Sensex, Nifty flat in noon trade, Power Grid top gainer

he NSE Nifty was down 0.10% or 10.65 points at 10,517.70, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 38.86 points or 0.11% down, at 34,266.57 at 12.35 pm.

business Updated: Apr 17, 2018 12:38 IST
The BSE Sensex had gained 1,286.36 points in the previous eight sessions.(Abhijit Bhatlekar/ Mint)

Indian shares were largely unchanged on Tuesday afternoon, after an eight-session winning run as gains in financials and utilities were offset by losses in information technology stocks.

The NSE Nifty was down 0.10% or 10.65 points at 10,517.70, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 38.86 points or 0.11% down, at 34,266.57 at 12.35 pm.

After two years of normal monsoons, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday predicted yet another year of normal rains.

Financial heavyweights such as Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd gained over 1% each while information technology stocks such as Wipro Ltd witnessed selling pressure.

Expectation of normal monsoon and a shift in government spending towards rural areas bodes well, Goldman Sachs said in a note, maintaining its FY19 real GDP growth forecast at 7.6%.

Another normal monsoon and the government’s focus on rural development implies that rural income levels could rise faster in FY19, CLSA said in a note, adding one of the key beneficiaries of this would be Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.

Shares of the automaker gained as much as 2.1% to hit a record high of Rs 818.8.

“There’s some secular buying taking place in the markets. Consumption theme, including retail and FMCG, are playing out very well after monsoon forecast,” said Krish Subramanyam, co-head and equity adviser at Altamount Capital.

Shares of PSU banks gained and the Nifty PSU Bank index looked set to halt a 4-session losing streak.

Power Grid Corp of India Ltd gained for a third straight session and was the top percenage gainer on both the indexes.

Shares of Nestle India Ltd, maker of Maggi instant noodles and Kit-Kat chocolates, rose as much as 2.2% to a record high after brokerages Goldman Sachs and CLSA raised their target prices.