BSE Sensex sheds 150 pts; Infosys bucks trend, autos skid

Equity benchmarks extended losses Monday amid weak European cues, as investors preferred taking more profits out. From the last month, it has been seen that whenever the BSE Sensex tried to hold the 20000-level it has always seen profit booking.

Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com says today's market action is only confirming that the immediate trend is down. However, he expects the market to find some support sooner rather than later.

The Sensex slipped another 150 points, to close at 19610.48, after shedding 455 points in previous session. The Nifty lost 46.65 points, to end below 5950 level at 5,939.30.

Software services provider Infosys shares hogged the limelight after the company appointed NR Narayana Murthy as an executive chairman of the board.

Top lender State Bank of India and telecom operator Bharti Airtel also supported the market.

 Meanwhile, selling in oil & gas, auto, private financials and infrastructure stocks dragged the market down.

Shares of Maruti, Bajaj Auto , Hero Motocorp , ONGC , TCS , HDFC and Reliance dropped between 2-4 percent.

Sun Pharma plunged 2.7 percent after media reports that the company is in talks to buy Swedish drug-maker Meda.

Among midcaps, CRISIL surged 20 percent, after McGraw Hill Financial Inc offered to hike its stake in the domestic ratings agency to 75 percent from 52.77 percent.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated by 21 paise to 56.70 per dollar.

On the global front, European markets trimmed losses after more than one percent fall in an initial trade. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down around 0.4 percent, at the time of closing of Indian market.

4:00 pm Gainers of the day: Infosys remains to be the star of the day with a gain of 4.42 percent on the BSE while Jindal Steel closes up 2.2 percent.

3:55 pm Alert on gold: The Finance Ministry today said that the Government could take more steps to reduce gold imports, which may include banning the sale of yellow metal by banks, reports PTI.

''More steps will have to be taken to reduce gold imports. Export import policy on gold will have to be reviewed. May consider banning gold coins sale by banks,'' Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram told reporters here.

3:50 pm Management talk: State-owned Canara Bank expects an incremental provision of around Rs 400 crore during the April-June quarter this year on the back of revised restructuring guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India following Mahapatra Working Committee recommendations as well as general industry stress.

"Our projections overall are likely to go up not just because of this. We are somewhere getting some benefit of the overall restructuring guidelines. In some places, we have to make more provision and we are hoping our provisions to go up in June quarter by around Rs 300-400 crore," R K Dubey, chairman and managing director, Canara Bank told CNBC TV18 in an interview.

3:45 pm RBI announces clarifications on new bank licence rules. According to RBI, new licencees to get 18 months vs 12 months to implement licence. It says that non-banking finance companies (NBFC) must transfer all fin services biz to new company.

3:30 pm: The Sensex ends down 135.80 points at 19624.50, and the Nifty closes at 46.65 points at 5939.30 (provisional). About 1003 shares have advanced, 1296 shares declined, and 140 shares are unchanged.

03:27 pm Max India shares lost 1.5 percent amid large volumes. More than 5 lakh shares exchanged hands at Rs 210 a piece via block deal on National Stock Exchange.

Hero MotoCorp's total sales increased marginally to 5.57 lakh units in May from 5.56 lakh units reported in a year ago period.

03:25 pm Grounded carrier Kingfisher Airlines is no longer part of global carriers' alliance 'oneworld' which does not have any plans to induct any Indian carrier as of now, a PTI said, quoting top official today.

TTK Prestige fell 1 percent amid hefty volumes, after a block deal worth Rs 49.91 crore on Bombay Stock Exchange. 1.4 lakh equity shares changed hands at Rs 3,564.80 a piece via block deal.

03:20 pm Tecpro Systems crashed more than 6 percent, hitting a new 52-week low of Rs 64.35 despite getting order worth Rs 227 crore from Mahanadi Coalfields.

Sun Pharma shares fell 2.5 percent, after media reports that the company is in talks to buy Sweden's drug-maker Meda.

Suzlon Energy and Lanco Infratech, M&M Financial, Oil India , Britannia , Apollo Hospital , SCI , Motherson Sumi and Core Education fell 3.5-7 percent.

03:10 pm Oil & gas producers Reliance Industries and ONGC are down around 2 percent while country's largest private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank slipped 1-1.5 percent.

Two-wheeler majors Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto dropped 3-3.5 percent after poor sales numbers in May.

