 "Sensex ends marginally higher led by defensives")
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Markets began the first trading day of the third quarter on a firm note led by defensive shares even as profit taking amid weak September manufacturing PMI capped further upside.
The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended up 42 points at 26,196 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 3 points at 7,946.
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(updated at 15:20PM)
Benchmark indices are trading in a narrow range with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone.
Markets made a strong opening tracking firm global cues. However, they could not hold to their gains post the announcement of Indian manufacturing activity which slowed more than expected to a seven-month low in September due to softening demand and output, a business survey showed on Thursday.
By 15:20 pm, the Sensex was higher by 56 points at 26,211 and the Nifty has gained 2 points at 7,951.
The broader markers are performing in line with the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up almost 0.3% each. Market breadth is positive on the BSE with 1,261 advances and 985 declines.
In the currency front, the rupee appreciated by 4 paise to 65.62 against the dollar on sustained selling of the American currency by exporters and banks amid increased foreign fund inflows.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 116.08 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Further, IMF chief Christine Lagarde has said that India remains a bright spot in the world economy amid sluggish global growth this year with only a modest acceleration expected in 2016.
MACRO- ECONOMIC DATA
Indian manufacturing activity slowed more than expected to a seven-month low in September due to softening demand and output, a business survey showed on Thursday.
The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by Markit, fell to 51.2 in September from 52.3 in August and against predictions of 52.0. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
Foreign investment inflows during January-June 2015 stood at $19.4 billion, compared to $14.94 billion in the year-ago period.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian stocks rose on Thursday, drawing strength from overnight gains in global equities markets following their weakest quarter in four years, while twin surveys showing persistent weakness in China's manufacturing sector were taken in stride.
Spreadbetters saw the upward momentum in equities being retained in Europe, forecasting a higher open for Britain's FTSE, Germany's DAX and France's CAC.
The final Caixin/Markit China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for September was slightly down from August but was a touch higher than a preliminary reading, a survey released on Thursday showed.
China's official PMI released separately inched up to 49.8 in September from the previous month's reading of 49.7, though it still showed contraction for the second straight month.
The Australian dollar, used as a proxy of China-related trades, rose 0.5 percent to $0.7058 on apparent relief the PMIs weren't as bad as some had feared.
Investors increased bearish bets on most emerging Asian currencies in the last two weeks after Federal Reserve officials kept open the possibility of an interest rate hike in 2015 and as worries of a global economic slowdown lingered.
SECTORS & STOCKS
Rate-sensitive sectors like banks, auto and realty are witnessing selling pressure, all down between 0.2-1.5%. However, BSE Healthcare and Capital Goods indices are up 1-2%.
The top gainers from the Sensex pack are Lupin, Sun Pharma, TCS, Dr Reddy’s Labs and L&T.
Infosys has gained around 1% on reports that the company will design new solutions that can derive practical benefits and help generate data from connected devices in industrial enterprise. The stock has gained 1.1%.
Infosys has become the third most-valuable company as market capitalization soaring to over Rs 2.70 lakh crore as its shares price hit a record high on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
On the losing side, BHEL, GAIL, Maruti Suzuki, Vedanta and HDFC slipped between 1-3%.
The government on Wednesday announced an 18 per cent reduction in the price of domestic natural gas to $3.82 per unit from $4.66 a unit, in line with the decline in the global gas prices.
Maruti Suzuki India has dipped 2% at Rs 4,582, falling 3% from its intra-day high of Rs 4,721 on the NSE, after the carmaker reported 3.7% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in sales for the month of September.
Vedanta is looking at options to source alumina from the domestic market to cut its dependence on high cost alumina imports.
M&M is trading lower by almost 1% after reporting 5% decline in the total sales at 42,848 vehicles in September.
Mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC)’s offering simultaneous issue of non-convertible debenture (NCDs) and warrants will open for book building on Thursday. The housing finance company is raising money up to Rs 5,000 crore. Shares of HDFC are up almost 2%.
SMART MOVERS
Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys was locked in 20% upper circuit at Rs 156 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the company said that the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has issued 'Consent to Operate' for the company's Sukinda & Mahagiri Chromite Mines valid till March 31, 2016
Shares of Bharat Forge are up over 2.5% at Rs 931 after the company in a release after market hours on Wednesday announced that its arm has divested stake.
Ashok Leyland is up over 2% at Rs 94 after the company announced robust sales in September 2015 compared to the same month last year.
Shares of Reliance Communications (RCom) has rallied 10% in two days after the company stated that it has plans to join hands with Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio Infocomm to offer fourth-generation (4G) services via spectrum sharing and trading route in the 800-850 Mhz band.
HCL Technologies has dipped 13% to Rs 856 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in the early morning trade after the information technology services company has given a pre-quarter guidance indicating that revenues to be reported in US dollar to have an adverse impact of 80bps on account of sharp depreciation of multiple currencies against US dollar.
Shares of IDFC were trading at Rs 70.35 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the stock turned ex-demerger of IDFC Bank from IDFC today. The stock was closed at Rs 141 (pre-demerger) on Wednesday.
With Reuters input