Nifty, Sensex Pare Losses Led By Gains In HDFC Bank, L&T, Tata Motors: Midday Market Update

India's benchmark stock indices were trading off their intraday low through midday on Thursday, led by gains in HDFC Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., and Tata Motors Ltd., while financial services and fast moving consumer goods companies continued to weigh.

At 12:00 p.m., the Nifty 50 was trading 0.25%, or 61.20 points, lower at 24,352.30, and the Sensex fell 0.33%, or 279.5 points, to trade at 79,880.6.

"Profit taking is anticipated in the domestic stock market, although there could be continued specific actions in certain stocks," said Vikas Jain, head of research at Reliance Securities. ". The overall market direction will likely be influenced by quarterly earnings reports, activities of FIIs, and trends in global markets."

"For the last two weeks, we have been saying markets have been near the top and the risk-reward on the long side does not make sense," said Rahul Ghose, chief executive officer of Hedged.in. He has a bearish stance on the August index.

Shares of Axis Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Infosys Ltd., ITC Ltd., and Hindustan Unilever Ltd. were weighing on the Nifty.

While those of Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd., and Coal India Ltd. limited the losses in the index.

Most sectoral indices were trading lower with Nifty Metal losing the most. Nifty Oil & Gas was the top gainer.

Broader indices were trading mixed, with the BSE Midcap trading 0.23% higher and the BSE Smallcap trading flat through midday on Thursday.

On BSE, 10 sectoral indices fell and 10 rose. S&P BSE Oil & Gas was the top gainer.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of the buyers. As many as 2,003 stocks rose, 1,724 fell, and 127 remained unchanged on the BSE.