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Benchmark indices continue to trade flat in the late noon trades as gains in healthcare and IT shares offset losses in FMCG and metal stocks. IT majors TCS and Infosys along with drug maker Sun Pharma are contributing nearly 100 points to the rise on the 30-share Sensex.
Meanwhile, investors have become cautious ahead of the RBI monetary policy scheduled tomorrow.
At 2.30 PM, the 30-share Sensex is up 31 points at 26,658 and the 50-share Nifty is up 6 points at 7,975.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index is up 1.4% and Small-cap index was up 1.8%.
The market breadth is strong on the BSE with 1,896 shares advancing and 913 shares declining.
Global Markets:
Asian markets remained volatile following political unrest in Hong Kong, the worst since China took control 20 years ago. Japanese shares firmed up 0.5% led by exporters' shares following the weakness in the yen. Shanghai Composite was up 0.5% while shares in Hong Kong witnessed selling pressure with the Hang Seng down nearly 2%. Meanwhile, Singapore's Straits Times was trading flat with negative bias.
European markers are trading lower 0.1-0.2% each ahead of key economic data for release later today.
Rupee:
The Indian rupee was trading lower at Rs 61.44 to the US dollar compared to Friday's close of Rs 61.14 because of month-end dollar demand from importers. Further, the trend in the Indian currency will track the RBI monetary policy review tomorrow.
Sectors & Stocks:
On the sectoral front, BSE Healthcare and Consumer Durables are the top leading indices up 2% followed by IT and Teck indices up over 1%. However, metal and FMCG indices are losing sheen on the BSE down nearly 1% each. BSE Auto and Realty indices are trading flat.
Shares of pharmaceutical companies are on a roll on the back of positive announcements. Sun Pharma has rallied 4% to Rs 836, extending its Friday’s 4% gain, after the drug maker received a Form 483, following the USFDA audit on its Halol plant in Gujarat, an analyst note from Credit Suisse said. Following the tandem, Cipla has gained over 1% in the late noon trades. However, Dr Reddy’s Lab is trading with marginal gains.
The technology pack is trading higher on the back of robust U.S. gross domestic product data. U.S. gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 4.6% in the second quarter, in line with the consensus forecast, after contracting by 2.1% in the first three months of the year. U.S. second quarter GDP was initially reported to have increased by 4.2%.
TCS has gained 2.5% on the back of being awarded as the "Best Technology Provider" by "Reactions," a leading insurance publication covering the global insurance and reinsurance market on September, 26 2014. Infosys and Wipro have surged between 0.5-2%.
In the Oil and Gas space, GAIL is up 2% and RIL has climbed nearly 1%. However, ONGC is trading marginally in green. Reliance Industries and ONGC which lost in the previous sessions after the government deferred its decision on gas pricing till November 15 have rebounded in today’s trade.
SBI is trading over 1% higher after international rating firm Standard and Poor's upgrades its outlook to 'stable' from 'negative'.
Fresh buying is evident in the Capital Goods space. BHEL and engineering conglomerate L&T have gained 2.5% and 0.5% each.
Hindalco and Tata Motors are some of the notable names in green.
On the flip side, FMCG majors are down after recent market research report suggests that rural consumption declined 7% in May-July against a fall of 1% in the year-ago period. In value terms, consumption rose just 1%, compared with 2% last year. Further, downgrade by Morgan Stanley to 'underweight' from 'equalweight' weighed on HUL and the stock is down 1.3%. ITC has lost 1.3%.
The positive US GDP data for the second quarter has fueled concerns over Fed rate hike which will affect the rate sensitive sectors including Auto and Financials in the near future.
Financial stocks are trading lower as investors booked profits ahead of the RBI monetary policy review tomorrow. HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are down between 0.5-1%.
Mahindra and Mahindra which gained over 3% after the company launched its new Scorpio model in the previous session is down over 0.5% on profit taking. Following the tandem, Hero Motocorp, Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto are trading lower between 0.2-0.8%.
Metal shares continue to trade lower following the Supreme Court verdict with Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel down between 1-1.5%.
Coal India which gained recently after the Supreme Court cancelled all coal block allocations except government-run blocks that operate on a non-JV basis has lost over 1% in today’s trade.
Tata Power, NTPC and Bharti Airtel are some of the prominent names in red among others.
