Mumbai: Indian shares nudged up on Thursday, as gains in banks and pharma stocks offset losses in energy and IT counters, with software services exporter Wipro Ltd dragging the broader NSE index lower.
“It’s more of positivity in the markets today, unless any geopolitical news comes into play,” said Siddharth Sedani, head and vice president of equity advisory at Anand Rathi. Asian stocks meanwhile inched down from 10-year highs following a burst of Chinese data that was largely weaker than markets expected.
Here are the latest updates from the markets:
■ 2.45pm: BSE Sensex trades higher by 84 points, or 0.26%, to 32,271, while the Nifty 50 edges up 17 points, or 0.17%, to 10,096. The BSE healthcare index gains most and is up 1.94% followed by the power index, which rises 0.99%. Meanwhile, The BSE metal index drops 0.89%.
■ 2.40pm: Axis Bank stock gains most on the 30-share BSE index and is trading 4.14% up at Rs519.45 after Deutsche Bank upgraded the bank’s stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’, citing favourable risk-reward ratio.
■ 1.10pm: The pan-European STOXX 600 index drops 0.16% and Germany’s DAX is down 0.16%. UK’s FTSE falls 0.10% ahead of the Bank of England policy meeting later in the day.
■ 12.35pm: BSE Sensex trades higher by 28 points, or 0.09%, to 32,214, while the Nifty 50 edges up 2 points, or 0.02%, to 10,082. Axis Bank, Sun Pharma and Dr reddy’s Labs are major gainers, while Wipro, M&M and Kotak Bank are top losers.
■ 12.30pm: India’s wholesale price inflation rises to 3.24% from a year ago, its fastest pace in four months, driven by higher prices of food and fuel products, government data showed. Wholesale food prices in August rises 4.41% on year, compared with a 2.12% rise a month earlier.
■ 11.53am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 45 points, or 0.14%, to 32,232, while the Nifty 50 edges up 8 points, or 0.08%, to 10,088.
■ 11.48am: Wipro Ltd falls 5%, its biggest fall since November 2016, after the stock turned ex date for share buyback.
■ 11.45am: Axis Bank Ltd rises 3.1% to Rs 514.30 after brokerage firm Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to Buy and increased its target price to Rs 600 a share.
■ 11.40am: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd gain 3% to Rs 516.90. The stock gained for third sessions and advances nearly 10% in this period after brokerage firm Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to outperform from neutral. It also increased its target price to Rs 595 a share from Rs 490 a share.
■ 11.10am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 74 points, or 0.23%, to 32,260, while the Nifty 50 rises 34 points, or 0.34%, to 10,114.
■ 11.05am: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd jumped 8% to Rs 143.40 on reports that the company will make rolling stock for bullet trains for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe lay the foundation stone on Thursday.
■ 11.00am: Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd rose 5% to Rs 29.20 after the company said it has exited its corporate debt restructuring program. The stock gained over 100% in last three weeks
■ 10.22am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 102 points, or 0.32%, to 32,289, while the Nifty 50 rises 30 points, or 0.30%, to 10,110.
■ 10.17am: InterGlobe Aviation Ltd falls 1% to Rs1,186.55. The company will conduct a share sale to institutional investors on Friday that will raise for the company and its founders as much as Rs3,945 crore. The company set a price range on Wednesday of Rs1,125-1,175 a share for sale of up to 33.6 million shares, comprising of 22.4 million new shares and 11.2 million existing shares
■ 10.14am: Shares of Cyient Ltd trade 0.73% down at Rs522.05. Cyient said it has signed an agreement to sell its 49% stake in Infotech Aerospace Services Inc. (IASI) to Pratt & Whitney, a unit of US-based United Technologies Corp.
■ 9.30am: BSE Sensex opens higher by 89 points, or 0.28%, to 32,276, while the Nifty 50 rises 36 points, or 0.36%, to 10,106.
■ 9.27am: Oil marketing companies stocks are trading higher. Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd rises 4%, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd gains 3%, while Indian Oil Corp. Ltd advances 3.4%.
■ 9.25am: Reliance Communications Ltd falls 1.7% to Rs21.45 after the company said Sweden’s Ericsson has filed insolvency petitions against the telecom company and two of its subsidiaries before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai.
■ 9.22am: Pharma stocks are trading higher. Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd rises 3.2%, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd 1.4%, Lupin Ltd 1%, Cipla Ltd 1%, Divi’s Laboratories Ltd 3.4%, Strides Shasun Ltd 2.2%, Glenmark Pharma 2% and Aurobindo Pharma 1.7%.
■ 9.20am: Religare Enterprises Ltd adds 5% to Rs49. Stake held by SGGD Projects Development Pvt. and associated entities drops to 2.11% from 17.56% as lenders transferred the shares to themselves that were pledged as collateral by the investors.
■ 9.17am: Tata Chemicals Ltd rises 1.7% to Rs647 after the company said it is in talks with Indorama Holdings to sell its Haldia unit.
■ 9.15am: The rupee opens at 64.17 a dollar and touched a low of 64.18 — a level last seen on 7 September. At 9.15am, the rupee was trading at 64.14 a dollar, down 0.22% from its Wednesday’s close of 63.99.
■ 9.13am: The 10-year bond yield is at 6.595% compared to its previous close of 6.586%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
■ 9.10am: Asian currencies are trading lower ahead of key data on China’s economy and U.S. inflation that will offer a guide for global economic growth and central bank actions. U.S. consumer-price and China’s August industrial production data due on Thursday. South Korean won was down 0.4%, Philippines peso 0.31%, Indonesian rupiah 0.29%, Malaysian ringgit 0.18%, Taiwan dollar 0.16%, China renminbi 0.11%, China Offshore 0.06%. The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 92.463, down 0.07% from its previous close of 92.52.
With inputs from Reuters