Nifty eyes 8550, Sensex gains on pharma support; ITC, BHEL up 3%

Moneycontrol Bureau11:55 am Upcoming issue: PepsiCo India's largest franchise bottling partner Varun Beverages is set to debut on the stock market on Tuesday, November 8. It has fixed issue price at Rs 445, the higher end of price band. The issue has not seen a great response from investors as high valuations and debt might have resisted investors to rethink at the time of listing. The issue, which opened for subscription during October 26-28, was oversubscribed 1.89 times on final day. It was largely supported by qualified institutional buyers, whose reserved portion oversubscribed 4.94 times whereas response from retail and high networth individuals was tepid.11:45 am Boardroom: Country's second largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) has reported a 11.5 percent degrowth in second quarter profit at Rs 549.4 crore, impacted by higher provisions and lower NII but it was ahead of estimates due to treasury income. Asset quality also improved during the quarter but credit growth was muted. The bank said advances (loan) during the quarter grew by 3.35 percent to Rs 3.93 lakh crore and deposits increased 6.5 percent to Rs 5.74 lakh crore compared with corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18 Usha Ananthasubramanian, MD & CEO, PNB said that the way forward is to reduce slippages.

She mentioned that the NPA watchlist is dynamic as it keeps changing. The majority of the NPAs have come from one or two shipping accounts which have got classified.

11:30 am Market outlook: Midcap index has been up 23 percent since start of the financial year and there continues to be opportunities there, says Dipen Sheth of HDFC Securities. “Different themes are playing out for different midcaps,” he adds. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Sheth says that the pharmaceutical sector has gone nowhere since the dream rally in 2014. There, however, exists potential. He is positive on Lupin and is expecting a 20 percent compounded annual growth (CAGR) over next 2-3 years on back of strong US pipeline and strong management.Don't miss: Market debut: PNB Housing Finance lists at Rs 860, up 11% over issue price

The market has managed to continue its uptrend momentum supported by index heavyweights. The Sensex is up 225.64 points or 0.8 percent at 27499.79 and the Nifty is up 81.60 points or 0.9 percent at 8515.35. About 1942 shares have advanced, 456 shares declined, and 83 shares are unchanged.

Lupin, BHEL, ITC, SBI and Dr Reddy's Labs are top gainers while TCS, HUL, HDFC, Wipro and L&T are losers in the Sensex.

Gold retreated as the US dollar and stocks strengthened after the FBI said it stood by its earlier finding that no criminal charges were warranted against Democrat Hillary Clinton just two days ahead of the US election.

Gold prices in India swung to a discount in the week to Nov. 4 as a rally in prices dampened retail demand and prompted jewellers to reduce purchases, while demand in leading consumer China went up on safe-haven buying on worries over the US presidential election.