Markets in consolidation mode; Auto shares slip

Markets continued to consolidate on lack of buying interest from institutional investors even as auto shares continue to face selling pressure ahead of May sales numbers later this week.

At 11:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 4 points at 24,554 and the 50-share Nifty was up 12 points at 7,330.

The Indian rupee was trading lower at Rs 59.03 compared to the previous close of Rs 59 on the back of demand for dollar from oil importers. The US dollar firmed up against a basket of major currencies early on Wednesday, on the back of encouraging US economic data and another record high on Wall Street.

Asian Markets opened on a positive note on the back of encouraging economic data from U.S.  An unexpected hike in durable goods orders in the month of April and higher home prices for the month of  March set a positive tone for investors, who are basically using this week to prepare for next week's ECB meeting. Services industries, which dominate the economy, also grew rapidly in May. Japan’s Nikkei is up .2%, Heng Seng rose 1%. In addition, Straits Times Index and Shanghai Composite Index are marginally increased by .04% and .18%, respectively.

HDFC Bank was up 1.8% and Reliance Industries gained 0.9% contributing the most to the Sensex gains.

IT exporters' shares firmed up on the back of a weakening rupee and encouraging economic data from the US. Wipro was up 1.2%, TCS was up 0.9% and Infosys was up 0.6%.

Infrastrucuture shares which had corrected recently witnessed a recovery with L&T up 1% and BHEL rising 2.8%

In the auto pack, Mah & Mah and Tata Motors were down over 2.3% each ahead of their May sales numbers later this week.

Other Sensex losers include ONGC down 2% and FMCG major ITC down 0.6%.

Among other shares, ICRA, Indian credit ratings agency, is one of the key gainers on BSE, surged 16% to Rs 2320 after global rating agency Moody's raised its offer price to acquire additional stake in the company to Rs 2,400 from Rs 2,000.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap was up 0.6% and Small-cap index was up 1.3%.

Market breadth was strong with 1,549 gainers and 931 losers on the BSE.