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Benchmark indices came off day's highs to end on a flat note as the losses in pharmaceutical, capital goods, select technology and bank shares wiped off the gains in select index heavyweights like HDFC, Infosys and ITC.
Provisionally, the 30-share Sensex and the 50-share Nifty ended flat at the mark of 29,008 and 8,766 respectively.
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(updated at 2:30 PM)
Benchmark indices have trimmed gains on losses in healthcare, select technology and bank shares as caution ahead of F&O expiry, presentation of Railways and Union Budget has curbed risk-appetite.
At 2:30 PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 32 points at 29,037 and the 50-share Nifty was up 8 points at 8,770.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index, trading flat and Smallcap index, down 0.1% have performed worse than the front-liners. Market breadth in BSE is negative with 1,527 declines against 1,221 advances.
After global rating agency S&P, its peer Moody's too emphasised today the need of financial and fiscal reforms before India's credit rating can be upgraded. The agency said times of both accelerating and decelerating growth, India's wide fiscal deficits, poor infrastructure and regulatory complexity have combined to create a mismatch between domestic demand and supply, contributing to inflation and current-account pressures.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the cash market to the tune of Rs 697 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data. They also remained net buyers in futures and options segment to the tune of Rs.815 crore.
Buzzing Stocks
5 of the 12 sectoral indices of BSE are in green. BSE Oil & Gas and Realty indices, up 0.5% each are the top gainers followed by BSE IT index, up 0.3%. BSE Healthcare index, down 0.5% is the top loser followed by BSE Consumer Durables index, down 0.4%.
Select financials like HDFC, up 2%, SBI, up 1.3% and Axis Bank, up 0.4% have gained in today’s session. However, stocks like HDFC Bank, down 0.9% and ICICI Bank trading flat are under pressure.
Infosys has gained 1.3%. According to media reports, one more senior executive of SAP is joining Infosys. Quoting unnamed sources, the report said that SAP’s chief technology officer for security, Gordon Muehl, is leaving the company to take an executive role at Infosys.
Tata Motors has gained around 1%. According to media reports, the company is developing its own quadricycle with a new petrol engine under ‘project bavo.’
A rebound in crude prices has lifted oil stocks. RIL has gained 0.4% and ONGC is up 1.4%. ONGC has fixed March 25, 2015 as the Record Date for the purpose of payment of 2nd Interim Dividend.
Coal India has gained 0.5%. The company board has decided to withdraw from International Coal Ventures Limited which is a a Joint Venture Company set up at the initiative of Ministry of Steel, Government of India to secure metallurgical coal and thermal coal assets in overseas territories with SAIL, CIL, RINL, NMDC and NTPC as the promoter companies. NTPC is trading flat.
Tata Steel has shed around 1.5%. Tata Steel Thailand PCL, the Thai unit of India's Tata Steel Group, said on Wednesday it expected to post a net loss for the fiscal year ending March 2015, hit by falling steel prices and weak demand.
TCS has declined around 1%. TCS has been recognised as a Leader in Life Sciences IT Outsourcing in Europe by leading advisory and research firm Everest Group, according to company's release to BSE.
Among other shares, Dalmia Bharat is trading higher by 4% after the company said it has increased stake in OCL India, one of the largest cement entities in Eastern India with plants in Orissa and West Bengal.
Global Markets
Japanese stocks snapped a five-day winning streak on Wednesday as investors grew cautious that the market was becoming overbought, but losses were limited by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's message of policy flexibility. Nikkei ended 0.1% lower.
Opening after a week long holiday, Chinese markets were weighed down by profit-booking in stocks which had seen sustained rally in recent sessions. Shanghai Composite index ended 0.5% lower while the Hang Seng index gained 0.1%.
European markets have opened on a cautious note pausing after both UK's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX hit record highs in the previous session, while investors combed through a flurry of corporate results. FTSE 100, CAC 40 and DAX indices are trading flat.
