Indices gain further; PSU stocks in focus

Some buying activity is seen in capital goods, power, realty and oil & gas sectors, while FMCG and healthcare are showing some weakness

10:45AM: The BSE Sensex is trading up 165 points at 24,382, while S&P Nifty is trading up 50 points at 7,280. BSE Mid-cap is up 1.34% at 8,580, while BSE Small-cap is up 1.46% at 9,147. Some buying activity is seen in capital goods, power, realty and oil & gas sectors, while FMCG and healthcare are showing some weakness on BSE. L&T, Bharti Airtel, BHEL, Maruti Suzuki, Gail and Hindalco are among the gainers, whereas Sun Pharma, ITC, NTPC, M&M and TCS are losing sheen on BSE. India's HSBC May manufacturing PMI stood at 51.4 as against 51.3 in April. May data indicated that production volumes at Indian manufacturers continued to rise. Growth of both total new orders and new export business accelerated over the month, leading to further job creation across the sector. Up marginally from 51.3 in April to 51.4 in May, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) pointed to a slight improvement in operating conditions and one that was weaker than the series average. The RBI's bi-monthly policy review on June 3 will be the first after Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office on May 26. The RBI had kept the policy rate unchanged at 8% in its April 1 review as inflation, especially of food items, hovered at over 8%. Food inflation in April stood at 9.66% and retail inflation was at 8.59%. Stock news: Bajaj Auto total sales of vehicles for the month of May increased 4% to 3.51 lakh from 3.39 lakh in the samer period last year. The stock is trading up 0.99% on BSE. Hero MotoCorp, on Sunday reported an 8% increase in May sales at 6,02,481 units. The two-wheeler company had sold 5,57,890 units in the same month last year. The scrip is trading up 0.89% on BSE.