 "Markets turn flat after firm opening; banks weigh")
Benchmark indices continue to trade in a narrow range with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone.
At 11:37 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 28 points at 27,037 and the Nifty50 was up 2 points at 8,268. Broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.3%-0.6%.
Top gainers from the Sensex pack are Bharti Airtel, BHEL, ONGC, Hero Moto and ICICI Bank, all surging between 1%-2%. On the losing side, Asian Paints, Coal India, Infosys, Lupin and TCS are down 1%-2%.
Among other shares, Bharat Forge is up over 2% at Rs 764 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said that its joint venture with Alstom has received an order from NTPC.
Shares of two state-owned mining companies NMDC and MOIL were trading lower by 1% each after the board of both companies on Tuesday approved buyback of 25% of their respective paid-up equity capital. The government holds 80% stake in both companies.
Shares of Asian Granito were up over 11% at Rs 193 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said that it has received an order for its recently launched vitrified tiles Jumbo and Imperio.
Companies engaged in defence related sector such as Walchandnagar Industries, Astra Microwave Products, Reliance Defence and Engineering, Nelco and Bharat Electronics have rallied by up to 16% on the BSE in early morning trade in an otherwise subdued market.
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Updated at 10:30 am
Markets continued to trade flat with telecom shares in focus after the telecom panel lowered the usage charge to 3% of mobile operators' annual income on future spectrum.
At 10:30am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 56 points at 27,067 and the Nifty50 was up 9 points at 8,275.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were 0.5%-0.7% each. Market breadth was 1261 gainers and 650 losers on the BSE.
Telecom stocks were among the top Sensex gainers with Bharti Airtel up 2.5%, Reliance Communications up 2.7% and Idea Cellular was up 0.5%.
Financials pared early losses and were trading positive. ICICI Bank was up nearly 1% while SBI was up 0.4%. Mortgage lender HDFC was up 0.8%.
However, HDFC Bank was down 0.5%. The private sector lender has reduced its marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) - the benchmark to price loans - by five basis points for one-month bucket to 8.95 per cent and 9.25 per cent for the two-year bucket.
Meanwhile, Asian Paints and Infosys continue to witness profit taking after gains in the previous sessions.
Among others, shares of companies engaged in defence related sector such as Walchandnagar Industries, Astra Microwave Products, Reliance Defence and Engineering, Nelco and Bharat Electronics have rallied by up to 16% on the BSE in early morning trade in an otherwise subdued market.
Shares of Asian Granito were up over 11% at Rs 193 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said that it has received an order for its recently launched vitrified tiles Jumbo and Imperio.
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(Updated at 9:35am)
Markets opened firm but turned flat after profit booking in bank shares capped further upside.
At 9:35am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 14 points at 27,024 and the Nifty50 was up 1 point at 8,267.
"The push anticipated yesterday towards 8326, just a bout matured, leaving little further insight towards the potential for continuing uptrend. To this end, favoured view expects downsings, which is less likely to attract buying interest atleast until near 8200 or 8164. Direct fall past the same could trigger some long liquidation, but may not last long. Alternatively, direct rise above 8325 earlier in the day, could aim for 8370, followed by volatility," Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said in a technical note.
In the banking space, ICICI Bank and SBI which had surged over 4% in the previous session witnessed profit taking. Axis Bank extended losses and was trading with marginal losses.
Auto stocks came off their recent highs with two-wheeler majors Bajaj Auto and HeroMotoCorp being the top losers.
Other Sensex losers include, Infosys, TCS and Asian Paints among others.
L&T was up nearly 1% after the engineering major signed contract to build stadium in Qatar for 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Tata Motors was also up nearly 1% after its overseas arm Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Tuesday reported an 18 per cent rise in global sales at 44,946 units in May.
FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever extended gains on hopes that normal monsoon would boost rural volumes.
Telecom stocks firmed up after the inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission on Tuesday backed lowering of spectrum usage charge (SUC) to three per cent of their annual revenue. Bharti Airtel was up 1.5%, Idea Cellular was up 0.5% while Reliance Communications was up nearly 2%.
Global Markets
Asian stocks came off their early highs after sluggish export data for May from China dampened sentiment. China's exports during May declined 4.1%. The Nikkei and Straits Times were trading flat with positive bias while Hang Seng slipped 0.3% and Shanghai Composite was down 0.6%.
US stocks ended flat after losses in healthcare stocks capped further upside led energy shares on the back of firm crude oil prices. However, the S&P 500 ended at its highest level since July last year. The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.1% at 17,938, S&P 500 closed 2.7% higher at 2,112 and the Nasdaq ended down 0.1% at 4,962.
