Nifty holds 7850, Sensex firm; Sun Pharma up, BHEL dips 2%

Moneycontrol Bureau11:55 am Listing: Shares of Sadbhav Infrastructure Project (subsidiary of Sadbhav Engineering) listed at Rs 111 on the National Stock Exchange, higher by 7.8 percent over its issue price of Rs 103. In fact, it was better than expected listing because analysts were expecting to be bad debut due to its debt burden of Rs 6,600 crore.

At 10:12 hours IST, the stock was trading at Rs 111.30, up 8 percent after hitting an intraday high of Rs 112.45 and low of Rs 108.30.

The issue opened for subscription during August 31-September 2. The company raised Rs 492 crore through public issue that comprised of Rs 425 crore fresh issue and an offer for sale of up to 32.36 lakh shares by existing investors - Xander and Norwest.11:45 am Stake sale: IFCI informed BSE that it has made partial disinvestment to the extent of 1.5 percent of its stake in NSE i.e. 6,75,000 (Six Lakh Seventy Five Thousand) equity shares, to certain buyer, at price of Rs. 3900/-per equity share, aggregating to Rs. 263.25 crores on September 15, 2015.

Speaking on the above development Malay Mukherjee, CMD, IFCI in an interview to CNBC-TV18 said the company had decided to sell the stake a year ago but were waiting for a good price. He said they would be divesting another one percent within the next one month.

The company will hold 4 percent stake in NSE post this 1.5 percent divestment.11:30 am Market outlook: The Indian earnings story has been delayed inordinately and may take another two quarters at least to come through but markets will start discounting them before that, says Tushar Pradhan, CIO at HSBC Global Asset Management (India). In an interview to CNBC-TV18 Pradhan said that investors with a two-year view should pile into economy facing stocks and that valuations of so-called "defensive" stocks, such as FMCG, were not really defensive. Speaking about the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting where it will decide whether to hike interest rates for the first time in nine years, Pradhan said the US central bank should hike rates but do so with an unambiguous dovish language.Don't miss: Deutsche Bank downgrades Tata Motors, cuts target by 21%

The market is holding its morning gains firmly. The Sensex is up 131.55 points or 0.5 percent at 25837.48 and the Nifty is up 30.05 points or 0.4 percent at 7859.15. About 1076 shares have advanced, 957 shares declined, and 77 shares are unchanged.

Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank are top gainers while BHEL, L&T, NTPC, Hindalco and Tata Steel.Meanwhile, as all eyes are on the Federal Reserve move on rate hike analyts feel India is ready for it. Markets are poised for a relief rally even if the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates for the first time in nine years, and it is likely the US central bank will do it, to "call the bluff of scaremongers", believes Ajay Bodke of brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher.Gold struggled to break out of a tight range near its one-month low , as investors waited to hear on the outlook of US interest rates from a Federal Reserve policy meet that kicks off later in the session.Traders are waiting to see if the US central bank will raise rates this week for the first time in nearly a decade. The uncertainty over the timing of a rate hike has weighed on gold all year, sending it down over 6 percent. Higher rates could dent demand for non-interest-paying bullion, while boosting the dollar.