Market extends budget day rally; Dr. Reddy's, Sunpharma top Sensex gainers

Nifty was oscillating in the positive and negative territory in the morning. Markets have shown an upward movement at the lunch hours of the trading session. It touched a high of 8757.25 levels, up by 40.85 points or 0.46%.

Nifty closed at 8734.25 levels, up by 17.85 points; while Sensex closed at 28226.61 levels, up by 84.97 points. Nifty and Sensex closed at four months’ closing high.  
All the indices except Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal opened in green in the morning with FMCG index leading the sectoral bunch on NSE. Heavyweight player in the FMCG, ITC Limited touched its new 52 week high in the morning hours.  
Divi’s Laboratories was in the limelight at closing hours. The stock touched its high of Rs 742.75 per share, up by Rs 49.05 per share or 7.07% in the last half hour of trading session. Other stocks from the Pharma sector, like Cadila Healthcare, Aurobindo Pharma and Dr. Reddy’s were also trading up by more than 3% each.

India VIX index closed at 13.52 levels, down by 3.22%. There were 905 advances, 723 declines and 283 unchanged stocks on NSE, reflecting strong positive bias floating in the market.

Broader markets rallied at closing hours. BSE Mid-cap index in the last half hour of trading, touched high of 13237.74 levels, up by 1.16%. BSE Small-cap index closed at 13278.62 levels, up by 125.48 points. BSE Midcap index closed at 13205.36 levels, up by 120.12 points or 0.92%.

Pharma and IT stocks lead the gains as market extends budget rally. TCS, Infosys & ITC are top contributors to the IT index.

Live Stock Market Update - Nifty hovering around crucial 8700 level; Vijaya Bank up by 19.93%

Nifty FMCG is leading the bunch of sectoral indices trading at 22573.40 levels up by 0.34%. Godrej Industries Limited is the top gainer from the Nifty FMCG index. The stock touched its new 52-week high of Rs 494 per share up by Rs 58.8 per share or 13.51%.

Following the reports of fall in sales of Tata Motors, its stock in Thursday’s session cracked 2.03% on the NSE. The company had announced the sales report on Wednesday. The total sales in January fell 1.5% to 46,349 units. Escorts Ltd posts excellent sales yet is down by 1.53% in Thursday’s session.

At 1:00 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28173.79 up by 32.15 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8715.65 down by 0.75 points. A total of 62 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 9 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

Kotak Mahindra Bank cracks, post RBI's notice to cut promoter's stake

Kotak Mahindra Bank is not having a good day on the bourses and is currently trading in the red. The stock has taken a toll as RBI has asked its promoter to cut his stake in the bank by 15% by March 31, 2020 in a phased manner.

As on December 31, 2016 the promoter, Uday Kotak holds 33.30% stake, out of which he will have to cut his holdings to 30% by June 2018; to 20% till December 2018; and to 15% by March 2020. According to the RBI norms, the promoters should be holding only 15% stake.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd is currently trading at Rs 772.05, down by Rs 3.55 or 0.46% from its previous closing of Rs 775.6 on the BSE Wednesday had cut its marginal cost-based loan rates by 15 bps.

Live Stock Market Update - Markets erase gains; Nifty below crucial 8700 level; ITC at its 52-w high

Nifty FMCG is the top gainer among the sectoral indices on NSE. ITC limited touched its new 52-week high on Thursday of Rs 279.90 per share up by Rs 10.2 per share or 3.78%.

Nifty Auto is showing weakness on NSE. Eros International Media Limited is top gainer in Nifty Media. The stock touched high of Rs 171.50 per share up by Rs 5.2 per share or 3.12%.

There are 809 advances, 742 declines and 357 stocks unchanged on NSE showing positive bias floating in the market.
 
At 12:00 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28092.40 down by 49.24 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8691.95 down by 24.45 points. A total of 57 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 7 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.41% at 1313138.99, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.36% at 13200.18.

Some buying activity is seen in Energy, FMCG and Healthcare, while Capital Goods, Realty and Metal are showing weakness on BSE.

Opening Bell - Markets open flat on a cautious note; ITC up by 2.69%

At 9:15 AM, the BSE Sensex opened higher by 26.19 points at 28167.83, while the Nifty50 opened higher by 8.35 points at the 8724.75 mark.

There are 766 advances, 570 declines and 411 unchanged stocks on NSE at the morning hours on Thursday’s trading session reflecting positive bias floating in the market.

The rupee opened at 67.44 per dollar.

The stocks of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Timken India, Godfrey Philips, HCC, AstraZeneca, Dr Lal Pathlabs, Marico and Godrej Properties will be in focus as they will report their Q3 earnings.

Indian equities staged a scintillating rally after the presentation of FY-18 budget on February 1. The rally was the biggest in the history of last twelve years. As Finance Minister Arun Jaitely concluded the Budget speech, market realised that no major changes were proposed in the capital market tax reform as was feared by the market participants. Nifty rallied from the day’s low level to close above the 8700-mark.