Indian shares are trading moderately higher on Tuesday, as investors hunted for bargains after five straight days of losses. U.S. crude futures extended losses, dropping towards $94 a barrel this morning and the Reserve Bank of India is believed to have intervened in the forex market to check rupee volatility, offering some support to battered stocks.
Markets across Asia are trading mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei average and South Korea's Kospi index falling over a percent each, as growing fears that Greece could leave the euro zone and concerns about slowing Chinese growth increased risk aversion.
The benchmark Sensex and the broader Nifty index are currently up around 0.2 percent each, while the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes are down 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. Capital goods and IT stocks are moving up, while auto, realty and consumer durable stocks are subdued.
Gujarat NRE Coke is moving up 1.5 percent after its board approved a proposal to issue 5 crore warrants to promoters on a preferential basis. State-run oil retailers like BPCL and IOC are gaining around a percent each as Brent crude futures fell towards $111 a barrel on worries over Europe's escalating debt crisis.
Aarey Drugs & Pharmaceuticals is climbing 7 percent as it proposed to consider a bonus issue at a board meet to be held on May 18. Bajaj Hindusthan is gaining a percent after its shareholders approved a proposal to fund investments in the power sector. BHEL is adding 0.6 percent on winning a Rs.380-crore order for setting up a 160MW gas- based plant in Rajasthan.
Unitech is declining 2.5 percent ahead of its quarterly results today. HCL Technologies is losing a percent as the IT services company appointed its current chief executive Vineet Nayar in an additional role of Joint MD for a period of 5 years from May 15.
Ashok Leyland is tumbling 3.3 percent on posting disappointing Q4 earnings. TBZ is moving down 1.6 percent. The company in a filing to the BSE said that HSBC Global Investment Funds has bought a 9.16 percent stake in the jewelery retailer at Rs.120 a share through public issue.
Bajaj Auto is down 0.7 percent after launching the 'Discover 125 ST" bike that will be available in the market by end-June. Jain Irrigation Systems is losing 1.5 percent after the firm signed a pact to acquire the remaining 50 percent stake in the joint venture firm NaanDanJain Irrigation.
Indian shares extended recent losses on Monday, with the BSE Sensex and the Nifty falling around half a percent each, after government data showed India's headline inflation accelerated to 7.23 percent in April, making it difficult for the RBI to moderate monetary policy.
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