Sensex off day's high on Shanghai fall, Nifty holds 7900

Moneycontrol Bureau12:50 Buzzing: Shares of Fortis Healthcare gained more than 2 percent intraday after its decision to acquire Religare Health Trust Trustee Manager Pte (RHTTM).

"Stellant Capital Advisory Services, the step down subsidiary of Fortis, has entered into a share purchase agreement with RGAM Investment Advisors and other shareholders to acquire 100 percent equity stake in Religare Health Trust Trustee Manager Pte," the company says in its filing to the exchange.

It decided to buy RHTTM at a consideration of USD 14.9 million.

RHTTM is a company incorporated in Singapore that acts as Trustee Manager to Religare Health Trust, of which Fortis is a sponsor.

12:40 pm Shanghai Update: The weakness in the Chinese market is on the back of weak industrial production data and a lot of investigations and arrests (in the securities market) over the past few weeks, says Shaun Rein, managing director, China Market Research Group.This is leading to panic selling, but the market will bounce back soon considering the underlying economy is fine, he says.Shanghai Composite Index posted biggest one-day percentage loss since August 25. The index closed down 5.5 percent at 3,436.30.12:30 pm FII View: Sanjeev Prasad, Kotak Institutional Equities says he sees a moderately negative impact on Indian equities and debt from a gradual increase in US interest rates over the next 12-24 months.

According to him, India's external debt is low and thus the impact would be limited.

"Nonetheless, any appreciation in the US Dollar will hurt financials of certain companies with large foreign currency borrowings and predominantly domestic revenues. The required rate of return for overseas investors could also rise, leading to higher implied cost of equity, especially for growth stocks," Prasad says.12:15 pm Dabhol plant: Maharashtra's Dabhol Plant, operated by Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited, has started operations by supplying 300 megawatts (MW) to the Central Railways. Operations at the plant have been stuck since January 2014 and this October, the Union Power Ministry decided to revive the plant.

GM Yadwadkar, executive director, IDBI, a lender to the power plant, says starting of the business is a big positive for the industry. He further adds he is positive that the account would not turn into a non-performing asset (NPA).The bank has lent Rs 2000 crore to the Ratnagiri Plant.Also read - Bias toward $ strength; see Re at 67/$ in near term: HSBC12:00 pm Market Check

The market erased some of its morning gains following sharp fall in Chinese market post Japan's CPI data and amid geopolitical tensions. The broader markets were flat.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 44.05 points at 26002.68 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 17.45 points to 7901.25. The market breadth was marginally positive as about 1213 shares advanced against 1070 declining shares on the BSE.

Asian markets slipped into negative territory, shedding most of their morning gains as feeble data from Japan and China did little to inspire investor confidence. Shanghai was down 4.7 percent, Hang Seng fell 1.8 percent and Nikkei lost 0.3 percent.

Escalating tension between Russia and Turkey also dented sentiment. The latter shot down a Russian warplane on Tuesday, which Kremlin officials said was deliberate. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refused to apologize, insisting his country was defending its security because the plane was in Turkish airspace. Russia says the plane was in Syrian airspace.