Sensex below 27,400 amid choppy trades; Nifty holds 8,250

IT majors and private banks were the top gainers even as broader markets outperformed

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices in noon trades on Tuesday even as gains in IT majors and private banks helped offset losses in select index heavyweights.

At 13:50 pm, the 30-share Sensex was down 61 points at 27,304 and the 50-share Nifty was down 21 points at 8,257.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were up 0.6-0.7% each. Market breadth was strong with 1,492 gainers and 950 losers on the BSE.

"Markets seem to be consolidating at current levels with no major triggers as of now. Further, profit taking is seen in index heavyweight RIL which had gained sharply post its September quarter earnings," said Alex Mathew, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The Indian rupee trimmed early gains and was trading lower at 64.88 to the US dollar compared to the previous close of 64.81.

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has retained India’s rating at ‘BBB-’ with stable outlook, the lowest investment grade for India thus dashing the government’s hope for a rating upgrade for at least for two years — this year and the next.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities to the tune of Rs 898 crore on Monday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

EARNINGS CORNER

ACC, Hero Moto, Bajaj Finance, Biocon, Mphasis and Jyoti Labs are some of the companies that will announce their September quarter earnings today.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian markets pared early losses and were trading with marginal gains. The Shanghai Composite and Straits Times were trading flat with positive bias while Hang Seng was down 0.7%. Further, shares in Japan edged marginally higher with the Nikkei up 0.4%.

European shares were trading flat with mixed bias in early trades. The CAC-40 was marginally down while DAX and FTSE-100 were trading flat with positive bias.


SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Metal index was the top loser along with Oil & Gas, FMCG and Realty indices. IT, Auto and Capital Goods indices were the top gainers.

Hero Motocorp pared early losses and was trading with marginal gains ahead of its second quarter earnings today.

Reliance Industries which had gained over 5% in the previous witnessed profit taking and was down 0.7%. Among other index heavyweights, HDFC was down 0.7% while ITC eased 0.5%.

ICICI Bank is up 0.5%. India’s largest private sector lender, has outpaced its peers to record the highest number of mobile banking transactions. Among other private banks, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were up 0.3-0.8% each.

M&M was down 0.6%. Tractor and utility vehicle major announced on Monday that it has forayed into pulses retailing under the brand ‘NuPro’ with a launch price of tur at Rs 210 a kg against the prevailing price range of Rs 180 and Rs 220 a kg.

Metal shares were among the top losers amid growth worries in China, the world's largest consumer. Tata Steel, Vedanta and Hindalco eased 0.9-1.9% each.

Among other shares, Motilal Oswal Financial Services has rallied 7% to Rs 310 on the BSE after reported a strong 33% year-on-year growth (YoY) in consolidated profit at Rs 43.4 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 (Q2), on back of strong operational income. The company had profit of Rs 32.6 crore in a year ago quarter.

Kajaria Ceramics has moved higher to its record high of Rs 916, up 3% on the BSE, ahead of its September quarter (Q2FY16) results scheduled for the day.