Sensex holds on to early gains

After starting off with a positive bias, markets are trading in a narrow range holding on to the early gains. Cues from the Asian markets are also quite encouraging, the Nikkei index in Japan was up by 0.8% and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong has gained 1.7%.

The PSU, Realty and the Metals stocks are in momentum. On the other hand, FMCG stocks are witnessing some offloading.

Among the 30-components of Sensex, 25 are in the green and only 5 are in the negative terrain. Reliance Industries, SBI, L&T, HDFC and ICICI Bank are among the major gainers. While, Hindustan Unilever, ITC and BHEL are among the major laggards.

At 12:12 pm (IST), the BSE 30-share Sensex gained 173 points at 16,233 and the NSE Nifty surged 51 points at 4,816.

Shares of Axis Bank have gained by 2% to Rs934. The bank announced special home loan scheme under which the interest rate for the first year will be 8%. There will be floating rate for the remaining tenure and has also extended maturity of loans to 25 years.

The stock opened at Rs921 and made an intra-day high of Rs939 and a low of Rs921. Total traded volumes stood at 0.5mn shares.

Shares of PNB have gained by 2.5% to Rs885 after reports stated that the bank has cut the interest rate on auto loans by 50 bps and announced a waiver of processing and documentation fees.

The stock opened at Rs868 and made an intra-day high of Rs889 and a low of Rs864. Total traded volumes stood at 0.26mn shares.

Aurobindo Pharma receives USFDA nod for Lamotrigine Tablets. Shares of Aurobindo Pharma have surged by over 3.5% to Rs833.  The stock opened at Rs810 and made an intra-day high of Rs839 and a low of Rs810. Total traded volumes stood at 75,000 shares.