Smallcaps rally while markets take a breather

ONGC, HDFC, ITC, RIL and Tata Motors among the top losers

Markets were weak in noon trades with the BSE benchmark index down nearly 100 points at 26,324 and the Nifty gave away 23 points to trade at 7,874 on profit taking at elevated levels.

The profit taking emerged after the Nifty sped away to record all time highs for two consecutive days. The ones weighing on the indices today were ONGC, HDFC, ITC, RIL and Tata Motors.

Meanwhile, in the broader markets, the midcap was flat, almost unchanged from yesterday’s closing while smallcap index surged nearly 1%. Shasun Pharma, Elder Pharma, Lumax Industries, Infinite Computer Solutions, Indoco Remedies, Hercules Hoists and Magma Fincorp up 10-16% were the top gainers among the smallcaps.

Health Care and IT indices up 2.6% and 0.2% respectively were the only sectoral indices in green.

Among the laggards were Oil & Gas index down 1.2% along with Capital Goods, Realty, Auto and FMCG indices down 0.5-0.8%.

The top gainers among the Sensex-30 were pharma names like Cipla, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddys up 2-4%.

Wipro, Tata Power, NTPC, Tata Steel, BHEL and Infosys which added 0.2-1% rounded off the gainers list.

Profit taking in ONGC, GAIL, HDFC, M&M, HUL, Tata Motors and Axis Bank dragged the scrips lower by 1-3%.

The market breadth was positive on BSE thanks to the gains in broader markets. 1,522 stocks advanced while 1,245 stocks declined.

Global Markets

Asian stocks were steady on Wednesday after strong U.S. housing data lifted Wall Street shares, helping nudge Treasury yields higher and keeping the dollar to extend gains against the euro and yen.

Shanghai Composite down 0.2% was the only index in red among the Asian markets.

However, the European markets started in red ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting minutes release later in the day. CAC, DAX and FTSE were down 0.3-0.4%.