Sensex, Nifty continue to rise; banks, FMGC, infra lead

Moneycontrol Bureau11:55 am NSE IPO plans: NSE is all set to come out with its Rs 10,000 crore IPO and IFCI which holds 3.05 percent stake is in focus. Sanjeev Kaushik of IFCI, speaking to CNBC-TV18, said that board has taken a decision to offload 25 percent of its direct holding in NSE.

IFCI directly holds 3.05 percent which works out to about 13,72,000 shares. Stock Holding, a hundred percent subsidiary of IFCI, has 4.4 percent in NSE.

It has no plans to offload its 4.4 percent, he said, adding that they have chosen the OFS route to offload their direct holding.

The direct holding was acquired for about Rs 130 crore and they have been partially divesting some portion of the stake. The proceeds of the stake sale will be used for shoring up the capital, he said.

11:45 am Coal mine collapse: At least 40-50 workers along with some machineries belonging to a private coal mining company Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) are believed to be trapped after a heap of mud caved-in at the entry point of Latmatia mines in Godda district of Jharkhand, a CISF official said on Friday.

According to initial reports, the on duty CISF sentry is safe but at the time of the cave-in at the Rajmahal Open Cast Mines of Paharia Bhorya site, more than 40 vehicles were inside.

Rescue operation could not begin due to night fog, a police official said. The locals said that there was crack in the heap of mud which collapsed and blocked the entry point of the mine.

11:30 am Interview: The demonetisation pain is likely to lessen by February-end or early march next year bringing normalcy back into the system, Keki Mistry, VC & CEO of HDFC.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Mistry said that some redistribution of wealth has happened with money going into the hands of poor people, which will boost consumption.

In the upcoming Budget, agriculture and housing are likely to be the focus sectors, according to Mistry. The government also needs to look at reducing tax rates, which will also help in cutting black money circulation.

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The Sensex is up 214.30 points or 0.8 percent at 26580.45, and the Nifty up 59.45 points or 0.7 percent at 8163.05. About 1623 shares have advanced, 498 shares declined, and 114 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, ITC, BHEL, SBI and Reliance are top gainers while Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy's, Tata Steel and Coal India are losers in the Sensex.

Gold prices rose Rs 28 to Rs 27,590 per 10 grams in futures trade as speculators created fresh positions taking positive cues from the global market.

Analysts said, fresh positions created by participants following a better trend in global market as weakness in the dollar raised demand for the precious metal as a safe-haven assets, influenced gold prices at futures trade here.