Nifty below 8950 amid consolidation; JSPL rises for 8th day

Moneycontrol Bureau

12:47 pm Amtek in action: Shares of Amtek Group companies saw a spike, following reports of a possible merger of its units in a bid to reduce its debt. Amtek Auto rose over 4 percent intraday today before falling 2 percent. Meanwhile, Metalyst Forgings and Castex Technologies saw a surge of 3.2 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Over a series of board meetings of the Group last week, it was decided to undertake a restructuring activity of these companies, according to reports on CNBC-TV18.The Group, laden with high debt, seeks to undertake this merger to reduce this liability. Currently, Amtek Auto has debt to the tune of Rs 13,500 crore. 12:33 pm Lupin tie-up: Drug major Lupin today said its Japanese subsidiary Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry Co Ltd has entered into an agreement with Astellas Pharma Inc for exclusive right to distribute and promote extended-release tablets of quetiapine fumarate in Japan.

In a BSE filing, Lupin said "its Japanese subsidiary Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry Co, Ltd and Astellas Pharma Inc have entered into an agreement providing Kyowa the exclusive right to distribute and promote extended-release tablets of quetiapine fumarate in Japan".

It further said: "Astellas submitted a new drug application (NDA) with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan for extended-release tablets of quetiapine fumarate for the indication of improvement of depressive symptoms associated with bipolar disorder".12:15 pm Market Expert: Jayant Manglik of Religare Securities says this week is an important one for the markets as it'll mark the beginning of the new month and lot of macro-economic data viz. core sector data, Nikkei India Manufacturing PMI and Services PMI are lined up. Also, auto sales figures for the February month are scheduled to be announced.

With the beginning of the new expiry, he says there might be some profit taking in index first; however, he is bullish on markets and expects to see a new record high soon.

By and large, it is a buy on dips market but one should maintain caution now in stock selection, he says.Also read - Warren Buffett on investing, immigrants and hedge funds: Takeaways from 2016 shareholder letter12:00 pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate in noon trade as investors awaited Q3 GDP data and assembly elections results that will give the market direction on either side.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 4.83 points to 28888.14 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 18.70 points to 8920.80 after rising 7 percent in previous five consecutive weeks.

Axis Bank lost 3 percent on profit booking. Last week the stock jumped 8 percent on hopes of merger with other private sector lender.

Reliance Industries crossed market capitalisation of Rs 4 lakh crore for the first time since January 18, 2008. The stock surged 5 percent on value buying after Morgan Stanley raised target price on the stock to Rs 1,506 as it believes RIL's energy earnings should exceed market expectations.

Infosys and HUL gained over a percent while ITC, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, L&T, HDFC and SBI were under pressure.

Jindal Steel & Power gained for eighth consecutive session today, retaining its top position in the buying list among midcaps, up 4.5 percent. The stock jumped more than 41 percent in 8 days.

Oil prices edged higher, with Brent oil set to rise for five out of seven sessions as a global supply glut appears to ease, but rising US production limited gains. Brent crude oil climbed 0.68 percent to USD 56.37 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate added 0.57 percent to USD 54.30 a barrel.