Nifty faces resistance above 8,450; banks gain ground

Benchmark indices have recovered from day's low and are trading flat owing to fresh capital infusion in banks coupled with strength in select Index heavyweights including ITC and L&T.

Meanwhile, investors remain cautious on uncertainty over Greece, concerns over passage of land acquisition bill, disappointing corporate earnings and worries that retrospective taxation could trigger outflows from foreign investors.

At 11.50 AM, the 30-share Sensex is down 42 points at 27,844 and the 50-share Niftyhas lost 9 points at 8,439.

The broader markets are outperforming the large counterparts with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices up 0.4% each on renewed buying interest at attractive valuations.

RUPEE

The rupee fell to a three-and-a-half-month low in early trade on Tuesday as concerns over retrospective taxation loomed among foreign investors, while weak Asian peers and broad dollar strength added to the pressure.

GOLD

The continued weakness in gold prices is likely to push up jewellery sales on Akshaya Tritiya day Tuesday. Akshya Tritiya is considered an auspicious day for buying gold, silver and other metals. The gold price is currently hovering at Rs 26,000 level.

BUZZING STOCKS

On the sectoral front, BSE Healthcare index is the top loser down 3% followed by Oil & Gas index. However, BSE Bankex, Capital Goods, Realty and Power indices continue to trade higher up to 1%.

HCL Technologies is down over 3% amid weak third quarter earnings. The IT major today reported a 12% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,683 crore for the third quarter ended March 2015 (Q3FY15). Consolidated revenues too declined marginally by 0.2% at Rs 9,267 crore on QoQ basis.

Sun Pharmaceuticals has lost 9% after Japanese pharma major Daiichi Sankyo sold its 8.9% stake in Sun Pharmaceuticals through multiple block deals on the stock exchanges. At 10:30AM, over 10 million shares were traded on both the stock exchanges. Among its peers, Cipla and Dr Reddy’s Lab are down up to 3%.

Wiprohas recovered from its day’s low and is trading higher by 1% ahead of its March quarter earnings later today.

ITC has gained nearly 1%. Antique Stock Broking expects the company’s FMCG segment to post a profit of Rs 56 crore in the March quarter

In the banking space, ICICI Bank is up 1.5% .ICICI Bank in arrangement with Tech Mahindra Limited, announced the launch of a contactless payment service based on the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. Among its peers, Axis bank and HDFC Bank are trading higher up to 2.5%.

Coal India is up 0.9%. Foreign brokerage UBS has initiated coverage on Coal India with a 'buy' rating with a target of Rs 470. believes that the company remains relatively insulated from the fall in commodity prices which makes it a stock worth holding.