Sensex flat in choppy trade; tech stocks, Reliance Industries fall

At 10.50 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex traded at 18,820.29, up 75.36 points, while the 50-share NSE Nifty was at 5,717.15, a gain of 28.20 points.

 

Infosys fell 0.48 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was down 1.19 per cent, and Wipro fell 0.54 per cent.

 

TCS, the country's largest software service provider, is set to report fourth quarter earnings after market hours today.

 

However, shares in HCL Technologies rose as much as 6 per cent before paring their gains to trade 1.53 per cent higher after its January-March net profit beat analysts' estimates. India's fourth largest software service provider reported a robust 73 per cent jump in its net profit for the third quarter before market hours today, beating analyst estimates.

 

State Bank of India rose 2.6 per cent after reports that the bank will revive a plan to merge its associate banks with itself. Associate banks State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur and State Bank of Travancore gained more than 2 per cent on the report.

 

Reliance Industries which reported in line fourth quarter results after market hours on Tuesday fell on a 1.4 per cent drop in sales. The company posted a 32 per cent jump in its fourth quarter net profit, the biggest increase in almost three years, as strong margins in its oil refining business helped offset fall in natural gas production.

 

On the Sensex, the top gainers included State Bank of India (2.68 per cent), Coal India (2.15 per cent), Sterlite Industries (2.06 per cent), ICICI Bank (1.92 per cent),  and Sun Pharma (1.79 per cent). The losers included Reliance Industries (2.05 per cent),  TCS (1.33 per cent), Dr Reddy's Labs (1.02 per cent), Wipro (0.54 per cent), Bharti Airtel (0.26 per cent).

 

Rising hopes of rate cuts following a sharp slowdown in the headline inflation and a slump in international gold prices sent the Sensex nearly 400 points higher on Tuesday, while the Nifty ended above its 200 day moving average, considered a long-term support for the markets.

 

Asian shares and commodities too recovered on Wednesday as a sharp sell-off over the past two sessions lured bargain hunters, with sentiment bolstered by positive American corporate earnings and data supporting the case for ongoing US monetary stimulus.

 

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 per cent after shedding as much as 1 per cent to come close its 2013 low.

 

Overnight, Wall Street jumped more than 1 per cent on Tuesday, a day after its worst decline since November.

 

With inputs from Reuters