Nifty reclaims 8,000 mark; healthcare shares shine

Markets have pared losses with Nifty reclaiming the crucial 8,000 mark with healthcare and oil shares leading the rally on the bourses.

At 10.20am, the Sensex was at 26,423, up by 31 points and the Nifty was at 8,016, up 14 points.

Lupin, Cipla, GAIL, Sun Pharma and ONGC are the top 5 gainers and are up between 1.5-2%.

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(10:20 AM)

The markets are trading in a laggardly manner this morning, weighed down by the weak cues from Asia and continuing uncertainty over Fed rate hike. The market participants are also cautious ahead of the April-June gross domestic product (GDP) data which is due to be announced post market hours.

At 10.20am, the Sensex was at 26,278, weaker by 113 points or 0.4% and the Nifty was at 7,974, down 28 points. In the broader markets, the midcap index has gained 0.2% at 10,786, while the smallcap index is trading virtually unchanged at 10,985. The market breadth is weak. Out of 1,925 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 857 advancing stocks as against 994 declines.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the land ordinance will not be reissued. The ordinance, first issued in December and repromulgated thrice, lapses today.

RUPEE

The rupee opened lower by 11 paise at 66.25 per dollar against Friday's close of 66.14 a dollar.

SECTORS AND STOCKS

On the sectoral front, the BSE metal pack has shed about 1% with Vedanta and Tata Steel losing 2% and 1% respectively.

The BSE banking index has also shed about 1%, with SBI, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Indus Bank losing 1% each.

On the other hand, the pharma stocks are in fine fettle, with Sun Pharma, Cipla and Lupin gaining around 1% each. ONGC has also gained 1% in early trades.

In stock-specific news, Gillette India has surged by 7% to Rs 5,198, extending Friday’s 6% gain on the BSE in early morning trades, after the company reported nearly two-fold jump in operating profit at Rs 52.72 crore for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2015 (Q4). The personal products maker had posted operating profit of Rs 26.92 crore in a year-ago quarter.

Bharti Infratel has surged almost 12% to Rs 436 on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after Compassvale Investments Pte Ltd, an arm of Temasek, sold shares worth of Rs 660 crore of telecom tower company through open market.