However, Mahindra & Mahindra rose 1 percent on increase in domestic sales in May. Tractor sales increased to 23,626 from 19,016 year-on-year.

03:00 pm Indian equity benchmarks trimmed losses in late trade following recovery in European markets.

The BSE Sensex is down 122.84 points or 0.62 percent at 19637.46, and the Nifty down 38.60 points or 0.64 percent at 5947.35.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India and telecom operator Bharti Airtel gained more than 1 percent while GAIL and Jindal Steel surged 2 percent.

2:50 pm Tractor sales update: Mahindra & Mahindra today said its tractor sales rose 24.24 per cent to 23,626 units in May 2013, as compared to 19,016 units in the same period of previous year.

The company's domestic sales of tractors grew 24.70 per cent, standing at 22,471 units during May 2013, as compared to 18,019 units in corresponding period previous year.

2:45 pm Monsoon update: Met Dept head says monsoon's northeast onset may be delayed by few more days, reports  Cogencis. Monsoon normally hits Northeast India on June 1.

2:25 pm Alert: TCS revises maximum salary limit of N Chandrasekaran MD and CEO from April 1, 2014. Maximum salary limit hiked from Rs 10 lakh/month to Rs 15 lakh per month, which is an upside of 50 percent. The move is taken into consideration increased business activities of company and additional responsibilities on MD.

2:20 pm Gold check: Gold prices rose Rs 36 or 0.11 percent to Rs 27,014 per 10 grams at the futures trade as speculators created fresh positions taking positive cues from the global market, reports PTI.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold for delivery in far-month August was up by Rs 36 or 0.11 per cent to Rs 27,014 per 10 gram in a business turnover of 1,431 lots.

Similarly, the metal for delivery in June moved up by Rs 9 or 0.03 per cent to Rs 26,820 per 10 gm in a turnover of 206 lots.

2:15 pm  Divestment plan: The government has sent 5 percent Neyveli Lignite divestment proposal to cabinet, reports Cogencis quoting government sources.  The government plans to divest stake in Neyveli Lignite and may take up NLC divestment plan on Thursday.

2:11 pm Losers: Sun Pharma (down 4.6 percent), Bajaj Auto (down 3.97 percent), Hero Motocorp (down 3.94 percent),  Maruti Suzuki (down 3.11 percent) and TCS (down 2.65 percent) are biggest losers in the Sensex.

2:10 pm Expert take: The rupee is expected to trade in 55.50 against the dollar for short-term and there may be retracement in the rupee in the near-term. However, the long-term challenges for the rupee remain, says Brijen Puri, head- markets, JP Morgan.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18 , Puri expects the rupee to touch new lows in 6-to-9 months and does not rule out the rupee touching 60 against the dollar by the year-end.

"The current account deficit (CAD) continues to remain a major concern and I don't think the RBI will step in aggressively to stem the fall in the rupee," he adds.

Don't miss: Infosys soars; brokerages tell how to price Murthy factor

The market is looking very fatigued just at the beginning of the month. Losing heavily intraday, the BSE Sensex is down 186.00 points at 19574.30, and the Nifty falls 57.75 points to 5928.20. About 855 shares have advanced, 1281 shares declined, and 131 shares are unchanged.

Infosys , Jindal Steel , M&M, Bharti Airtel and GAIL are top gainers in the Sensex.

BGR Energy is down over 10.7 percent. The offer-for-sale that is underway today saw bids for less than 50000 shares compared to an issue of Rs 44 lakh shares. The indicative price is a tad higher than the floor price at Rs 163.84 a share. Omaxe down 6%, it's OFS got bids for over 39 lakh shares vs issue size of over 2 crore shares.

Suzlon, Satyam , Adani Power and  HDIL are among the key midcap losers.

2:01 pm Bombay Dyeing , Sail, Hindustan Oil, Ranbaxy Labs , Hotel Leela and Tata Steel touched fresh 52-week low today.

1:47 pm BSE Sensex was down 200 points while NSE Nifty lost over 60 points on heavy selling in oil&gas, power, capital goods, banks and auto stocks.

1:45 pm Infosys sees profit booking; company's top brass to overhaul operations

Narayana Murthy will conduct a detailed performance evaluation across the company and will directly look into Infosys ' merger and acquisitions strategy. Infosys top brass is set to overhaul the entire operations as a part of the software services exporter's 3.0 strategy.

