Stock markets are trading a bit quiet on Tuesday after a 216-point rally the previous day catapulted the BSE Sensex to a two-year closing high of 29,048, apparently on expectations of a BJP win in Uttar Pradesh. Select stocks that hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday included ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), Bombay Dyeing and Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB).
The respective new 52-week highs for the stocks were: RIL at Rs 1,326.90, LVB Rs 170.85, Bombay Dyeing Rs 63.85 and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Rs 372.50.
At around 10.55 pm, the BSE Sensex was down 50 points to 28,998 after rising to the day's high of 29,098, while the NSE Nifty was trading 20 points lower at 8,944.
The seventh and last phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held for 40 seats in seven districts, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Varanasi constituency on Wednesday.
The rupee opened 5 paise higher at 66.67 to the US dollar.
Tech Mahindra acquisition
The company announced that it will be buying US-based CJS Solutions for $110 million. It will in two stages, an upfront payment of $89 million to acquire 84.7 percent stake and the subsequent portion to be acquired over three years. The stock was off from its day's high of Rs 509 and was trading at Rs 503, a gain of 0.74 percent.
Bharti Financial Inclusion slumps on Q4 guidance
Shares of the microfinance institution fell 5.9 percent in early trade to Rs 754 apiece after the company issued mid-quarter guidance. The stock later recovered and was trading at Rs 787 at around 11.05 am.
"Dues unpaid for more than eight weeks and accounts registering non-repayment over the past two weeks stood at 4.5% of the loan book, and 60% of it relates to dues from Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Maharashtra where collections have been impacted on account of waiver hopes based on political considerations," brokerage Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities said in a note on Tuesday.
FII/DII buying pattern on Monday
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs/FPIs) were net buyers of Indian equities worth Rs 561 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of stocks worth Rs 482 crore on Monday, according to provisional data released by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
