Sensex ends flat but at new closing highs; Nifty settles above 11050

All that happened in the markets today

3:39 PM

Sectoral Trend

3:37 PM

Sensex top gainers and losers

3:33 PM

Markets at Close

 

Benchmark indices were flat on Wednesday, paring gains after scaling new peaks for a sixth consecutive session, with IT stocks boosting the indexes while broader gains were capped by profit-booking.

 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 36,161, up 21 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 11,086, up 2 points. 

3:19 PM

Essar Oilfields bags Rs 32 crore well drilling contract from ONGC

 

Essar Oilfields Services India Ltd (EOSIL) on Wednesday said it has been awarded a contract worth Rs 32 crore by ONGC to drill 30 wells at the latters coal bed methane block in Bokaro in Jharkhand for one year.

 

Work is likely to commence in the next few weeks, EOSIL said in a statement. READ MORE

3:09 PM

Paushak locked 5% upper circuit as board approves share buyback proposal

 

Paushak was locked in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 1,480, also its record high on BSE, after the company’s board approved the share buyback proposal at price Rs 1,700 per share through tender offer.

 

The buyback price is 21% higher against Tuesday’s closing price of Rs 1,409 on BSE. READ MORE

3:00 PM

IT heavyweights surge past buyback price

 

Investors in information technology (IT) stocks who tendered their equity shares in recent buyback offers have missed out on the current rally, as most of the stocks are trading higher as compared to their respective buyback price.

 

 

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Mindtree and Danlaw Technologies have rallied by up to 45% from their buyback price. These seven IT companies had bought back equity shares worth around Rs 439 billion from their shareholders, including promoters. READ MORE

2:45 PM

Nifty PSU Bank index up 10% in six trading days

 

Shares of public sector banks (PSBs) were trading higher for the second straight day on expectations of PSU recap bond allocation to happen before the Budget.

 

State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Syndicate Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were up in the range of 1% to 4% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). READ MORE

2:30 PM

Market Check

S&P BSE Sensex	36,156.25		0.05%
Nifty 50	11,084.65		0.01%
S&P BSE 200	4,874.84		-0.12%
Nifty 500	9,855.70		-0.22%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	17,974.51		-0.58%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	19,493.06		-0.80%

2:15 PM

Budget 2018: In first 8 months of FY18, states have gone slow on capex

 

Hemmed by rising expenditure on account of farm loan waivers and Pay Commission proceeds, state governments have slowed down the pace of capital expenditure in the current financial year.

 

An analysis of 17 state government accounts reveals that nine states have so far spent only 36 per cent of their budgeted capital expenditure in the current financial year (April to November), compared with 47 per cent over the same period the previous financial year. Capex by two other states is marginally lower than last year, while only six states have spent a greater proportion of their budget this year compared to last year. READ MORE

2:00 PM

Airtel and Idea stocks fall after Reliance Jio cuts tariffs

 

Shares of Indian telecom service providers fell on Wednesday after Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd cut tariffs to counter bigger rival Bharti Airtel Ltd's revision in data plans. Jio, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, said on Tuesday the revision was "a response to Airtel's tariff changes", which would help it maintain "its price leadership".

 

Shares of Airtel declined as much as 6.22% to Rs 461.5 on Wednesday, their lowest since October 18, 2017. Idea Cellular, India's third-biggest telecom network operator, dropped as much as 5.7% to its lowest since Dec. 18, 2017 ahead of its quarterly results later in the day. READ MORE