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell as much as 4 percent Monday on media reports the company is in talks to buy Sweden's Meda AB for anywhere in the range between USD five to six billion.

1:32 pm Broader markets turn volatile

Profit booking was seen in midcap and smallcap stocks. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index saw profit booking at higher levels that wiped out early morning gains.

Top losers in the broader markets were Educomp Solutions (Rs 50.00, 9.91%), BGR Energy (Rs 174.75, 9.15%), Britannia (Rs 678.00, 6.3%), Bombay Dyeing (Rs 69.45, 6.09%) and Omaxe (Rs 141.95, 5.59%).

1:23 pm NDTV , TV Today up between 8-11 percent

Shares of media companies like NDTV and TV Today were up between 8 to 11 percent on heavy volumes.

1:22 pm Major percentage gainers in the NSE were CRISIL (Rs 1,129.90, 20.00%), ICRA (Rs 1,092.35, 13.24%), Visa Steel (Rs 34.10, 11.26%), NDTV (Rs 92.70, 11.22%) and Centum Electronics (Rs 57.20, 11.18%).

1:19 pm Bajaj Auto expects retail sales in June to be lower than May

Bajaj Auto was the biggest loser in the day with over 4 percent loss. Bajaj Auto's motorcycle sales in the domestic market have been helped by wedding season demand, but with that nearing an end, Rajiv Bajaj, MD, expects retail sales in June to be lower than that in May.

1:13 pm European markets down 1 percent. Sensex slides further

DAX, CAC and FTSE were down over a percent each tracking negative Asian shares. Sensex extends its fall and was down 170 points. Nifty too lost 50 points and trading at 5930.

Indian manufacturing growth nearly stalled in May as factory output shrank for the first time in over four years, a survey showed on Monday, suggesting the economy remained frail at the start of the new fiscal year.

1:04 pm Shares of MNC companies and foreign promoters were buzzing in trade. CRISIL, Procter and Gamble, Sanofi India , Gillette India and Bayer Cropscience were up between 5 to 20 percent.

Key equity benchmarks were down 0.5 percent in the afternoon trade as weak economic data points continue to dent sentiment of the market participants.  After decade-low FY13 GDP growth numbers on Friday, HSBC India Manufacturing PMI data too reported fresh 50-month low reading of 50.1 today.

Shares of oil&gas, power, FMCG and capital goods were big losers in the day. Selective IT and telecom stocks remained on buyer's radar today.

At 13.02 hrs IST, the Sensex was down 121.83 points or 0.62% at 19638.47, and the Nifty was down 39.65 points or 0.66% at 5946.30. About 898 shares advanced, 1151 shares declined, and 123 shares were unchanged.

Infosys (Rs 2,512.40, 4.18%), Lupin (Rs 754.05, 2.22%), Bank of Baroda (Rs 663.95, 1.89%), GAIL (Rs 311.35, 1.73%) and
Mahindra and Mahindra (Rs 983.30, 1.63%) were top gainers in the Nifty.

Major losers were Bajaj Auto (Rs 1,745.00m, 4.15%), Sun Pharma (Rs 1,009.25, 3.34%), Ranbaxy Labs (Rs 363.00, 3.29%), Hero Motocorp (Rs 1,685.15, 2.95%) and Maruti Suzuki (Rs 1,560.65, 2.8%).

12:50 pm: Essar Ports aims to reduce interest cost from 12 percent to around 10 percent in FY14 says MD and CEO, Rajiv Agarwal . Going forward, the company hopes to maintain more than 80 percent run rate.

Meanwhile, Essar Ports promoter will sell over 32 lakh shares via the OFS route today at a floor price of Rs 77 a share. He told CNBC-TV18 that OFS will dilute the promoter share holding to 75 percent from 83-84 percent.

12:45 pm: Govt says reported US FDA penalties on Indian pharma companies an 'aberration'. It is working to bring transparency in India's pharma supply chain.

12:40 pm Market update: The Sensex is down 140.66 points at 19619.64, and the Nifty slips 45.45 points to 5940.50.

12:35 pm Index stats: IT index is up 1.2 percent, while Oil & Gas is down 1.7 percent and Power slips 0.9 percent from its previous close.

12:30 pm European market update: European markets opened in the red territory.

