Markets off day's high; rate sensitives under pressure

Benchmark indices have trimmed gains after opening firm on the back of a strong rally in the global markets.  However, the upside is capped as rate sensitive shares are reeling under pressure on account of profit booking.

By 11:45 am, the Sensex was higher by 95 points at 26,250 and the Nifty has gained 14 points at 7,961.

The broader markers are performing in line with the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up almost 0.3% each. Market breadth is positive on the BSE with 1,261 advances and 985 declines.

On the currency front, the rupee appreciated by 9 paise to 65.49 against the dollar in early trade on sustained selling of the American currency by exporters and banks amid increased foreign fund inflows.

KEY MACRO DATA

Indian manufacturing activity slowed more than expected to a seven-month low in September due to softening demand and output, a business survey showed on Thursday.

The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by Markit, fell to 51.2 in September from 52.3 in August and against predictions of 52.0

India's annual infrastructure output growth picked up in August to 2.6% from a year ago, mainly driven by higher cement and electricity generation, government data showed on Wednesday.

India's fiscal deficit for April-August was Rs 3.69 lakh crore, or 66.5 per cent of the full-year target of Rs 5.56 lakh crore. The fiscal deficit was Rs 3.98 lakh crore in the same period a year ago, about 75 per cent of the FY15 target.

SECTORS & STOCKS

The rate sensitive pack is under pressure on account of profit booking. BSE Realty index is down by 1% followed by Auto and Bankex indices, down by 0.6% and 0.1% respectively.

HDFC is offering non-convertible debenture (NCDs) and warrants issue to open for book building. The mortgage lender is offering upto Rs 5,000crore for the same. The stock has lost 0.5%

S&P has updated is position on Tata Motors and have downgraded the company from ‘positive’ to ‘stable’ on account of a slowdown in China, which is impacting sales of its luxury-arm- Jaguar Land Rover. The stock has skid nearly 2%

Axis Bank, the country's third largest private sector lender, has reduced its base rate by 35 basis points to 9.50%. However, the stock has gained marginally.

According to media reports, Infosys will design new solutions that can derive practical benefits and  help generate data from connected devices in industrial  enterprise. The stock  has gained 1.1%

The government on Wednesday announced an 18% reduction in the price of domestic natural gas to $3.82 per unit from $4.66 a unit, in line with the decline in the global gas prices. BPCL, IOC, OIL have gained between 0.2-1.2% while HPCL has lost 0.3%. ONGC and Reliance Industries have gained 0.4% each.

Maruti Suzuki released its September sales results and the company grew only in single digits. The automobile company sold a total of 113, 759 units in September 2015 as opposed to 109,742 units in September 2014. The stock has lost nearly 2%.

Among other notable shares, HCL Technologies has cracked 10% on the BSE after the information technology services company has given a pre-quarter guidance indicating that revenues to be reported in US dollar to have an adverse impact of 80bps on account of sharp depreciation of multiple currencies against US dollar.

State-run lenders Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Oriental Bank of Commerce have trimmed their base or minimum lending rates up to 0.40% in response to RBI's policy rate cut. Punjab National Bank  is up 0.2%, Bank of Baroda is down 0.2%, Oriental Bank of Commerce is up 0.5%

Reliance Communications (RCom) will partner with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries' telecom venture, Reliance Jio, for offering fourth-generation (4G) services through a spectrum sharing and trading route. The stock has jumped nearly 5%