares which were trading lower in the previous trading session have rebounded today. The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its final order on whether 218 illegal coal block allocations should be de allocated. Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco and Tata Steel have gained between 0.3-2%.

 

Bharti Airtel, Baja Auto and GAIL are some of the prominent names in green up between 0.5-1%.

 

Among other shares, Shares of Lanco Infratech are up nearly 6% at Rs 8.60 on reports that the company plans to sell some of its power assets with a view to reduce its debt burden.

 

Share prices of four out of five new entrants to the future and options (F&O) segment are trading higher by up to 4% in otherwise weak market. Addition to the F&O segment increases trader interest and boost liquidity in a stock.