BSE Small-cap outperforms; Opto Circuits top gainer

BSE small-cap is trading 1.45% higher while BSE mid-cap is trading almost 1% higher.

Benchmark indices have held on to their gains while broader markets have outperformed significantly in the day's trading session. The market is expected to witness low volatility and a moderate carryover as traders rollover positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the December 2013 series to January 2014 series.

At 01:00 pm, the 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex was trading 43.70 higher at 21,076.41 and the 50-unit Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained by 16.50 points at 6,284.90.

"Likely to see range trading between 6175- 6325, this range can be further segmented into 25-30 pt zones for trading purposes. If you are not comfortable trading such small volatile moves, wait for a breakout or breakdown," says technical analyst Devangshu Datta.

Broader markets are on the move today with BSE small-cap trading 1.45% higher from its previous close while BSE mid-cap is trading almost a per centage point higher.

Opto Circuits (India) surges nearly 20%, Indoco Remedies up 15.3%, Accelya Kale Solutions up around 12% are the top gainers in the BSE small-cap index.

On the global front, US stock markets remained closed on Wednesday for Christmas.

Tokyo's Nikkei share average climbed 0.9% to a more than six-year high on Thursday, with buying mostly by retail investors as tax-free investment accounts aimed at driving Japanese savings into stocks kicked off.

The Nikkei was up 145.99 points at 16,155.98 in mid-morning trade, after closing above 16,000 for the first time since December 2007 on Wednesday.

The government-sponsored investment plan, known as Nippon Individual Savings Account, will provide a five-year tax holiday on dividends and capital gains provided the money is invested in stocks, mutual funds or exchange traded funds.

Back home, the rupee is trading weaker at 61.96 versus its close of 61.79/80 on Tuesday. Further losses are likely to be limited as exporters will come in to sell dollars close to 62 levels.

On the sectoral front, Capital goods pivotals have edged higher today; L&T is up 0.5% and BHEL is up almost 1% on the BSE indices tracking sectors. BSE Consumer Durables, power and capital goods are the top gainers followed by Metals, FMCG, Healthcare, auto, realty and banks are up between 0.2-0.6%. All sectoral indices are currently trading in green.      

The main gainers on the Sensex at this hour are ONGC, Tata Power, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, BHEL, NTPC, Sesa Sterlite and GAIL, all gaining between 1-3%.

On the losing side, HDFC, Hero Moto, RIL, ICICI Bank and Hindalco have declined between 0.1-1%.

Among other shares, Trident rose 2.76% to Rs 16.75 after the company said that the court convened meeting of its shareholders is scheduled to be held on 25 January 2014 in the matter of proposed amalgamation of Trident Corporation with the company.

IL&FS Transportation Networks rose 1.89% to Rs 135.10 after the firm approved the allotment of 12.64 crore rated listed fully paid-up cumulative non-convertible compulsorily redeemable preference shares on private placement basis.

Bosch rose 4.59% to Rs 10,311 after hitting record high of Rs 10,350 in intraday trade.

The broader markets continue to outperform the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up over 1% each.

The market breadth in BSE remains healthy with 1,315 shares advancing and 477 shares declining.