Nifty, Sensex sluggish; Coal India, HUL, M&M laggards

Moneycontrol Bureau11:50 am Interview: While July has been a lean month for two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto, S Ravikumar, president- business development, says the company's domestic market share has improved to 19 percent in the month. Going ahead with a similar momentum, he is confident of increasing market share to 21 percent by October. Any semblance of revival, however, is not visible as the company's domestic market is yet to see a pick-up in demand, he adds.

'Market share numbers are getting computed but we should be in the 19 plus minus type of a range. We find that the new Pulsars are all doing quite well if I can just take you through brand wise at this point in time and domestic, the top end Pulsars which we launched, the RS is almost about 4,000 plus units sold in the domestic in this particular month and there is still awaiting order book of about a month plus," he says.11:30 am Rate cut? Research firm Moody's Analytics said the Reserve Bank is likely to cut the benchmark rate by 0.25 percent in its monetary policy review tomorrow as inflation is likely to remain subdued on the back of average rainfall and lower commodity prices. "The Reserve Bank of India could deliver fireworks in its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday by cutting the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7 percent," it said in a report, 'Asia Spotlight: More Rate Cuts in India'. Moody's Analytics is a division of Moody's Corporation and is engaged in economic research and analysis.Don't miss: Suzlon surges 12% on stellar Q1, net profit at Rs 1047 cr

The market is still holding early gains supported majorly by banks and auto. The Sensex is up 83.57 points at 28198.13, and the Nifty is up 19.70 points at 8552.55. About 1611 shares have advanced, 739 shares declined, and 131 shares are unchanged.

SBI, ICICI Bank, Maruti, Tata Motors and Axis Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Hero, L&T, Coal India, HUL and M&M.

Meanwhile,Asian dividend-paying equity funds are reducing investments in traditional safe bets in favour of companies with rising dividend payouts to guard against investors selling out from the funds when US interest rates rise.

Dividend funds usually invest in stable assets that yield more than bonds and pay predictable returns, but these will become less attractive to investors amid rising returns from Treasuries when the Federal Reserve starts to hike rates.

Some fund managers say they are shifting from traditional favourites such as investment trusts, telecoms and utilities to emerging market companies offering faster earnings growth and cheaper valuations.