Sensex, Nifty marginally higher; Midcap shines, metals decline

Moneycontrol Bureau10:51 am Market Update: Benchmark indices crawled higher in the last half an hour of trade. The BSE Sensex rose 91 points to 25113 and the Nifty was up 24 points at 7696.

Hero Motocorp (1.9 percent), Maruti Suzuki (1.8 percent), ICICI Bank (1.8 percent) and Adani Ports (1.6 percent) were the top gainers in Nifty. Among the losers were TCS (-0.4 percent), Bharti Airtel (-0.2 percent) and GAIL (-0.1 percent).In sectoral performance as reflected by the respective indices, consumer durables (1.8 percent), oil & gas (1.2 percent), auto (1.0 percent) and healthcare (0.9 percent) gained, while metals (-0.7 percent) and FMCG (-0.1 percent) were under pressure.Key Asian markets were mostly higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 led gainers, trading 179 points or 1.1 percent higher at 15930. Korea’s KOSPI was up 10 points at 1981, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 40 points at 20481 and Singapore’s Straits Times was up 0 points at 2810. In laggards Taiwan’s Taiwan Index was down 32 points at 8530, and China’s Shanghai was down 19 points at 3014.10:40 am Lanco in News: In yet another case of lenders grappling with huge debt, credit-banks are looking to reorganise Lanco Infratech with an aim to pare its massive debt of Rs 40,000 crore, reports CNBC-TV18.The consortium of lenders led by ICICI Bank held a meeting in this regard and told the company they are looking to restructure it. Currently, the company has over 50 subsidiaries. The lenders will look to carve out the power business into a single vertical and make room available for an external strategic investor.Lanco Infratech needs at least Rs 1,800 crore equity to complete its three projects.10:20 am Buzzing: Shares of Nestle India jumped over 5 percent intraday after its popular noodles brand cleared tests conducted by Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI). CFTRI has given a clean chit to Nestle's Maggi after tests under Supreme Court directive.

“CFTRI has submitted analysis reports on Maggi noodles to the Supreme Court. We have been provided with a copy of the reports. We are happy that all 29 samples tested by CFTRI are clear,” Nestle India said in a statement.

The reports state that lead levels for all samples are within permissible limits, it added.

“All 29 samples of Maggi Noodles,( the initial 13 and subsequent 16 samples), were collected by the relevant authorities following due process and then directly submitted to CFTRI,” Nestle India said.

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The market continued to be marginally higher in morning trade with the Sensex rising 78.91 points to 25101.07 and the Nifty climbing 23.50 points to 7694.90. Pharma, banking & financials, auto and oil & gas stocks gained while metals stocks lost shine.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices outperformed, rising over 0.7 percent as more than two shares advanced for every share declining on Bombay Stock Exchange.Abhay Laijawala of Deutsche Bank believes that the ongoing equity rally in India will continue in medium term driven by likelihood of normal monsoon rainfall, improvement in domestic indicators coupled with an accommodative RBI.ICICI Bank, Lupin, Hero Motocorp, Dr Reddy's Labs and Maruti Suzuki gained 1-2 percent while Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Coal India and Tata Steel declined 1-1.5 percent.