Market Live: Sensex trades flat, Nifty around 10,500-mark; midcaps outperform

10:46 am Mutual Fund View: The year 2017 was a fulfilling one for investors but as we step into 2018 valuations will remain a concern, says Harsha Upadhyaya, CIO-Equity, Kotak Mutual Fund in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

“One needs to be more cautious heading into 2018. We believe earnings recovery will gain some momentum in next few quarters but most of it is already in the price,” he said.

Upadhyaya further added investors should enter markets with a long-term horizon and also with moderate expectations from equities.

10:32 am Fund house development: Kunal M. Jain has resigned as co-fund manager of fixed income from Indiabulls Asset Management Company with immediate effect, a notice from the fund house said.

Consequently, Jain ceases to co-manage Indiabulls Income Fund, Indiabulls Monthly Income Plan, and Indiabulls Gilt Fund. Jain was appointed as the co-fund manager on Oct 7, 2016.

10:15 am Market Check: Benchmark indices are trading flat, with the Nifty hovering around 10,500.

At 10:17 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 4.82 points or 0.01% at 33945.12, and the Nifty up 0.20 points or 0.00% at 10493.20. The market breadth is positive as 1402 shares advanced, against a decline of 822 shares, while 114 shares are unchanged.

Here are the top headlines at 12 pm from Moneycontrol News’ Anchal Pathak

9:59 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of Tata Power gained over 3 percent on the back of an order win by its arm in Russia.

Tata Power’s Russian subsidiary Far Eastern Natural Resources LLC has bagged the mining licence for a thermal coal mine in Kamchatka province in far east Russia.

“The subsidiary participated in the financial auction process at Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka today (on December 22, 2017) and was awarded a license at approximately USD 4.7 million,” Tata Power said in a BSE filing.

9:46 am Gains given up: Benchmark indices have given up most of the gains and are trading flat, with the Nifty hovering around 10,500.

At 09:45 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 4.79 points or 0.01% at 33945.09, and the Nifty up 1.10 points or 0.01% at 10494.10. About 1292 shares advanced, against a decline of 695 shares, while 101 shares are unchanged.

9:30 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of Alembic Pharmaceuticals rose 1 percent in the early trade on Tuesday as its associate company Rhizen Pharmaceuticals received USFDA approval for cancer drug.

“Rhizen Pharmaceuticals SA announced that USFDA has granted orphan-drug designation for the active moiety of Tenalisib, the company’s highly selective and orally active dual PI3K delta/gamma inhibitor, for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma,” as per BSE release.

Orphan-drug designation is granted to a drug or biological product intended to treat a rare disease in the United States.

9:15 am Market Opens: The Indian market began the truncated week on a positive note, with the Nifty trading above 10,500-mark.

At 09:16 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 60.81 points or 0.18% at 34001.11, while the Nifty is up 7.30 points or 0.07% at 10500.30. The market breadth was positive as 596 shares advanced, against a decline of 163 shares, while 81 shares were unchanged.

TCS, BHEL, Tata Power and GAIL were the top gainers, while Tata Motors DVR, ITC, Infosys and Sun Pharma lost the most.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 64.03 per dollar on Tuesday versus 64.05 on Friday.

Bhaskar Panda of HDFC Bank said, “The Catalan vote roiled global markets before Christmas. However, cheer in Indian markets seem to be continuing. Hence, I expect the INR appreciation trend to continue. Range for the day seen between 63.90-64.10.”

He further added, “The Indian 10-year benchmark yield has been continuously moving higher. It may continue to consolidate within a range of 7.25-7.30 percent for today.”

The dollar index held steady shrugging off upbeat Japanese economic data.

Asian markets were mixed early in the Tuesday session in what’s likely to be light, holiday-week trading.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index came under slight pressure after closing at a 26-year high in the last session, despite thin holiday trade. The index traded lower by 0.1 percent as most technology and auto names drifted lower. Energy-related companies, however, made gains as oil priced nudged higher.
Most Japanese retailers also edged higher, with shares of department store operator Takashimaya popping 3.93 percent to touch a more than two-year high. Takashimaya on Monday announced a 5.6 percent increase in operating profit for the nine months ending November, Reuters said.