Nifty holds above 8,850; ITC gains nearly 1%

Benchmark indices have trimmed some of the losses but are still trading on a weak note. Gains in select index heavyweights and capital goods stocks like ITC and BHEL have limited losses in oil, information technology and select financials.
 
At 1:00 PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 128 points at 29,334 and the 50-share Nifty was down 31 points at 8,865.  
 
In the broader market, both the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices, up 0.4% and 0.7% each have performed better than the front-liners. Market breadth in BSE is positive with 1,403 advances against 1,196 declines.     
 

Further, foreign portfolio investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 1543 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

 
Buzzing Stocks

8 of the 12 sectoral indices of BSE are in green. BSE Oil & Gas index, down 1.5% is the top loser followed by BSE IT and BSE Teck indices, down 0.9% abd 0.8% each.  BSE Realty index, up 1.5% is the top gainer.
 
BHEL is up over 4% on renewed buying interest at lower levels. The stock has witnessed profit taking after it hit a 52-week high of nearly Rs 299.50 early this month.

 
Tata Steel is up 0.5%. The company has won a major contract to supply more than 57 kilometres of rail for London’s Crossrail project. It signed a contract to supply 7,000 tonnes of wear-resistant rail for the Crossrail project beneath the heart of the city.
 
Hindalco extended gains and is up 1% after after it won the Gare Palma coal mine in Chhattisgarh by outbidding companies like BALCO, Sesa Sterlite, Ambuja Cements, which were also vying for the same block. Sesa Sterlite is down 0.5%.
 
ITC up 0.8%, M&M up 0.7% and Dr Reddys Lab up 0.8% are other major gainers.

 
Reliance Industries is the top Sensex loser down 2.7% amid reports that one of its employees was arrested by the Delhi Police for illegally sourcing government documents. Further, reports suggest that the company has also issued a separate clarification stating that it has launched an internal probe after coming to know that one of its employees has been detained by law enforcement authorities.
 
IT stocks are trading weak in today’s session. Infosys has lost around 1.2%, TCS is down 0.4% while Wipro has shed around 1.3%. TCS has been recognised as the fastest growing IT services brand globally over the last five years by Brand Finance which assesses the dollar value of the reputation, image and intellectual property of the world's leading companies.

 
Select financials are under pressure. ICICI Bank has lost 1.8%, HDFC is down 1% and Axis Bank is down 0.5%. However, SBI up 0.7% and HDFC Bank up 0.2% have gained.
 
Among other shares, Titagarh Wagons has rallied 17% to Rs 644, also its 52-week high on BSE, on back of heavy volumes.