 "Mid, small-caps take centre stage; Narayana Hrudayalaya makes a stellar debut")
After a lower opening, markets have turned flat with Midcaps and Smallcaps taking the centre stage as they continue to outperform the benchmarks on sustained buying interest.
At 10:40 am, the S&P BSE Sensex is up 2 points to quote at 25,582 and the Nifty50 has shed 2 points to trade at 7,786. However, the broader markets continue to outperform the larger peers with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices up between 0.3%-0.5% each.
However, the rupee is trading lower by 22 paise at 66.82 against the dollar today on increased demand for the US currency from importers.
STELLAR DEBUT
Narayana Hrudayalaya listed today at Rs 291, a 16% premium against its issue price of Rs 250 per share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE. The private health care service provider raised Rs 613 crore via the initial public offer (IPO). The company had priced the IPO at the top end of the Rs 245 to Rs 250 per share price band for the IPO. The issue was subscribed 6.38 times.
SECTORS & STOCKS
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Most sectoral indices are largely trading in green barring BSE Metal, Auto and Consumer Durables indices which are trading lower between 0.2%-0.5%.
Cadila Healthcare has surged 3.4% after Credit Suisse has upgraded the stock to outperform with a price target of Rs 450
Meanwhile, telecom stocks including Bharti Airtel, RCom and Idea Cellular are trading nearly 1% higher each as the Delhi High Court is likely to pronounce its order on compensation for call drops later today. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has asked operators to pay a compensation of Re one for every call drop, maximum three calls per day per mobile user, starting January 1.
Among individual names, SpiceJet is surging over 1% on reports that the airline announced network expansion and flight frequencies on 10 routes, including extra services on the Delhi-Kabul sector.
Another stock in green is Tech Mahindra up 0.5% as it is focusing on further boosting its integrated engineering unit with partnerships, investing internally and, potentially, more acquisitions as it looks to capitalize on the opportunities in the automotive space.
On the flip side, oil & gas shares such as ONGC, Gail and Cairn India have dropped between 0.3-1% following overnight selloff in crude oil.
The metal pack is witnessing selling pressure as the concerns in the World’s second largest economy resurfaces with China’s Services PMI at 17-month low. Hindalco, Vedanta and Tata Steel down between 1%-1.5%.
Another pack which is trading lower is the Auto pack. Hero Motocorp, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, M&M and Bajaj Auto down between 0.5%-1%.
Apollo Hospitals is trading down by 0.5% after the Income tax investigators conducted searches in its properties.