Markets turn choppy; Nifty facing resistance above 7,500

Gains were led by index heavyweights ITC and Reliance Industries along with IT majors Infosys and TCS

Markets turned choppy in late noon trades shedding most of the intra-day gains.

At 2:05pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 21 points at 24,644 and Nifty50 was trading flat at 7,486.
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(updated at 1:35pm)
Benchmark shares indices reversed early losses and were trading higher, amid firm European cues, led by index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC along with IT majors Infosys and TCS.

At 1:35pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 111 points at 24,734 and the Nifty50 was up 29 points at 7,515.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading flat with mixed bias.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 1,063 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Sectors & Stocks

FMCG index was the top gainer up 0.7% followed by Oil & Gas and IT indices. Metal index was down 0.6%.

Reliance Industries was up 1% after the company announced a dividend of Rs 10.50 per equity share.

HDFC Bank is up 0.7%. The private banking major has chosen five start-ups it will work with to strengthen their web, mobile and payment offerings. HDFC was up 0.6%.

FMCG major ITC was up 1.2% amid renewed buying interest.

IT majors Infosys and TCS were up 0.6%-1.4%.

Among others, shares of select public sector undertaking (PSU) banks witnessed selling pressure after credit rating agency Crisil downgraded its ratings on the debt instruments of eight public sector banks (PSBs) on expectation that the asset quality problems being faced by PSBs will remain acute and continue through most of the next fiscal. Oriental Bank of Commerce, IDBI Bank, Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Andhra Bank were down more than 1% each.

Global Markets

European shares were trading higher after the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday slashed interest rates to lift the euro zone economy, astonishing financial markets by reducing its main refinancing rate to zero from 0.05%. The CAC, DAX and FTSE were up 1.8%-2.5% each.

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(Updated at 11:40am)
Markets have come off day’s high and are trading flat as metals and bankex shares are dragging the markets lower. However, the buying in realty stocks post the passage of Real Estate Bill in the Rajya Sabha has arrested the downfall.

At 11:40 am, the S&P BSE Sensex is up 13 points to quote at 24,636 and the Nifty50 is trading flat at 7,487.

Meanwhile, participants are keenly waiting for the Index of Industrial Production data for January due to be unveiled later today.

The European Central Bank (ECB) slashed interest rates on Thursday to lift the euro zone economy, astonishing financial markets by reducing its main refinancing rate to zero from 0.05%.

Realty stocks continue to shine post the passage of the much awaited Real Estate bill in Rajya Sabha on Thursday aiming to protect homebuyers from erring developers besides bringing transparency in the sector.

DLF, HDIL,Godrej Properties, Sobha Realty, Indiabulls Real Estate Kolte Patil Developers, Zandu Realty have all rallied between  1%-8%

The rupee depreciated 11 paise to 67.18 against the US currency in early trade today due to higher demand for the dollar from importers.

KEY STOCKS

BHEL has commissioned a 500 Mw unit at Anpara-D thermal power plant in Uttar Pradesh. The stock is trading flat.

HDFC Bank has chosen five start-ups it will work with to strengthen their web, mobile and payment offerings. The stock is up 0.5%.

Reliance Industries will pay a total of Rs.3,140 crore in interim dividend to shareholders, including the promoters. The stock is trading 1% higher.

Among other prominent gainers are TCS, Adani Ports, ITC, HUL, Lupin, up 1%-2% each.

The top losers on the Sensex are NTPC, BHEL, ONCG, Tata Steel, SunPharma, down between 1%-1.5%