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Benchmark indices are trading higher with Sensex trading near the crucial mark of 29,000 aided, among others, by the gains in capital goods and select index heavyweight stocks like ITC, HDFC and RIL.
At 12:45PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 134 points at 29,013 and the 50-share Nifty was up 40 points at 8,820.
In the broader market, both the BSE Midcap index, up 0.7% and Smallcap index, up 1.3% have performed better than the front-liners. Market breadth in BSE is positive with 1,678 advances against 842 declines.
Consumer inflation numbers, due later in the day, may edge up in March for the fourth straight month from a record low in November, as heavy rains drove up food prices, giving the central bank pause for thought as it waits for the next chance to cut interest rates.
Consumer prices may likely rise upto 5.5% in March from a year earlier compared with February's 5.37%, according to a Reuters' poll of economists.
Buzzing Stocks
All but one out of the 12 sectoral indices of BSE are in green. BSE Consumer Durables index up 1.6% is the top gainer followed by BSE Capital Goods and FMCG indices up nearly 1.3% and 0.7% each.
Capital goods stocks are trading higher. On Saturday, April 10, 2015 L&T announced the signing of MoU with France-based AREVA for cooperation to maximise localization for the EPR Nuclear Power Plant coming up at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. The stock is up nearly 1.5%.
BHEL has gained over 2% after the company said it has commissioned the second unit of the 600MW thermal unit in Chhattisgarh.
FMCG majors like ITC and HUL have gained over 1% each. Among index heavyweights, housing finance behemoth HDFC has gained around 1.5% and RIL is up over 1%. HDFC has got RBI clearance to raise up to USD 500 million (about Rs 3,100 crore) as Exteral Commercial Borrowing (ECB) to fund its business growth.
ONGC's acquisition of 10 per cent stake in a giant Mozambique gas field had helped the seller make a neat profit of $ 1.5 billion or over 62 per cent of the purchase price. The stock is up 0.9%.
GAIL has fallen around 3% after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to “underperform” from “neutral” saying that India’s LNG demand has fallen with a drop in oil prices, which has hit GAIL’s gas trading business.
Among pharmaceuticals, Sun Pharma has gained over 1%. Sun Pharma board has approved allotment of equity shares to shareholders of erstwhile Ranbaxy Labs. Cipla and Dr Reddys Lab however, have lost 0.6% and 0.9% each.
Auto stocks like Tata Motors and M&M have declined 0.9% and 1.7% each while metal stocks like Hindalco and Sesa Sterlite have lost 1.2% and 0.4% each.
