Sensex rises 130 pts, Nifty ends at 7758.8; M&M, Bharti surge 4%

Moneycontrol Bureau3:30 pm Market Closing: Equity benchmarks gained strength again in late trade. The Sensex rose 130.01 points to 25399.65 and the Nifty climbed 45.75 points to 7758.80.The market breadth remained strong throughout the session as about two shares advanced for every share declining on BSE.M&M and Bharti Airtel topped buying list on Sensex, up 4 percent followed by Infosys, Tata Motors and Hindalco with 2-3 percent upside while ITC, Axis Bank and Maruti Suzuki declined 1 percent each.3:15 pm M&M's new launch: Mahindra and Mahindra has launched its new NuvoSport compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) in India at Rs 7.35 lakh, ex-Thane showroom price. In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, Pravin Shah, President and CEO-Automotive Division of the company, says M&M has launched this car with 6 variants which will be manufactured at its Nashik Plant. NuvoSport, which is to replace Quanto, accounts for the fastest growing category amongst utility vehicles (UVs), he adds. In the entire market, compact SUVs alone accounted for 44 percent of total UV sales in FY16, Shah says, adding that M&M has no plans to launch a petrol variant of the same.3:05 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks gained strength again. The Sensex rose 128.81 points to 25398.45 and the Nifty advanced 46 points to 7759.05.About 1563 shares advanced against 969 declining shares on BSE.2:45 pm Sadbhav in news: Sadbhav Infrastructure Project arm HYTPL has completed refinance of its existing debt with new debt.

Hyderabad Yadgiri Tollway Private Ltd (HYTPL) has a total outstanding debt of Rs 232 crore on March 31.

"HYTPL, wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, has completed refinancing of its existing rupee debt facilities with new debt taken from other lenders with revised terms and conditions," Sadbhav Infrastructure said in a regulatory filing.

It said new debt facilities will result in reduction in the interest rates from the current level, extension of the repayment pattern covering the majority balance concession period and issuance of non convertible debentures besides refinancing of existing ECB facilities.2:17 pm RBI on banks' lending rates:  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is embarking on an experiment to remove much of the discretion the country's commercial banks have to set lending rates and force them to base borrowing costs on prevailing market rates.

The experiment carries risks, as India periodically suffers severe cash crunches. But the rewards should be lower costs for borrowers.

The RBI adopted the rules, effective from the April 1 start of a new fiscal year, after deep frustration that it cut its key repo rate by 125 basis points last year, but banks lowered lending rates by only about 60 bps.

The RBI, keen to see monetary policy be effective, on Tuesday is expected to cut the repo rate another 25 bps as India bids to revive investment and spur economic growth.

Under the new rules, banks will need to adjust their lending rates every month based on what they offer for new fixed-rate deposits, which track short-term market rates such as for treasury bills and certificates of deposit

Also read - Arun Jaitley pitches for interest rate cut ahead of RBI policy2:00 pm Market Check

The market remained choppy in afternoon trade with the Sensex rising 13.91 points to 25283.55 and the Nifty up 15 points at 7728.05. The market breadth continued to be positive as about 1422 shares advanced against 996 declining shares on BSE.

ITC, ONGC, Axis Bank, Coal India, HDFC and Bharti Infratel were down 1-2 percent while M&M, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, Infosys, Tata Motors, Idea Cellular and Tata Power gained 2-5 percent.

European markets attempted gains as investors tried to shake off the sharp slip in telecom stocks and eyed the fluctuation in oil prices. London's FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent, while France's CAC 40 reversed losses to trade up 0.1 percent and Germany's DAX was up 0.2 percent.