Index heavyweights support markets; RIL up 2%

RIL gained on the back of a huge block deal of over 6 million shares at

Markets continue to remain rangebound in noon trades on Friday led by index heavyweights RIL and ITC along with IT majors TCS and Infosys.

At 12:40pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 129 points at 24,981 and the Nifty50 was up 39 points at 7,607.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up over 1% each.

Market breadth was firm with 1,748 gainers and 747 losers on the BSE.

BSE Power index was the top sectoral gainer along with IT, oil and gas indices among others. BSE Capital Goods and Metal indices were the losers.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was up nearly 2% after a block deal aggregating over Rs 600 crore executed in the counter. About 6.06 million equity shares representing 0.19% of total equity of RIL changed hands at 11:15 a.m., the BSE data shows.

FMCG major ITC was up 1.7%.

IT exporters TCS and Infosys were up 1.2% each ahead of the US jobs data later today.

Metal stocks rebounded after the sharp fall in the previous session with Tata Steel, Hindalco up 0.4-1.3% each.

Among other shares, Shares of Deep Industries were up nearly 5% at Rs 168 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said that state-owned oil explorer ONGC has received approval from the Oil Ministry for transfer of participating interest in North Karanpura CBM block.

Shares of plastic products maker Nilkamal extended gains to hit a record high of Rs 1,459, up 6% on the BSE, after reported nearly four-fold jump in net profit for the second quarter ended September 2015 (Q2).
_____________________
(Updated at 11:15am)
After cracking over 2% in the previous session, markets made a comeback today morning with Sensex reclaiming the crucial 25,000 mark in the early trades. However, the Sensex slipped below the key level but continues to remain firm as investors purchase the battered bluechips at attractive valuations.

At 11:15 am, S&P BSE Sensex was up 63 points at 24,915 and Nifty50 was up 17 points at 7,585.

Meanwhile, the global benchmark oil futures surged over 2% on Friday tracking gains among the Asian equities after Beijing deactivated a circuit breaker mechanism that was responsible for distressing and creating panic among the global peers. Chinese equities made a strong comeback as the yuan currency firmed in early trade after PBOC strengthened its official rate for the first time in nine trading days. Japan’s Nikkei, China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed between 0.3%-2.5%.

GOLD 

Gold climbed above $1,100 an ounce for the first time in nine weeks on Thursday as the dollar dropped and investors channeled money into safer assets for a fourth straight day amid turmoil in the global equities.

RUPEE

The rupee gained 18 paise to trade at 66.75 on Wednesday, as Asian currencies recovered amid reports that the Chinese central bank, PBOC, was intervening to support the tumbling yuan.

KEY STOCKS

All sectoral indices barrign BSE Metal index are trading in green with BSE Oil & Gas and Realty indices are trading by 1% higher.

Tata Motor has bounced back in today’s trade and is trading nearly 2% higher after the sharp correction in the previous session.

Energy shares are witnessing an upsurge after the oil prices stabilized. RIL, ONGC and Cairn India have gained between 0.5%-1.4%.

Drug maker Sun Pharma has surged 1% after its arm Sun Pharma Global received a tentative USFDA approval for Lacosamide. Meanwhile, Cipla is trading with marginal gains after it set up a six-member management council under the leadership of chief executive Subhanu Saxena to drive growth. The drug maker has recast its top management after the resignation of chief operating officer (COO) Sudhanshu Priyardarshi and has expanded roles of two key executives.

The technology pack is witnessing fresh buying interest with Infosys, Wipro and TCS up 1% higher.

State-run Coal India has cracked 2.4% after the Indian government requested state-run firms to pay dividends of at least 30% of their PAT or their equity, whichever is greater, as part of efforts to curb the budget deficit. 

Among other losers, L&T has dropped 1.6% after CLSA model portfolio replaces L&T with RIL in the Asia ex-Japan long only portfolio.

Other notable laggards include Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp and Maruti Suzuki down between 0.6%-2%.