Markets swing between gains and losses

Markets traded absolutely flat in the morning session this Thursday as gains in metal and mining stocks were partially offset by losses seen in banks and IT indices on back of profit-booking.

 

At 10:20AM, the 30-share Sensex gained 9 points at 20,555 and the 50-share Nifty was down 3 points at 6,086 levels.  

 

Global risk appetite was, however,  positive note as US Senate leaders announced a deal to prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt and end the government shutdown.

 

The broader markets traded tad higher with mid-caps and small-caps inching up by 0.1per cent on the BSE.

 

The market breadth was positive. Out of 1,225 stocks traded, 434 stocks declined while 732 stocks advanced on the BSE.

 

 

RUPEE

 

The rupee gained ground in today’s trade on back of dollar selling by the exporters.

 

At 10:20AM, the partially convertible rupee was trading at 61.57 per dollar. The rupee closed at its two-week low on Tuesday, on the back of dollar demand by importers. The Indian currency ended at 61.85 against the greenback, compared with its previous close of 61.55.

 

 

GLOBAL MARKETS

 

Asian stocks rose, sending the regional benchmark index toward a five-month high, after the U.S. Congress voted to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.

 

China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.52% to 2,203, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.7% to 14,568, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2% to 23,281.

 

 

STOCK MOVERS

 

Domestically, the key sectoral gainers were oil and gas, metal, FMCG while bankex, capital goods, IT, auto and power indices dropped on the BSE.

 

The laggards were Tata Motors falling 2.5%, TCS declined 2.5%, BHEL was down 1.3% while L&T dropped 2% on the BSE.  

 

The gainers were Bajaj Auto rising 2%, Bharti Artel gained 1.7%, HUL was up 1.5%, Tata Steel added 1.5% while ONGC gained 1% on the BSE.

 

The key notable movers included counters such as Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and HCL Technologies are trading lower by over 1% each on the bourses on profit bookings after reporting September quarter earnings.

 

TCS is down 3% at Rs 2,159 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The stock opened at Rs 2,240 and hit a low of Rs 2,148 so far. A combined around 783,444 shares change hands on the counter so far on BSE and NSE.

 

Bajaj Auto is trading higher by 2% at Rs 2,167 in early morning deals on BSE after reporting a better-than-expected 13% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 837 crore for the second quarter ended September 2013 (Q2), boosted by export gains from rupee depreciation. The company had profit of Rs 740 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.