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Benchmark indices continue to remain choppy as investors have turned cautious ahead of today’s May Futures & Options (F&O) expiry.
At 10:27am, the Sensex was at 27,584, higher by 19 points or 0.2% and the Nifty was at 8,336, inching up by 2 points.
Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.1-0.2%. The market breadth is positive, with 1,052 advances against 793 declines on the BSE.
"In options segment, FIIs were net sellers of Rs 146 crore with fall in open interest. PCR-OI decreased further with rise in implied volatility suggesting buying in call options. We saw good amount of buildup in 8350 call options which may be long positions, followed by unwinding in 8500 & 8600 strikes. Whereas in put options 8250-8300 strikes added decent amount of open interest, while unwinding was visible 8400-8500 put options. Maximum buildup in current series in seen in 8500 call and 8300 put options," said a morning note from Angel Broking.
According to analysts an SMC Global, the Nifty is likely to move in a range of 8,250 on declines and 8,400 on advances in today's session.
On the macro-economic front, gross domestic product (GDP) data, which is due on May 29 and Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) bi-monthly policy preview, which is due on June 2, also leading to caution among the traders.
RUPEE
Breaking its 3-day falling spree, the rupee recovered 8 paise to 63.93 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian shares shed gains on Thursday as the Chinese, Hong Kong and Australian markets slipped, while the dollar scaled a 13-year peak against the yen as it rallied on expectations the US Federal Reserve will raise rates this year.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped about 0.6%.
The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell 1.6%, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.4%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 1.4%.
Japan's Nikkei bucked the downtrend, as the weaker yen helped keep the index on track for its 10th consecutive rise, which would give it the longest winning streak since February 1988. It rose 0.7% after refreshing an intraday 15-year high.
SECTORS & BUZZING STOCKS
BSE Consumer Durables, Metal, Capital Goods, Auto, IT and Oil & Gas indices are trading marginally positive. Apart from Power, Healthcare and FMCG, all the major BSE sectoral indices are trading in positive zone.
Tata Motors is the top Sensex gainer, up over 2%. The stocks witnessed steep fall yesterday after reporting lower-than-expected consolidated net profit at Rs 1,717 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4) on account of lower-than-expected operating performance at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and mark-to-market (MTM) loss provisioning at JLR (on commodity hedges and revaluation of foreign currency debt).
Tata Motors has closed the revenue gap with Reliance Industries (RIL). While RIL remains the country’s largest private sector company by revenue (including other income), Tata Motors topped the chart by core revenue (net sales) in the fourth quarter ended March.
Vedanta is also up by 1.4% today after witnessing selling pressure on Wednesday. Vedanta, earlier known as Sesa Sterlite, will buy up to a 5.33% stake in subsidiary Cairn India at Rs 220.40 per share, the latter said in a filing to the exchange on Wednesday. The purchase will take place on June 3.
Projecting a "tremendous" potential for Infosys to grow and lead, its CEO and Managing Director Vishal Sikka has said that the management's mission is to prepare the company for realising the aspirational goal of achieving USD 20 billion revenue by 2020. Infosys is up over 1%.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India will audit the recently concluded two rounds of coal block e-auction. The audit is likely to be completed in six months. Coal India is up over 1%.
Other notable gainers include Hero Moto, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Wipro and ICICI Bank.
Banking shares are witnessing some buying demand on hopes of a rate cut by the RBI. According to the results of a Reuters poll, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.25% when it meets early next week and make a similar move before December.
On the losing side, Hindalco is trading lower by over 1% ahead of quarterly results today.
GAIL is down nearly 1%. The company reported a lower-than-expected net profit at Rs 511 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4) due to poor performance from the petrochemicals business.
Shares of Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) has dipped 4% Rs 124, their lowest level since January 2009 on the BSE, after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 519 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4) against a net profit of Rs 403 crore in the year-ago quarter.
State Bank of India (SBI) turns ex-dividend today, for a dividend of Rs 3.50 per share for the year ended 31 March 2015. The stock is down 1%.
Tata Power, M&M, Cipla and Sun Pharma are other notable losers.
Among other shares, Seamec is trading higher by 7% to Rs 118 on the BSE after its board approved the buyback of equity shares of the company at a price of Rs 125 per share through the tender offer.
Godrej Industries has rallied 10% to Rs 400 on the NSE in early morning trades after the company reported a 22% year-on-year (YoY) jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 139 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4).
