Nifty reclaims 7750, Sensex flat; Infosys gains, HDFC falls

Moneycontrol Bureau9:45 am Gas price cut: The government has cut the natural gas prices to USD 3.06/mmBtu from USD 3.82/mmBtu. The move will benefit fertiliser, power and steel companies who heavily rely on natural gas. This reduction will ease their working capital burden. This cut is not a shocker as it was expected, says RS Sharma, Former Chairman of ONGC. However, it is much lower than expected, he adds. Sharma had hoped the price would be about USD 3.25/mmBtu. ONGC will still find it viable to produce gas as its operating costs are minimal, says Sharma. He is equally positive on companies like GAIL, which is into upstream operations. 9:35 am Buzzing: Shares of Natco Pharma gained 4.5 percent intraday as it has approved the sale of Save Mart Pharmacy Stores located in USA.The company at its meeting held on March 30, 2016, approved the sale of Save Mart Pharmacy Stores located in USA, which is a non-core business of the company.The Save Mart Pharmacy Stores is being owned by Natco Pharma Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.Don't miss - Govt cuts gas prices to $3.06/mmBtu; boost for fertiliser cos9:15 am Market Check

The market gained some strength after opening flat. The Sensex rose 74.30 points to 25412.88 and the Nifty reclaimed 7750 level, up 18 points to 7753.20.

Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Vedanta, Tata Power and UltraTech Cement were early gainers while ONGC, Adani Ports, Coal India, HDFC, SBI, Idea Cellular and PNB were losers.The Indian rupee has opened marginally higher at 66.35 per dollar today against previous close of 66.37.Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "USD-INR is expected to gradually drift lower on year end remittances and custodial inflows. USD-INR trading range for today is 66.15-66.45/dollar."The US dollar hit its lowest level against the euro in nearly seven weeks following dovish comments from Janet Yellen. The dollar index slipped below the 95 mark.Asian markets were trading mixed while Wall Street and European markets closed higher yesterday.Analysts say a reading of Yellen's statement suggests the Fed may have put off its rate hike action sometime into the future, given the volatility that was seen in global markets recently.