Sensex, Nifty ranged; market breadth positive, Bajaj Auto up 4%

Moneycontrol Bureau1:00 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks gained some strength amid consolidation in afternoon trade. The Sensex was up 79.51 points at 29005.87 and the Nifty up 19.15 points at 8937.10.About 1503 shares advanced against 1002 declining shares on the BSE.12:55 pm Auto sales: Domestic passenger vehicle sales grew 16.68 percent to 2,58,722 units in August from 2,21,743 units in the same month last year. Car sales were also up 9.53 percent to 1,77,829 units as against 1,62,360 units in August last year, according to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). Motorcycle sales last month jumped by 22.19 percent to 10,05,666 units as against 8,23,051 units a year earlier. Total two-wheeler sales in August grew 26.32 percent to 16,48,883 units compared with 13,05,348 units in the year-ago month. Sales of commercial vehicles rose by 1.53 percent to 52,996 units in August, Siam said. Vehicle sales across categories registered a growth of 23.72 percent to 20,10,794 units from 16,25,332 units in August 2015, it added.12:40 pm Europe opens: European stocks opened slightly lower as markets look ahead to the latest monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB).The pan-European STOXX 600 was down around 0.11 percent.The ECB is expected to extend its trillion-euro bond-buying program beyond March 2017 and announce plans to expand the universe of eligible bonds as part of its efforts to kick-start the euro zone's economy. The ECB will announce its policy decision today.12:30 pm Partnership: M&M, India's top SUV maker, has formed a partnership with ride-sharing firm Ola to spur sales of vehicles and other related services, the automaker's chairman Anand Mahindra told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
The alliance is expected to generate total revenues of USD 400 million over the next two years and will help drive future designs for cars and platforms built by the automaker, Mahindra's chairman said.

"This is going to completely change the auto industry," Mahindra said referring to the entry of ride-sharing firms such as Ola.

12:15 pm IPO: IRB Infra said IRB InvIT Fund, an infrastructure investment trust, has filed draft red herring prospectus with SEBI for Rs 4,300 crore initial public offering. "Investment manager IRB Infrastructure Private Limited has filed a draft offer document dated September 7, in relation to an initial public offer of units representing an undivided beneficial interest in the Trust, with the SEBI, the BSE and the NSE, in accordance with the InvIT Regulations," the Mumbai-based road developer said in its filing.IRB Infrastructure Private Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company and investment manager to the Trust.The initial public offer consists of a fresh issue by the Trust, and an offer for sale by the company & its subsidiaries - Modern Road Makers, Aryan Toll Road, ATR Infrastructure and Ideal Road Builders.Also read - Nasscom to review IT guidance for this fiscal after Q2 earnings12:00 pm Market CheckThe market remained rangebound from early trade with the Nifty moving in a 40 points range. FMCG, oil, auto and pharma stocks supported the market whereas technology stocks remained under pressure after TCS warning.The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 55.35 points at 28981.71 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 12.80 points at 8930.75. The market breadth remained positive as about 1534 shares advanced against 895 declining shares on the BSE.Bajaj Auto and Tata Steel were the top gainers on the Sensex, up 4 percent each followed by ITC, Reliance Industries, L&T, Hero Motocorp, Maruti, ONGC, HUL, SBI and Sun Pharma with 1-3 percent upside.TCS retained its top slot in the selling list, down nearly 6 percent after saying it expects sequential loss of momentum and holding back of discretionary spending in BFSI vertical in the US.Infosys, Tata Motors, Wipro, BHEL and GAIL were down 1-2.6 percent.