Markets remain rangebound; Sun Pharma up 3%, ITC plunges

Benchmark indices are trading in a narrow range with Sensex and Nifty between negative and positive zone.

By 10:45 am, the Sensex was lower by 10 points at 25,628 and the Nifty gained 5 points at 7,787.

The top gainers from the Sensex pack are Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Hero Moto, HUL and Hindalco. On the losing side, ITC, NTPC, Coal India, ONGC and Tata Motors are down between 1-3%.

Coal India might eventually end the financial year with a shortfall of 10 million tonnes (mt), or nearly two per cent, of its marked output. The stock is down almost 2%.

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Updated at 9:45 am

Markets are trading in a narrow range with postive bias tracking firm global cues along with buying demand among metal shares leading the gains. However, the upside is capped due to selling among index heavyweight ITC.

By 9:38 am, the Sensex was higher by 68 points at 25,698 and the Nifty has gained 24 points at 7,806.

"Nifty needs to negate the negative pattern of making lower highs – lower lows by holding above 7,820 levels to get back a bounce back move towards 7,880 and 7,920 zones, while if it fails to sustain the 7,750 levels then selling pressure might drag the index towards 7,700 and even lower levels. Traders are required to take calculated risk ahead of FOMC meet, CPI, IIP and WPI data," adds Anand Rathi's morning report.  

According to market experts, GST Bill, movement of the rupee and uncertain global cues amid expected rate cut by the US Fed will dictate the movement of the markets.

The government will announce the index of industrial production (IIP) data for October on Friday.

In the currency front, the rupee has opened higher at 66.67 per dollar against Friday's closing value of 66.70 a dollar.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1,745.73 crore on Friday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

In the overseas markets, Asian share markets bounced on Monday after Wall Street welcomed an upbeat US jobs report that suggested the world's biggest economy was well placed to handle an expected first increase in interest rates in almost a decade.

Oil prices were near their lowest since 2009 in the wake of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision to keep production high despite depressed demand.

Japan's Nikkei led the way with a 1.2% gain, while Australian stocks managed only 0.1%.

Back home, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Hindalco, Hero Moto and ICICI Bank are the top Sensex gainers, all higher between 1-3%. On the losing side, ITC, NTPC, ONGC, Dr Reddy's Labs and Bharti Airtel are down between 0.3-2%.

Tata Steel is believed to nearing a deal to sell-off one of its UK steel plants, according to PTI report. The company is likely to cut 720 jobs at one of its UK plants after talks to save redundancies failed. Shares of Tata Steel are up over 2%. 

Sun Pharmaceutical is the top Sensex gainer, up over 2%. The drug maker has got approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its generic version of anti-cancer drug Gleevec-Imatinib Mesylate tablets, 100 mg and 400 mg.

Shares of ITC have slumped almost 2% after a committee recommended sin/demerit rate at about 40% for tobacco and tobacco products.



RCom has slipped by almost 1%. The company has signed a non-binding agreement with private equity firms TPG Asia and Tillman Global Holdings to sell its telecom towers and related infrastructure.

Tata Sons, the promoter of major operating companies of the Tata group, will acquire additional 0.22% stake in Titan Company at an estimated price of over Rs 66 crore, taking its total holding to 19.80%. Titan Company is up nearly 1%.

From the midcap segment, shares of GMR Infra have surged almost 5%. GMR group is looking for strategic investors in its energy holding company and power projects.

Lanco Infratech has surged almost 8% after the company announced commencement of power supply to Haryana Discoms from its domestic coal based 300 MW Unit # 2 of Lanco Amarkantak Power Limited (LAPL), Chhattisgarh.

With Reuters input