IT shares edge higher in a rangebound market; Infosys, TCS up 1.5%

Benchmark shares indices continued to remain range bound in noon trades on Monday with IT exporters gaining the most tracking weakness in the Indian rupee.

At 1pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 45 points at 26,699 and the Nifty50 was up 11 points at 8,168. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.2%-0.3% each. Market breadth turned weak with 1194 losers and 1152 gainers on the BSE.

Foreign investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 480 crore on Friday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

STOCKS

IT exporters were among the top gainers on the back of a weakening rupee. Infosy, TCS and Wipro were up 0.6%-1.7% each

Engineering major BHEL was down over 3.5%. Net profit for March 2016 quarter was down 60% at Rs 360 while net revenue at Rs 9,792 crore, was down 26 per cent over a year.

Tata Motors was up nearly 4% ahead of its results for the financial year ended March 31, 2016.

Coal India was up 4% at Rs 293 after the company raised prices by 6.29% across all its subsidiaries for both regulated and non-regulated sectors.

Hindalco Industries surged 12% to Rs 103 on the BSE after the company reported standalone net profit of Rs 356 crore for the quarter ended March 2016 (Q4FY16) due to lower input costs. The company had registered a profit of Rs 160 crore in the year ago quarter.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has subpoenaed India's largest drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, seeking information about the pricing and marketing of the generic drugs it sells in the United States, the company said on Saturday. The stock was down nearly 2%.

ITC was down 0.5% after the stock was quoted ex-dividend. The board of directors of ITC at its meeting held on May 20, 2016, recommended dividend of Rs 8.50 (including special dividend of Rs 2) per ordinary share of Re 1 each for the financial year ended March 31, 2016.

Tata Steel might still hold on to its UK steelworks and their proposed sale put off. The stock was down over 1%

State-owned ONGC is mulling buying a majority stake in GSPC's Krishna-Godavari basin gas block, which will help prevent the Gujarat government firm's Rs 19,500-crore loan from turning into an non-performing asset (NPA). The stock was up 0.7%.

Maruti Suzuki will recall more than 77,000 cars, most of which the Baleno hatchback, to upgrade an airbag software and fix other problems, taking the number of vehicles that auto makers in India recalled so far this month to about 1.5 lakh.  The stock has shed over 1%.

Among other shares, Dynamatic Technologies has surged 16% after the company reported over three-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 19.22 crore for the quarter ended March 2016 (Q4FY16) on the back of strong operational performance. The company had profit of Rs 5.04 crore in a year ago quarter.

Shares of Tech Mahindra were up 4% at Rs 557 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said itsShares of Tech Mahindra were up 4% at Rs 557 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said its board has approved the proposal to acquire Target TOPCO Ltd, a UK-based entity.