Market Live: Sensex, Nifty open flat; ICICI Bank gains, SPARC cracks 13%

10:20 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks gained strength after early consolidation.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 93.76 points at 31,907.98 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 24.85 points to 10,004.55.

About 1,482 shares advanced against 654 declining shares on the BSE.

10:05 am Buzzing: Jewellery stocks rallied 2-20 percent after the Government withdrew its GST notification on gems and jewellery.

Gitanjali Jems, PC Jeweller, Titan Company, Tara Jewels and TBZ gained 4-7 percent as Permanent Account Number (PAN) card will no longer be mandatory on the purchase of jewellery for over Rs 50,000.

The government has taken this decision at its 22nd GST Council meeting on Friday.

9:55 am Rupee trade: The rupee went up 6 paise to 65.31 against the dollar today after the US currency found no takers among exporters and banks.

The dollar losing sheen against other currencies overseas supported the local unit, traders said. A higher start in domestic equities added to the upside, they added.

On Friday, the rupee had depreciated by 24 paise to end at 65.38 on persistent demand for the American currency from importers.

9:45 am Saudi Aramco deal likely next year: State-run oil giant Saudi Aramco is in talks with several Indian refiners and hopes to land a joint venture deal by next year, the company’s chief executive told Reuters on Sunday.

Aramco, like other major oil producers, wants to tap rising demand growth opportunities and invest in the world’s third biggest consumer.

“We are hoping to land on a JV sometime,” Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser said at India Energy Forum by Cera Week in New Delhi.

Asked if a deal could be finalised next year, he said: “We hope so. We are in serious discussions.”

Aramco wants to buy a stake in the planned 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) refinery in India’s west coast, India’s oil minister said in June.

9:38 am GST Impact: Modi government’s initiatives like Swachh Bharat, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation are having desired impact, with the latter two resulting in increasing tax compliance and squeezing quantum of cash in the economy, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said.

In his key note address – via video conference — to the Berkeley India Conference, Jaitley said that there is public support to the reforms being undertaken by the governments of the day both at the Centre and state levels.

“I do hope that India is able to retain its growth rate once again and live up to the aspirations of its people because we must not forget that we not only have a large population to service, we have a very young population to service,” he said.

9:32 am Asia trade: Most Asian markets traded higher as investors in Asia digested the release of China Caixin services PMI.

The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.66 percent on broad-based gains across its sub-indexes. The Shanghai Composite surged 1.24 percent, shrugging off lackluster services data.

The Caixin services purchasing managers’ index showed non-manufacturing activity in China expanded at its slowest levels in almost two years in September, Reuters said. The Caixin/Markit PMI stood at 50.6 last month, compared to the 52.7 figure seen in August.

Meanwhile, the Caixin composite PMI stood at 51.4 in September, below the 52.4 in August.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was off 0.16 percent.

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan markets closed for public holidays

9:25 am IPO: Indian Energy Exchange’s initial public offer has opened for subscription today, with price band of Rs 1,645-1,650 per share.

The issue will close on October 11.

The issue is an offer for sale of up to 60,65,009 equity shares by 11 shareholders, including Tata Power and Multiples Private Equity Fund.

The offer would constitute up to 20 percent of the post-offer paid up equity share capital.

Bids can be made for a minimum of 9 equity shares and in multiples of 9 equity shares thereafter.

The 50 percent of the total offer is reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs); of which the company may allocate up to 60 percent of the QIB portion to anchor investors. Out of 60 percent to anchor investors, at least one-third is reserved for domestic mutual funds.

Further, 15 percent of the net offer is reserved for non-institutional bidders and 35 percent for retail individual bidders.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets were flat in opening trade despite positive Asian cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 12.67 points at 31,801.55 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 7.90 points to 9,971.80.

About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

SPARC plunged 13 percent as Baclofen GRS did not meet primary end point in placebo controlled studies. Bacoflen is a muscle relaxer used to treat symptoms caused by Multiple Sclerosis.

TBZ, Titan Company, Sobha, Shakti Pumps, Speciality Restaurants and Jaiprakash Associates rallied 2-6 percent. Adani Enterprises, OBC and VA Tech were down 2-4 percent.