Nifty consolidates around 7,550; TCS up 3%

IT majors and financials were the top gainers while pharma shares continued to remain weak

Benchmark shares indices continued to trade higher in noon trades led by technology majors and financials

At 1:25pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 103 points at 24,780 and the Nifty50 was up 39 points at 7,551.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading flat with positive bias. Market breadth was negative with 1236 losers and 1095 gainers on the BSE.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 744.49 crore yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

SECTORS & STOCKS

The BSE IT, Consumer Durables and Metal indices were the top gainers while defensive sectors such as FMCG and Healthcare were the top losers

IT majors TCS and Infosys contributed the most to the gains. TCS was up 2.8% after it announced a three year partnership with the Virgin Money London Marathon to enhance the digital experience delivered to marathon participants.

Financials gained on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India may soon ease key policy rates. ICICI Bank was up over 1% on reports that the private sector lender plans to raise funds via infrastructure bonds. HDFC Bank, HDFC and SBI were up 0.5%-1.1% each.

Pharma shares continued to witness selling pressure after the recent ban on over 300 combination drugs by the government. Lupin was the top loser in the segment down nearly 6% followed by Glenmark, Sun Pharma, Abbot India, Wockhardt and Ajanta Pharma among others.

FMCG shares witnessed profit taking with ITC was down 0.4%. HUL eased nearly 1% after it agreed to sell its rice exports business to LT Foods worth Rs 25 crore as part of its strategy to exit non-core businesses.  

DLF was up 1.3% after the company decided to sell its shopping mall in Saket in the national capital to its unit for Rs.904.50 crore as part of its plan to streamline and monetize its existing assets.

Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced it was acquiring rights to use Videocon Telecom’s spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band in six circles for Rs 4,428 crore. Shares of Bharti Airtel are marginally up.

ONGC was up nearly 1% after the state-owned oil explorer plans to enter into partnerships with overseas oilfield service providers to boost output from ageing oil and gas fields, its chairman said.

Tata Consultancy Services announced a three year partnership with the Virgin Money London Marathon to enhance the digital experience delivered to marathon participants. TCS has gained over 1%.

Hindalco was up over 3% after copper futures firmed up on the London Metal Exchange.

Among others, Shares of Century Textiles & Industries and Mangalam Cement, both BK Birla Group companies, have rallied by up to 10% after these companies announced that its promoters released entire pledge shares lying with the Axis Bank.

Shares of MOIL were up over 5% at Rs 218 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company in a release said that the Madhya Pradesh government has granted mining lease spread across 48.974 hectare in village Lugma, Tehsil Paraswada of Balaghat District in the state of Madhya Pradesh in favour of the company.