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Benchmark indices are trading higher in the morning trades on sustained buying in Capital Goods, Oil & Gas and Auto stocks. However, markets are likely to remain volatile in the latter half of the trading session with expiry of August derivative contracts today.
Also, the government is expected to release its GDP data for the first quarter tomorrow.
At 10.20 AM, the 30-share Sensex is up 74 points at 26, 634 and the 50-share Nifty has gained 21 points to trade at 7,957.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap is up 0.1% and Small-cap index is trading 0.4% higher.
Market breadth is healthy with 1,156 gainers and 923 losers on the BSE.
Global Markets:
US stocks ended mixed on Wednesday with trading activity seen in retailer stocks post their earnings annoucement. Tiffany & Co ended higher after the retailer reported better-than-expected revenue. Meanwhile, S&P 500 held on to the 2,000 mark to end at a new record closing high of 2,000.12. The global benchmark Dow Jones gained 0.1% at 17,122.01 while the tech-laden Nasdaq ended tad lower by 0.02% at 4,569.62.
European shares ended mixed on Wednesday . The CAC-40 ended flat with positive bias up 0.04%, DAX lost 0.2% and FTSE-100 ended up 0.1%.
Asian shares are trading firm tracking overnight cues from Wall Street. However, Japanese shares are trading lower. The benchmark Nikkei is trading 0.5% lower. China's Shanghai Composite is down 0.3% while Hang Seng and Straits Times have gained 0.03% and 0.4% each.
Back home, the rupee is trading at 60.37/38 versus its previous close of 60.45/46. The Indian unit's gains are likely to be limited by month-end dollar demand from importers.
Meanwhile, overseas investors bought shares worth 2.90 billion rupees on Wednesday - provisional exchange data shows.
Sectors & Stocks:
On the sectoral front, BSE Capital goods index is leading the rally followed by Auto and Oil & Gas indices trading up between 0.4-0.8%. Bankex is up 0.4%. However, BSE Healthcare, Realty and Metal indices are losing sheen on the BSE down between 0.1-1%.
The Auto pack is continuing its yesterday's rally with Tata Motors, Baja Auto and Maruti Suzuki trading up between 0.2-1.5% after Tata Motors decided to challenge the penalty imposed on it by CCI.
In the financial segment, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC twins have gained between 0.2-1% on renewed buying.
Engineering conglomerate L&T has climbed nearly 1% during the morning trades on fresh buying. BHEL has added 1.3% to the rise on the Sensex.
In the Oil & Gas space, GAIL , RIL and ONGC have surged between 0.3-1.5% after oiil prices moved lower in Asia today as dealers looked ahead to fresh US economic data for clues about demand in the world's top crude consumer following a neutral weekly stockpiles report.
Select metal stocks are witnessing fresh buying. Sesa Sterlite and Coal India have gained 0.2% each.
Dr Reddy’s Lab, Wipro and HUL are some of the notable names in green among others.
On the flip side, Power stocks are trading dim in the morning trades. NTPC and Tata Power have lost 1% and 0.7% each.
SBI, Hindalco, Infosys and Cipla are some of the prominent names in red among others down 0.6% each.
DLF continues to be under pressure after the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed DLF, the country’s largest real estate player, to deposit Rs 630 crore in the registry within three months and is down 3% to Rs 178 on the BSE.
Among other shares, railway-related stocks are trading higher by up to 12% after the government notified the liberalised foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for rail infrastructure, allowing 100% FDI through automatic route in the sector.
Texmaco Rail & Engineering (up 12% at Rs 85), BEML (up 5% at Rs 568), Titagarh Wagons (up 5% at Rs 224), Kalindee Rail Nirman (5% at Rs 87.85), Kernex Microsystems (up 5% at Rs 51.45) and Stone India (up 4.5% at Rs 33.50) are up between 5-12% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
