Nifty nears 8,650; auto stocks lead

Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto were among the top gainers

Benchmark share indices firmed up in late noon trades with auto stocks gaining the most led by Tata Motors.

At 2:40pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 53 points,at 27,969 levels and the Nifty50 was up 26 points at 8,641.

Tata Motors was up 2.5% on short covering and renewed buying interest at lower levels after the sharp correction this week.

Bajaj Auto was up 2.4%. The two-wheeler major posted a net profit of Rs 1,201 crore for the quarter ended September 2016 compared with Rs 1,120 crore for the quarter ended September 2015.

Among other auto stocks, Hero MotoCorp, M&M and Maruti Suzuki were up 0.6%-1.4% each.

______________________
(Updated at 12pm)
Markets have remained range-bound as Tata Motors rebounded, given the corporate struggle prevailing in the conglomerate.

At 12:00 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up by 40 points, or 0.14 %, trading at 27,955 levels. Nifty50 was up by 26 points, hovering around 8,643 levels. The broader index have clearly outperformed the benchmarks, with S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap gaining 1% each.

On Sensex, Tata Motors, Coal India, Dr Reddy were the top gainers, posting gains above 2% each, while ICICI Bank, Cipla, Bharti Airtel were the major losers, slipping between 1%-1.5%.

Buzzing Stocks

Shriram City Union Finance has surged 9% to Rs 2,546, also its record high on BSE, after the company reported a strong 34.3% year on year growth in net profit at Rs 204 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 (Q2FY17), on the back of healthy net interest income.     

Tech Mahindra has rallied 7% to Rs 444 on BSE in early morning trade after the company reported dollar revenue growth of 5% sequentially on a constant currency basis, best among its peers for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 (Q2FY17).

Broader Markets

On BSE Midcap, Shriman City Union Finance Ltd gained almost 8%, while Ashok Leyland and Bajaj Finserv edged up 5% and 4% respectively. 65 scrips on the index advanced while 18 declined.

Global Markets

Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Friday morning to hover near a six-month high as rising bond yields lifted insurers and banks, which are investing more in overseas bonds amid Japan's low bond yield environment.

The Nikkei gained 0.4% to 17,410.28 in mid-morning trade after hitting a fresh six-month high of 17,459.02 earlier. For the week, the benchmark index is poised to post two consecutive week of gains. It has gained 1.4% this week.

The dollar notched a three-month high against the yen of 105.34 yen on Thursday, also supporting overall sentiment.

The dollar got an overnight lift from yields on US Treasuries, which climbed to roughly five-month peaks tracking gains in German and British bond yields as investors speculated that the Bank of England and the European Central Bank would both hold off on further easing measures.

Dai-ichi Life Holdings soared 3.2%, Sompo Holdings surged 2.0%, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 1.7% and Mizuho Financial Group gained 1.2%.