Two-wheeler shares gain in a rangebound market; Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp up 1%

Two-wheeler shares were trading firm ahead of their March sales numbers

Shares of two-wheeler companies remained firm in a rangebound market in noon trades on expectations ahead of their March sales numbers. Further, upside gains were capped on caution ahead of the expiry of March derviative contracts today.

At 1:20pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 45 points at 25,384 and the Nifty50 was up 14 points at 7,749.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading flat with positive bias.

The rupee strengthened by 6 paise to 66.31 against the US dollar in early trade on continued selling of dollar by banks and exporters amid increased foreign fund inflows.

Foreign institutional investors remained buyers in equities with net purchases of Rs 1,442 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Power, Healthcare, Bankex and FMCG were the top gainers while Oil & Gas was the top loser.

Shares of two-wheeler companies such as Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp were up 1% ahead of their March sales numbers.

Pharma shares recovered from recent losses post the observations of select companies by the USFDA and the recent ban by the government on combination drugs. Sun Pharma, Lupin and Dr Reddy's Labs were up 0.6%-1.5% each.

FMCG majors also witnessed buying interest with ITC and Hindustan Unilever up 0.8%-1.3% each.

TCS, Reliance, Infosys and NTPC were among the other Sensex gainers.

Among other shares, Shares of Natco Pharma were up 4% at Rs 415 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on plans to sell-off its non-core business.The company in a release said, the board of directors at its meeting held on March 30, 2016 approved the sale of Save Mart Pharmacy Stores located in USA which is non-core business.

Shares of Mercator surged over 9% to Rs 22 on the Bombay Stock EXchange after the company said it has received approval for divesting entire stake in its Singapore-based step down subsidiary.The company in a release to the exchange said that Mercator International Pte. Ltd has received approval from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) for divestment of the entire stake in Mercator Lines (Singapore) Ltd.