Sensex, Nifty consolidate; BSE Midcap, Smallcap outperform

Moneycontrol Bureau12:58 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained lacklustre as investors digested Federal Reserve's interest rate hike (the first hike since June 2006).The Sensex declined 21.50 points to 25472.87 and the Nifty fell 5.25 points to 7745.65. About 1618 shares have advanced, 826 shares declined, and 207 shares are unchanged on the BSE.12:45 pm Buzzing: Shares of JMC Projects climbed 11 percent intraday on getting building projects in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

"The company has secured orders worth over Rs 1,050 crore, including a flyover project in Bhiwandi from MMRDA worth Rs 150 crore," says the civil engineering & EPC company in its filing to exchange.

It has also received five building projects in Bangalore worth Rs 794 crore and one building project in Hyderabad worth Rs 110 crore.

JMC Projects is a subsidiary of Kalpataru Power Transmission.12:32 pm Interview: Dairy giant Kwality has roped in bollywood actor Askhay Kumar as brand ambassador for all their products. Nawal Sharma, president & head business, Kwality Limited, says this would help Kwality successfully transition into a strong B2C--companies that sell directly to consumers--brand.The company currently earns 30 percent of its revenues from its B2C business. It aims to enhance the B2C share by launching around 15 value added products in the next 12 to 18 months.Sharma says that Kwality is currently operating at 6 percent margin. He promises that the company will see a huge jump in profitability after the launch of its value added products. He did not disclose any financial details.12:16 pm Asia Update: Asian stock markets closed in positive territory, taking cues from a positive finish in Wall Street overnight after the Federal Reserve raised its target federal funds rate to a range of 0.25 to 0.5 percent.

The Australian market finished higher, with the main ASX 200 index adding 74 points, or 1.46 percent, to 5,102. Most sectors on the ASX closed in the green.Also read - Payment banks no threat to private sector banks: Franklin12:00 pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate but the broader markets outperformed with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.7-1 percent. Metals and pharma stocks gained while FMCG and select auto stocks remained under pressure.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 0.84 points to 25493.53 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 1.60 points to 7752.50. The market breadth was positive as about 1593 shares advanced against 744 declining shares on the BSE.