Indian shares are moving sideways in early trading on Tuesday, as caution crept in following recent steep gains and amid weak global cues. FMCG, IT and healthcare stocks are posting modest gains after yesterday's losses, while oil/gas, capital goods, metal, auto and realty stocks are subdued.
Trading in a narrow range, the BSE Sensex is currently up 4 points or 0.02 percent at 18,546, while the broader Nifty index is up 2 points or 0.04 percent at 5,612. Second-line stocks are extending gains, lifting the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes up about 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. The market breadth remains fairly positive, with gainers outpacing declining ones by 1141 to 666 shares on the BSE.
Reliance Infrastructure is gaining 1.7 percent after its subsidiary, Reliance Cement, commercially launched its product, marking its entry into the commercial cement market.
Tech Mahindra is adding 1.4 percent as it bought a 51 percent stake in Comviva Technologies, a Bharti Group-owned mobile value-added services provider, for Rs 260 crore.
Alstom T&D India is rallying 4.5 percent after its promoter Alstom Holdings announced an open offer to buy 6.21 crore shares of the Indian company at Rs 187.64 per share.
Asian Oilfield Services is climbing 4.2 percent on winning a new order worth around Rs. 32 crore from Geo Enpro Petroleum for carrying out seismic data acquisition and processing in their operational block in Kharsang, Arunachal Pradesh.
Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri is up 1.3 percent after foraying into East India. Selan Exploration Technology is climbing 3.8 percent after its board approved a share buyback at a price not exceeding Rs.350/- a share.
Coal India is losing a percent ahead of a board meet today to discuss a modified fuel supply agreement.
Hindalco is moving down 1.4 percent and Tata Power is little changed after an inter-ministerial group reviewing coal block allocations has recommended that the bank guarantees furnished by the companies for developing a coal block in Jharkhand be forfeited. Separately, Hindalco said it has raised Rs 9,896 crore to fund its aluminum project in Odisha.
Indian shares pared early gains on Monday after the Reserve Bank of India in its mid-quarter monetary policy review left interest rates unchanged but lowered the cash reserve ratio for banks by 25 basis points, walking a delicate tightrope between growth and inflation.
Notwithstanding the volatility, the benchmark 30-share Sensex ended the session up 78 points or 0.42 percent at 18,542, a fresh 14-month closing high, while the broader Nifty index rose by 32 points or 0.58 percent to 5,610.
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