Markets snap 6-day of losses

Markets snapped six straight day of losses amid growth in the core sector for the month of September. However, a weak start in the European markets dampened the sentiments.

 Meanwhile, investors remain edgy and await for further cues from the outcome of the Bihar elections.

Provisionally, the Sensex closed 31 points higher at 26,591 and the Nifty gained 10 points to end at 8,061.

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(updated at 3:30 PM)

Benchmark indices are off day’s high and are trading in a narrow range with positive bias after investors booked profits at higher levels.

The positive trend is led by select buying among IT, Power and Metal segments. However, the upside is capped due to mild selling among banks, capital goods and consumer durables sectors.  

At 14:35 pm, the 30-share Sensex was up 68 points at 26,627 and the 50-share Nifty was up 15 points at 8,066.

The broader markets are however outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.3-0.4%. Market breadth was positive with 1,437 gainers and 1,010 losers on the BSE.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 272.67 crore yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

In the currency front, the rupee recovered by 19 paise to 65.40 against the dollar on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks.  

On the macro-economic front, the latest data showed that the index of eight core industries comprising nearly 38% of the weight of items included in the index of industrial production (IIP) rose 3.2% in September 2015 over September 2014.

Q2 EARNINGS

Adani Power, DLF, GAIL, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Power and PVR will unveil their second quarter earnings today.  

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks rose on Tuesday helped by buoyant US markets and recent data that indicated the global economy may have turned a corner, though wary central banks signalled a recovery may be anything but durable.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan broke a five-day losing streak, rising 1.4%. While it has gained more than 11% since the end of September, it is still down more than 10% this year.

Global manufacturing growth accelerated to a seven-month high in October but remained muted despite factories cutting their prices at the steepest rate since May 2013, a business survey showed on Monday.

Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics at HSBC, suspects much of the improvement may be temporary, reflecting the lift from new electronics products, as manufacturers are still cutting jobs or slowing hiring, especially in China, India and South Korea.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE IT, Metal and power indices are up 1% each. However, Capital Goods and Consumer Durables sectors are trading marginally in negative zone.

The top gainers from the Sensex pack are Vedanta, Hindalco, NTPC, M&M and TCS.

On the losing side, Tata Motors, Lupin, GAIL, ITC and Bharti Airtel are down between 0.7-1.2%.

Lupin has dropped by almost 2%. The company announced that it has received final approval for its Donepezil Hydrochloride Tablets, 23 mg from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market a generic version of Eisai Inc.'s Aricept Tablets, 23mg.

Tata Motors says October Tata-JLR sales are at 219 units. The stock is trading lower by 2%.

Country's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel will have a revenue growth of 8-10 per cent over the next 12-18 months on strong demand for data services and affordable smartphones, Moody's Investors Service said yesterday. Shares of Bharti Airtel are down almost 1%.

Q2 RESULT IMPACT

Shares of Lakshmi Machine Works were up over 4% at Rs 3,700 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company reported 21% rise in net profit at Rs 56.5 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 compared with Rs 46.8 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

Nilkamal has rallied 12% to Rs 1,092 on the BSE after the company reported a strong 276% year on year (YoY) growth in net profit at Rs 25.74 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 (Q2), due to lower raw material cost.

Harita Seating Systems has soared 18% to Rs 320, also its record high on the NSE, after the company reported three-fold jump in net profit at Rs 4.48 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 (Q2), on back of one-time gain on sale of the two wheeler seat business of the Nalagarh unit.


With Reuters input