Markets turn choppy; auto shares shine

Benchmark indices are range bound after a weak start with losses in select financials offsetting the gains in auto shares.
 
At 9:30 AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 66 points at 27,980 and the 50-share Nifty was down 26 points at 8,364.
 
In the broader market, BSE midcap index is trading flat with a positive bias and the BSE smallcap index is trading up 0.1%. The market breadth in BSE is marginally positive with 792 advances against 639 declines.

With corporate earnings season getting over on Friday, trading in the current week is likely to be influenced largely by global cues.

 
Further, the sharp fall in benchmark inflation indices - Wholesale Price Index and Consumer Price Index - is likely to bring the rate sensitive sectors in focus on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India will either make a token cut or give a dovish outlook in the December policy.
 
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 645.90 crore on Friday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Buzzing Stocks
 
BSE Bankex, IT and Tech indices each down 0.2% are leading the losses while BSE Auto index, up 0.6% followed by BSE Capital Goods index, up 0.2% are the major gainers.

 
 
Select auto shares are in focus with Tata Motors gaining more than 2%. Bajaj Auto and Hero Motocorp have gained around 0.5% each. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki is in red, down 0.5%.
 
 
Among financials, SBI with a gain of more than 1% is among the biggest gainers. On the other hand, HDFC twins have lost between 0.6-1.5% each. ICICI Bank is trading with a loss of more than 1%.

On Friday, Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) enhanced the foreign investment limit in HDFC Bank to 74%. However, the board decision to treat  parent HDFC as a foreign holding will leave little headroom for any new foreign investors to buy stakes in the bank. Earlier, the bank was also excluded from the MSCI-Asia index.

 
Metal shares are under pressure amid weak global economic trands. Tata Steel is trading flat with a negative bias while Hindalco and Sesa Sterlite have lost around 0.2% each.
 
 Global Markets

In Asia, Nikkei has slumped around 3% after the third quarter GDP data showed a 1.6% contraction in Japanese economy.
 
Hang Seng, down 0.3% is under pressure ahead of the formal release of the project connecting the Hong Kong markets with their Chinese peers. However, Shanghai Composite is trading with a gain of 0.3%.
 
At Wall Street, markets ended flat on Friday as losses in healthcare shares wiped the gains in energy stocks.

 
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.1%, to 17,635, the S&P 500 ended flat at 2,040 and the Nasdaq Composite gained  0.2% to 4,688.