Nifty holds 8,850 amid rangebound trade

Index heavweight Reliance Industries was the top gainer along with financials

A rangebound trade was witnessed after a sharp rally in early trades as the US Fed decided to keep key rates on hold.

At 2pm, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 251 points at 28,758. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 86 points at 8,868.

Reliance Industries continued to lead the gains along with financials.

ICICI Bank was among the top gainer. The Rs 6,000-crore initial public offering (IPO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, the biggest in six years and the first by an insurance company, attracted strong demand from investors. The IPO saw nearly 10 times more demand than shares on offer with bids totalling about Rs 45,000 crore.

IT shares retreated after the rupee gained against the US dollar. The rupee was up 25 paise at 66.76 to the dollar. Wipro and TCS were down 0.5%-1.3% each.

Among others, Aurobindo Pharma has moved higher by 4.4% to Rs 842 on the BSE after the company announced that it has received tentative approval for Dolutegravir 50mg from US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA). The drug is used for the treatment of HIV.

BPL has rallied 13% to Rs 80, extending its 42% surge in the past six trading sessions on the BSE, on the back of heavy volumes.
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(Updated at 11:55am)
A rangebound trading was witnessed as key benchmark indices hovered in positive zone in mid-morning trade. At 11:55 PM, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 205 points at 28,713. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 63 points at 8,841. Gains in global markets aided the upmove on the domestic bourses.

In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks edged higher tracking gains in US markets overnight. US stocks registered strong gains yesterday, 21 September 2016, after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged but hinted at the possibility of a rate hike later this year.

Concluding a two-day meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced that the federal funds rate will remain at 0.25% to 0.5%. The Fed also said risks to the economy have diminished since its last meeting in July. The Fed last raised rates in December 2015, the first hike in almost a decade.

 
Closer home, the broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,651 shares rose and 625 shares declined. A total of 146 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.99%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.97%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

IT stocks edged lower as rupee strengthened past 67 against the dollar. HCL Technologies (down 0.13%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.57%), TCS (down 0.52%) and Wipro (down 0.37%) declined. Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.44%) edged higher. A firm rupee adversely affects operating profit margins of IT firms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports.

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee was currently hovering at 66.865, compared with closing of 67.02 during the previous trading session.

Index heavyweight and software major Infosys was down 0.25% at Rs 1,054.05. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,058.80 and a low of Rs 1,051.60 so far during the day.

Auto stocks rose. TVS Motor Company (up 3.84%), Hero MotoCorp (up 2.46%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.71%), Bajaj Auto (up 1.33%), Tata Motors (up 1.22%), Eicher Motors (up 1.08%) and Ashok Leyland (up 1.14%) edged higher.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was up 0.59% at Rs 1,415.75. The company announced the proactive inspection of a fluid hose on all New Generation Scorpio & NuvoSport vehicles, manufactured till June 2016. This is in keeping with the company's customer centric approach, the company said. The inspection and subsequent rectification will be carried out free of cost for all New Generation Scorpio & NuvoSport customers, who will be individually contacted by the company.

As an endeavor to ensure a hassle free experience for its customers, the company is proactively carrying out this activity, it said. This action is also in compliance with SIAM's voluntary code on vehicle recall, M&M said. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 21 September 2016.

GAIL (India) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) edged higher after these two companies announced signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dhamra LNG Terminal (DLTPL) for taking equity stake in the 5 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) capacity LNG receiving, storage and regasification terminal being put up at Dhamra Port, Odisha. GAIL (India) was up 1.51% at Rs 392.75. IOCL was up 1.01% at Rs 576.90.

As per the MoU, DLTPL shall be an equal joint venture (JV) of IOCL and GAIL (India) on one hand and Adani group on the other. IOCL and GAIL (India) would acquire 39% and 11% equity respectively in DLTPL with the balance 50% being held by Adani group. Going forward, IOCL and Adani group will each divest 1% of their respective stake to a credible financial institution which will then have 2% stake in the terminal. Apart from equity, IOCL and GAIL (India) intend to book regasification capacity of 3 and 1.5 MMTPA respectively in the terminal.

Godrej Properties rose 1.42% at Rs 342.05 after the company announced that it has acquired a land parcel in South Bangalore to build a housing project. Godrej Properties announced that it has acquired a land parcel measuring around 12 acres off Sarjapur Road in South Bangalore. The company plans to develop a residential housing project of approximately 92,900 square meters or around one million square feet.

This project will be developed in partnership with Godrej Residential Investment Program II (GRIP II). This is the second project under GRIP II, the $275 million fund which was announced by the company in March 2016. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 21 September 2016.


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