Sensex, Nifty rangebound; Tata Motors up 3%, Cipla falls

Moneycontrol Bureau12:58 pm Nifty eyes 8300: The market gained some strength. The Sensex rose 50.48 points to 27415.40 and the Nifty went up 13.85 points to 8288.90.About 1551 shares have advanced, 963 shares declined, and 176 shares are unchanged on the BSE.12:50 pm CIL issue defers: The government has for the third time extended deadline for appointment of merchant bankers for the mega Rs 21,000-crore share sale in Coal India after global investment banks flagged concerns over the company allegedly not meeting green commitments. It plans to sell 10 percent stake in the world's largest coal miner, but got virtually no response from foreign merchant bankers over the company purportedly not complying with its own sustainability policy. Coal India had in 2013 committed to a Sustainable Development Policy under which the Maharatna PSU has to pursue mining, integrating environmental, socio-cultural and economic factors.

"CIL has some sustainability plans that CIL committed in 2013. They have not been able to implement it. The foreign bankers have expressed concerns on that," a senior government official said.12:40 pm Europe opens: European equities opened flat as investor sentiment is shaken by a renewed decline in oil prices on the back of weak China data and concerns over earnings.

All major European indices were mildly higher.

Asian equity markets traded mixed, with energy shares among the worst-hit as stubborn signs of weakness in the Chinese economy rekindled declines in oil prices.

US crude fell nearly 3 percent at USD 45.89 a barrel, while the front-month in Brent - the global crude benchmark - slid 3.7 percent at USD 48.80 on Monday. Global oil markets nudged up in early Asian trade, but gains were capped by concerns about oversupply and the health of the global economy.12:30 pm Moody's on Reliance: Reliance Industries' refinery margins will continue to improve as it completes margin- enhancing projects, Moody's Investors Service said today.

The company earned USD 10.6 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel during the second quarter of the current fiscal, the highest in the last seven years. "Although RIL's refining margin only improved marginally compared to USD 10.4 per barrel during 1Q FY2016, it outperformed the Singapore refining benchmark that declined to USD 6.3 per barrel from USD 8.0 per barrel over the same period," it said.

RIL's gross refining margins will continue to improve as it completes margin-enhancing projects, the petcoke gasification project and refinery off gas cracker, which will enhance the recovery of petrochemicals from the refinery off gases that are currently being used as fuels."We expect RIL's margins will improve by at least USD 2 per barrel on completion of these projects," Moody's said. Gasoline forms a major proportion of RIL's product portfolio while that of fuel oil is negligible.12:15 pm Earnings Poll: Biocon's September quarter profit is seen rising 5.8 percent to Rs 108 crore and revenue may increase 13.7 percent to Rs 853 crore compared to year-ago period, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Analysts feel revenue growth during the quarter may be led by clinical research organisation (CRO) division while capacity constraints in insulins, lower offtake in Fidaxomicin and adverse business environment in Middle East markets may impact Q2 earnings.

They expect around 25-30 percent growth in CRO division followed by 8-10 percent in biopharma. Licensing income is estimated at around Rs 6-10 crore.Also read - India's rating constrained by low per capita income: S&P

12:00 pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks remained rangebound in noon trade with the Sensex rising 26.42 points to 27391.34 and the Nifty advancing 9.35 points to 8284.40. The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained more than 0.6 percent.

The market breadth remained strong as about 1457 shares advanced against 938 shares declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Tata Motors topped buying list on Sensex, up 3 percent followed by TCS, Infosys, Axis Bank, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki and L&T with 0.5-1.5 percent.

Cipla fell more than 2.5 percent after media reports indicated that company's Indore SEZ plant received Form 483 or observations from USFDA.

HDFC, ITC, Reliance Industries, ONGC, HUL, Vedanta, Wipro and Hindalco declined 0.6-2 percent.Disclosure: Network 18, which publishes moneycontrol.com, is now part of the Reliance Group.