Nifty holds 8,150 mark; Coal India, Sun Pharma top gainers

Benchmark indices are trading firm amid choppy trades aided by metal, capital goods and defensive sectors like pharma and FMCG. However, the upside is capped due to selling pressure among financials and index heavyweight shares like ITC and RIL.

At 13:08 PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 139 points at 26,949 and the 50-share Nifty gained 40 points at 8,171.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.5-0.6%. The market breadth is positive. Out of 2,510 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1,439 advancing stocks as against 956 declines.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth a net Rs 511.90 crore on yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

On the economy front, OPEC is expected to keep its production target of 30 million barrels of oil per day unchanged at a meeting scheduled in Vienna today, 5 June 2015. The OPEC meeting is being closely watched for clues about the organization's next moves.

The rupee snapped its three-day losing streak against the American currency, recovering by six paise to 63.94 per dollar on fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters in view of good foreign capital inflows.

BSE Metal index has surged over 2% followed by counters like FMCG, Healthcare, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables and Power, all gaining by over 1% each. However, sectors like IT, Realty, Capital Goods and Banks are trading in negative zone.

Coal India is the top Sensex gainer, up over 4% after production of the company in May rose by about 13% as against the corresponding period previous year.

Shares of healthcare companies have gained in today’s trade with drug maker Sun Pharma soaring over 3% on the BSE after the shareholders gave a nod to the merger of Sun Pharma Global with company.

Other notable gainers include GAIL, NTPC, Wipro, HUL, M&M and L&T.

TCS is down around 1% on turning ex-dividend today for final dividend of Rs 24 per share for the year ended 31 March 2015.

Among other losers, Tata Motors, HDFC, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have slipped between 0.3-2%.

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)

ITC Limited

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)