Market gains amid volatility

Amid a divergent trend among various index constituents, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, and the 50-unit CNX Nifty clocked small gains. The Sensex rose 40.51 points or 0.16% to settle at 25,863.50. The Nifty rose 22.55 points or 0.29% to settle at 7,868.50. IT stocks edged higher on weak rupee. Bank stocks ended on a mixed note after seeing intraday volatility. Metal and mining stocks also witnessed a mixed trend. Among index heavyweights, ITC and HDFC edged higher whereas L&T and Reliance Industries (RIL) edged lower.

In the futures & options segment, the September 2015 derivatives contracts expired today, 24 September 2015, and ahead of the imminent expiry of the near month contracts, intermittent volatility was witnessed in the cash market.

The Sensex rose 40.51 points or 0.16% to settle at 25,863.50, its highest closing level since 21 September 2015. The Sensex rose 126.91 points or 0.49% at the day's high of 25,949.90 in mid-afternoon trade. The Sensex fell 152.03 points or 0.58% at the day's low of 25,670.96 in early trade.

The Nifty rose 22.55 points or 0.29% to settle at 7,868.50, its highest closing level since 21 September 2015. The Nifty rose 48.55 points 0.61% at the day's high of 7,894.50 in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty fell 41.85 points or 0.53% at the day's low of 7,804.10 in early trade.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.22%. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.58%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,442 shares rose and 1,245 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2560 crore, higher than turnover of Rs 2474.90 crore registered during the previous trading session.

Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE IT index (up 2.02%), the S&P BSE Consumer Durables index (up 1.98%), the S&P BSE Teck index (up 1.59%), the S&P BSE FMCG index (up 0.98%), the S&P BSE Healthcare index (up 0.74%) and the S&P BSE Realty index (up 0.59%) outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Auto index (up 0.10%), the S&P BSE Power index (up 0.01%), the S&P BSE Bankex (down 0.45%), the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index (down 0.76%), the S&P BSE Capital Goods index (down 1.13%) and the S&P BSE Metal index (down 1.37%) underperformed the Sensex.

Bank stocks were mixed. Among PSU banks, Allahabad Bank (down 2.3%), Indian Bank (down 2.22%), Corporation Bank (down 1.78%), Bank of Baroda (down 0.98%), Andhra Bank (down 0.81%), Bank of India (down 0.73%), Vijaya Bank (down 0.72%), Syndicate Bank (down 0.66%), UCO Bank (down 0.64%), Dena Bank (down 0.49%), State Bank of India (down 0.4%), Canara Bank (down 0.14%) and Union Bank of India (down 0.14%), edged lower. Punjab National Bank (up 0.11%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 0.29%), United Bank of India (up 0.45%), Central Bank of India (up 0.80%), IDBI Bank (up 1.09%) and Punjab and Sind Bank (up 2.04%), edged higher.

Among private sector banks, IndusInd Bank (up 2.26%), Federal Bank (up 1.17%), Axis Bank (up 0.36%), City Union Bank (up 0.27%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.03%), edged higher. Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.79%), ICICI Bank (down 1.95%) and Yes Bank (down 2.38%), edged lower.

A monetary policy review from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is scheduled early next week. The RBI announces the fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review for the year 2015-16 on 29 September 2015. The RBI kept its benchmark lending rate viz. the repo rate unchanged at 7.25% after a monetary policy review on 4 August 2015. RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan had at that time indicated in his written monetary policy statement that going ahead RBI will monitor developments for emerging room for further reduction in the policy rate. The RBI has cut the repo rate by 75 basis points since January 2015.

Index heavyweight and housing finance major HDFC rose 1.20% to Rs 1,180.70. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,184 and a low of Rs 1,151.50 in intraday trade.

IT stocks edged higher on weak rupee. MindTree (up 4.26%), HCL Technologies (up 2.75%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.10%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 1.94%), Wipro (up 1.80%), TCS (up 1.64%), CMC (up 1.29%) and MphasiS (up 0.28%), edged higher. Persistent Systems (down 1.07%) and Hexaware Technologies (down 1.58%), edged lower. A weak rupee boosts revenue of IT firms in rupee terms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports.

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee was currently hovering at 66.16, compared with its close of 65.99 during the previous trading session.

Index heavyweight and IT major Infosys rose 2.22% to Rs 1,141.40. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,149.60 and a low of Rs 1,110.05 in intraday trade.

Pharma stocks rose on weak rupee. Piramal Enterprises (up 2.20%), IPCA Laboratories (up 1.91%), Strides Arcolab (up 1.86%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.19%), Cadila Healthcare (up 1.05%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.76%), Divi's Laboratories (up 0.60%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.33%) and Cipla (up 0.19%) edged higher. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 0.32%), Wockhardt (down 0.42%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.64%) edged lower.

Weakness in rupee could boost sales of pharma companies in rupee terms as pharma firms derive substantial revenue from exports.

Lupin rose 3.55% to Rs 1,989.45 after reports that the company has increased price of its generic diabetes drug Fortamet in the US market. Lupin has reportedly increased price of its generic diabetes drug Fortamet by three times for 500 mg and 1000 mg variants in the US market. Despite the price hike, Lupin's drug is still 15% cheaper than its innovator, report said. Fortamet has two generic players in the US market viz. Lupin and Mylan. Lupin has 60% market share of the drug in value terms, according to reports. Mylan, which got the approval for the drug in 2013, has not yet launched its generic version. Fortamet's current market size is estimated at $170 million in the United States, report added.

After the price hike, a foreign brokerage has reportedly upgraded the Lupin stock to outperform.

Elder Pharmaceuticals surged 12.39% to Rs 113.35 after the company scheduled a board meeting on 28 September 2015 to consider the proposal for sale of step down overseas subsidiaries. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 23 September 2015.

State-run ONGC fell 3.71% to Rs 227.40. The stock hit a high of Rs 237 and a low of Rs 226.75 in intraday trade.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 1.59% to Rs 837.90. The stock hit a high of Rs 848 and a low of Rs 835.05 in intraday trade.

Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC rose 1.88% to Rs 322. The stock hit a high of Rs 323.80 and a low of Rs 315 in intraday trade.

Shares of state-run iron ore miner NMDC fell 3.11% to Rs 95.10. The stock hit a high of Rs 98.25 and a low of Rs 94.60 in intraday trade.

The Sensex and the Nifty edged higher for the second consecutive session. The Sensex has risen 211.66 points or 0.83% in the preceding two trading sessions from a recent low of 25,651.84 on 22 September 2015. The Sensex has lost 419.59 points or 1.6% in this month so far (till 24 September 2015). The Sensex has fallen 1,635.92 points or 5.95% in this calendar year so far (till 24 September 2015). From a 52-week low of 24,833.54 hit on 8 September 2015, the Sensex has risen 1,029.96 points or 4.15%. The Sensex is off 4,161.24 points or 13.86% from a record high of 30,024.74 hit on 4 March 2015.

India's stock market remains closed tomorrow, 25 September 2015, on account of Bakri Id.

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