Key indices hover in positive zone

A rangebound movement was witnessed as key benchmark indices hovered in positive zone in morning trade. At 10:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 196.61 points or 0.73% at 27,196.33. The Sensex was currently trading above the psychologically important 27,000 level after regaining that level in early trade. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 61.80 points or 0.75% at 8,349.55. The Sensex hit its highest level in more than eight months. The Nifty hit its highest level in more than ten months. Gains in Asian stocks aided the upmove on the domestic bourses.

The Sensex rose 227.54 points or 0.84% at the day's high of 27,227.26 in morning trade, its highest level since 27 October 2015. The barometer index rose 61.68 points or 0.22% at the day's low of 27,061.40 in early trade. The Nifty rose 66.15 points or 0.79% at the day's high of 8,353.90 in morning trade, its highest level since 20 August 2015. The index rose 20.90 points or 0.25% at the day's low of 8,308.65 in early trade.

In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks edged higher tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was currently up 0.19%. Latest data showed that the manufacturing momentum in the world's second largest economy skidded to a four-month low in June. China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) came in at 50 last month, against 50.1 logged in May and April. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Average was currently up 0.7%. The manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in June, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Nikkei showed. Manufacturing PMI came in at 48.1 in June, up from May's 47.7. US stocks gained for the third day in a row yesterday, 30 June 2016, recovering from the post-Brexit sell-off.

Closer home, the broad market depicted strength. There were nearly three gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,431 shares rose and 484 shares declined. A total of 69 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 1%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.88%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

Pharma stocks edged higher. Strides Shasun (up 5%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 2.56%), Divi's Laboratories (up 1.27%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.05%), Lupin (up 0.86%), Wockhardt (up 0.98%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.73%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.17%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.45%), Cipla (up 0.46%), Ipca Laboratories (up 0.75%) and GlaxoSmithkline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.95%) edged higher. Alkem Laboratories (down 0.05%) edged lower.

Cement stocks gained. UltraTech Cement (up 1.58%), Shree Cement (up 1.49%), ACC (up 0.58%) and Ambuja Cements (up 0.75%) edged higher.

Grasim Industries was flat at Rs 4,654.35. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.

Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC was up 3.65% at Rs 254.35. The stock hit a high of Rs 258.85 and a low of Rs 244.10 so far during the day. The stock turned ex-bonus today, 1 July 2016 for 1:2 bonus issue.

On the macro front, the output of eight core Industries comprising nearly 38% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 2.8% in May 2016 over May 2015, data released by the government after market hours yesterday, 30 June 2016 showed.

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