12:15 pm Losers: Bajaj Auto (down 3.95 percent), Maruti Suzuki (down 2.68 percent), Hero Motocorp (down 2.55 percent), Sun Pharma (down 2.53 percent) and RIL (down 1.94 percent) are key losers in the Sensex.

12:10 pm Alert: Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Fujifilm Corp have decided to terminate the memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enter into an exclusive partnership in the generics drugs business for the Japanese market and to establish a joint venture in Japan, the Hyderabad-based pharma major said on Monday.

The MoU had been signed on July 28, 2011 and the two companies had conducted detailed studies on the establishment of a JV for developing and manufacturing generic drugs in Japan. The stock is quoting at Rs 2,117.10, up Rs 24.50, or 1.17 percent.

Expert views: Nifty to hover in 5840-6150 for few weeks, says ICICI Direct

The weakness in market increased and the Nifty is hovering close to 5950 level pulled lower by auto stocks. The Sensex is down 59.30 points at 19701.00, and the Nifty slips 20.90 points at 5965.05. About 844 shares have advanced, 1048 shares declined, and 110 shares are unchanged.

Infosys still led major gainers in the Sensex while Bharti Airtel , Jindal Steel , Coal India and Dr Reddy's Lab followed.

Ridham Desai of Morgan stanley sees 14-15 percent upside to the market by year-end and expects 17-18 percent earnings growth over next 12 months. He pegs the FY14 GDP growth around 6 percent.

In commodities, Brent crude weakened to USD 100 per barrel level and gold stabilised at USD1395 per ounze after Friday's losses. In currencies space, dollar index was subdued at 83.3. Euro was  at USD 1.30.

Bonds are slightly higher given the lower crude prices and the weak economic data.

GSK Plc, the promoters of GSK Pharma India are in talks of increasing its stake in the company. The English company is likely to hike its stake upto 75 percent via a voluntary open offer that will take place in the next two-three months.

Currently, the promoters hold around 50.67 percent stake in GSK Pharma while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) combined hold more than 33 percent stake in GSK Pharma.

This is an interesting development considering that the company will be looking at increasing its stake in the same way how they did for GSK Consumer.

11:30 am Indian rupee up 7 paise at 56.57

Rupee depreciated further to 56.57 on Monday after touching fresh 11-month low last week. Brijen Puri, head- markets, JP Morgan says, in an interview to CNBC-TV18, that the rupee may touch 60 against the dollar by the year-end and finds the levels of current account deficit to be worrisome

11:25 am Opto Circuits recovers 7%; co to solve working capital issues

Shares of Opto Circuits plunged more than 30 percent to touch its 52-week low last week.

Speaking about its fourth quarter numbers, Vinod Ramnani of Opto Circuits  said it was below expectations and the company is taking steps to address working capital issues. "We are trying to unlock valuations of all subsidiaries," he told CNBC-TV18. The stock has partially recovered on Monday. At 10. 25 AM, it was trading at Rs 33.40, up 6.03 percent.

11:13am Major losers in the Nifty were Bajaj Auto (Rs 1,752.25, 3.75%), Hero Motocorp (Rs 1,692.25, 2.54%), Maruti Suzuki (Rs 1,569.30, 2.26%), Grasim (Rs 2,793.00, 2.14%) and IndusInd Bank (Rs 507.00, 1.99%)

11:08 am CRISIL surges 20% on open offer by McGraw Hill at Rs 1210

Shares of CRISIL is locked at 20 percent upper circuit on Monday after McGraw Hill Financial Inc offered to hike its stake in the domestic ratings agency to 75 percent from 52.77 percent

11:04 am Infosys Ltd saw profit booking at higher levels and the stock was up over 4 percent from 8 percent earlier.

Indian shares were trading marginally in red on Monday after losing over 2 percent on Friday. Auto sales declined for fifth consecutive month in May mirroring the slowdown in the economy.

At 11.04 hrs IST, the Sensex was down 60.74 points or 0.31% at 19699.56, and the Nifty was down 25.95 points or 0.43% at 5960.00. About 714 shares advanced, 940 shares declined, and 104 shares were unchanged.

May HSBC Manufacturing PMI data hit a fresh 50-month low. India HSBC manufacturing PMI recordee a reading of 50.1 compared to 51 in April.

10:53 am Losers: Suzlon Energy dives 9.79 percent on the BSE. Orbit Corporation was quoting at Rs 15.50, down Rs 3.85, or 19.90 percent.

