Rangebound trades prevail; Nifty hovers near 7,750

Markets are trading in a narrow range owing to weakness in Index heavy weights after investors sought to profit booking at higher levels. Prospects of early interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in June and slip in crude oil prices further hurt sentiments.

However, stellar rally in ITC shares along with strength in the Asian equities has capped the downside.

Going ahead, volatility is to be seen on the bourses as traders roll over positions in the futures & options segment from the near-month May series to June series due on Thursday. 

At 13:00 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex is down 18 points to quote at 25,284 and the Nifty50 has climbed 2 points to trade at 7,751.

Oil prices dipped in Asia today after Iran said it has no plans to join any output freeze by other major crude producers.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Iran is a member, is due to meet in Vienna on June 2 after talks in Doha involving OPEC members and other major producers such as Russia in April failed to reach a deal to cap production.

RESULT CALENDAR FOR THE WEEK

Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Tata Power, Cipla, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, GAIL (India), Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Heavy Electricals, State Bank of India and Coal India, among others, will announce their fourth quarter results this week.

SMART MOVERS

Somany Ceramics surged 10% after reporting a strong 76% year on year (YoY) growth in net profit at Rs 26 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 (Q4FY16). Net sales grew by 12.7% at Rs 514 crore on YoY basis.

Patel Engineering soared 10% after the company announced that the joint venture company secured orders worth of Rs 2,377 crore from IRCON International.

Manappuram Finance advanced 11% on back of heavy volume. The company on May 20 said that it will raise Rs 150 crore by issuing secured redeemable non-convertible debentures on private placement to institutional. The proposed allotment for the above issue will be on May 23, 2016, it added.

Britannia Industries dipped 6% after the company reported a lower-than-expected 13.8% year on year (YoY) growth in net profit of Rs 190 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 (Q4FY16), on the back of a single digit growth in revenues.

ITC gained 4% extending its Friday’s 1.5% gain on the BSE after reporting a better-than-expected performance for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 (Q4FY16).

ITC had declared a bonus issue of one share for every two shares held while announcing its March quarter results last week. That apart, it has declared a final dividend of Rs 8.5 per share (including a special dividend of Rs 2 per share) for the current fiscal.

Ujaas Energy rose 14% after its net profit rose 77.6% in March quarter to Rs.13.85 crore as compared to Rs.7.80 crore a year ago.

Cox & Kings slipped 13% after the company posted wider than expected loss. It reported Rs.306 crore loss as against estimated loss of Rs.8.03 crore; net sales was at Rs.469 crore against Rs.527 crore.