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Benchmark indices are trading in a tight range with Sensex and Nifty oscillating between negative and positive zone.
The government will release the CPI data for August 2014 tomorrow and the industrial production data for the month of July tomorrow.
At 14:15 PM, the Sensex was down 14 points at 27,040 and the Nifty was up 2 points at 8,095.
The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained between 1-2%. The market breadth in BSE remains firm with 1,805 shares advancing and 1,017 shares declining.
Meanwhile, the provisional data released by the stock exchanges after trading hours yesterday, showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 9.91 crore on that day.
The rupee is trading at 60.91/92 versus Wednesday's close of 60.94/95, after rising to a session high of 60.83 earlier in the day.
ASIAN MARKETS
Japan's Nikkei share average rose to an eight-month high on Thursdays the weak yen lifted sentiment and a meeting between the central bank governor and prime minister boosted expectations of additional easing in the long-term.
The Nikkei climbed 0.8% to 15,909.20, the highest closing level since Jan 10. The broader Topix hit a six-year high, rising 0.3% to 1,311.24.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said he told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the central bank will not hesitate to ease policy further if its 2% inflation goal becomes difficult to achieve.
SECTORS & STOCKS
BSE Healthcare index has plunged by nearly 2% followed by counters like Metal and Oil & Gas, all slipping between 0.1-1%. BSE Bankex, Capital Goods and FMCG indices have gained by nearly 1% each.
The main losers on the Sensex are Sun Pharma, Coal India, ONGC, Wipro, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Labs and GAIL.
Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries has dipped 4% on reports that the company’s manufacturing facility in Halol (Gujarat) is undergoing a surprise inspection by the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA).
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a dilution of the government's stake in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Coal India Ltd (CIL) and NHPC Ltd. At current market valuations, the amount of its holdings the Centre wants to offload in these companies could fetch it as much as Rs 45,796 crore - more than the Budget target of raising Rs 39,925 crore through disinvestment in public-sector undertakings. Coal India and ONGC have slipped 2-3%.
On the gaining side, Hero Moto, SBI, HDFC, HUL and L&T have gained between 1-1.4%.
Among other shares, Bharat Electronics has surged 3.6% to Rs 2,123 on the BSE after Motilal Oswal initiated 'buy' rating on the stock and a target of Rs 2,600.
Shares of small-sized companies are on a roll with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) small-cap index hitting nearly four-year high today rising over 100% from its 52-week low.
The small-cap index crossed 11,000 marks at 11,122 points in intra-day trade today, rallying 103% from its 52-week low of 5,428 touched on September 25, 2013. The Sensex and the Mid-cap index have gained 36% and 77%, respectively, during the same period.
Among the stocks in this index, Gati, Ceat, Avanti Feeds, Ahluwalia Contracts, LG Balakrishnan and Brothers, Marksans Pharma, Global Offshore Services, Sona Koyo Steering Systems, Kitex Garments and CCL International have rallied more than 500% during this period.