10:50 am Oil company's outlook: The new formula for calculating under-recoveries may not have gone well by oil retailers, as costs incurred after importing crude will no longer be re-imbursed to them.

A committee is looking into the pros and cons of the new pricing method, said RK Singh, chairman and managing director, Bharat Petroleum to CNBC-TV18 .

The Parikh committee has been asked to come up with suggestions based on which the Cabinet would take a call on introducing it or not.

10:45 am Down: Videocon is down 2.5 percent after the company reported a net loss of Rs 199 cr vs profit of Rs 50.3 cr year-on-year. The total income from operations was flat at Rs 3009 crore vs Rs 2996 crore Y-o-Y.

Don't miss: Infosys big star of the day; brokerages tell how to price Murthy factor

10:40 am: Macro data: May HSBC Manufacturing PMI at a 50-month low. India HSBC manufacturing PMI at 50.1 vs 51 month-on-month.

10:37 am Expert views: The performance of the auto sector over the last few months has been a concern and Infosys having to go back to Murthy is not a great sign for the IT company, says UR Bhatt, MD, Dalton Advisors.

He suggests investors to invest in private banks , select pharmaceutical stocks and the FMCG segment and expects the Nifty to trade in the 5800-6100 range, if the support level not broken.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 , Bhatt advises investors to adopt a wait-and-watch approach for the market due to the lack of concrete triggers. "CPI inflation remains elevated and there is no convincing case for any significant rate-cut by the RBI." Bhatt dissuades investors from expecting much from the RBI in its credit policy in scheduled to be announced in June.

10:35 am Losing: Bajaj Auto is down 3.4% after reporting a 3.6 percent year-on-year decline to 3.39 lakh while exports are down 14 percent Y-o-Y to 1.11 lk . Bajaj auto told CNBC TV18 that they expect June retail sales to be lower than May and export growth will turn positive after 1 month.

10.32 am Market update:  The Sensex is down 52.54 points at 19707.76, and the Nifty is down 23.30 points at 5962.65.

10:25 am Good gain: Opto Circuit has gained 6.3 percent on the BSE today after the shares saw a sharp fall of 38 38 percent on Friday on disappointing March quarter earnings.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Vinod Ramnani, CMD of the company said:

• Taking steps to resolve working capital issues
• Trying to unlock valuations of all subsidiaries
• Q4 performance was below expectations
• Order book continues to remain healthy
• India contributes 25 percent to total business
• Have formed committee to look into various issues co faces

10:20 am Buzzing: CRISIL gains 20 percent at Rs 1,126.60 on the BSE as the company's promoters made voluntary open offer to buy shares at significant premium to the Friday's closing price.

10:15 am Rupee gyan: After touching an 11-month low of 56.50 per dollar, rupee is unlikely to weaken further and may trade in 56-level this week, PTI reports quoting experts.

"Last week, the depreciation of rupee had come in the wake up strengthening of dollar against all major currencies.

Also, domestic factors like high current account deficit (CAD), GDP numbers and demand for dollars for defence buying and oil importers contributed to this.

10:11am Expert talk: Bearish Ajay Srivastava, CEO, Dimensions Consulting sees no rationale to buy equities at this stage.

"The government is trying to reduce its deficit, which means it is withdrawing this stimulus to the industry and consumer demand will keep falling. If any money comes to India is only because of liquidity overhang and nothing else," he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18 .

He cautions, volatility is here to stay and the market is headed lower from current levels in the next one month. In June, the Nifty could fall more than 200 points from the current levels and see 5,600. So, if is looking to book profits then this is time.

Don't miss: Infosys on fire; brokerages tell how to price Murthy factor

The market is still trading on a flat note.The Sensex is down 8.84 points at 19751.46, and the Nifty fell 9.45 points or 0.16% at 5976.50. About 648 shares have advanced, 626 shares declined, and 78 shares are unchanged.

Infosys continues to be the big gainer of the day. It is up around 6% with the Narayan Murthy's return to the company. Other stocks which are big gainers in the Sensex are Bharti Airtel , Coal India , Wipro and Cipla .

Meanwhile auto stocks are reeling under pressure as bumpy sales in May failed to bring any cheer to the street. Maruti Suzuki is down 3.2 percent, Bajaj Auto slips 3.1 percent and Hero Motocorp falls 1.8 percent.

