Benchmark stock indices opened with gains on Tuesday, led by metal and oil stocks even as select stocks hit new 52-week high in morning trade. The BSE Sensex was trading 218 points higher at 26,568 at around 12.45 pm. Top Sensex gainers were Maruti Suzuki, GAIL (India), Mahindra, Asian Paints and Coal India.
The Indian rupee opened 3 paise higher at 68.73 to the US dollar. "The intra-day range is seen between 68.60-68.90 levels," IFA Global said in a note.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) shares hit a fresh year-high of Rs 485.95 apiece, Bharat Electronics Ltd. touched Rs 1,426.75 and Engineers India breached Rs 297.90.
Tata Steel was up 1.23 percent at Rs 412.10 after hitting an intraday high of Rs 417 on decision to sell its Speciality Steels business to Liberty House Group for an enterprise value of £100 million. The business employs about 1,700 people and makes steel for aerospace, automotive and oil & gas industries, the company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
The State Bank of India (SBI) shares were trading at Rs 255.20 apiece, a marginal gain of 0.63 percent, at around 12.45 pm. One of the battered stocks due to bad loan woes, the stock has gained about 24.5 percent in the last six months, from its June 1 closing of Rs 204.85.
"SBI ranked seventh in the league table of the companies with highest market capitalization. It was not a part of the 10 most-valued companies list at the beginning of the year because of bad loans concerns and decaying sentiment towards public sector bank (PSB) stocks," brokerage Dynamic Levels said in a note on Tuesday.
Bond prices are falling over the past few weeks in view of the volatility in the market.
"India sovereign bonds slid most in fifteen months after RBI told lenders over the weekend to set aside more deposits as reserves in a bid to temper excess banking liquidity. Yield on 6.97% govt bond due September 2026 rose 9bps to 6.32 percent, the most for a 10-year bond since Aug. 24, 2015," Geojit BNP Paribas said on Tuesday.
India Q2 gross domestic product data is due for release on Wednesday.
