Markets trim gains as Budget speech begins

Infosys, HDFC, Tata Motors, ONGC, L&T among top Sensex gainers

Markets trimmed some of the gains as investors booked profits at higher levels.

At 11:15AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 79 points at 25,524 and the 50-share Nifty was up 15 points at 7,600.

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(updated at 10:59AM)
Markets firmed up just minutes before the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents his maiden Budget speech.

At 10:59AM the 30-share Sensex was up 115 points at 25,559 and the 50-share Nifty was up 26 points at 7,611.
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(Updated at 10:25AM
Benchmark indices continue to trade flat as market participants adopted a wait-and-watch stance ahead of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's maiden Budget presentation later today.

 

By 10:25, the Sensex was higher by 12 points at 25,457 mark and the Nifty has dipped by 7 points at 7,577 levels.

 

The broader markets are underperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have declined between 0.4-1%.

 

BSE Realty and Metal indices have gained by nearly 1% each. However, sectors like Healthcare, FMCG and IT are witnessing some selling pressure.

 

The main gainers on the Sensex are Coal India, NTPC, HDFC, Tata Power and Hindalco.

 

On the losing side, Cipla, M&M, TCS, Bharti Airtel and Dr Reddy’s Labs have declined between 1-2%.

 

Among other shares, Aban Offshore has tanked 12% to Rs 715, extending its Wednesday’s 7% fall on NSE, after the company said that its capital issue committee approved the allotment of 10.7 million equity shares to eligible qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) at an issue price of Rs 695.50 per share, aggregating to Rs 750 crore.

 

Railway-related stocks such as Kalindee Rail, BEML, Kernex Microsystems, Stone India and Titagarh Wagons have frozen lower circuit of 5% third day in a row on BSE with no buyers on the counter after Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda presented maiden Budget on Tuesday, July 8, 2014.


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Updated at 9.30AM


Markets have opened flat after the sharp fall in the previous two sessions even as market participants adopted a wait-and-watch stance ahead of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's maiden Budget presentation later today.

By 9:30, rhe Sensex was lower by 23 points at 25,422 mark and the Nifty has dipped by 17 points at 7,568 levels.

Meanwhile, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 645.19 crore on Wednesday, 9 July 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Budget Expectations

There are expectations that the Finance Minster will announce measures in the Budget aimed at bolstering economic growth. Increase in outlay on infrastructure sector with focus on stricter and time-bound implementation of projects, initiatives towards investments in agriculture and irrigation aimed at easing supply bottlenecks for food-grains, fiscal prudence with roadmap to reduce the fiscal deficit, a roadmap for reducing the subsidy burden and timeline for implementation of the Goods and Services Tax are some of the expectations from the Budget.

Global Markets

Asian equities rose and the dollar dipped on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve indicated that it was not in a rush to end quantitative easing and begin hiking rates.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.2%.

Tokyo's Nikkei rose 0.1%, despite a sharp drop in machinery orders reported minutes before the opening bell.

Japan's core machinery orders unexpectedly fell 19.5% in May from the previous month, casting doubt over the outlook for a pickup in capital spending.

Sectors & Stocks

On the sectoral front, BSE Healthcare index has slipped by nearly 1% followed by counters like Consumer Durables, IT, Metal and Banks, both declining marginally. However, sectors like Auto and Capital Goods are trading marginally in positive zone.

Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors up 15 each were the top gainers among Sensex-30.

Bharti Airtel is trading higher by 1% to Rs 344 in early morning deals on NSE after the company said that it would sell about 3,100 telecom towers spread across four countries in Africa to Helios Towers Africa.

Coal India, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, NTPC, BHEL, Baja Auto and L&T up 0.4-0.7% were the other significant names in green.

Obn the other hand, Dr Reddys Lab, Cipla, ONGC and Sesa Sterlite down 1% each were the losers in opening deals.

Wipro, TCS, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Gail India down 0.3-0.4% were the other major losers.

The broader markets are trading flat with negative bias. The market breadth in BSE remains neutral with 548 shares advancing and 580 shares declining.