Mumbai: The Indian stock market is slightly higher Wednesday morning, with investors indulging in some buying in early trades, tracking fairly positive global cues and better-than-expected results from automobile major Tata Motors.
Expectations of good monsoon rains too contribute to the positive sentiment in the market. The Met department has predicted the onset of the monsoon in Kerala on May 30, but said the seasonal rainfall may arrive a day earlier.
The BSE benchmark Sensex is up 84.05 points or 0.28% at 30,449.30, after advancing to a high of 30,497.96. The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange, which rose to 9416.00, is now up 25.35 points or 0.26% at 9411.50.
In the forex market, the rupee opened at 64.91 against the U.S. dollar, down slightly from its previous close of 64.89.
Tata Motors rallied to Rs 473.35 in early trades and is currently at Rs 467.40, up 3.7% from its previous close. Tata Motors DVR is up nearly 4% at Rs 275.30. Tata Motors net profit in the fourth quarter, at Rs 4336 crore, was down 16.8% from its net profit of Rs 5211 crore in the year-ago quarter. Revenue declined 2.9% to Rs 77,272 crore in the January - March 2017 quarter. Losses at its Indian business partially offset a surge in sales at its British luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover. Tata Motors’ profit was still better than what the market had expected.
Bajaj Auto, Yes Bank, HDFC, Adani Ports, Indian Oil Corporation, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro are up 1% - 1.7%. Grasim Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Power, HDFC Bank and Power Grid Corporation are modestly higher.
Bank of Baroda, HCL Technologies, Asian Paints, Bharti Infratel, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Hindalco and Indiabulls Housing Finance are lower by 1% - 2%. ONGC, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Eicher Motors, ACC, UltraTech Cement and Bharti Airtel are also weak.
Voltas is up nearly 10% at Rs 445.60 on good results. Voltas reported a 22.06% jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 200.47 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31. It had posted a net profit of Rs 164.23 crore in the January-March quarter a year ago. Total income increased 10.2% to Rs 2096.86 crore in the January - March 2017 quarter.
