Rangebound movement on the bourses

A rangebound movement was witnessed as key benchmark indices hovered a tad below the flat line in mid-morning trade. At 11:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 20.95 points or 0.07% at 28,752.18. The Nifty 50 index was currently down 4.70 points or 0.05% at 8,862.75. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,182 shares rose and 969 shares declined. A total of 177 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.62%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.52%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

Stocks of public sector banks edged lower. IDBI Bank (down 1.61%), Canara Bank (down 0.81%), Bank of India (down 0.54%), Punjab National Bank (down 0.39%), Union Bank of India (down 0.62%), State Bank of India (down 0.16%), Indian Bank (down 0.39%), Bank of Baroda (down 0.18%) and United Bank of India (down 0.62%) declined. Corporation Bank (up 0.57%) edged higher.

Stocks of private sector banks were mixed. Axis Bank (down 4.14%), ICICI Bank (down 0.71%), Yes Bank (down 0.28%) and IndusInd Bank (down 0.31%) edged lower. Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.46%) and RBL Bank (up 0.45%) edged higher.

Index heavyweight HDFC Bank was up 0.47% at Rs 1,313.85. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,315 and a low of Rs 1,303 so far during the day.

IT stocks witnessed a mixed trend. HCL Technologies (up 1.25%), TCS (up 0.62%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.13%) and Tech Mahindra (up 0.05%) edged higher. Wipro (down 0.01%) and Persistent Systems (down 1.2%) edged lower.

Index heavyweight and software major Infosys was down 0.45% at Rs 1,053.70. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,059.85 and a low of Rs 1,048.50 so far during the day.

Morepen Laboratories surged 8.27% at Rs 26.85 on reports that the company may sell its over-the-counter (OTC) brands to focus on active pharmaceutical ingredient and home diagnostics business as growth drivers. As per reports, Morepen Laboratories is considering a business rejig which could lead to a potential sale of the over-the-counter brands, including antiseptic cream Burnol. The company's OTC portfolio include Lemolate cold and cough relief remedy, Sat-Isabgol, anti-fungal and antibacterial cream Itch Beat, Fever-X, Pain-X, a face wash and 2 Cool hair oil, among other brands.

Jubilant Life Sciences gained 3.09% at Rs 639.50 after the company said that its material wholly-owned subsidiary's board of directors approved offering of unsecured high yield bonds. The board of directors of company's material wholly-owned subsidiary, Jubilant Pharma (JPL) at a meeting held today, 23 September 2016, approved the proposal to launch a benchmark offering of unsecured high yield bonds (notes) outside India by JPL. The notes are proposed to be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading. Jubilant Pharma is a company incorporated under the laws of Singapore outside India. The announcement was made during market hours today, 23 September 2016.

In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks witnessed mixed trend amid a slew of economic data. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was currently off 0.25%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was currently down 0.01%. The MNI China business sentiment index came it at 55.8 in September 2016, up from a marginally revised 54.1 in August, driven by a faster increase in new orders and a further strengthening in confidence among manufacturing companies. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Average was currently down 0.27%. Japanese manufacturing activity expanded for the first time in seven months in September, a preliminary survey showed today, 23 September 2016. The IHS Markit/Nikkei Japan Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 50.3 in September from a final 49.5 in August on a seasonally adjusted basis.

US stocks registered modest gains yesterday, 22 September 2016, extending previous trading session's gains as investors digested several economic data releases and the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision. US home resales unexpectedly fell in August 2016. The National Association of Realtors said yesterday, 22 September 2016 that existing home sales declined 0.9% to an annual rate of 5.33 million units.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News