Sensex, Nifty hold early gains amid choppy trade

Indian equity markets holding early gains and moving in tight range in late morning session amid alternate bouts of buying and selling across the board. The BSE benchmark was up 50 points, while the NSE benchmark rose 13 points. However, investors were trading cautiously on hopes that government will take some initiatives to limit economic slowdown. In currency markets, Indian rupee opened stronger against dollar on the back of dollar selling by banks and exporters. On sectoral front power, capital goods, metal and PSU stocks were trading in green. FMCG, consumer durables and healthcare stocks were trading mixed, while realty, automobile and banking stocks were trading in red. On the global front, most of the Asian markets were flat. Back home, the market breadth favoring positive trend; there were 1,380 shares on the gaining side against 883 shares on the losing side while 125 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,018.68 up by 50.92 points or 0.30% after trading as high as 17,027.83 and as low as 16,982.85. There were 21 stocks advancing against 8 declines and one remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap index advanced 0.52% and Small cap index added 0.49%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Power up 0.89%, Capital Goods up 0.54%, PSU up 0.47%, Metal up 0.47% and FMCG up 0.42% were the major gainers, while Realty down 0.19%, Bankex down 0.10% and Auto down 0.04% were top losers on the sectoral space.

Tata Power up 1.69%, NTPC up 1.42%, Mahindra & Mahindra up 1.15%, BHEL up 1.07% and Infosys up 0.97% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Tata Motors down 1.19%, Gail India down 0.72%, TCS down 0.42%, HUL down 0.41% and SBI down 0.26% were the major losers on the index.

Meanwhile, Indian Railways have earned a profit of Rs 3,281.74 crore from June 11-20 this year, indicating an increase of nearly 23.16% over the same period in the last year. The income generated from goods has increased by Rs 2,330.99 crore starting June 11-20, 2012 from Rs 1,800.83 in the preceding year resulting in an increase of 29.44%.

Earnings from passenger train was Rs 835 crore up from Rs 756.92 crore during the same period showing an increase in 10.32%. Apart from the regular earnings, income generated from coaching amounted to Rs 81.16 crore from that of Rs 71.29 in the last year indicating an increase of 13.84% from previous year. 

The number of passenger booked during June 11-20 was 254.76 million, which increased from 232.49 million indicating an increase of 9.58% from that of last year around the same time. In the sub-urban and non-suburban sectors the number of passengers booked was 139.46 million and 115.30 million compared to that of 122.30 million and 110.19 million, during the same period last year, registering an increase of 14.03% and 4.64% respectively.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,155.00, higher by 13.10 points or 0.25% after trading as high as 5,159.00 and as low as 5,145.75. There were 34 stocks advancing against 15 declines and one remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were JP Associates up 1.66%, Siemens up 1.58%, Ambuja Cement up 1.53%, NTPC up 1.52% and Tata Power up 1.43%.

IDFC down 2.51%, Axis Bank down 2.49%, HCL Tech down 1.66%, Tata Motors down 1.23% and Gail down 0.92% were the major losers on the index.

In the Asian space, Hang Seng rose 0.15%, Nikkei 225 surged 1.56%, Straits Times Index climbed 0.73% and KOSPI Composite Index inched up 0.15%. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite eased 0.14% Jakarta Composite shed 0.27%, KLSE Composite fell 0.32% and Taiwan Weighted down 0.19%.