Nifty hits new 2016 high, Sensex firm; ONGC, Maruti gain 1-2%

Moneycontrol Bureau10:50 am Buzzing: The government's 11.36 percent stake sale in electricity generator NHPC on bourses took off on Wednesday, with the scrip slipping 6.72 percent in line with the broader market trend and going below the floor price.

The floor price of Rs 21.75 for the offer for sale (OFS) was at a discount of 5.64 percent over yesterday's closing price of Rs 23.05 on BSE.

However, in morning trade, the scrip lost Rs 1.55 a share, or 6.72 per cent, to a low of Rs 21.50. The OFS is open to institutional investors today and bidding will continue till 1530 hours.

10:30 am  Market outlook: Consumption and fast-moving goods companies (FMCG) are expected to do well despite headline consumption numbers which are yet to pick up, says Dipen Sheth, Head-Institutional Research at HDFC Securities. Anticipation trade is likely to pick up in consumption companies. Sheth likes Dabur in this category, which has a great rural-urban mix. Small and medium enterprises (SME), which see steady business, will continue to hold up, he says. Retail is expected to keep up the performance, too.Don't miss: Bharti Q4 net seen up 13%, Africa biz growth likely to be flat

The Nifty has hit fresh high of 2016 as the 50-share index is up 18.60 points or 0.2 percent at 7981.25.  The Sensex is up 41.62 points or 0.2 percent at 26048.92About 1110 shares have advanced, 540 shares declined, and 95 shares are unchanged.

ONGC, Tata Motors, Matuti, ITC and Hero are top gainers while Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Lupin and HDFC are losers in the Sensex.

Meanwhlie, broking firm CLSA firms feels Indian equities are expensive at 16.1 times forward earnings and this is likely to cap market returns hereon.

CLSA says improvement in corporate earnings could be a positive trigger, but could take a while to play out.

“Base-effect driven YoY (year-on-year) earnings growth improvement is likely from the September quarter and should sustain through to Mar-17; but this positive trigger is unlikely to play out before Oct/Nov,” the CLSA note says.

Rupee is weakened by 6 paise to 66.58 against the dollar in early trade largely due to month-end demand for the US currency from importers. The month-end demand from banks and importers and a lower opening of the domestic equity market mainly weighed on the rupee, forex dealers said.

 A weakness in the US dollar against some currencies in the global market hit by weaker-than-expected durable goods orders data, however, limited the fall, they added.