Nifty hovers around 8,550; BSE FMCG index up 2%

Notable gainers from the Sensex pack are ITC, Cipla, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Hindalco, RIL and TCS

Benchmark indices have erased early gains after hitting record highs in opening trades with the Sensex topping the 28,800. Market traders and investors have turned cautious and booked profits at higher levels.

By 10:20, the Sensex was higher by 90 points at 28,532 whereas the Nifty gained by 6 points at 8,544.

On Wednesday, the total market capitalisation on the Bombay Stock Exchange topped the Rs 100 trillion mark. The total market capitalisation stood at Rs 100,40, 625 crore at close.

Further, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 391.07 crore yesterday as per provisional data.

Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are trading marginally positive. The markets breadth in BSE remains healthy with 1,009 shares advancing and 338 shares declining.

The rupee is trading at 61.93/94, little weaker versus Wednesday's close of 61.9050/9150.

ASIAN MARKETS

Asian stocks rose on Thursday amid fresh signs of resilience in the US economy, while the euro wallowed near two-year lows before a much-anticipated European Central Bank meeting that could open the door to more stimulus.

Tokyo's Nikkei climbed 0.7%, touching a new seven-year high, with sentiment buoyed by media projections suggesting a strong win for Japanese premier Shinzo Abe's coalition at the Dec 14 election. A victory for Abe could lead to a new mandate for his "Abenomics" policies to revive the economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4%, while Australian shares were up 0.5%.

SECTORAL INDICES & STOCKS IN FOCUS

BSE FMCG index has surged by over 2% followed by counters Realty, Healthcare and Oil & Gas, all gaining marginally. On the losing side, Auto, Banks, Consumer Durables, IT, Metal and Power have declining marginally.

FMCG major ITC is the top Sensex gainer, up over 4%. The Narendra Modi-led government wants to distance itself from the “activism” shown by Harsh Vardhan during his five-month tenure as the health minister on the issue of banning sale of loose cigarettes.

The government said on Wednesday it favoured wider consultations between all stakeholders before bringing any amendments to the existing laws to restrict the sale of loose cigarettes or increase penalties for violations. According to government sources, the idea of banning sale of loose cigarettes has been put on hold.

Other notable gainers from the Sensex pack are Cipla, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Hindalco, RIL and TCS.

Shares of ICICI Bank has touched fresh record high of Rs 366 on BSE after the stock turned ex-stock split today.  The private sector lender had subdivided the face value of its equity shares to Rs 2 from Rs 10.

Meanwhile, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have reduced interest rates on retail term deposits.

HDFC Bank has gained by nearly 1%. HDFC Bank has become the first bank to rule out a joint venture partnership with any applicant for a payment bank.

RIL has gained by almost 1%. The Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply yesterday that the possible alternatives for affecting the recovery of additional profit petroleum for the government from the contractor of the D6 Block are being worked out.

On the losing side, Tata Power, Axis Bank, BHEL, Coal India and GAIL have declined by 1% each.

Shares of SAIL were down 3% ahead of the 5% stake sale by the government on Friday, December 5, 2014.

Among other shares, Sanghvi Forging and Engineering has zoomed 14% to Rs 51 after the company announced that it has received fresh orders worth Rs 11 crore from the oil and gas and power sectors.

Sadbhav Engineering has surged 7% to Rs 282 on BSE after the company said its subsidiary Sadbhav Infrastructure Projects has filed its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for its public issue of shares.

Realty companies have gained between 1% to 3% on BSE boosted by government's decision to lower built-up area and minimum capital requirements which need to be met by construction companies before accepting any foreign investments.

The government has eased foreign direct investment rules for the construction sector to attract more money into the country to build new hotels, housing and townships.

Godrej Properties has taken the lead with a gain of more than 3.5% followed by Prestige Estate Projects, up 1.5%, HDIL, up 1.4% and Oberoi Realty, up 1%.