Markets gain momentum; Sensex up over 50 points

Markets have gained momentum in the late afternoon trades after a lackluster session since morning. Fresh buying in power, capital goods, select financials and metal stocks is evident.

 At 2.25 PM, the Sensex is up 72 points at 26,219 and Nifty is up 18 points at 7,813 levels

Following the momentum, BSE Midacp and BSE Smallcap indices are up 0.4%.

Among sectoral indices, BSE Metal index is leading the rally followed by Realty, FMCG and IT indices.  In contrast, Consumer Durables, Oil and Gas and Health Care indices are losing sheen on the BSE.

Tata Steel, Hindalco, HDFC Bank, ITC and HUL are the top 5 gainers on the BSE and GAIL, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Hero Motocorp, HDFC and ICICI Bank re the top 5 losers on the BSE

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(updated at 2.30 PM)
Benchmark share indices were trading flat in noon trades on Thursday as investors booked profits at higher levels after gains in the previous seven trading sessions. However, metal shares continued to trade firm on upbeat China PMI data.

At 1:30PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 6 points at 26,139 and the 50-share Nifty was down 5 points at 7,790.

The Indian rupee was trading marginally higher at Rs 60.05 compared to its previous close of Rs 60.09 tracking foreign fund inflows in domestic equities. However, further gains are unlikely because of dollar demand for month-end payments from oil importers.

Asian markets firmed after a private survey which showed encouraging manufacturing data from China signalled uptick in the world's second largest economy. The HSBC flash PMI for China came in at 52.0 for July, well above forecasts of a small rise to 51 in July and the highest reading in 18 months. Japanese shares witnessed profit taking after recent gains and the benchmark Nikkei ended down 0.3% at 15,284.42. Chinese shares firmed up and the benchmark Shanghai Composite surged 1.3% while Hang Seng was up 0.6% and Straits Times gained 0.2%.

European shares were trading marginally weak as investors remained cautious ahead of corporate earnings while weak PMI data for July from Germany also weighed on sentiment. CAC-40, DAX and FTSE were trading 0.2-0.4% lower.

BSE Oil and Gas, Power and Auto indices were among the top sectoral losers. The BSE Metal index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices up 1.5% followed by Realty and FMCG indices.

Financial shares which had gained in the previous sessions witnessed profit taking with ICICI Bank down 0.7% and mortgage lender HDFC trading 0.8% lower.

TCS which had gained sharply yesterday also witnessed profit taking and was down 0.5%.

Other Sensex losers include, Axis Bank, Reliance Ind, ONGC and Infosys among others.

Metal shares firmed up after a private survery showed that China's PMI data for July touched 18-month high. The HSBC/Markit Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index firmed up to 52.0 in July from June's final reading of 50.7, beating a forecast of 51.0 in a Reuters poll. It was the highest reading since January 2013, and above the 50-point level that separates growth in activity from contraction for the second consecutive month, the Reuters report suggests. Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, Sesa Sterlite, Jindal Steel and Power, JSW Steel and Steel Authority of India are up 1-2.3% each.

Wipro was trading marginally higher ahead of its first quarter earnings to be released later today.

Among other shares, Tata Metaliks and Tata Sponge Iron – manufacturer of pig iron and sponge iron continued their upward march and rallied by over 50% in less than two weeks on the bourses.
Today, Tata Sponge Iron has surged 12% to Rs 943, also its record high, while Tata Metaliks rallied 10% to Rs 132 on BSE.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was trading flat with negative bias while the Small-cap index was up 0.3% after a minor correction yesterday.

Market breadth was neutral with 1,371 gainers and 1,370 losers on the BSE.