Sensex up 100 points; Nifty nears 7,900

Markets edged higher in late trades led by Hindustan Unilever and Dr Reddy's Labs.

Markets recouped intra-day losses to edge higher in late trades on Tuesday led by Hindustan Unilever and Dr Reddy's Labs.

At 2:35pm, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 120 points at 25,809 and the Nifty50 was up 30 points at 7,896.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 224 crore on Monday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

STOCKS

Dr Reddy’s Labs has emerged as the top Sensex gainer up 3.5% ahead of its fourth quarter and FY16 results due on Thursday.

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever was up over 2% after the company reported growth in margins after weak commodity prices lowered input costs.

Capital goods majors BHEL and L&T were up over 1% each ahead of the IIP numbers due to be released on Thursday.

Infosys Foundation, philanthropic arm of the IT major, has signed a pact with Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, to support students from economically weaker section to pursue 'high quality' education. Shares of Infosys were up nearly 1%.

Other Sensex gainers include, Axis Bank, HDFC and ICICI Bank among others.

Tata Motors was the top Sensex loser down 3% after its retail sales moderated.

Metal shares have taken a hit in today’s session after the iron ore traffic, including pellets, at major ports saw a sharp fall of 28% in financial year 2015-16 as imports declined because of weak demand. Total iron ore cargo fell to 13 million tonnes (mt) from 18 mt a year ago. Hindalco was down 1.7% while Tata Steel eased 0.4%.

Oil explorers eased tracking weakness in global crude oil prices.ONGC, Cairn India and Oil India were down 1.2%-2.5% each.

Among other shares, Crompton Greaves has edged 3% higher at Rs 61 after the company on Monday said it has signed a share purchase agreement with First Reserve International, a US private equity fund, for its power businesses in Europe, North America and Indonesia for an enterprise value of 115 million euros (about Rs 851 crore).