Markets snap 2-day losing streak; Nifty ends above 8,400

IT shares like TCS, Infosys and Wipro gained by over 1% on the back of depreciating rupee.

Markets have closed marginally higher amid volatility led by buying among defensive sectors like pharma and IT shares.

However, selling pressure in select metal, auto and bank shares capped the upside gains. Investors have turned cautious ahead of the winter session of Parliament which begins next week and RBI's policy review due on December 2.

The 30-share Sensex ended higher 35 points at 28,068 while the Nifty gained 20 points at 8,402.

The broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices- BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap ended marginally negative.

The market breadth in BSE ended weak with 1,740 shares declining and 1,124 shares advancing.

The board of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday cleared big-bang market reforms, including a move to replace the two-decade-old insider-trading rules with the new prohibition of insider trading (PIT) regulations, and amending the existing delisting regulations.

Further, the coal ministry has issued draft guidelines for reallocation of coal mines cancelled by the Supreme Court, marking the duties of the authorities appointed to operate the ordinance issued.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 71.80 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Rupee

At 15:35, the rupee was trading at 62.02 vs Wednesday's close of 61.96/97.

The Indian unit had earlier fallen to as much as 62.22, the lowest level since Feb 20. It shed losses as custodian banks sold dollars for their foreign fund clients, according to traders.

Global markets

apanese stocks were steady on Thursday as a further weakening of the yen boosted market sentiment, but gains were limited as investors took profits on such recent performers such as SoftBank Corp.

The Nikkei benchmark ended 0.1% higher at 17,300.86, close to a seven-year peak hit last week.

The broader Topix added 0.1% to close at 1,397.64, remaining near an eight-year peak hit on Wednesday.

The Nikkei Index 400 also advanced 0.1% to 12,761.84. Hong Kong shares posted a fourth day of losses on Thursday since the launch of the landmark Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connector scheme. The Hang Seng Index unofficially closed down 0.1% at 23,349.64 points. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index ended flat at 10,379.43 points.

Sectors and Stocls

Defensive sectors like pharma and IT ended higher by over 1% each.

However, BSE Consumer Durables and Realty indices fell by almost 2% followed by counters like Power Auto, Metal and Capital Goods, all slumping by nearly 1%.

Cipla was the top Sensex gainer, up over 3% after the company agreed to market pediatric vaccines made by Serum Institute of India in Europe, in a move that marks India's fourth-largest drugmaker's entry into the vaccines space.

Shares of State Bank of India (SBI) ended higher by 2% at Rs 295 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the stock turned ex-stock split today.

The country’s largest public sector lender had subdivided the face value of its equity shares to Re 1 from Rs 10. IT shares like TCS, Infosys and Wipro gained by over 1% on the back of a depreciating rupee.

Emerging as one of the most-liked stocks for foreign funds, Infosys has seen overseas investors raising their stake in the company to a nine and half-year high of nearly 42.67 percent during the quarter ended September 2014.

The Coal Ministry yesterday issued much-awaited draft guidelines for e-auction of 74 coal blocks of the 200 odd coal blocks that had been cancelled by the Supreme Court. Out of these, 32 will be new blocks and 42 blocks are currently operational.

Two months earlier, the Supreme Court cancelled the allotment of 204 mines since 1993 terming them "arbitrary and illegal".

Tracking the positive news, metal and power shares are trading in the positive territory. Coal India, Hindalco and Tata Power ended in positive zone.

FMCG shares like ITC and HUL ended with marginal gains as falling inflation raised hopes of higher spending and margins.

On the losing side, Sesa Sterlite, BHEL, Bharti Airtel, M&M, NTPC and Tata Steel slipped between 1-2.5%. Mahindra & Mahindra was down over 1%.

Mahindra Group will now be able to sell its Australia-made airplanes in India, with the Civil Aviation Ministry approving its long-pending proposal after amending relevant rules.

Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki are trading with marginal gains. SMART MOVERS Shares of Ranbaxy Laboratories moved higher by 3% on back of heavy volumes.

Alok Industries gained over 5% on the BSE after the company decides to raise Rs 2,000 crore in the next two years by selling its Store 21, and well as land in Mumbai, Vapi and Silvassa. Bafna Pharmaceuticals surged around 8% on BSE extending its gains from Wednesday on rating upgrade by CRISIL.

Pokarna was locked in upper circuit for nine straight trading sessions, up 5% at Rs 580, also its record high on BSE.

Shemaroo Entertainment surged nearly 13% on back of heavy volumes. ITD Cementation India rallied 10% on NSE after the HDFC Mutual Fund bought 238,000 shares or 1.5% stake in the construction and engineering company via open market.

Shares of ING Vysya Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank rallied by up to 6% on the BSE on reports that Kotak Mahindra Bank in final stages to buy the bank.