Power stocks gain

Key benchmark indices continued to hover near the previous session's close in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was almost unchanged at 26,079.33. The 50-unit Nifty 50 index was up 2.45 points or 0.03% at 7,931.40.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,408 shares rose and 950 shares fell. A total of 226 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.5%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.44%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

Shares of power generation and power distribution companies gained. Torrent Power (up 1.04%), NTPC (up 0.62%), Tata Power Company (up 1.12%), Adani Power (up 4.11%), JSW Energy (up 1.02%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 0.11%), Reliance Infrastructure (up 1.24%) and Reliance Power (up 0.9%) gained. NHPC declined 0.25%.

Telecom stocks also gained. Reliance Communications (up 0.57%) and Idea Cellular (up 0.18%) gained. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) declined 1.43%.

Bharti Airtel rose 0.46% after the company announced that it has acquired 74% capital of Augere Wireless Broadband India (Augere). The company made the announcement after market hours yesterday, 29 December 2015. With this acquisition, Augere has become a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel. It may be recalled that Bharti Airtel had announced on 27 October 2015 that its board of directors had approved the scheme of amalgamation of Augere with the company.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories gained 1.46% after the company announced the relaunch of its Esomeprazole Magnesium Delayed-Release Capsules, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Nexium Delayed Release capsules in the US market. Nexium is a registered trademark of Astrazeneca AB Corporation. The re-launch is due to a change in the capsule color. The company made the announcement during market hours today, 30 December 2015.

Zuari Agro Chemicals rose 3.21% after the company said its board approved merger of three wholly-owned subsidiaries, Zuari Fertilisers and Chemicals (ZFCL), Zuari Rotem Speciality Fertilisers (ZRSFL) and Zuari Agri Sciences (ZASL) into the company. The announcement was made after trading hours yesterday, 29 December 2015. The appointment date of the amalgamation has been fixed as 1 April 2015.

In overseas markets, Asian stocks were mixed. US stocks climbed sharply higher yesterday, 29 December 2015, as a rebound in oil prices helped reinvigorate bullish sentiment.

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