Mumbai: After hitting fresh all-time highs, the key indices Sensex and the Nifty50 eased a bit and are moving in a slightly tight band for more than an hour now.
At 30,186.59, slightly off a new high of 30,207.13, the Sensex is up 250.34 points or 0.84% from its previous close. The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange, which rose to 9392.50, is now at 9384.55 with a gain of 67.70 points or 0.7%.
Bharti Airtel is trading firm, bouncing back from a weak start. The stock is currently up 3.5%. The telecom major, which reported a sharp 72% decline in net profit in the fourth quarter, blamed predatory pricing by Reliance Jio Infocomm for the drop in earnings. Bharti Airtel posted net profit of Rs 373 crore in the January - March 2017 quarter, its smallest in about 16 quarters. Net profit in the October-December quarter was nearly Rs 504 crore. Revenue declined more than 12% to Rs 21,935 crore from a year earlier due to a sharp drop in data and voice rates.
Hindustan Unilever (up nearly 4%), HDFC (2.3%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (2.1%) are up sharply. Cipla and Lupin are higher by about 1.5%. Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and ITC are also notably higher.
Aurobindo Pharma, up 4%, is the top gainer in the Nifty50 index. Eicher Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Tech Mahindra are up 1.2% - 2.3%.
UltraTech Cement is declining 1.7%. Indian Oil Corporation, ACC, Yes Bank, Grasim Industries and HCL Technologies are lower by 0.6% - 1%.
Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro are down 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively. Infosys, faring slightly better, is down by about 0.6%.
Natco Pharma is trading modestly higher. The company announced today that it has launched Pomalid, first generic version of pomalidomide capsules,for treatment of a specific blood cancer, in India.
Aurionpro Solutions Limited has informed the stock exchanges that the Board of Directors of the Company at their meeting held on May 09, 2017, approved the Scheme of Arrangement for the demerger of some of its non-core business divisions into its wholly owned subsidiary Trejhara Solutions Limited subject to the receipt of the requisite approvals under the applicable laws. Aurionpro Solutions is currently trading 3.5% up.
Blue Star's Consolidated total income in the year ended March 2017 grew 22% to Rs 4459 crores on a comparable basis, the company announced. The stock rose to Rs 722 earlier in the session and is currently trading at Rs 705.30, up just marginally from previous close.
