Markets remain choppy; Kesoram Inds & Amtek Auto rally

Markets have turned choppy after making a higher opening on the back of improved Industrial output data, which was released on Friday post market hours.

The industrial output for the month of July provided a breath of fresh air and has been recorded at 4.2%, indicating that the Indian economy is on its path to revival.

Further, India's current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $6.2 billion (1.2% of GDP) in Q1 June 2015 from $7.8 billion (1.6% of GDP) a year ago.

By 9:30, the Sensex was trading at 25,584 mark down 27 points and the Nifty slipped 10 points at 7,779.

The broader markets are however outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.4-1%.

Market breadth on the BSE remains positive with 665 shares advancing and 279 shares declining.

KEY ANNOUNCEMENTS

The government is scheduled to unveil the consumer price index (CPI) data for the month of August 2015 after market hours today. The government will release the data on inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) for August 2015 at 12:00 IST today.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meet, which will be held on September 16-17, will be closely followed by the investors as the Fed is expected to end the uncertainty around the interest rate situation by hiking the interest rates for the first time in eight years.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares edged up on Monday in cautious trade, brushing off soft economic data from China, as investors looked to whether the US Federal Reserve is confident enough to raise interest rates for the first time in a decade.

US stock futures rose 0.4% from late US levels in early Asian trade while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.4%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.3%.

Data published at the weekend showed growth in China's investment and factory output missed forecasts in August, raising the chances that China's third-quarter economic growth may dip below 7% for the first time since the global crisis.

SECTORS & STOCKS

Sectors like Realty, Capital Goods, Healthcare, Metal, Oil & Gas and Power are up 0.5-1%. Infact, all the sectoral indices are trading in positive zone.

The top gainers from the Sensex pack are GAIL, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, NTPC and BHEL.

On the losing side, ICICI Bank, HDFC, RIL, Infosys and ONGC have slipped between 0.3-1%.

Among other shares, Kesoram Industries has rallied 15% to Rs 117 on the BSE in early morning trade after the company on Saturday announced to sell its tyre business at Haridwar to JK Tyre & Industries and JK Asia Pacific Singapore Pte Ltd. for Rs 2,195 crore.

Amtek Auto after market hours on Friday in its clarification with regard to media reports that the company is open to sell minority stake in some overseas business said that it is considering various means to de-leverage the balance sheet including selling of noncore business, minority stake in overseas companies and some industrial real estate assets within the business. The stock is up almost 10%.

With Reuters input