 "Markets remain rangebound; Metals under pressure")
Markets are trading in positive but are facing resistance to climb up the ladder ahead of the F&O expiry for the month of September, which is due on Thursday. The strength in global markets has also boosted the sentiment across the bourses.
At 11:50 AM, the Sensex is up 85 points at 26,278 and the Nifty has gained 24 points to trade at 8001.
The broader markets are, however, outperforming their larger peers with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices trading higher by 0.5% and 0.8% each. The market breadth is firm on the BSE with 1,438 advanced versus 757 declines.
Meanwhile, the enhanced activity of the southwest monsoon across several parts of the country for the next three-four days is giving a breather to regions reeling under severe water deficiency, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) report.
RUPEE
The Indian rupee is trading at 65.55 up by 15 paise following sustained bouts of dollar selling by exporters and banks amid strength in the local equities.
SECTORS & STOCKS
Sectorally, BSE IT and Consumer Durables indices have surged ahead between 1.2-1.9% each, followed by BSE Healthcare index, up by 0.8%. Weakness is seen in BSE Metal index, down by 0.6%
On the back of a depreciating rupee in the past sessions, export oriented sectors- IT and Pharma- have gained.
From the IT space, TCS and Wipro are up by 0.9% and 1.9% respectively. Shares of Infosys are trading higher by 2.5% after the company secured a three-year contract to develop and maintain all global web-based properties of not for profit enterprise TOMS Shoes for an undisclosed sum.
From the pharma pack, Lupin, Dr Reddy’s, and Sun Pharma are rallying between 0.2-0.8% each.
Bharti Airtel has moved all its pre-paid subscribers across the country to pay-per-second, ensuring customers pay only for the time they use the network. The stock is down nearly 2%
The banking and financial shares are still reeling under pressure. Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and HDFc are down by 0.2% each.
Aditya Birla Minerals Ltd (ABML), a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries will sell its closed copper mine in Queensland, Australia, to Lighthouse Minerals Holdings Pty for A$15 million (Rs 70.5 crore) in cash and another A$41.7 million (Rs 196 crore) in rehabilitation bond costs. Hindalco shed 2.5%
Other notable losers are Reliance Industries, Vedanta, Coal India, down between 0.8-1.2% each
SMART MOVERS
Shares of L&T Finance Holdings are trading higher by over 1% at Rs 67.70 on the BSE after Bain Capital, the global private equity (PE) giant, acquired a 10.2% stake in the company.
Shares of Motherson Sumi have cracked 6% to Rs 246 on the BSE after German carmaker Volkswagen, its client, admitted that it had falsified emissions tests of diesel-powered vehicles in the United States.
Shares of State Bank of Mysore have jumped 3% to Rs 424 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after the bank announced that it has revised the base rate downward from 10% to 9.9%.
