 "Markets open flat with positive bias; Nifty reclaims 8,700")
Benchmark indices continue to trade in a flattish note with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone.
By 10:52 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 6 points at 28,217 and the Nifty50 gained 3 points to trade at 8,709. Broader markets continue to outperform the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.5% each.
Top gainers from the Sensex pack are GAIl, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Power Grid, Bharti Airtel and SBI, all surging between 0.9%-1.4%. On the losing side, RIL, Wipro, HUL, Infosys and TCS are down 0.4%-2%.
Among other shares, IDFC Bank was trading higher by 5% to Rs 80, crossing a market capitalisation of Rs 25,000 mark to Rs 27,279 crore on the BSE.
Vivimed Labs has rallied 12% to Rs 115 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day on Wednesday, extending its Tuesday’s 20% surge, after investor Ashish Kacholia acquired nearly two percentage point stake in the pharmaceuticals company through open market.
Balaji Telefilms has surged over 9% on the BSE after the company announced that its board has approved a composite scheme of arrangement between the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries viz. Balaji Motion Pictures and Bolt Media.
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Updated at 9:33 am
Markets are trading absolutely flat in early morning trades as investors have turned cautious ahead of September derivatives contracts which will expire tomorrow.
Traders will roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month September series to October series.
By 9:33 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 21 points at 28,245 and the Nifty50 gained 6 points to trade at 8,713. Broader markets continue to outperform the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.4% each.
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Top gainers from the Sensex pack are Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, Coal India and L&T, all up nearly 1% each. However, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Inds, TCS, Wipro and Cipla are down 0.2%-1%.
On Tuesday, markets closed lower for the third straight day amid weak European cues and fall in crude oil prices.
“Expect short covering too, but stronger upsides are expected only if 8820 is overcome. Base case scenario sees a test of 8676-8650 before any deal of consolidation emerges. Meanwhile worst case scenario sees 8360-8165 as the downside range extremity,” added Geojit Paribas in a technical note.
Further, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 155.76 crore yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Besides, Asian Development Bank on Tuesday retained its projections for India's economic growth at 7.4% for the current financial year, 0.2 percentage points lower than what was clocked in 2015-16.
GLOBAL MARKETS & CRUDE OIL
Asian stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday, with European banking sector concerns and lower crude oil prices dulling investors' appetite for riskier assets.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1%, erasing earlier modest gains. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.4% and Shanghai lost 0.2%.
Australian stocks were flat. Japan's Nikkei underperformed and was last down 1.5%. Japanese stocks were dogged by threats of a robust yen, which hurts exporters' earnings.
Overnight, the Dow rose 0.7% and Nasdaq added 0.9% on broader support to equities following the presidential debate, though gains were capped by weakness in the energy sector.
CORPORATE NEWS
Drug makers Lupin, Torrent and Cadila Healthcare are considering making bids to acquire Bayer’s dermatology business, valued $1 billion. Shares of Lupin and Cadila Healthcare are trading marginally positive.
The share buyback plan of Coal India, through which the central government intends to raise Rs 3,650 crore, would commence on October 3. Coal India is up 0.5%.
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The board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is split on the issue of claiming compensation for Rs 11,000 crore worth of natural gas spewing from its K-G basin block into adjoining fields of Reliance Industries.
State Bank of India (SBI) said that the bank issued and allotted 25,000 AT1 Basel III compliant non-convertible, perpetual, subordinated, unsecured debt instrument in the nature of debenture, of face value Rs 10 lakh each at par through private placement bearing coupon of 8.75% per annum payable annually with call option after 5 years or any coupon payment date thereafter aggregating to Rs 2,500 crore in second tranche. SBI is marginally negative.
Mahindra & Mahindra, has decided to acquire the European two-wheeler subsidiary company of Mahindra Two Wheelers for euro 26.3 million (about Rs 197 crore). Shares of M&M are marginally positive.
Tata Motors Finance, the vehicle financing company owned by Tata Motors, will transfer its new vehicle finance business to Sheba Properties, to its fully owned subsidiary. Tata Motors is up over 0.5%.
With Reuters input
