Sensex, Nifty consolidate; Reliance, ICICI Bank, Lupin gain

Moneycontrol Bureau11:25 am Simplex in news: Simplex Projects said it has sold 51.21 percent stake in its arm Simpark Infrastructure, proceeds of which will be utilised for business purposes.

The company, however, did not give any financial details of the deal.

"The Board of Directors of the company at its meeting held on March 28, 2016, had decided to sell its investment in the wholly-owned subsidiary, Simpark Infrastructure...

Accordingly, 16,31,400 shares (51.21 percent) have been sold," the company said in a BSE filing.

Simpark Infrastructure is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Simplex Projects.

Earlier, the Board of Directors had resolved that "investment up to 75 percent only in the wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, Simpark Infrastructure Private, be sold and the sale proceeds be utilised for business purposes."

Also read - Rel Infra likely to sell its road biz in next 45 days11:00 am Market Check

Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate. The Sensex rose 40.75 points to 24726.17 and the Nifty added 20.70 points to 7567.15.

The broader markets extended gains a bit with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.5 percent each. The market breadth remained positive as about 1225 shares advanced against 704 declining shares on BSE.

Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Lupin, NTPC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Hindalco, GAIL and BHEL were leading gainers on Sensex, up 1-3 percent while Infosys, TCS, HUL, Hero Motocorp, Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel declined.

Oil prices edged up today, lifted by firm economic indicators from the United States and Germany which could support fuel demand, but analysts warned that crude markets were threatened by another downturn because of ongoing oversupply.Front month US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $38.08 per barrel, up 82 cents from their last close. International Brent futures were up 67 cents at USD 40.10 a barrel.