Market Live: Sensex turns volatile after hitting new high, Nifty holds 10,450

10:20 am Buzzing: The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared Montelukast Sodium, a bulk drug / API manufactured by Morepen Laboratories, for sale in the US market. The stock rallied 10 percent.

“This gives Morepen an entry into the Rs 2,000 crore (approximately USD 300 million) US market for Montelukast. The first commercial orders for the bulk drug are expected in Q2FY19,” the company said.

10:01 am Earnings: Telecom operator Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) today reported widening of loss to Rs 8,194.67 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, mainly on account of writing off its consumer mobile business.

The company had posted a loss of Rs 452.82 crore in the same period a year ago.

Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (TTML) impaired Rs 7,708.63 crore for its mobile business which it is transferring to Bharti Airtel.

“The company has recorded Rs 7,708.63 crore towards impairment loss during the quarter and half year ended September 30, 2017 on its consumer mobile business (CMB) assets based on the assessment of its recoverable value,” TTML said in its result report.

In the last quarter of previous fiscal, the TTML had written off Rs 905.41 crore for spectrum it acquired in an auction that was conducted by the Department of Telecom in 2015.

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

9:45 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained rangebound around previous closing values, after hitting record highs in opening.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 13.05 points at 33,823.69 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 6.90 points to 10,456.30.

Midcap continued to outperform benchmark indices. Market breadth remained strong as about three shares advanced for every share falling.

GAIL, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank and M&M hit fresh record highs.

9:35 am Merger: Fair trade regulator CCI has approved the scheme of amalgamation between IndusInd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) intimated that the commission in its meeting held today considered the proposed combination and approved the same, a regulatory filing on stock exchanges by both companies said.

The scheme remains subject to the receipt of approval from the RBI and regulatory approval including approvals of the stock exchanges, Sebi, the National Company Law Tribunal and respective shareholders, it said.

IndusInd Bank in October decided to acquire country’s leading microfinance player Bharat Financial Inclusion Limited (BFIL).

9:29 am Fundraising: Steel major Tata Steel said its board has approved raising Rs 12,800 crore through a rights issue to finance organic and inorganic growth plans.

The board in its meeting today also approved a proposal to expand the capacity of Kalinganagar plant by 5 million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 8 MTPA with a total investment of Rs 23,500 crore, the company said in a statement.

The board also reviewed the financial strategy of the company in the light of organic and inorganic growth strategy of the company and approved financial plan to raise capital for the plan.

“The Board approved issuance of equity and equity linked instruments including ordinary shares of the company by way of a rights issue to existing shareholders on record date for an amount not exceeding Rs 12,800 crore…,” the statement said.

9:20 am Ruchi Soya in focus: Debt-ridden Ruchi Soya Industries said that insolvency proceeding has been initiated against the company and the powers of its board have been suspended.

On December 9, the company had said that petitions filed by Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank against Ruchi Soya Industries before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai have been admitted.

In a filing to the BSE, Ruchi Soya said that pursuant to an order of the NCLT, Mumbai Bench, “Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) has been initiated for the company as per the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code”.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks started off trade at record highs on Wednesday, but immediately slipped into red to trade volatile.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 18.70 points at 33,818.04 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 12.40 points to 10,450.80.

About 785 shares advanced against 445 declining shares on the BSE.

Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Dr Reddy’s Labs, SBI, L&T, HUL and Power Grid were early losers while ONGC, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, GAIL, M&M and Hero MotoCorp were gainers.

Nifty Midcap was flat.

Religare Enterprises rallied 5 percent and Edelweiss Financial was up 1.7 percent. Edelweiss Financial will buy Religare’s securities business which includes securities & commodities broking & depository participants services.
MTNL, Reliance Communications, Indiabulls Real Estate and Jain Irrigation gained 2-12 percent.