Sensex below 29,300; HDFC, RIL dip 0.6%

Markets have come off their day's highs in late morning trades amid profit taking at higher levels even as IT majors and capital goods shares continue to lead gains.

Meanwhile, investors are keenly watching for the Budget session which will commence today with the address of President of India Pranab Mukherjee to the members of both the Houses of Parliament in the Central Hall of Parliament.

At 11:50AM, the 30-share Sensex was higher by 34 points at 29,265 whereas the 50-share Nifty gained 3 points at 8,836.

President Pranab Mukherjee in his joint address to the Parliament said India will be fastest growing nation if 7.4% GDP is achieved. He also said, FDI in defence to be increased to 49% but with conditiions adding that Inflation is at a record low due to a number of decisive measures taken by my government. He added that FDI in Railways to be opened selectively and that the government has taken steps to promote shipping industry & development of coastal regions. He added that a dedicated freight corridor is likely to be commissioned by May 2019.

Further, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in Indian equities to the tune of Rs 89 crore on Friday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Asian markets were trading flat as most of them resumed trading day after the Lunar New Year holidays, while encouraging news that Greece has reached a deal to avoid a financial crisis also helped sentiment. Shares in Japan were up 0.6% while Straits Times and Hang Seng were trading mixed. Meanwhile, financial markets in China remained closed for the New Year holidays.

IT shares TCS and Infosys were among the top Sensex gainers along with capital goods major L&T.

Shares of Information technology giant, Infosys is up 0.7% after acquiring an automation startup Panaya for Rs 1,200 crore is evaluating a dozen more startups — all aimed not at bulking revenues or adding clients, as Indian IT companies typically do, but at gaining cutting-edge technology such as automation and artificial intelligence (AI) according to media reports.

TCS has gained over 1%. The market valuation of TCS surged by Rs 26,677.87 crore at Rs 5,23,930.35 crore while that of ITC soared by Rs 14,385.58 crore at Rs 3,16,821.68 crore. wipro was up 0.6%.

Capital Goods major L&T was up 1.2% on renewed buying interest while state-owned engineering major BHEL was trading with marginal gains.

Hindalco Industries extended gains and was up 1.1% after the company last week won the Gare Palma IV/4 coal block in Chhatisgarh for Rs 3,001 per tonne, according to the results of e-Auction for Schedule II coal mines announced by the Ministry of Coal on Friday, 20 February 2015.

Sesa Sterlite has risen 2% after the company's subsidiary Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) won the Gare Palma IV/1 coal block in Chhattisgarh for Rs 1,585 per tonne, according to the results of e-Auction for Schedule II coal mines announced by the Ministry of Coal on Saturday.

Other Sensex gainers include, ICICI Bank, M&M, ITC and Sun Pharma among others.

Index heavyweights, HDFC and Reliance Industries continue to be the top Sensex losers down 0.6% each.

Among other shares, Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) have rallied 7% to Rs 1,040 on National Stock Exchange (NSE) on back of heavy volumes. A combined 1.73 million shares changed hands on the counter against an average around one million shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on NSE and BSE.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.4% and Small-cap index was up 0.5%.

Market breadth was strong with 1,338 gainers and 1,112 losers on the BSE.