 "Sensex holds 26,000; Financials rally")
Benchmark indices are trading in a narrow range in the late morning trades on the back of mixed earnings results. However, fresh buying is evident in the FMCG and banking shares.
Disappointing earnings reported by IT majors TCS and HCL Technologies has offset encouraging earnings reported by Hero MotoCorp on the benchmark indices.
At 12 PM Sensex is up 45 points at 26,044 while Nifty has gained 16 points to trade at 7,764.
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In the broader market BSE Mid cap index is trading flat with positive bias while BSE Small Cap index is down 0.6%.
Market breadth is negative on the BSE with 1,385 declines and 980 advances.
Rupee:
The rupee is trading at 61.70 against US Dollar. Its previous close was 61.83 and it has gained on the back of stronger Asian currencies.
Asian Markets:
The gloom hanging upon the Asian markets was partially lifted as he number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell to a 14-year low last week and industrial output rose sharply in September after a fall in the previous month. After rising 0.3% from a four and a half month low Nikkei index pared gains and is trading with a loss of 0.6%. Hang Seng is up 0.1% while Straits Times is flat though Shanghai Composite is down 1%.
Sectors & Stocks:
On the sectoral front, BSE Bankex is the top gainer up 1.4% followed by Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Power indices trading higher between 0.5-1%. However, Realty, IT and Metal indices are losing sheen and are down between 0.5-3%.
The technology pack is facing pressure in today’s trade with TCS being the biggest loser down 8% on the back of weak quarterly results. The IT major reported nearly 6% drop in net profit at Rs 5,244 crore for the second quarter ended September 2014 compared with Rs 5,568 crore in the first quarter ended June 2014. Following the tandem, Wipro has lost nearly 1%.
Index heavyweight Tata Motors is down 3% after reporting an 8.2% decline in global sales, including Jaguar Land Rover, at 80,104 units in September. The company had sold 87,316 units in the same month last year. Maruti Suzuki has dipped 1%.
Meanwhile, Hero Motocorp is up 0.6% after posting a 59% growth in net profit during the quarter at Rs 763 crore against Rs 481 crore posted in the same quarter last year. M&M is trading higher by 2.6%.
The metal pack is witnessing heavy selling. Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, Coal India and Tata Steel are down between 0.2-3% on concerns that global growth, especially in Asia and Europe, is faltering. Weaker growth could reduce demand for industrial metals.
Weak data from Germany, and predictions from the IMF that global growth would be weaker than expected, have undermined investors' confidence.
In the Oil & Gas space, RIL, ONGC and GAIL have lost between 0.5-1%. Oil prices extended a minor rally on bargain-buying today, a day after the US benchmark fell below $80 for the first time in more than two years.
On the flip side, banking shares are witnessing an upsurge in today’s trade. Shares of India’s third-largest private sector lender, Axis Bank, are trading higher by 1% at Rs 389 on the BSE after it reduced its base rate by 10 basis points (bps) to 10.15 per cent on the back of a decline in cost of funds. Following the tandem, ICICI Bank, HDFC twins and SBI have gained between 0.4-1.5%.
State-run power equipment maker BHEL has operationalised a 600 MW thermal unit in Madhya Pradesh. "The unit has been commissioned at Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company Limited's 2x600 MW Shree Singaji thermal power project. The stock is up 2.5%. L&T has added 1.5% to the Sensex.
Cigarette maker and Index Heavyweight ITC has gained 1.5% despite the recommendations by an expert committee to increase the space to be dedicated to statutory warnings on cigarette packs and impose ban on sale of loose cigarette sticks. HUL is up 0.5%.
Renewed buying is evident in the healthcare stocks. Dr Reddy’s Lab, Cipla and Sun Pharma have gained between 0.3-1%.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel is up 2.6% and is the top gaining stock of this hour.