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Markets continued to trade in a narrow range as losses in private lenders capped further upsides while capital goods firmed up on the back of recent orders.
At 12:40pm, the S&P BSE Sensex dipped 18 points at 28,106 and the Nifty50 was down 5 points at 8,669.
SBI continued to be the top Sensex gainer up over 3% after the state-owned banking major announced the merger of its associate banks with itself.
In the capital goods space, BHEL was up 1.5% after the company recently won an EPC Order for supply of 30 MW Solar Photovoltaic Power Plants.
L&T was up nearly 1% after the company said it has been identified as implementation partner to convert Nagpur into the first large-scale integrated Smart City as per a Letter of Intent by the Government of Maharashtra.
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(updated at 10:45am)
Markets are trading in a narrow range with the Sensex and the Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone.
By 10:45 am, the S&P BSE Sensex dipped 12 points at 28,111 and the Nifty50 was flat at 8,674. Among broader markets,
BSE Midcap index hit a new high of 13,042 while Smallcap touched fresh 52-week high of 12,473.
Top gainers from the Sensex pack are SBI, Asian Paints, NTPC, Cipla and Tata Steel, all surging between 1%-2%.
State Bank of India (SBI) & its listed associate banks mainly State Bank of Travancore (SBT) and State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ) have rallied by up to 9% on the BSE in early morning trade after SBI on Thursday approved the share swap ratios for the merger of five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself.
UltraTech Cement extended gains to hit a fresh high of Rs 3,954 after the company announced plans to raise funds up to Rs 500 crore through issuance of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis.
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Updated at 9:30 am
Markets have turned choppy after starting the session on a marginally higher note with state-owned banking major SBI leading the gains.
State Bank of India (SBI) and its associate banks are in focus after SBI after trading hours yesterday announced the merger of 5 associate banks viz. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), and State Bank of Travancore (SBT) with itself. Shares of SBI are up almost 3%.
By 9:30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex dipped 23 points at 28,100 and the Nifty50 slipped 3 points to trade at 8,670. Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.2%-0.3%.
“Though yesterday’s short covering hinted at the possibility of a major rally, the 8750/90 barrier continues to discourage bulls. Signals to this end were given earlier by oscillators earlier too. Choppiness is expected today, but, direct fall below 8580 could re-open the possibilities of 8440-8340,” adds Geojit BNP Paribas in its technical note.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 162.17 crore yesterday, 18 August 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges
On Thursday, stock markets snapped a two-day losing streak after minutes of the US Federal Reserve meeting signalled no interest rate hikes in the near term, and raised hopes that the pace of foreign inflows into the domestic market would continue.
Globally, Asian stocks edged up on Friday as Wall Street benefited from buoyant crude oil prices and expectations that US borrowing costs will remain at stimulatory levels at least until year-end.
Japan's Nikkei added 0.5% and South Korea's Kospi tacked on 0.2%. Australian shares added 0.1%.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan stood steady. The index was on track to rise 0.25% on the week, during which it reached a one-year high.
Global equities received a lift this week after the Federal Reserve's July policy meeting minutes showed that the US central bank was in no hurry to hike interest rates.
Back home, SBI is the top Sensex gainer, up over 3%. Among its associates, State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has jumped over 6% while State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) has gained over 2.5%. However, State Bank of Mysore (SBM) has slumped by 10%.
As the swap ratio for the merger, 28 equity shares of SBI will be issued for every 10 shares held in SBBJ. For both SBM and SBT, the swap ratio for merger is 22 shares of SBI for every 10 shares held in SBM and SBT.
RBL Bank will hit the capital markets today to raise over Rs 1,200 crore through an initial share-sale programme, the first IPO by a private sector lender in a decade.
Infosys has rebounded in trades today after witnessing a sharp fall in last few trading sessions due to its key client Royal Bank of Soctland scrapping a key IT project. The stock has gained over 1%.
Wipro said that the company has made minority strategic investment to acquire a minority stake of less than 20% in Intsights Cyber Intelligence for $1.5 million. The stock has risen over 1%.
On the losing side, HDFC, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, RIL and Hero Moto have slipped between 0.5%-1%.
Government has slapped an additional penalty of $380 million (around Rs 2,500 crore) on Reliance Industries and its partners for producing less than targeted natural gas from eastern offshore KG-D6 fields.
HDFC Bank Ltd plans to set up a 200-seater business process outsourcing (BPO) centre in Bhubaneswar, spreading over 100,000 sq ft.
