Indian shares edged higher on Tuesday as Asian markets recovered after an early fall on heightened fears about euro zone debt. FMCG, banking and metal stocks are among the prominent gainers, while capital goods, IT and healthcare stocks are subdued.
The benchmark 30-share Sensex is currently up 35 points or 0.21 percent at 16,913, while the broader Nifty index is up 11 points or 0.21 percent at 5,129. The BSE small-cap and mid-cap indexes are up about 0.1 percent each and the market breadth is slightly positive, with gainers outpacing decliners by 956 to 780 shares.
Maruti Suzuki is up 1.2 percent on bargain hunting following recent steep losses. Hindustan Unilever is up almost 4 percent after reporting a two-fold jump in first-quarter net profit.
Wipro is tumbling 4 percent as it forecast subdued IT service sales for the September quarter after posting an 18 percent rise in first-quarter net profit. Idea Celluar is losing 2.2 percent after it reported a marginal drop in quarterly profit sequentially.
State-run retailers BPCL, HPCL and IOC are trading in the red even as they hiked petrol prices by at least 70 paise per litre effective midnight. Allahabad Bank is declining 0.6 percent after revising interest rates on domestic term deposits.
Godrej Industries is down 1.7 percent after fixing the price band for a rights issue to institutional players. Tata Power is down modestly on going ex-dividend.
UltraTech Cement is up 0.7 percent after it signed a pact with Gotan Lime Stone Khanij Udyog to acquire 100 percent stake in the company. Sesa Goa is gaining 0.6 percent and Jindal Steel & Power is up a modest 0.2 percent ahead of their quarterly results today.
Cairn India is rising 1.3 percent on reporting a better-than-expected 40 percent jump in first-quarter net profit. Geometric is up 3.3 percent, extending the previous session's 13 percent rally on strong Q1 results. Tata Global Beverage is gaining 2.7 percent after announcing solid Q1 results.
Indian shares tumbled on Monday, in tandem with a weak trend across Asia and Europe as concerns that the European debt crisis is worsening dented investor sentiment. Domestic political uncertainty, a weaker rupee and reports that reforms like FDI in multi-brand retail may be delayed also weighed on the markets.
The benchmark BSE Sensex ended the session down about 280 points or 1.64 percent at 16,877, while the broader Nifty index fell by 87 points or 1.67 percent to 5,118.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News