Market at day's low; metals, IT weigh

Market is now at it's day's low levels after a gap up opening. Key benchmark indices continued to trade firm after the Reserve Bank of India late Monday further eased liquidity tightening measures by cutting the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate, a key overnight interest rate, by 50 basis points to 9%, giving investor sentiment a boost.  

The move which is expected to boost lending has caused rate-sensitives such as Capital Goods, realty and banks to lead the gains in sectors on Tuesday. The liquidity tightening measures were announced by the central bank to arrest Rupee fall.

At 1:14am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 59 points at 19,954 mark while Nifty was trading higher by 15 points at 5,931.

The rupee was trading stable in early trades due to thin dollar demand. But currency dealers believe that bids from private oil marketing companies will emerge during the day.

At 1:02pm, the rupee was trading at Rs 61.73, up 7 paise compared to Monday's close. Currency dealers also opine that state-run banks may start buying dollars on behalf of the central bank to boost the foreign exchange reserves kitty.

Due to cut in the MSF rate, short-term rates eased in early trades. The call money rate was quoting at 9.10% compared with weighted average rate of 9.48% yesterday. While the Collateralized Borrowing and Lending Obligation (CBLO) rate was quoting at 9.01% compared with weighted average rate of 9.50% yesterday.

The BSE capital goods index was the top gainer trading higher by 1.8% followed by Capital Realty, Bankex, Consumer Durables and Auto indices which were up between 0.5-1%.

Bank Nity was trading higher by 1.1% at 10,194 levels. Top gainers in the pack were Yes Bank which is up 5% alongwith IndusInd and ICICI which were up 2.5%.

Car sales in India rose marginally in September, an industry body said on Tuesday, as demand during the ongoing festive season was tempered by high interest rates and fuel costs.

Automakers sold 156,018 cars in India last month, up 0.7% from a year earlier, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. Tata Motors, MothersonSumi and Apollo tyres are the top gainers from the Auto packs

Other shares

Shares of Financial Technologies were up 3.5% at Rs 173 on the BSE after the company clarified to a query by the stock exchange.

Gammon Infra shares are up more than 13 pct, best performer in BSE mid-cap index

Realty major DLF and HDIL were up over 3% each while Prestige Estates and Unitech were up 2% each.

Other gainers which contributed the most to Sensex gains include, Tata Motors, ITC and Bharti Airtel among others.

Among other shares, IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company has soared 9% to Rs 34, extending its previous day’s rally on BSE, after the company announced the rights issue plan to the existing

shareholders. The stock has surged almost 20% in past two trading days from Rs 28.45 on October 4.

Shares of Heidelberg Cement were up nearly 3% at Rs 36.20 on the BSE after the company announced the sale of its cement grinding unit to JSW Steel for an undisclosed amount.

In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up between 0.3% - 0.4% each.

Market breadth continued to remain strong with 1,157 gainers and 787 losers on the BSE.