Markets trim gains; Bharti Airtel up 3%, ONGC dips 2%

Markets have trimmed gains on account of profit booking at higher levels. Weak opening of the European markets has also dampened the sentiments.

At 13:35, the Sensex was trading higher by 159 points at the 27,666 mark and the Nifty gained 59 points at 8,378.

The main gainers on the Sensex are Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, L&T, Coal India and Wipro. However, ONGC, Vedanta and BHEL are down 1-1.4%.


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Updated at 1PM

Benchmark Indices are trading firm on the back of a strong rally seen in healthcare, financials, capital goods and IT shares.

Rate sensitive sectors are trading firm ahead of rate-cut hopes by the central bank due on Tuesday.

At 1 PM, the 30-share Sensex was up by 284 points or 1.1 % at 27,790 levels while the 50-share Nifty edged past the crucial psychological mark of 8,400 and was trading at 8,417 levels, up by 98 points or 1.2 %.

The broader markets are also trading strong in line with the benchmark peers with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices up by 1.39% and 0.885 respectively.

The market breadth is also firm with 1403 advances against 1103 declines on the BSE.

On the macro-economic front, the government would be announcing the gross domestic product (GDP) data for Q4 March 2015 during the day.

Meanwhile the rupee edged higher by 5 paise to 63.75 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

Q4 RESULTS:

From the earnings calendar, Cipla, M&M, NTPC, SAIL, Oil India, IOCL, Glenmark Pharma are expected to announce their quarterly results during the day.

SECTORS & STOCKS:

All major BSE sectors, except Consumer Durables, are trading in green. Healthcare, Auto, Financials, Oil and Gas, Information Technology and Capital Goods have all surged more than 1% on BSE while Consumer Durables is marginally lower, at 0.1% on the BSE.

On the hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI), the financial sector has rallied more than 1% on the BSE. According to the results of a Reuters poll, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to cut its benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to 7.25% when it meets early next week and make a similar move before December.

HDFC twins, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and SBI have all surged between 1-1.5 % each on the Sensex.

Bharti Airtel is currently leading the chart on the Sensex as the telecom company’s shares have gained nearly 3% on the BSE.  Vodafone Group PLC said on Thursday it sold its stake in telecom infrastructure firm Bharti Infotel to its holding company Bharti Enterprises for $200 million. The stake represents about a 4.2% interest in the Indian mobile carrier Bharti Airtel, which is also a subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises.

From the healthcare pack, Cipla and Sun Pharma are trading between 1.5-2% each in the anticipation of their quarterly results due later in the day.

Shares of NTPC have rallied nearly 2% on the Sensex after the company announced its quarterly results that are above estimate.

From the capital goods sector, L&T has gained 1.6% ahead of its result that is due tomorrow while BHEL has shed 0.3% on the Sensex.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Hero Motocorp have rallied between 0.5-1.5% each on the BSE.

From the IT space, Wipro and Infosys have gained between 1.2-1.4% while TCS has gained nearly 1% on the BSE.

On the losing side, ONGC has declined 1.4% on the Sensex, which is an impact of the company’s quarterly results that were announced yesterday.

SMART MOVERS:

Shares of oil marketing companies, mainly Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), have rallied by up to 6% each on the bourses after the companies reported better-than-expected results for the March 2015 quarter.

Page Industries has surged 8% to Rs 16,370, extending its previous day’s 5% gains on the NSE, after the company reported a healthy 34% year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit at Rs 47 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4), on the back of strong sales.