Markets turn choppy; BHEL gains, Tata Motors dips 2.5%

Markets have erased gains and are trading choppy with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone.

At 11:05AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 7 points at 27,567 and the 50-share Nifty was up 4 points at 8,365.

The top gainers on the Sensex are BHEL, HDFC Bank, Dr Reddy’s Labs, L&T and M&M. On the losing side, Tata Motors, Hero Moto, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and Cipla have slipped between 1-3%.
 

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Updated at 10:30

The benchmark indices have gained strength this morning in what is turning out into a fairly volatile session of trade, thanks to gains in the capital goods space.

At 10.30am, the Sensex was at 27,667, higher by 106 points or 0.4% and Nifty was at 8,393, up 31 points. In the broader markets, the midcap and smallcap indices has gained 0.3% each at 11,037 and 11,603 respectively. The market breadth is strong. Out of 2,025 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1,154 advancing stocks as against 788 declines.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) begins its two day meeting today; the meeting will be closely followed by the market participants for signals on US rate hike amid the strengthening of US economic data.

RUPEE

The rupee has opened marginally higher by 5 paise at 64.11 per dollar on Tuesday against the previous close of 64.16. The US dollar fell nearly 1% against major world currencies.

OIL

Oil prices fell close to four-month lows in early Asian trade on Tuesday after stock market sell-offs in China and other global markets on Monday added to concerns about a global oil glut.

Brent for September delivery dropped 53 cents to $52.94 as of 0240 GMT after falling $1.15, or 2% in the previous session. The benchmark fell as low as $52.90 post-settlement, its lowest since mid-March. U.S. crude for September delivery dropped 35 cents to $47.04 a barrel after ending the previous session down 75 cents. It fell below $47 post-settlement, the lowest since March 24.

STOCKS IN FOCUS

The capital goods sector is having a good session of trade, with BHEL and L&T ranking among the major gainers on the BSE with gains of 2% and 1% respectively. In the banking space, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have added 0.5%-1% each, while in the IT space, Infosys and TCS are the other significant gainers on the BSE.

On the other hand, Tata Motors, ONGC and Wipro have weakened by around 1% each on the BSE.

Emami has gained 4.7% at Rs 1231 after turning ex-dividend for a final dividend of Rs 3 a share and Piramal Enterprises has shed 1.4% at Rs 909 after turning ex-dividend for a dividend of Rs 20 per share for the year ended 31 March 2015.

Bank of India, HDFC, Punjab National Bank and Union Bank are trading mixed ahead of their quarterly results today.

RESULTS IMPACT

Tech Mahindra has inched higher by 0.2% at Rs 520 after reporting a net profit of Rs 676 crore compared to Rs 472 crore in the previous quarter. The company's dollar revenues grew by 0.5% to $989 million (QoQ) during the period.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals has rallied by 9% to Rs 1,520, also its new lifetime high on the BSE in early morning trades, after the company reported a strong 75% year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 449 crore for the first quarter ended June 2015 (Q1), mainly on account of a new product launch in the US.

KEC International has surged 5% to Rs 158 on the BSE after the company reported more than doubling in consolidated net profit at Rs 30.40 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 (Q1) against Rs 11.40 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous year.