Market Live: Sensex gains 100 pts, Midcap outperforms Nifty; RIL goes ex-bonus

10:25 am Trending news in September: Edelweiss said the Fed rate hike expectations have been pushed out amidst persistent weakness in US core inflation. This is resulting in weaker Dollar and lending fillip to risk assets – EM bonds, EM FX, EM equities and commodities.

Recently, international food prices have seen a sharp correction. This augurs well for domestic food inflation (strong correlation historically). However, the flip side could be further weakness in nominal agri GDP – which is already at decadal lows. Weak nominal incomes could weigh on debt servicing ability of farmers, it added.

10:15 am Buzzing: Shares of Sicagen India rose 4.4 percent intraday on board approval to buy remaining stake in Danish Steel Cluster.

The company’s board at its meeting held on September 6 has approved the proposed transaction to acquire remaining 40 percent stake in Danish Steel Cluster.

10:06 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks traded off opening highs in morning due to selling pressure in HDFC and Tata Motors. Even index heavyweight Reliance Industries lost some opening gains due to profit booking as the stock rallied more than 7 percent in previous six consecutive sessions.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 75.94 points at 31,737.91 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 25.55 points at 9,941.75 amid consolidation.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.7 percent each. About three shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Indian equities continued to get support from positive global cues, especially after political developments out of Washington. President Donald Trump on Wednesday broke with his party to support a package that included a short-term debt ceiling extension. If Congress passes the package, which also includes relief funding for Hurricane Harvey, it would prevent a default on the federal debt.

9:55 am Acquisition: Reliance Industries forayed into new materials business by acquiring assets of Kemrock Industries.

“Reliance participated in an on-line e-bidding process held recently by Allahabad Bank being leader of the consortium of 11 banks to sell / dispose off assets of ‘Kemrock Industries & Exports Limited’ of Vadodara (Gujarat) and has been declared as the winner in the said bid,” it said in its filing.

This participation is a part of Reliance’s efforts to enter the Composites business and establish a leadership position in this large and growing market in India.

Composites are used in a variety of applications and industries such as renewable energy, mass transportation, infrastructure and a host of other industrial products.

The assets will pave the way for Reliance to foray into new materials (Composites and Carbon Fibre) and further strengthen its petrochemicals business portfolio, the company said.

9:45 am Rupee gains: The Indian rupee traded higher by 6 paise at 64.04 per dollar versus previous close of 64.10.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said the rupee has been trading in a very tight range for the past few weeks which is likely to continue.

USD-INR trading range for the day is 63.90-64.20, according to him.

The dollar lost some ground after edging up against the Japanese yen after getting a boost from trump’s surprise deal with the democrats on extending the debt limit.

9:42 am New LNG import terminal: Petronet LNG will build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Sri Lanka in collaboration with Japanese and Lankan companies.

The Sri Lankan government issued a letter of intent to the Indian government in this regard on September 1.

9:33 am Partnership: HCL Technologies has announced a partnership that includes purchase of select assets with Alpha Insight, a products and solutions company headquartered in London, with expertise in business flow monitoring and operational intelligence.

The IT firm said that the proposed asset purchase consideration shall be up to EUR 3.25 million, including payments subject to certain financial milestones.

9:25 am Buzzing: Shares of Wipro added 1 percent in the early trade as it has bagged a 5-year IT applications management contract.

The company has won a 5-year IT applications management contract from Outokumpu, which is global leader in stainless steel, headquartered in Finland.

The company will provide applications management services for Outokumpu’s SAP landscape along with legacy applications support to cover Outokumpu locations, globally.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks rebounded in opening trade Thursday after sell-off in previous session, tracking positive global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 110.97 points at 31,772.94 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 37.90 points to 9,954.10.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.8 percent each. About five shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Reliance Industries gained nearly 1 percent to hit 52-week high of Rs 832.70 after the stock adjusted for bonus issue in the proportion of one bonus share for every one share held.

Indiabulls Housing Finance surged 2.5 percent again as CLSA raised target price

Eicher Motors, Aurobindo Pharma, Asian Paints, Adani Ports and Dr Reddy’s Labs gained 1 percent each.

Bharat Forge gained 3.4 percent as total class 8 truck orders in the North America rose 50 percent YoY.

Fortis Healthcare, Motherson Sumi, Shriram Transport, NBCC, Muthoot Finance, India Cements, GMR Infrastructure, CESC, HPCL, IOC and Petronet LNG gained up to 5 percent.
Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.