Markets marginally positive; Sun Pharma up 2%, SBI dips 1%

Top gainers on the Sensex are Sun Pharma, L&T, M&M, RIL and HDFC

Markets have trimmed gains and are trading marginally positive led by capital goods and index heavyweight shares. However, the upside is capped on account of selling pressure among banks and information technology shares.

By 10:30, the Sensex was higher by 42 points at 26,468 and the Nifty gained 4 points at 7,987.

The top gainers on the Sensex are Sun Pharma, L&T, M&M, RIL and HDFC.

On the losing side, SBI, NTPC, GAIL, TCS and Axis Bank have slipped between 0.7-1.3%.


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Updated at 9:42

Markets have turned positive after making a lower opening tracking weak global cues.

Investors have turned cautious note after the negotiations on ending a deadlock between cash-strapped Greece and its international creditors failed.

By 9:42, the Sensex was higher by 145 points at 26,575 and the Nifty gained 36 points at 8,019.

However, the broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.2% each.  Markets breadth is positive with 550 advances and 407 declines on the BSE.

Meanwhile, investors will remain cautious ahead of the FOMC meet which is a key economic event and is likely to decide the timeframe for the Fed rate hike.

Further, a set of mixed bag macroeconomic data with CPI quoting at 5.01% and IIP numbers quoting at 4.1% are likely to dictate the trend on the bourses.

Industrial production grew by 4.1% over April 2014, pulled up by a rather striking 5.1% growth in manufacturing. On the inflation front, the year-on-year rate rose from 4.87% in April to 5.01 in May.

The country has received 5% more rainfall than the normal limit till now even as northwest India, the southern peninsula and central India have received below normal rainfall, the Met department said on Sunday.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 670.96 crore on Friday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares fell and the euro skidded in Asian trade on Monday, after Greece's talks with lenders to avert a default ended with no agreement and Wall Street logged losses ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting.

European Union officials blamed the collapse of the talks on Athens, which it said had failed to offer any new concessions to secure funding it needs to repay 1.6 billion euros ($1.79 billion) to the International Monetary Fund by the end of this month.

On Friday, shares on Wall Street dropped after upbeat consumer data capped a week of solid economic reports, backing the view that the US Federal Reserve was on track to raise interest rates as early as this autumn.

For the week, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average logged slight gains, while the Nasdaq Composite edged down.

CAIRN INDIA -VEDANTA MERGER

Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta on Sunday said it would merge its subsidiary Cairn India with itself for a larger natural resource play.

In the all-stock deal, each Cairn India shareholder would be offered an equity share of Vedanta, besides a 7.5% redeemable preference share of Rs 10 face value.

Shares of Vedanta are quoting at Rs 190, up over 3%. Cairn India is up over 1% at Rs 183.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE IT and Consumer Durable indices are down almost 1% each. However, BSE Capital Goods index has gained nearly 1%.

In the view of US probing for alleged visa rule violations, TCS and Infosys are in focus after Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government will intervene if the need arises. TCS and Infosys have slipped by 1% each.

Coal India had slipped by almost 1%. The company has become the sixth-largest mining company in the world in terms of market capital, says a recent PwC report.

Other notable losers are NTPC, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, GAIL and Hindalco.

On the gaining side, Sun Pharma, HDFC, RIL, L&T and Tata Motors have surged between 0.5-1.3%.

Engineering conglomerate L&T and BHEL are in focus on the back of strong IIP numbers.