Shares turn range bound; auto shares advance

Key benchmark indices were hovering in a narrow range near day's high in mid-morning trade. At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 170.67 points or 0.44% at 38,727.24. The Nifty 50 index was up 50.65 points or 0.44% at 11,549.05.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.1%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.05%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was almost even. On the BSE, 976 shares rose and 969 shares fell. A total of 123 shares were unchanged.

Auto stocks witnessed buying. Hero MotoCorp (up 2.2%), TVS Motor Company (up 1.51%), Mahindra and Mahindra (up 0.64%), Eicher Motors (up 0.4%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.3%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.06%) gained. Ashok Leyland (down 1.18%) and Escorts (down 0.44%) edged lower.

Cox & Kings hit a lower circuit of 5% after the company reported that it defaulted on payment of unsecured commercial papers worth Rs 125 crore. The date of default is 9 July 2019.

In a separate announcement, CARE Ratings announced that it downgraded the company's rating from CARE BB to CARE C. CARE also revised ratings on non convertible debentures issue, from CARE BB to CARE D after delay in interest servicing of non-convertible debenture.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was up 2.13% to Rs 455 and Torrent Pharmaceuticals was up 0.62% to Rs 1559.4. Both the companies announced a licensing agreement for co‐marketing of Remogliflozin Etabonate in India. The agreement will widen access to of Remogliflozin Etabonate, indicated for treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in India. Under the terms of this agreement, Glenmark will manufacture and supply Remogliflozin Etabonate while Torrent will market the drug under its own trademark in India.

Ajmera Realty & Infra India was up 2.1% to Rs 160.7. The realty company based in Mumbai announced a joint venture with local partner of Mumbai for development of commercial units at project located at Ashok Mills lane in Ghatkopar, Mumbai

Shares of IT companies were mixed. Tech Mahindra (down 2.03%), Hexaware Technologies (down 2.02%), TCS (down 0.7%), Infosys (down 0.37%) and Persistent Systems (down 0.37%) declined. Mphasis (up 1.77%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 1.63%), HCL Technologies (up 0.45%), MindTree (up 0.18%) and Wipro (up 0.11%) gained.

The S&P BSE IT was down 66.04 points or 0.44% at 14,969.55

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 68.3625, compared with its close of 68.58 during the previous trading session

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reinforced prospects of a US interest rate cut later this month.

US stocks rose on Wednesday with the Nasdaq Composite index closing at a record high after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell indicated interest rates cuts may be imminent in the face of some weakening economic data.

In testimony to a congressional committee, Powell noted that while the US jobs market remains robust and consumer spending appears set to rebound, business investment has slowed considerably, along with housing investment and manufacturing output.

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