Nifty holds 8,000 mark; L&T, Hero Moto top gainers

Benchmark indices have extended gains with Sensex and Nifty trading above 26,800 mark and 8,000 levels, respectively.

Better-than-expected GDP growth rate in June quarter and buying in capital goods shares have buouyed the sentiments among investors.

By 10:30, the Sensex was higher by 183 points at 26,822 mark and the Nifty gained 57 points at 8,011 levels.

On the sectoral front, BSE Capital Goods and Consumer Durables indices have surged by 2% followed by counters like Banks, Metal, Power, IT, Oil & Gas and Realty, all gaining by 1% each.

The main gainers on the Sensex are L&T, Hero Moto, GAIL, Hindalco, Tata Power, Bharti Airtel, Cipla and ICICI Bank.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have surged over 1%.

The market breadth in BSE remains firm with 1,527 shares advancing and 654 shares declining.


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Updated at 9:30

Markets have started the trading session on a positive note following better-than-expected GDP growth rate in June quarter which was announced on Friday.

 

By 9:30, the Sensex was higher by 156 points at 26,794 mark and the Nifty gained 56 points at 8,011 levels.

 

For the quarter ended June this year, India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a nine-quarter high of 5.7 per cent, compared with 4.6 per cent in the previous quarter, driven largely by industry, official data showed on Friday.

 

Besides cautious sentiment may prevail as the Supreme Court will decide the fate of coal blocks and announcement of current account deficit data this week.

 

In broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are trading higher by 0.5%. The market breadth is positive on the BSE with 680 shares advancing and 134 shares declining.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 710.63 crore on Thursday, 28 August 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Sectors and Stocks:

 

On the sectoral front, BSE Consumer durables index is leading the rally followed by Capital Goods, Metal, Auto and Teck indices trading higher between 0.5-1%. Bankex is up by 0.8%.

 

Metal stocks are witnessing an upsurge in the early trades shrugging off the drop in the Chinese PMI data. Hindalco, Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite and Coal India are up between 0.5-1.5%.

 

In the banking space, SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are trading higher in the range of 0.5-1.2%.

 

IT stocks are trading in the positive territory. TCS, Infosys and Wipro are up between 0.5-1%.

 

Index heavy weights L&T and ICICI Bank are contributing the most to the gains on the Sensex.

 

Auto stocks are in focus amid release of monthly sales figures from today and are witnessing fresh buying with Tata Motors, Baja Auto and Maruti Suzuki up between 1-2%.
 

GAIL, ONG and Bharti Airtel are some of the prominent names in green up by 1%.

Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) have gained after prices of petrol and non-subsidised LPG were reduced while diesel price was hiked.

  

On the flip side, drug maker Sun Pharma and BHEL are witnessing profit booking and are down nearly 1%.

 

Index heavy weights RIL, HDFC and ITC have lost nearly 0.1% in the early trades.

Among other shares, Wockhdardt has rallied 5% to Rs 724 after the pharmaceutical company has received Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) status from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for two of its drugs, WCK 771 and WCK 2349.

 

Global Markets:

 

Asian shares edged higher on Monday, with investors wary of a deepening crisis in Ukraine and a downbeat China manufacturing survey, while the euro touched a fresh one-year low ahead of this week's European Central Bank meeting.

Japan's Nikkei stock aadded about 0.3 percent, taking back some of the ground lost in August, when it shed 1.3 percent.

The final HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index also dropped, slipping to 50.2 in August, roughly in line with a preliminary reading of 50.3 and only a shade above the 50-point mark that demarcates an expansion in activity from contraction.

 

But Friday's Wall Street cheer managed to offset the geopolitical concerns and the China survey. U.S. shares climbed ahead of a three-day weekend for Monday's U.S. Labor Day holiday.