Mid-market commentary Aug 08

Indian markets opened with a gap up at an all time high but witnessed range bound volatility ahead of the RBI policy review. Moreover, GST will be back in Lok Sabha where P.M. Narendra Modi is expected to speak. Nifty has sustained 8710; while Sensex has hit above 28150 levels with marginal gains. Broader markets have outperformed with nearly 0.7 per cent gains.

Following stronger Asian markets specifically Nikkei225, European markets too have opened on a positive note and are marginally up.

Barring the Energy sector that gained 1.3 per cent driven by HPCL and BPCL gaining 4 per cent each, all other sectors remain marginally up. In the Nifty 50 BPCL and Hindalco have surged the most with 4 per cent plus gains. BHEL, Tata Motors and Bosch follow with 1.7 per cent plus gains. Telcos on the other hand have witnessed a downfall with Idea Cellular leading the move with 3 per cent losses. Bharti Airtel, Infratel and Sun Pharma follow with 1 per cent and more losses.

Nifty is trading at new highs. If Nifty sustains above 8710-8715, we can expect some more upside where we hold 8760 followed by 8845 as the next resistance directly. On the contrary 8690-8620 will act as the major supports.

Stocks to watch:

Tata Coffee: Tata Coffee's shares have surged more than 14 per cent on posting 137 per cent jump in Q1FY17 net profits. As a repercussion the stock has hit new 52 week high at 131 levels.

Wockhardt: The shares of Wockhardt have tumbled more than 14 per cent after the company got import alert from USFDA for its Ankleshwar plant. The company has initiated steps to address the concerns raised.

Balrampur Chini/ Triveni/Shree Renuka: The stocks of Balrampur Chini, Triveni, Shree Renuka have retreated after sugar prices moved down by 0.83 per cent to 3682 per quintal in futures trading.

HDFC: The boards of HDFC Life and Max Life Insurance are likely to approve the new scheme of the merger on Aug 8. The stock of HDFC is up 1.2 per cent.

HPCL: HPCL has surged more than 4 per cent after RBI allowed foreign investors to hike their stake in the company up to 40 per cent under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS).