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At 10AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 29 points at 28,679 and the 50-share Nifty was down 11 points at 8,704.
"The Modi government's push towards a hassle-free business environment in the country impressed Moody's to shift its outlook on Asia's No. 3 economy from stable to positive. India's Baa3 rating was affirmed and the outlook was revised from stable," Moody's said in a statement Thursday in Singapore.
Stocks in Focus
Healthcare, FMCG and Auto indices were among the top losers while Bankex, IT and Consumer Durables among others.
Healthcare stocks which had gained in the previous few sessions are witnessing profit taking as investors are eyeing stocks in the FMCG and IT sectors. Sun Pharma was down nearly 2%, Lupin dropped 2.8%. Cipla slipped 1.8% while Dr Reddy's Labs was trading 1.2% lower.
Mortgage lender HDFC was up 0.5% on hopes that lower interest rates would result in higher demand for home loans.
IT shares extended gains with TCS, Wipro and Infosys were up 0.3% each.
In the FMCG space, Hindustan Unilever was up nearly 2%
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries which has been witnessing buying interest in the past few sessions is also marginally up.
Bank shares firmed up on hopes that loan growth would pick up pace after most of them announced reduction in lending rates. ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI were up 0.3-1% each.
Among other shares, Rural Electrification Corporation was trading higher by 3% at Rs 341 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in early morning trade after the government’s Rs 1,500-crore share sale in power finance company received strong demand for the government's 5% stake sale.
In the broader market, BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.3% and the Small-cap index was up 0.5%.
Market breadth was positive with 996 gainers and 840 losers on the BSE.
Global Markets
Asian stocks are trading mixed with shares in Japan and Hong Kong hitting fresh multi-year highs. Japan's benchmark Nikkei was up 0.7% after hitting a 15-year high the previous day. Shares in Hong Kong also hit 7-year highs. The Hang Seng index has climbed 3.8% to its highest level since May 2008, boosted by strong buying from Chinese investors who used up the entire 10.5 billion yuan ($1.69 billion) daily investment quota in a cross-border program for the first time.
