Market Live: Nifty reclaims 9900 in opening tick, Sensex gains 100 points; midcaps outperform

10:06 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended their gains from the morning session, with the Nifty clocking 9950-mark during the day’s trade.

The Sensex was up 173.50 points at 31765.53, while the Nifty was up 63.60 points at 9952.30. The market breadth was positive as 1,448 shares advanced against a decline of 437 shares, while 58 shares were unchanged.

NTPC, Tata Steel and GAIL were the top gainers on both indices, while Tata Motors, Tata Motors DVR, Hero MotoCorp lost the most.

9:55 am Moody’s view: The sale of stake by few Indian banks in their insurance arms is credit positive for these lenders as the proceeds received would strengthen their loss-absorbing buffers, Moody’s said.

Earlier this week, State Bank of India’s life insurance subsidiary, SBI Life Insurance, listed its shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange, less than a week after ICICI Lombard General Insurance (ICICI Lombard), the general insurance subsidiary of ICICI Bank did the same.

“The initial public offerings (IPOs) of these banks’ insurance subsidiaries are credit positive because the banks will receive proceeds that will strengthen their loss-absorbing buffers,” the report said.

9:35 am Buzzing Stocks: Shares of Future Retail and Shoppers Stop rose 6-9 percent intraday on Friday as investors cheered the deal to buy HyperCity.

On Friday, Future Retail announced that it will acquire Shoppers Stop’s loss-making retail chain HyperCity for Rs 655 crore in a part cash and part stock deal.

The deal, which is likely to be completed in the next three to five months, will see HyperCity Retail India Limited become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Future Retail.

In a stock exchange filing, Future Retail said it will allot 9.310 million shares of Rs 2 face value to HyperCity Retail’s 15 shareholders at Rs 535 per share on a preferential basis.

9:15 am Market Opens: Frontline indices began the session on a positive note, with the Nifty reclaiming 9900 in the opening tick.

The Sensex was up 51.66 points at 31643.69, while the Nifty was up 22.75 points at 9911.45. The market breadth was positive as 454 shares advanced against a decline of 132 shares, while 22 shares were unchanged.

Midcaps continued their outperformance from the previous sessions, while metals led the charts among sectoral indices.

ONGC, Tata Steel and GAIL were the top gainers, while Tata Motors, Tata Motors DVR and Zee Entertainment lost the most.

Asian stocks rose on Friday after optimism over US tax reform plans lifted Wall Street shares to new highs, while the dollar hovered near a seven-week peak following additional indications of solid economic growth.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent, poised for a 1.4 percent gain on the week.

Japan’s Nikkei climbed 0.3 percent, Australian stocks rose 0.7 percent and South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 0.9 percent.

US stocks notched record closing highs again on Thursday as investors cheered increased prospects for a tax overhaul with Congress moving closer to agreement on a budget resolution.

The day’s move extended a run of records that began last week.
The benchmark S&P 500 set a record-high close for the sixth straight day, its longest such run since an eight-day streak in June 1997. It also rose for eight sessions in a row, matching a winning streak from July 2013.