Nifty regains 8,900-mark; auto stocks in focus ahead of sales data

Domestic markets on Wednesday opened positive with Nifty regaining its 8,900-mark after strong GDP data released on Tuesday. 

Sensex was trading at 28,881.23, up 137.91 points or 0.48%, while Nifty was at 8917.35 higher by 37.75 points or 0.43%.

Top gainers on BSE were - Hero Motorcop at Rs 3180 per piece (1.44%), Axis Bank at Rs 513 per piece (1.35%), Power Grid at Rs 194.30 per piece (1.20%), ONGC at Rs 195.35 per piece (1.01%) and Maruti Suzuki at Rs 5980 per piece (0.96%). 

Other gainers were - Coal India (Rs 324.75 per piece), Tata Steel (Rs 486.50 per piece), Bajaj Auto (Rs 2780 per piece), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 1481.05 per piece), Cipla (Rs 587.30 per piece), Housing Development Finance Corp (Rs 1379.50 per piece), State Bank of India (Rs 271.05 per piece) and Infosys (Rs 1018.75 per piece) trading positive in the range of 0.50%-0.90%. 

Tata Motors was the top loser trading at Rs 453.10 per share down 0.67%, followed by Bharti Airtel at Rs 363.40 per piece below 0.48% and M&M at Rs 1304.85 per piece lower by 0.15%

Analysts had expected demonetisation to hit India's third quarter ended December 31, 2016 GDP growth hard but that has not been the case. 

Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation in a statement said that India's GDP growth for October-December 2016 stood at 7.0% at constant prices GDP growth in second quarter stood at 7.4%, 7.2% in the first quarter. 

Analysts at HDFC Securities said, "Domestic market could react to better GDP numbers, along with auto sales data that is set to be released today. Realty and Metal is expected to trade in positive zone, while Auto and FMCG sectors are likely to trade in the negative zone. Crucial support for Nifty is at 8850 level, while strong immediate resistance is at 8950."

On Tuesday, BSE Sensex closed at 28,743.32, down 69.56 points or 0.24%, while, NSE Nifty ended at 8,879.60, down 17.10 points or 0.19%.

India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI data is set to be released today for the month of February. In January, it rose to 50.4 from December's 49.6 on the back of rising order books. It returned back to above 50 growth zone after declining due to demonetisation. 

Stocks in focus:

Automobile stocks: Automobile companies are set to release their monthly sales data today. The shares of automobile companies will be in focus.

Reliance Infrastructure: Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure believes that defence sector provides it with an opportunity that will make it its leading business vertical.  

In a BSE filing, Reliance Infra said, “The company is committed to develop a robust defence business contributing significantly to the national security and to be self-reliant in defence segment. It is confident in becoming one of the leading defence companies in India.”

Tata Teleservices: Tata Teleservices shares on Tuesday surged 20%. Tata Sons and Japan's NTT Docomo have reached an agreement to settle its long standing dispute on the payment of $1.18 billion to the latter. 

Tata Sons, in a statement said, "Tata Sons is pleased to announce that in the interests of putting an end to a dispute that had arisen with NTT DOCOMO, Japan, and in the larger national interest of preserving a fair investment environment in India, it has reached an agreement with NTT DOCOMO on a joint approach to enable enforcement of the 22nd June, 2016, London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) award."

Wipro: On Tuesday, Wipro offered a new IoT-based solution for wind parks and wind turbine manufacturers that leverages the Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Windpark Manager 4.0. 

"This solution will deliver higher outputs of usable energy while making a positive environmental and societal impact," Jayraj Nair, Vice President and Global Head of Internet-of-Things, Wipro Limited, said in a statement. 

On global front, the dollar and Treasury yields jumped on Wednesday after Federal Reserve officials jolted traders by suggesting an interest rate rise may be imminent even as markets remained on tenterhooks ahead of a looming speech by US President Donald Trump, a Reuters report said.

Stock markets in Asia were also pulled lower, with MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan off almost 0.3% in early trade. Japan`s Nikkei soared 1.1%, buoyed by a weaker yen, the report added.