Markets trim gains ahead of July F&O expiry

Markets have trimmed gains in the late noon as investors become cautious ahead of the July F&O expiry. Weakness in IT majors TCS and Infosys coupled with losses by drug maker Sun Pharma capped the upside gains.

At 1:35 PM, the Sensex was at 27,717, higher by 154 points and Nifty was at 8,417, up 42 points.

Top 5 losers on the Sensex include Sun Pharma, Infosys, Vedanta, TCS and Tata Steel down between 1-2%.

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(updated at 1:35 PM)
 

After a firm opening, markets continue the upward march with Nifty reclaiming the 8,450 mark in the intra-day trades as positive domestic factors such as Union Cabinet's nod to amendments to the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill, approval of a new consumer protection and establishment of a National Investment and Infrastructure Fund worth Rs 20,000 crore coupled with strength in the global peers contributed to the rise on the benchmarks.

 

However, the upside is capped as caution prevails ahead of the F&O expiry of the July series due today meanwhile taking into account the Federal Reserve statement that hinted strongly that it may raise interest rates in September on the back of improvement in the labour market.

At 12:15 PM, the Sensex was at 27,816, higher by 253 points and Nifty was at 8,450, up 75 points.

The rally on the bourses is led by financials and FMCG majors. HDFC, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ITC and HUL are trading higher between 1-3%. The largest gainer on the Sensex is Cipla which has climbed 4% after its partner Sandoz received a USFDA nod to launch a generic version of Pulmicort respules (budesonide). 

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(updated at 10:30 am)

The markets have strengthened further in mid-morning trades on July F&O expiry day on the back of a slew of positive news on the domestic and global fronts. While the Union Cabinet's nod to amendments to the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill, approval of a new consumer protection and establishment of a  National Investment and Infrastructure Fund worth Rs 20,000 crore have been the domestic triggers for this morning's upmove, the Fed's status-quoistic approach vis-a-vis interest rates and optimistic economic projections are the global factors that have cheered the market participants.

At 10.30am, the Sensex was at 27,790, higher by 227 points or 0.8% and Nifty was at 8,437, up 62 points. In the broader markets, the midcap and smallcap indices have gained 1% each at 11,187 and 11,735 respectively. The BSE market breadth is strong, with 1567 advancing stocks as against 577 declines.

The Nifty futures are trading at a discount of 5 points at 8,433 and the Nifty VIX has declined by 3.5% at 15.30 ahead of the the July derivatives series expiry.

On the earnings front, ITC, NTPC, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDFC, HCC, Glenmark Pharma, Colgate-Palmolive are some of the prominent names which are likely to announce their results today.

RUPEE

The  rupee has opened lower by 5 paise at 63.96 per dollar this morning against a close of 63.91 in the previous session.

SECTORS AND STOCKS

All the BSE sectoral indices are in the green, with auto, FMCG and pharma being top sectoral gainers on the BSE. Cipla, Bharti Airtel and HDFC are the top gainers among the Sensex-50 stocks, while Sun Pharma, GAIL and TCS are bucking the strong trend. And index heavyweight ITC has also edged lower ahead of its Q1 numbers.

Logistic companies have surged on the bourses after the Union Cabinet cleared important changes to the government's constitutional amendment Bill on the proposed national goods and services tax (GST). Gati surged 8% to Rs 204, while Patel Integrated Logistics (8% at Rs 108), Blue Dart Express (up 7% at Rs 6,977), Snowman Logistics (4% at Rs 112) and Transport Corporation of India (3% at Rs 266), Container Corporation of India (3% at Rs 1,665) were the other substantial gainers on the BSE.

In results impact, Navin Fluorine International has surged 9% to Rs 1,265, also its record high on the BSE, after the company's net profit more than doubled at Rs 18.15 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 (Q1).

NIIT is locked at the upper circuit of 10% at Rs 80.95, extending its over 40% rally in past nine trading sessions on the BSE, after the company posted a consolidated net profit at Rs 15 crore in the April-June quarter (Q1) against Rs 60 lakh in the same quarter a year ago.

Nestle has bounced back from intra-day lows and is now trading flat at Rs 6156 after posting a net loss of Rs 64.4 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 compared to net profit of Rs 287.crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 in wake of the ban of its Maggi noodles brand,

Vedanta has gained 0.6% at Rs 131 after reporting first quarter adjusted net profit of Rs 865.94 crore, down 35% from Rs 1341.23 crore posted in the same quarter previous year.

JSW Steel has gained 2.7% at Rs 835 after reporting a consolidated net loss of Rs 107 crore in the quarter ended June, against a net profit of Rs 656 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Castrol India is trading flat at Rs 506 after reporting a 48.31% rise in its net profit at Rs 184.5 crore for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Allahabad Bank has edged lower by 0.5% at Rs 87 after reporting a 30% year-on-year rise in net profit for this quarter at Rs 147 crore, as against Rs 113 crore in the year-ago period.