 "Markets trim gains; IT stocks under pressure")
The markets have surrendered a part of their early gains, but are still trading comfortably in the green. The Sensex is at 23,857, higher by 42 points and the Nifty has held to the 7,100 levels at 7,114, up five points. The Sensex had touched a high of 23,971 earlier in the day. The midcap and smallcap indices have edged marginally in the red at 7,698 and 7,844 respectively.
The benchmark indices have been condolidating their phenomenal gains in the past two sessions ahead of the results scheduled on Friday, in what are touted to be watershed results in a long time.
Power stocks are powering ahead this morning. Tata Power has soared by 3.4% at Rs 87 to top the gainers list on the BSE and NTPC has gained 2.3% at Rs 128. Select banking stocks are also holding the indices higher; Axis Bank has jumped by 1.2% at Rs 1659, SBI has gained 0.6% at Rs 2297 and HDFC Bank has added 0.6% at Rs 780.
Among the stocks holding the indices back this morning, Coal India has weakened by 1.8% at Rs 336, ONGC has shed 0.9% at Rs 365 and ICICI Bank has shed 0.7% at Rs 1399. Information technology stocks are also under pressure. Wipro has weakened by 0.9% at Rs 519, TCS has shed 0.6% at Rs 2200 and Infosys has lost 0.5% at Rs 3230.
The market breadth is negative. Out of 2,174 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 910 advancing stocks as against 1,151 declines.
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(Updated at 09.35 am)
Markets opened marginally higher but firmed up later amid renewed buying in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC.
At 9:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was up 108 points at 23,923 and the 50-share Nifty was up 27 points at 7,136.
The Indian rupee firmed up against the dollar and was quoting at Rs 59.56 compared to Tuesday's close of Rs 59.68.
Asian markets were trading mixed with shares in Japan witnessing profit taking and gains in the yen weighing on investor sentiment. The Nikkei was down 0.8%, Shanghai COmposite was down 0.7% while Hang Seng and Straits Times were up 0.2% each.
US stocks witnessed profit taking after recent highs and ended lower on Wednesday. Shares of select retailers were under pressure. The Dow Jones ended down 0.6% at 16,614, S&P 500 lost 0.5% at 1,889 and Nasdaq ended down 0.7% at 4,101.
The BSE Realty, Power, Consumer Durables, Bankex, Capital Goods, Healthcare indices up 0.5-1.8% each.
Index heavyweights Reliance Industries up 0.6% and ITC up 0.6% contributed the most to the Sensex gains.
Tata Motors was up 1.1%. The company along with its partner Al-Hamad Automobiles, launched three heavy trucks of its Prima range in the Qatar market.
Sun Pharma was up 1.8%. The company announced that one of its subsidiaries has executed a settlement agreement with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation stipulating a dismissal of the lawsuits filed in the United States against the Company regarding submission of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for a generic version of Gleevec®, Imatinib Mesylate tablets. These tablets are indicated for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia.
HDFC and HDFC Bank were up 0.5% each. Meanwhile, MSCI has reduced HDFC Bank's weightage in the MSCI INdia Index to 1.89% from 5.4%.
Tata Steel was up 2% after reporting a better than expected consolidated net profit at Rs 1,036 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31 2014 (Q4), due to by higher sales volumes and better realisations in Europe and India. The country’s third largest steel producer had a net loss of Rs 6,529 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap index were up 0.5% each.
Market breadth was positive with 941 gainers and 463 losers on the BSE.