Key benchmarks hover in green

After trimming initial gains, key benchmark indices hovered in positive zone in morning trade. At 10:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 39.42 points or 0.16% at 25,341.32. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 18.15 points or 0.23% at 7,767.85. Gains in Asian stocks aided the upmove on the domestic bourses.

The Sensex jumped 217.36 points, or 0.86% at the day's high of 25,519.26 in early trade, its highest level since 19 May 2016. The index rose 24.04 points, or 0.10% at the day's low of 25,325.94 in morning trade. The Nifty rose 70.90 points, or 0.91% at the day's high of 7,820.60 in early trade, its highest level since 19 May 2016. The index rose 11.75 points, or 0.15% at the day's low of 7,761.45 in morning trade.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,030 shares rose and 771 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.19%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.31%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

In the overseas stock markets, Asia markets edged higher after US shares registered gains during the previous trading session on Friday, 20 May 2016. US stocks edged higher on Friday, 20 May 2016, after strong housing data for April 2016. Existing-home sales rose 1.7% in April 2016 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.45 million, the National Association of Realtors said.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) edged lower and Power Grid Corporation of India edged higher after the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) announced changes in the constituents of its indices as part a semi-annual reconstitution of the indices. Bhel was off 0.46% and Power Grid Corporation of India was up 1.66%. Power Grid Corporation of India will replace Bhel in Sensex with effect from 20 June 2016.

Most IT stocks edged lower. Infosys (down 0.97%), Wipro (down 0.65%), TCS (down 0.46%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.14%), HCL Technologies (down 0.02%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.01%), edged lower. Hexaware Technologies (up 0.60%), Persistent Systems (up 0.93%), MphasiS (up 0.95%) and MindTree (up 0.99%), edged higher.

Most FMCG shares edged lower. Marico (down 0.9%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (down 0.86%), Jyothy Laboratories (down 0.62%), Bajaj Corp (down 0.58%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (down 0.22%) and Dabur India (down 0.09%), edged lower. Nestle India (up 0.10%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 0.11%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 0.38%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.75%) and Tata Global Beverages (up 1.63%), edged higher.

Britannia Industries slumped after announcing fourth quarter results. The stock was off 6.76% to Rs 2,735.40. Britannia's consolidated net profit rose 13.7% to Rs 190.23 crore on 7.8% growth in net sales to Rs 2189.83 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. Britannia Industries' revenue growth during the quarter was impacted due to phasing out of excise duty incentives available to the company. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 20 May 2016.

Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC rose 5.09% to Rs 346.75, with the stock extending previous trading session's gains triggered by the company announcing a 1:2 bonus share issue at the fag end of the trading session at the time of the announcement of its Q4 March 2016 results. The company's net profit rose 5.67% to Rs 2495.20 crore on 9.49% rise in total income to Rs 10580.33 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. A foreign brokerage has reportedly raised its price target on the ITC stock and retained its outperform rating on the ITC stock as it views the turnaround in ITC's cigarette volume growth as a significant positive.

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