Sensex, Nifty remain flat; SBI up 2%

Benchmark indices are trading flat as losses in Index heavyweights limit gains. Also, foreign investors will closely focus on policy announcement as winter session of Parliament is going to start on November 24, 2014 and end on December 23, 2014.

 

At 10.25 AM, the Sensex is down 22 points at 28,011 mark whereas the Nifty has lost 3 points to trade at 8,379 mark. 

 

In the broader market, both BSE midcap and smallcap indices are trading 0.1% higher in the early trades.

 

Market breadth is weak on the BSE with 1,125 declines against 1,056 advances.

 

Hot Stocks:

 

Shares of Amtek Auto, Bosch, Engineers India, Strides Arcolab and Wockhardt have gained between 1 and 4%, as the NSE has included them in the derivative segment.

 

Shares of ING Vysya Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have rallied by up to 6% in early trade on the BSE on reports that Kotak Mahindra Bank in final stages to buy the bank.

 

Shares of State Bank of India (SBI) is trading higher by 2% at Rs 297 in early trade on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the stock turned ex-stock split today.

______________________________________________________

(updated at 9.40 AM)
After a firm opening, markets slipped in the negative territory tracking losses in the Asian peers. Also, investors have turned cautious ahead of the winter session of parliament which begins next week and RBI's policy review due on 2nd December..

At 9.40 AM, the Sensex is down 43 points at 27,989 mark whereas the Nifty has lost 11 points to trade at 8,371 mark. 

In the broader market, both BSE midcap and smallcap indices are trading flat in the early trades in tandem with the large counter parts.

 

The board of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday cleared big-bang market reforms, including a move to replace the two-decade-old insider-trading rules with the new prohibition of insider trading (PIT) regulations, and amending the existing delisting regulations.

Further, the coal ministry has issued draft guidelines for reallocation of coal mines cancelled by the Supreme Court, marking the duties of the authorities appointed to operate the ordinance issued.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 71.80 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Global Markets:

On the global front, US stocks edged lower on Wednesday as minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve meeting gave investors few new clues as to when US interest rates may rise.

The S&P 500 snapped a four-day run of gains and a two-day streak of record closing highs.

Minutes of the US central bank's Oct. 28-29 meeting, where policymakers decided to finally end their bond-buying stimulus, indicated a debate among policymakers over the outlook for inflation and the economy.

Asian stocks mostly fell on Thursday as fresh data signalling a further loss of momentum in China's economy weighed on sentiment, while the yen slid to multi-year lows against the dollar and euro.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.3%, briefly touching a three-week low.

The China flash HSBC/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index published on Thursday showed factory output contracted in the world's third-biggest economy for the first time in six months.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.1% and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3%.

Sectors and Stocks:

 

BSE Consumer Durables, Auto and Realty indices are trading lower between 0.5-1%. However, FMCG and Healthcare indices are up 0.5% each.

 

The Coal Ministry yesterday issued much-awaited draft guidelines for e-auction of 74 coal blocks of the 200 odd coal blocks that had been cancelled by the Supreme Court. Out of these, 32 will be new blocks and 42 blocks are currently operational. Two months earlier, the Supreme Court cancelled the allotment of 204 mines since 1993 terming them "arbitrary and illegal". Tracking the positive news, metal and power shares are trading in the positive territory. Coal India, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel, NTPC and Tata Power are up between 0.1-1.5%.

 

Infosys is up 0.4% on news that it has seen overseas investors raising their stake in the company to a nine and half-year high of nearly 42.67% during the quarter ended September 2014. Also, a depreciating rupee has led to an appreciation in the technology stocks. Wipro and TCS are up 0.6% each.

 

Mahindra & Mahindra is up 0.3% as Mahindra Group will now be able to sell its Australia-made airplanes in India, with the Civil Aviation Ministry approving its long-pending proposal after amending relevant rules. Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki are trading with marginal gains.

 

FMCG majors HUL and ITC have gained 0.3% as falling inflation raised hopes of higher spending and margins.

 

Shares of State Bank of India (SBI) is trading higher by 1% at Rs 294 in early trade on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the stock turned ex-stock split today.

 

Healthcare shares are witnessing fresh buying. Dr Reddy’s Lab, Sun Pharma and Cipla are up between 0.3-1%.

 

On the flip side, financials are trading under selling pressure in the early trades. HDFC twins and Axis Bank are down between 0.5-1.5% .

 

BHEL, Hero Motocorp and Tata Motors are some of the prominent losers among others and have lost between 1-1.5%.

 

Market breadth is marginally positive on the BSE with 734 declines against 855 advances.