Nifty ends above 8150, Sensex up 100 pts; Bharti, TCS, HDFC gain

Moneycontrol Bureau3:30 pm Market closing: The market has ended on a firm note with the Sensex up 100.45 points or 0.4 percent at 26625.91 and the Nifty was up 29.45 points or 0.4 percent at 8170.20. About 1240 shares advanced, 1333 shares declined, and 184 shares were unchanged.

Bharti Airtel, TCS, Tata Motors, HDFC and Coal India were top gainers while Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's, Tata Steel, SBI and L&T are losers in the Sensex.

3:15 pm Gold: Gold plunged by Rs 600 to Rs 29,650 per ten grams at the bullion market today on fall in demand from jewellers at prevailing higher levels coupled with a weak trend overseas.

Silver followed suit, falling by Rs 950 to Rs 41,100 per kg on poor offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Traders said sentiment dampened as demand from jewellers weakened amid a weak trend overseas where gold retreated from almost two-year highs as investors pared bets on the outcome of next week's UK vote on membership in the European Union, reducing demand for the metal as a haven.

2:55 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks erased some gains in late trade. The Sensex rose 54.28 points to 26579.74 and the Nifty gained 7.50 points at 8148.25.The market breadth turned negative as about 1318 shares declined against 1180 advancing shares on BSE.2:40 pm Record tea production: India recorded its highest-ever tea production at 1,233 million kilos during 2015-16, while the exports crossed 230 million kilos during the period.

Tea production rose by three per cent in 2015-16, up from 36 million kilos in the preceding year, a Tea Board statement said today.

Exports during the last fiscal was the highest after 35 years and valued at Rs 4,493 crore, and a 17 per cent rise in terms of quantity, it said.

The last time exports crossed the 230 mkg mark was during 1980-81, it added.

The increase in production could be attributed to a rise in North India, while south suffered from adverse climatic conditions and labour issues in Kerala.2:20 pm Interview: Ad revenues of DB Corp were almost flattish in the fourth quarter of FY16. This was due to the company's various efforts to improve its yield in the market, says Girish Agarwaal, Director, DB Corp. He says DB, one of India's largest newspaper groups, has already started seeing double-digit growth in ad revenues of the first two months of the first quarter of FY17.The demand for ads has been coming from the real estate, automobile and education sectors. Agarwaal hopes to sustain the 38 percent margins coming from its radio business, saying anything less than 35 percent can be seen as a bad sign for the vertical.The revenues from newsprint business is also expected to grow owing to increase in circulation strength especially from Rajasthan and Gujarat. Also read - HDFC Life, Max Life Insurance in talks for merger2:00 pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks consolidated with a positive bias in afternoon trade, supported by global cues and short covering after yesterday's sell-off.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 141.88 points to 26667.34 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 32.05 points at 8172.80 while the broader markets underperformed with the BSE Midcap rising 0.1 percent.

The market breadth was marginally positive as about 1303 shares advanced against 1133 declining shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

European markets extended gains on the back of a positive trading session in Asia, a rally in banking stocks and a tick-up in oil prices. UK FTSE 100, French CAC and Germany's DAX rose over 1 percent.

Crude oil prices rose for the first time in seven days as markets took a breather from concerns about the impact of Britain's possible exit from the European Union. Brent crude futures were up 75 cents, or 1.59 percent, at USD 47.94 a barrel after slumping 3.6 percent in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 51 cents, or 1.1 percent, at USD 46.72.