Nifty above 8500; Ranbaxy Labs up 4%, auto stocks in focus

The export numbers for the month also get impacted if there is delay in shipments. The company is satisfied with the export growth and plan to further expand markets, said Kalsi.

SIAM has projected industry growth at 5-6 percent for FY16 but we aim to grow more than, Kalsi said.

01:00pm Market Check:

The market gained some strength amid consolidation in afternoon trade. The Sensex climbed 88.75 points to 28046.24 and the Nifty reclaimed 8500, up 21.90 points at 8512.90.

The broader markets extended rally with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 1-1.6 percent. The market breadth remained strong with the advance:decline ratio of 1727 to 718 on the BSE.

Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy Labs rallied 4 percent each as today is the last day of trading in shares of Ranbaxy before merger of both companies. Morgan Stanley raised target price on the stock to Rs 1,241 apiece from Rs 995 and estimated 24.6 percent CAGR for FY16-FY17 against 18.6 percent for the street. Dr Reddy's Laboratories gained 1 percent on acquisition of select portfolio of the established products business of Belgium-based company in India for Rs 800 crore.

ITC, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, HUL and Hindalco Industries were other gainers on Sensex, up 1-2 percent whereas HCL Technologies tanked 4 percent as the company warned of currency impact owing to the currency fluctuations. Adverse cross currency will impact dollar revenue by 280 basis points and EBIT margin by 80 basis points, said the company, adding it is now confident of achieving 21-22 percent EBIT margins which is lower than Q2FY15.

Infosys, TCS, Reliance Industries, BHEL and GAIL were down 0.5-1.5 percent. In auto space, Maruti Suzuki declined more than 1.5 percent on reporting weak sales for March. Total sales fell 1.6 percent and exports took a big knock, down 29 percent to 7836 units year-on-year.

Ashok Leyland gained 1 percent on reporting a 24 percent growth in March sales at 12,754 units year-on-year. Eicher Motors advanced 0.5 percent as its motorcycle sales grew 42 percent and exports jumped 58 percent. Mahindra & Mahindra gained 0.8 percent despite a 12 percent decline in sales but its exports jumped 28 percent.

Fertilser stocks gained 2-13 percent as cabinet approved gas pooling for the sector for 30 urea manufacturing units. Zuari Agro told CNBC-TV18 that its current gas cost will go down to USD 11-12 per mmbtu and will also reduce the working capital cycle.