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Markets have come off day highs as weakness in some of the frontliners like HDFC Bank, Cipla, L&T capped gains in IT heavyweights and ITC. At 1240 hrs, the Sensex was up 85 points at 26,577 and the Nifty was up 25 points to trade at 7,958.
The gains visible in the benchmark indices were on account of positive global cues on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will stick to its pledge of keeping rates low.
However, yesterday’s sell-off continued in the broader markets. The mid and smallcap indices were down 0.5% each, as compared to the 0.3% rise seen on the BSE benchmark index.
Sectors & Stocks
On the sectoral front, Consumer Durables and metal indices were down a percent each. Capital goods and Oil & Gas were the other indices in red in noon trades.
Meanwhile, IT index gained over 1% on hopes the Fed will continue to keep interest rates low. TCS, Infosys and Wipro up 1.5-2% were the top gainers in this space.
The other major gainers were Hro MotoCorp, M&M, ITC, Dr Reddys, Tata Power and Bajaj Auto up 1-3%.
Among the ones in red were Sesa Sterlite, GAIL, Cipla, Coal India, Hindalco and Sun Pharma down 1-2%.
Among other stocks, Hatsun Agro Products rose 3% to Rs 300 after the company said its board will meet on September 23, to consider issue of shares on a preferential basis.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) gained over 2% at Rs 290 after Kotak Institutional Equities upgraded the stock to "add" from "reduce" earlier.
Ramky Infrastructure zoomed over 11% to Rs 60 after a media report suggested that the Ajay Piramal group has emerged as the front runner to purchase its three highway projects.
The market breadth was weak as broader markets struggled in red. 1,682 stocks declined while 1,092 stocks advanced.
Global Markets
Asian shares made guarded gains on Wednesday after Wall Street rebounded on speculation the Federal Reserve would maintain a pledge on low rates when a two-day policy meeting ends later in the session.
Shares in Hong Kong bounced 1%, while the CSI300 index of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings eked out a 0.2% rise.
South Korea gained 0.7% but Tokyo's Nikkei ended marginally in the red. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rallied 0.6% after a run of losses.
