Indian shares are trading in a range-bound manner on Wednesday, tracking a weaker rupee which lost its initial gains in tandem with the euro ahead of Bank of England and European Central Bank monetary policy meetings tomorrow. Other Asian markets are posting modest gains, with commodity-related stocks pacing the gainers after crude prices shot up overnight.
The benchmark BSE Sensex is up 37 points or 0.21 percent at 17,462, while the broader Nifty index is rising by 11 points or 0.21 percent to 5,298.
Maruti Suzuki , Gail India, BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, HDFC and SBI are among the prominent gainers in the Sensex pack, with gains ranging between 0.5 percent and 1.5 percent.
Hero MotoCorp is moving up 0.9 percent on launching a 125 cubic-centimeter motorcycle named Ignitor. Gujarat Pipavav Port is adding 0.9 percent on fund raising reports. Berger Paints India is rallying 2 percent amid reports that it is eyeing acquisitions in India and abroad.
Steel Strips Wheels is climbing 3.5 percent after reporting a 14 percent increase in June quarter sales. Ashok Leyland is rallying 3 percent after reporting a 28 percent rise in June commercial vehicle sales.
KEC International is up a modest 0.3 percent as it commenced commercial production of high tension cables at its green-field facility in Vadodara, Gujarat.
Hindustan Unilever is losing 1.2 percent on going ex-dividend. State-run oil retailers like BPCL, HPCL and IOC are down between 0.4 percent and 1.3 percent after crude futures rose 4.7 percent overnight on escalating Iranian tensions as well as stimulus hopes.
Indian shares ended off their day's highs on Tuesday, although market undertone remained bullish following recent clarifications from the finance ministry on contentious tax proposals. Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty briefly dipped into the red before rebounding to close up about 0.2 percent each.
by RTT Staff Writer
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