The S&P BSE Sensesx and NSE Nifty 50 Indexes came off intraday highs but held on to gains paced by gains in Infosys, Yes Bank, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's Labs and Kotak Mahindra Bank. However, the upside was capped as Indiabulls Housing Finance, State Bank of India, Vedanta and Hero MotoCorp came under selling pressure. As of 10:43 am, the Sensex traded 0.2 per cent or 77 points higher at 38,813 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced 0.07 per cent or 8 points to 11,561.
Eight of 11 sector gauges compiled by National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty PSU Bank Index's 2.5 per cent decline. Metal, Media, FMCG and Bank sector gauges also dropped between 0.5 and 1.3 per cent each.
On the other hand, Nifty IT Index was top gainer, up 1.6 per cent.
Mid- and small-cap shares were also facing selling pressure as the Nifty Midcap 100 Index fell 1.07 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 Index declined 0.52 per cent.
Indiabulls Housing Finance was top loser in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock fell 3.57 per cent to Rs 642.15. Vedanta, Titan, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Zee Entertainment, Hindalco, Axis Bank, JSW Steel and Larsen & Toubro were also among the laggards.
On the flipside, Infosys was top gainer, the stock rose 5.6 per cent to Rs 767 after its earnings in June quarter surpassed average earnings estimates compiled by Reuters.
Yes Bank, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors were also among the gainers.
Among the individual shares, Allahabad Bank sank as much as 14.53 per cent, its worst daily drop since Nov. 13, after the state-owned bank said it detected a fraud worth Rs 1,774.82 crore in accounts of bankrupt steelmaker Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd.
Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) dropped as much as 29 per cent to record low of Rs 48.60 after it reported a net loss of Rs 2,223 crore during the quarter compared with a profit of Rs. 134 crore in the same period a year earlier and warned that its financial situation was so grim that it may not survive.
The overall market breadth was negative as 1,145 shares were declining while 776 were advancing on BSE.
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