Sensex, Nifty Shed Some Gains After Bright Start

(RTTNews) - After opening on a firm note and climbing further up, Indian shares pared a significant portion of their gains and are modestly higher around mid morning on Wednesday.

The market started off on a firm note, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, and firm Asian markets amid slightly easing concerns over banking turmoil following coordinated steps taken by governments and central banks to rescue troubled U.S. and European banks.

Positive comments about growth by the Reserve Bank of India in its State of the Economy report contributed as well to the bright start.

The benchmark BSE Sensex, which climbed to 58,418.78 in early trades, gaining nearly 350 points in the process, is up 109.91 points or 0.19% at 58,184.59 now.

The broader Nifty 50 index of the National Stock Exchange is up 32.15 points or 0.19% at 17,139.65, nearly 70 points down from an early high of 17,207.25.

Bajaj Finserv, up 2.7%, is the biggest gainer in the Sensex. Bajaj Finance is gaining 2.2% and IndusInd Bank is up 1.8%.

Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, State Bank of India and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries are up 0.5 to 1%.

Tata Motors is up 0.75%. The automobile major said it is hiking the prices of its commercial vehicles by up to 5%, effective April 1, due to its efforts to comply with the more stringent BS6 Phase II emission norms.

HDFC Life is surging 2.1%. SBI Life is gaining nearly 2%, while Hindalco and Tata Consumer Products are up 1.8% and 1.7%, respectively.

Coal India and BPCL are down 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively. Cipla is lower by nearly 1%, while Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, NTPC, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank are down 0.4 to 0.8%.

Shares of Hindustan Zinc Ltd., are up 5% after the company announced a fourth interim dividend of Rs 26 per share. The company has fixed March 29 as the record data for the purpose of payment of the dividend.