)
The benchmark indices are sluggish this morning in continuation of the sideways trend witnessed in the previous session. The Sensex is quoting at 24,736, lower by 69 points and the Nifty is just shy of the psychological level of 7,400 mark at 7,393, down eight points. Among the sectoral indices, the S&P BSE Bankex was down 0.98 per cent, the S&P BSE Oil & gas Index was 0.59 per cent lower and the S&P BSE Auto Index slipped 0.53 per cent. The broader markets continue to hog the limelight--the midcap and smallcap indices have gained around a per cent each at 8,959 and 9,606 respectively--as the expensive valuations of largecap companies drive buying interest towards their midcap counterparts.
The BSE benchmark fell 160 points to the day's low of 24,644 in early trades, its lowest level since June 3, 2014. It has however, bounced back from thereon, which is probably an indication that this momemtum-driven rally makes this essentially a buy-on-dip market. According to Ravi Nathani, Technical analyst, the trend is bullish on charts and the target for Nifty is 7600 on the upside with a strict stoploss at a close below 7200.
On the ratings front, JP Morgan has downgraded Coal India to "underweight" from "neutral", while cutting NDMC to "neutral" from "overweight".
On the global market front, the Asian markets are witnessing profit booking session. Japan's Nikkei and Hang Seng are down 0.21 per cent each, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.99 percent and China's Shanghai index 0.04 per cent.
Banking heavyweights such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are dragging the indices lower this morning. HDFC Bank has shed 1.8% at Rs 801 and ICICI Bank has lost 1.5% at Rs 1446 after going ex-diivdend. Pharma and power stocks are also having a weak session, In the pharma space. Dr Reddy's has lost 1.3% at Rs 2295 and Cipla has lost 1.1% at Rs 385. In the power space, Tata Power has lost 1% at Rs 104 and NTPC has lost 1% at Rs 163. Index pivotal RIL
has weakened by 1% at Rs 1066.
The midcap PSU banks are succumbing to some seeing profit-booking after the stellar gains of the recent past. IDBI, which had raced ahead by a whooping 15% in the previous session, has edged lower by 0.8% at Rs 111. Bank of India (down 0.51%), Bank of Baroda (down 0.2%) and National Bank (down 0.82%) are among the other losers in today's trades.
0n the other hand, metal counters are going strong for the third consecutive session. Sesa Sterlite has soared by 6.6% at Rs 314, Hindalco has zoomed by 3.9% at Rs 166 and Tata Steel has jumped by 0.9% at Rs 547. Wipro, SBI and BHEL have gained in the region of about a per cent each.
On the stock-specific front, Suzlon Energy has risen by 4.39% to Rs 29.70 on the BSE after the company said it has been awarded a 100.8 MW order by ReNew Wind Power, India's leading IPP in the wind energy sector.
Trent has extended its gains for the second consecutive day, surging by 5% to Rs 1104 on the BSE, after Tesco Plc, British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer, announced a joint venture with Tata Group's Trent.
The market breadth is strong. Out of 2,526 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1,698 advancing stocks as against 746 declines.
