Sensex hovers around 25,600; auto stocks gain

Rate sensitives gain ahead of RBI's policy review tomorrow

Markets were firm in early noon trades supported by gains in interest sensitives ahead of RBI's policy review tomorrow. At 1205 hrs, the Sensex was up 132 points at 25,613 and the Nifty gained 50 points to trade at 7,652.

In the broader market, the smallcap index outperformed the BSE benchmark with gains of 1%. Meanwhile, the midcap index was up 0.6%.

The rupee is trading at 60.90/91 versus Friday's close of 61.18/19, tracking losses in the dollar compared with most other Asian currencies. The pair is seen in 60.80 to 61.20 range during the session.

Sectors & Stocks

Health Care index down 0.2% was the only sectoral index in red.

Consumer Durables, Auto, IT indices were up 1-2.5%.

Banking index up 0.5% have come off day highs.

HDFC twins, Sun Pharma, Coal India, Bharti Airtel and Cipla down 0.8-1.7% were the losers among Sensex-30.

Among the gainers were Infosys, Wipro,  Hindalco, BHEL, Axis Bank up 1-3%.

Auto majors like Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors gained 1-2%.

From the broader markets, Balkrishna Industries declined 4% to Rs 736 after reporting a lower than expected 13% year-on-year growth in net profit, mainly due to higher provision for depreciation and interest cost.

TV Today Network soared 14% to Rs 157 after reporting an over two-fold increase in standalone net profit at Rs 32.79 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q1), on back of strong operational performance.

Syndicate Bank tanked 6% to Rs 136 on NSE in otherwise firm market after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested S K Jain, chairman and managing director (CMD) of the bank, for allegedly accepting bribes from private companies to extend credit facilities.

Avanti Feeds and TVS Motor Company zoomed 16% and 5% respectively.

Asian Markets

Fears of further declines on Wall Street pressured Asian shares on Monday, as concerns over geopolitical tensions and Argentina's debt default eclipsed U.S. data that argued against an earlier start to the Federal Reserve's rate-tightening cycle.

Japan's Nikkei average hit a one-week low before erasing losses to stand almost flat by midday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan managed to tick up 0.2% as firmness in Chinese shares countered global weakness.