Markets remain range-bound in afternoon trade; Midcap index outperforms

Coal India rebounded after hitting a hit a three-year low on poor Q4 results

Benchmark indices were range-bound in afternoon trade, taking a breather after setting at record closes in the previous sessions as investors booked profits in recent outperformers but the arrival of monsoon rains kept the sentiment upbeat.
 
The monsoon, which delivers about 70 percent of India's annual rainfall, arrived at the southern Kerala coast on Tuesday, in line with forecasts, a weather office source said, brightening the outlook for higher farm output and robust economic growth.
 
Simultaneously, the onset is also likely over Lakshadweep, coastal Karnataka, some parts of Tamil Nadu and most parts of northeastern states in the next 24 hours.

 

At 2:52 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 31,184, up 74 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,630, up 25 points.
 
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap gained 0.7%, while the S&P BSE Smallcap was flat (up 0.08%).
 
The market breadth remained in favour of declines as about 1404 shares were in red against 884 advancing shares on the BSE.
 
Both Sensex and Nifty posted a record high close for a third consecutive session on Monday, while the Nifty closed at a record high for a second consecutive session.
 

Among gainers, Aurobindo Pharma climbed as much as 11%, posting its biggest intraday gain in over three years, after it said that it did not expect price erosion in the US to impact the company too much due to its wider product basket compared to competitors.
 
Larsen & Toubro also rose after the engineering company reported a 28% rise in March-quarter consolidated profit, touching its highest in more than 1-1/2 years.
 
Among decliners, ITC lost 1.6% after gaining 13.6% this month.
 
Meanwhile, Coal India hit a more than three-year low (down over 3%) in intra-day after the coal miner posted a 38% fall in consolidated quarterly profit, missing analysts estimates, hurt by higher costs. The stock later rebounded and was trading 1% lower.

 
Jubilant Foodworks rebounded after falling as much as 13.1% to post its biggest intraday loss in over 15 months after it reported a 76% drop in March quarter profit.
 
NTPC was the biggest gainer among Sensex stocks, up 4 percent whereas BHEL lost 10% post disappointing earnings.
 
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group stocks rebounded after a 6-18% correction in previous session. RCom, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Defence, Reliance Capital and Reliance Power gained 1-2% in today’s trade.
 
Globally, Concerns about situations involving Greece, Italy and the European Central Bank kept the euro under pressure on Tuesday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2%. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets are closed for holidays today.