Market Live: Sensex extends gains, Nifty reclaims 10,100; IRB Infra slips 5%

11:23 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks rallied further in late morning deals, with the Sensex rising 243.40 points to 32,840.58.

The Nifty is firmly trading above 10,100-mark, up 81.40 points at 10,125.50.

The market breadth was strong as about three shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

GAIL was biggest gainer among Nifty 50 stocks, up 4 percent followed by Tech Mahindra, Tata Power, Bosch, Eicher Motors, NTPC, Tata Steel, Maruti, Bajaj Auto and L&T.

11:11 am Stake Sale: IDBI Bank board has approved sale of 28 lakh shares (7 percent) in National Securities Depository (NSDL).

NSDL is promoted by IDBI Bank, NSE, and The Specified Undertaking Of The Unit Trust Of India.

IDBI Bank share price gained over a percent.

10:59 am Credit Rating: BASF India has received credit rating of A1+ from India Ratings and Research Private (A Fitch Group Company) for commercial paper programme of Rs 750 crore. The stock gained 2 percent.

10:50 am Crude oil prices slip: Crude oil futures declined by Rs 13 to Rs 3,624 per barrel today after participants cut down bets in tune with a weak trend in Asian trade.

In futures trade at the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in current month shed Rs 13, or 0.36 percent, to Rs 3,624 per barrel, with a business volume of 2,119 lots.

Oil for January moved down by a similar margin to trade at Rs 3,641 per barrel with a business volume of 45 lots.

Marketmen said the fall in crude oil futures was mostly attributed to trimming of positions at futures trade in tandem with a weakening trend in Asian trade after official data confirmed a huge build in US gasoline supplies, offsetting the data showing crude stockpiles fell for the third straight week.

10:38 am Most Active: Maruti Suzuki India hit fresh record high of Rs 8,745 per share, rising 1.7 percent intraday today.

It is the most active share on the National Stock Exchange and has been rallied nearly 70 percent in last one year.

10:28 am Buzzing: Weizmann Forex gained nearly 4 percent after Girik Wealth Advisors bought 70,000 shares (0.6 percent) of the company at Rs 1,399 per share through a block deal yesterday.

10:18 am Gold Update: Gold prices declined by Rs 57 to Rs 28,910 per 10 grams in futures trade today due to profit-booking by speculators amid a weak global trend.

Gold for delivery in far-month February fell Rs 57, or 0.20 per cent, to Rs 28,910 per 10 grams, in a business turnover of 178 lots at the Multi Commodity Exchange.

Analysts said the fall in gold futures was in tune with a weak trend in precious metals overseas.

10:08 am Bid for Airport project: A GMR group company along with its partner, Manila-based Megawide, is in the race for the USD 250 million Clark International Airport new terminal building project in Philippines.

According to a statement issued by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) of the southeastern nation, seven firms submitted the bid documents for the design, engineering, and construction of the Clark International Airport new terminal building in Philippines.

“The firms which submitted the bid documents are China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd, Sinohydro Corporation Limited, the joint venture of Megawide-GMR Infrastructure (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DDT Konstract Inc, R-II Builders Inc and Tokwing Construction Corporation,” BCDA said in a statement yesterday.

10:01 am CS on PI Industries: Credit Suisse initiates coverage with outperform rating on PI Industries and set a target price of Rs 1,150 per share, implying 19 percent potential upside from Wednesday’s closing price.

The research house said the agri-sciences company is strongly positioned in custom synthesis and manufacturing (CSM) segment and the orderbook in the segment provides visibility.

It has a less than 5 percent market share of global industry in CSM, hence, it is offering ample opportunity to grow for the company, it added.

Focus on speciality products in domestic business is a key differentiator, said Credit Suisse which expects revenue of CSM/Domestic to grow at a CAGR of 20 percent/14 percent over FY18-20.

The research house also expects 18 percent EPS CAGR over FY18-20, with better growth for CSM in second half of FY18 itself. EBITDA margins should sustain in narrow range, it believes.

Here are the top headlines at 10 am from Moneycontrol News’ Anchal Pathak

9:51 am Market Check: Benchmark indices as well as broader markets extended gains in morning, driven by upside across sectors.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 141.18 points at 32,738.36 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 46.70 points at 10,090.80 while the Nifty Midcap index was up 0.66 percent.

About 1,431 shares advanced against 427 declining shares on the BSE.

9:45 am Rupee Update: The rupee is trading flat at 64.52 against the US dollar at the interbank foreign exchange today.

The rupee had lost 14 paise to end at 64.52 against the US dollar yesterday after RBI decided to keep the key policy rates unchanged and raised the inflation forecast.

9:42 am Results Today: Jet Airways, Shriram EPC, Precision Wires, Zicom, Venus Remedies, Indian Hume, Hotel Leela, Ginni Filaments, Asian Hotel and Cambridge Tech will announce its September quarter earnings today.

9:33 am Buzzing: Shares of Hatsun Agro Products added nearly 3 percent in the early trade as company approved raising funds via right issue.

The company at its meeting held on December 06 has considered and approved raising funds by way of issue of securities to the existing equity shareholders of the company on a rights basis aggregating up to Rs 900 crore.

The board has also constituted a rights issue committee and authorised it to decide the terms and conditions of the rights issue including the nature of security, issue size, issue price, timing of the issue, rights entitlement ratio, record date and all other matters related and incidental to the rights issue in consultation with the lead manager to the rights issue.

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9:26 am Order Win: L&T subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering has won order valued over Rs 1,600 crore from HPCL, Visakhapatnam Refinery.

“The project is a part of HPCL Visakh Refinery Modernisation Project and involves engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of 3.053 MMTPA full conversion hydrocracker project,” L&T said.

9:20 am IPO Subscription: The initial public offer of Shalby, the Ahmedabad-based multi-specialty hospital chain, was subscribed 46 percent as on the second day of the bidding Wednesday.

The IPO, which aims to raise Rs 504 crore, received bids for over 66 lakh shares as against the total issue size of 1.45 crore — a subscription of 46 percent — data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

The initial share sale, which opened to public subscription yesterday, will close tomorrow. Shalby on Monday raised over Rs 150 crore from anchor investors.

The IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares aggregating up to Rs 480 crore and an offer for sale of up to 10 lakh equities.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks bounced back in opening, backed by short covering in beaten down stocks like banks, auto and metals stocks. The Sensex had fell more than 200 points in previous session.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 87.41 points at 32,684.59 and the 50-sahre NSE Nifty gained 28.40 points at 10,072.50.

JSW Steel, Tata Steel, SAIL, Aurobindo Pharma, GAIL, HPCL, Tech Mahindra, Eicher Motors, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries were early gainers while Bharti Infratel, Power Grid and UltraTech Cement were under pressure.

Nifty Midcap was up 0.35 percent and Nifty Bank gained 0.2 percent.

IRB Infrastructure shares fell nearly 4 percent after CBI filed a chargesheet against the company with Pune Sessions Court in illegal land purchase case. CBI had searched company’s offices in Pune & Mumbai in January, 2015.

Fortis Healthcare was down 2.5 percent. 63 Moons plunged nearly 17 percent.

Petronet LNG, Bombay Dyeiing, Ansal Properties, Puravankara, Hansan Agro, Claris Life and United Breweries gained 1-3 percent.
Asian markets were mixed today, as the Nikkei 225 recouped some losses, trading 1.3 percent higher after falling around 2 percent on Wednesday.