Auto sales, especially passenger cars and medium and heavy commercial vehicles, have been hit over the last one year due to expensive loans, rising fuel prices and the overall slowdown in the economy. Other big losers in the Sensex are NTPC and Sun Pharma .

9:55 am Credit rating agencies shares up after CRISIL 's open offer

Shares of credit rating agencies like Crisil, Icra and Care were buzzing in trade after CRISIL's promoters made voluntary open offer to buy shares at significant premium to the Friday's closing price.

9:54 am Major gainers in the BSE Midcap were CRISIL (Rs 1,126.60, 20.00%), Torrent Pharma (Rs 858.75, 9.15%), Delta Corp (Rs 63.70, 4.60%), Emami (Rs 789.90, 3.46%) and Ipca Labs (Rs 614.00, 3.29%)

9:50 am BPCL says under-recovery in diesel at Rs 5 per litre

BPCL said in an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18 that the under-recovery in diesel had gone up to Rs 5 per lite due to deprecaition in the rupee.

Market Outlook: Don't buy Indian mkt now, like HCL over Infosys, says Dimensions

If one is looking to book profits then this is time, says Ajay Srivastava, CEO, Dimensions Consulting. Despite Narayana Murthy's return to Infosys , Srivastava is not so gung-ho on the stock and cautions that its June quarter earnings are likely to be worse than January-March.

9:41 am Infosys extends rally; shares near 2-month high on heavy volumes

Infosys extended its rally and was up close to 8 percent in the morning trade on heavy volumes. The stock made an intraday high of Rs 2625 on the NSE, a level last seen in April.

9:38 am Opto Circuits back in green, hits fresh 52-week low

Shares of Opto Circuits were trading in green after shedding 38 percent of its market-cap on Friday. The company's consolidated revenue has fallen 33 percent to Rs 456 crore compared to Rs 681 crore year-on-year. During the period, consolidated net profit dropped 94 percent year-on-year to Rs 12.3 crore.

9:28 am IOC , HPCL , BPCL up 1 percent each after price hike

Oil marketing companies were buzzing in trade today after the state-run IOC hiked petrol prices by 75 paise and diesel price by 50 paise per litre.

9:26 am MUST READ: Infosys up 7%; brokerages tell how to price Murthy factor

While Murthy's presence at Infosys may improve sentiment for the stock near term,  he has an uphill task ahead and it could be a while before the company gets back on the path to recovery, feel analysts tracking the stock. Barring a couple of brokerages, most have retained their ratings and target price for the stock.

9:23 am CRISIL locked at 20 percent upper circuit on open offer

CRISIL promoters made voluntary open offer to buy up to 22.23 percent stake at Rs 1210 per share. The stock was locked at 20 percent upper circuit at Rs 1126.60 (up Rs 187.75) since the current market price was lower than the offer price.

Key equity benchmarks opened flat tracking weak Asian shares. Dow and S&P 500 posted their worst one-day drop since mid-April on Friday. Infosys surged seven percent in the opening bell after Narayana Murthy announced his return to Infosys as Executive Chairman along with his son Rohan Murthy on Saturday.

At 09.16 hrs IST, the Sensex was up 14.68 points or 0.07% at 19774.98, and the Nifty was up 8.70 points or 0.15% at 5994.65. About 308 shares advanced, 185 shares declined, and 35 shares were unchanged.

Key gainers in the Nifty were Infosys (Rs 2,574.20, 6.74%), Bank of Baroda (Rs 663.30, 1.79%), Lupin (Rs 750.30, 1.71%), PNB (Rs 771.85, 1.55%) and Jaiprakash Associates (Rs 66.60, 1.45%).

Laggards included Maruti Suzuki (Rs 1,561.00, 2.78%), Bajaj Auto (Rs 1,786.00, 1.9%), NTPC (Rs 151.45, 1.78%), Power Grid Corp (Rs 111.35, 1.72%) and Hero Motocorp (Rs 1,709.00, 1.58%).

Tech major Infosys was trading at Rs 2,575.00 up 6.95% from its previous close of Rs 2,407.60. Brokerages are positive on the stock in the near term, but are awaiting more details. KV Kamath stepped down as chairman and became the lead independent director.

Shares of auto companies were down as sales saw a steep drop in May. High interest cost, increase in fuel prices and sluggish economic activity kept sales sluggish. Maruti's month-on-month sales were down 13 percent. Tata Motors too disappointed, sales were down 3 percent.