Sensex inches towards 21,000; Dr Reddy's hits record high

Benchmark indices steadily gained momentum amidst volatile trading, ahead of the F&O expiry due today.

Benchmark indices steadily gained momentum amidst volatile trading on Wednesday afternoon and ahead of the F&O expiry due today. Index heavyweights ITC, Reliance, and Infosys also contributed towards the rise.

At 14:25 hours, the 30-share Sensex was up 134 points at 20,986, while the Nifty-50 had increased by 34 points at 6,234.

Broader markets underperformed the benchmark, with the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap increasing by 0.06% and 0.30% respectively, compared to Sensex's gain of 0.63%.

Breadth of the market was just about positive, with 1294 advances, 1258 declines, and 140 scrips remaining unchanged.

Asian Markets

Major Asian indices remain mixed on Wednesday afternoon as concerns over opaque policy moves in China kept investors on edge. Singapore's Straits Times was down by 0.48% at 3,089, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 120 points at 22,437.

Japan's Nikkei closed 81 points, or 0.54%, lower at 14,971 after the yen strengthened overnight. It had earlier touched a three week high of 15,071 yesterday.

Sectors and Stocks

The S&P BSE Metal index was down more than 2% to hit a four-month low amidst concerns of slowdown in China. The metal index has decreased by almost 6% in the last six trading sessions, compared to 1.4% rise in the Sensex. Realty was also down, decreasing by 0.9%.

Apart from these two indices, all the other sectors were in the green. FMCG, Healthcare, Bankex, Auto, Consumer Durables, Power, and Capital Goods were each up between 0.3-1.0%.

GAIL was the biggest gainer in the Sensex, increasing by  2.46%. Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy's, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Wipro also gained by 1.0-2.4% each.

Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel extended yesterday's fall to decline by more than 3% each, as metal companies continued their struggle after a weak global outlook for the industry.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories gained nearly 2% at Rs 2,830, after touching a record high on the NSE, after the company said it has launched Sumatriptan Injection USP in the US.

State Bank of India (SBI) is trading higher by 1% at Rs 1,524 after the country’s largest public sector lender said that its board schedule to meet next week to consider interim dividend to shareholders of the company.

Amongst other shares, Sanofi India were up nearly 2% at Rs 2,686 after the company reported robust earnings with net profit rising over 100% during the fourth quarter ended December 2013. The results were announced on late Tuesday.

Polaris Financial Technology has surged over 12% to Rs 162 after the company clarified that it is not planning to sell a stake in the company.

ABB India has soared 8% to Rs 731, also its 52-week high on the NSE, on back of heavy volumes. The stock opened at Rs 679 and hit a low of Rs 672 so far. The counter has seen nearly two-fold jump in trading volumes.

Paper Products jumped over 8% in noon deals after its Indian promoters sold his entire stake which was of 3.01% in the company to its foreign partner Huhtavefa BV for Rs 190.11 per share on Friday, 21 February 2014.