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Benchmark indices have slipped in the negative territory owing to weakness in the Index heavyweights including HDFC twins, Infosys, ITC and L&T, contributing the most to the decline.
At 12.15 PM, the 30-share Sensex is down 36 points at 27,141 and the 50-share Nifty has lost 7 points at 8,207.
HDFC Bank, HUL, L&T, Bharti Airtel and ITC are the top 5 losers on the BSE trading lower up to 1.3%.
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(updated at 12.15 PM)Benchmark indices continue its upward march on renewed buying among banking, auto oil & gas and realty stocks amid firm global cues.
At 11.30 AM, the 30-share Sensex is up 85 points at 27,260 and the 50-share Nifty has gained 23 points at 8,237.
RUPEE
The rupee strengthened by 12 paise at 63.36 against the US dollar in early trade at Interbank Foreign Exchange market today on increased selling of the American currency by exporters.
KEY STOCKS
On the sectoral front, BSE Realty, Power, Oil and Gas, Auto and Bankex are the top sectoral gainers trading higher up to 2%. However, BSE Healthcare, FMCG and IT indices are the top losers.
ICICI Bank extended gains and is up 6% after domestic brokerages upgraded the stock with ‘buy’ rating on expectations of improvement in asset quality going forward.
Maruti Suzuki extended gains and is up 3% after reporting a strong 61% year on year net profit growth at Rs 1,284 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4FY15).
Telecom majors are trading mixed ahead of their March quarter earnings. Bharti Airtel is down 1.3% while Idea Cellular is up 1.5%.
Tata Motors will launch GenX Nano hatchback on 2 May, 2015, according to media reports. The stock has gained 2%.
Axis Bank has launched Axis Bank-Suvidhaa Prepaid Card in partnership with Suvidhaa Infoserve which leverages the e-KYC platform for instant onboarding, cash deposit and withdrawal for the customer. The stock is up 1.5%.
Private forecaster Skymet has stuck to its earlier forecast of a normal monsoon this year. Tracking the news, tractor and two-wheeler manufacturers have gained, who are hoping that a good monsoon will bring the consumers back to the showrooms. Hero Motocorp , Bajaj Auto and M&M are trading higher up to 1%.
An appreciating rupee has casted its shadow on the IT shares. TCS, Infosys, Wipro are down between 0.7-1.5%.
Infosys is the top loser and is down over 1.3%.It has been awarded a multi-year contract by House of Fraser (recently acquired by Sanpower Group China), to transform its multichannel business and IT infrastructure.
Mortgage lender HDFC and Vedanta are down 1.2% and 0.5% each ahead of its March quarter earnings tomorrow.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices are outperforming the large counterparts and are up 0.8% and 0.7% each.
Market breadth is firm with 1,304 gainers and 887 losers on the BSE.
