Market Live: Nifty hovers around 10,450, midcap continue to outperform; MM dips

10:15 am Buzzing: Infrastructure company IVRCL said it has entered into a pact with Singapore-based Cube Highways and Infrastructure to sell its entire stake in two subsidiaries for Rs 726.18 crore. The stock rallied 17 percent.

“The company has entered into a share purchase agreements with Cube Highways and Infrastructure Pte Ltd for sale of the entire stake in two subsidiary companies viz., Salem Tollways Ltd (STL) and Kumarapalayam Tollways Ltd (KTL),” IVRCL said in a statement.

“The value of IVRCL’s stake in STL…shall be computed on the basis of enterprise value of Rs 342.95 crore,” it said.

10:05 am Rupee Trade: The rupee wiped out early gains to trade flat at 64.11 against the dollar today after the US Congress gave its final seal of approval to a sweeping tax legislation.

Dubbed as the biggest overhaul of the US tax code in 30 years, the Bill slashes taxes for corporates as well as the middle class.

In the opening session, the domestic unit went up 10 paise to 64.01.

Yesterday, it had lost 7 paise at 64.11 against the US currency due to dollar demand from importers.

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

9:55 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate in morning, with the Nifty hovering around 10,450 levels but the broader markets continued to outperform.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 6.79 points at 33,784.17 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 9.20 points to 10,453.40.

The Nifty Midcap index gained half a percent. About three shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

9:51 am USFDA Approval: Taro Pharma, the subsidiary of Sun Pharma, has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for Clindamycin Phosphate & Benzoyl Peroxide Gel.

The drug is indicated for the treatment of moderate acne.

9:41 am Buyback: Pidilite Industries has informed exchanges that a meeting of the board of directors will be held on December 26 to consider the proposal to buyback the fully paid-up equity shares of the company.

The trading window of the company will remain closed with immediate effect and shall re-open only after 48 hours from the announcement of outcome of the Board Meeting to Stock Exchanges, it said.

9:31 am Stake sale: Mortgage lender HDFC on Wednesday said it has sold 6.3 percent of equity in Computer Age Management Services Pvt Ltd (CAMS) to Warburg Pincus affiliate company Great Terrain Investment Ltd for Rs 209.50 crore.

“Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) is the target entity whose shares are being sold by the Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC),” HDFC said in a regulatory filing.

Warburg Pincus is the US-based private equity investing firm.

Further, HDFC said its associate HDFC Bank is also a shareholder in CAMS, who is also selling a part of its shareholding in CAMS to the same purchaser at the same price at which the Corporation is selling its share in CAMS.

9:21 am Buzzing: Morgan Stanley has initiated its coverage with Overweight on HDFC Standard Life and set a target price at Rs 425 per share.

The research house expects premium growth to normalise at 17.5 percent in FY19-20, after 30 percent growth in FY18.

The stock gained 1.5 percent.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks rebounded in opening on Thursday, with the Nifty reclaiming 10,450 level, backed by select auto, technology, metals and pharma stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 64.49 points at 33,841.87 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 20 points to 10,464.20. About 984 shares advanced against 265 declining shares on the BSE.

Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were early losers. Hero MotoCorp, GAIL, Hindalco, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki and UPL were early gainers

Mahindra and Mahindra was down 1.4 percent as stock trades ex-bonus today. Nifty Midcap was up 0.5 percent.
Reliance Nippon, Pidilite Industries, PVR, Ajanta Pharma, Reliance Communications, Monnet Ispat, Gokaldas Exports, Videocon Industries, Wockhardt and Unitech rallied 1-6 percent while Bank of India and Motherson Sumi were down 1 percent each.