Pharma shares gain in a flat market; Nifty hovers around 7,930

Pharma shares were among the gainers led by Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's Labs

Benchmark share indices witnessed listless trade amid lack of participation from institutional investors while traders remained cautious ahead of the expiry of December F&O contracts.

At 10:40am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 53 points at 26,088 and Nifty50 was up 9 points at 7,934.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.3%-0.6% each. Market breadth continued to remain positive with 1,287 gainers and 823 losers on the BSE.

BSE Healthcare index was the top sectoral gainer up 0.6% followed by Auto, Metal and Realty indices.

Lupin was up 0.5% after the company announced it has received approval for generic Femhrt tablets. Among other pharma majors, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs were up 0.6%-0.9% each.

Auto shares also firmed up ahead of their December 2015 sales numbers to be announced later this week, M&M, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti Suzuki were up 0.2%-1%each.

Among the Sensex heavyweights, HDFC, Reliance Industries and Infosys were up 0.2%-0.7% each.

Among other shares,  State-owned oil marketing companies viz Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) have firmed up 0.5%-1% each on the Bombay Stock Exchange on reports that they might jointly set up a mega refinery at Ratnagiri in coastal Maharashtra.
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(Updated at 9:40am
Markets were trading flat as traders turned cautious ahead of the expiry of December F&O contracts on Thursday.

At 9:40am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 56 points at 26,090 and the Nifty50 was up 4   points at 7,929.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.4% each. Market breadth was positive with 1089 gainers and 437 losers on the BSE.

"For the Nifty resistance is seen at 7931 above 7966 and 7996 while support is seen at 7888 below 7854 and 7824," Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said in a note.

Meanwhile, traders are cautious ahead of the expiry of December F&O contracts on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 302.62 crore on Monday as per provisional stock exchange data.

STOCKS IN FOCUS

BSE Power index was the top gainer up 0.5% along with Realty, Auto and Healthcare among others. However, IT and Consumer Durables indices were the top losers.

PSU power major NTPC was the top Sensex gainer up over 2%.

HDFC was up 1%, Reliance Industries rose 0.6% while ITC was up 0.6% contributing the most to the Sensex gains.

Lupin was up 1% after the company said it has received US FDA approval for generic Femhrt tablets. Sun Pharma was also up 1%.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks witnessed lacklustre trades on Tuesday with Japanese shares trading nearly unchangeed while Straits Times, Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite were trading with marginal gains.

US stocks ended lower on Monday weighed down by energy shares amid sliding global crude oil prices and profit taking in Apple shares. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 0.1% at 17,528, the broader S&P 500 closed 0.2% lower at 2,056 and the tech-laden Nasdaq ended down 0.1% at 5,041