Markets set to snap three-day losing streak

At 14:40 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 236 points at 24,425 and the Nifty50 was up 66 points at 7,417

Markets continue to hold on to its gains mirroring a firm trend across the global equities after data depicting China’s slowest growth since 2009 raised hopes of further government stimulus. A broad-based rally is witnessed as participants buy battered bluchips at attractive valuations.

At 14:40 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 236 points at 24,425 and the Nifty50 was up 66 points at 7,417.

Top five gainers in the Sensex pack are Adani Ports, Axis Bank, L&T, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel up between 3%-6%. Meanwhile, RIL continues to trade higher and has climbed 2% ahead of the quarter earnings later today.

On the flip side, M&M, Wipro, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki and ITC have lost between 0.5%-1.5%. 

   

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(updated 13:10 pm)

Markets continue to gain strength in the post noon trades following the cues from the Asian markets that rose after the expected slowdown in the GDP data of China thus fanning hopes of a stimulus by Beijing.  The rally in the domestic equities is led by banking shares along with RIL and Infosys.

At 13:10 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 313 points at 24,501 and the Nifty50 was up 95 points at 7,446.

The broader markets flexed some muscles as well with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices up b7 1.6% each.

China’s economy grew 6.8% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, matching expectations and the slowest since the global financial crisis, putting pressure on Beijing to roll out more support measures as fears of sharper slowdown panic investors.

While there are no surprises in the October-December quarter GDP data of China, it however, reinforced the fear that the world’s second largest economy is in a state of slumber.

Today the crude prices have bounced back after falling sharply in recent session.

BUZZING STOCKS

After getting battered in yesterday’s trade, Reliance Industries has rebounded 2.6% ahead of its third quarter earnings later today. Brokerages expect higher gross refining margins to boost earnings.

Beaten down bank stocks have also firmed up on short covering with ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI up 0.5%-5% each.

Wipro is trading flat post its results. The Street bearishness is due to the fact that Wipro has missed sector growth rates for many quarters now. Additionally, its margins remain lower compared to peers Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services.

Tata Steel UK, subsidiary of Tata Steel, announced on Monday it would cut 1,050 jobs to save on costs and improve its competitiveness. The stock has gained nearly 1%

Tata Motors has appointed Guenter Butschek as chief executive and managing director of all its operations in the country and international markets. Butschek was formerly working as chief operating officer for Airbus. The stock has gained 2.7%.

Pharma major Lupin targets $1 bn revenue from inorganic growth to reach its target turnover of $5 billion by 2018 by FY18. The stock has gained 0.5%

SMART MOVERS

HCL Technologies was down 1%. The IT major today reported a net profit jump of 11.2% of Rs 1,920 crore for the quarter that ended in December 2015. Its rupee revenue stood at Rs 10,341 crore, up 2.4%.

Rallis India slipped down over 5% on the BSE after the company reported 20% year on year (Y-o-Y) decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 20 crore for the third quarter ended December 2015 (Q3FY16), due to lower revenues

Drug maker Wockhardt expects to comply with all the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) observations on its Shendra unit in two months. The stock has strengthened by 1%

Private lender Kotak Mahindra Bank's net profit rose 32 per cent over a year before on a consolidated basis for the December quarter, at Rs 945 crore as compared to Rs 716.6 crore earlier. The stock has gained 0.7%.

Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra) on Monday announced the takeover of the management and control of Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering Co (PDOC). It would hold 36.5 per cent of the equity capital of PDOC. The stock has climbed 3%