Recovery gathers steam

Gains in automobile and banking stocks helped key benchmark indices erase a lion's portion of intraday losses. At 13:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was off 40.12 points or 0.15% at 26,178.79. The 50-unit CNX Nifty was off 4.20 points or 0.05% at 7,977.70. The Sensex continued to trade above the psychological 26,000 mark. Earlier during the trading session, the Sensex reclaimed the psychological 26,000 mark after falling below that level in early trade.

In overseas markets, European stocks reversed initial losses. Asian stocks edged lower after the US Federal Reserve's decision last week to keep interest rates at record low raised fresh concerns about global economic growth. The losses for Asian stocks came after US stocks declined sharply during the previous trading session on Friday, 18 September 2015. The US central bank cited concerns about the global economy and a lack of inflation growth in the United States as the reasons for its decision to leave interest rates at record low after the conclusion of a two-day monetary policy meeting on 17 September 2015.

Closer home, the market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,405 shares rose and 995 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.34%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.9%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

Auto stocks edged higher on renewed buying. Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.33%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.27%), Ashok Leyland (up 0.11%) and Eicher Motors (up 0.19%) edged higher. Hero MotoCorp (down 0.15%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.55%) and TVS Motor Corp (down 0.66%) edged lower.

Tata Motors was up 1.34% at Rs 332.80. Tata Steel after market hours on Friday, 18 September 2015, announced that the company, as part of its portfolio restructuring, sold 3.7 crore ordinary shares of Tata Motors to Tata Sons at a price of Rs 330 per share. The share sale aggregating to Rs 1249.99 crore was carried out on 18 September 2015 through off-market transaction.

Shares of Tata Steel were down 0.04% at Rs 228.15. The stock hit a high of Rs 229.15 and a low of Rs 223.30 so far during the day.

Telecom stocks witnessed a mixed trend. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (up 1.29%), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (up 2.82%) and Reliance Communications (up 1.28%) edged higher. Bharti Airtel (down 0.6%) and Idea Cellular (down 0.37%) edged lower.

Shares of direct to home and cable network operators were mixed. Dish TV India (up 4.71%) and Den Networks (up 1.77%) gained. Siti Cable Network (down 5.51%) and Hathway Cable Datacom (down 3.16%) declined. According to reports, the government is considering a proposal to hike foreign direct investment (FDI) limits to 100% in broadcasting carriage and content services, including direct-to-home (DTH) and cable networks in order to attract overseas investment and improve infrastructure. An inter-ministerial committee is considering FDI proposals, including hiking foreign direct investment (FDI) cap in cable networks, direct-to-home (DTH), Mobile TV, HITS (Headend-in-the Sky Broadcasting Service), according to media reports.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) was off 0.53% at Rs 207.80. The stock hit a high of Rs 208.70 and a low of Rs 205.70 so far during the day. Bhel said during market hours today, 21 September 2015, that it has achieved a major milestone with the commencement of the first unit of the upcoming 1,980 megawatts (MW) supercritical thermal power plant at Mirchwara in Lalitpur district of Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. The second and third units of the project are also in advanced stages of completion, Bhel said. Bhel also said that three supercritical thermal units at Bara and the second 500 MW unit at Anpara, both in Uttar Pradesh, are also in advanced stages of completion.

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