Sensex end flat; Kingfisher up 10% on Mallya's assurance

Moneycontrol Bureau
Live Market Commentary

3:50 pm Market closing: The market closed on a flat note as Nifty ends just short of the 5900-levels. The Nifty ended at 5892.45, up 2.70 points or 0.05 percent. The Sensex closed up 19.25 points or 0.10 percent at 19920.21. About 1129 shares advanced, 1161 shares declined, and 162 shares were unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, Tata Power, L&T, NTPC and HDFC are top gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are Hindalco, Coal India, Jindal Steel, Bharti Airtel and Wipro.

3:40 pm FII view on rupee: Leif Eskesen of HSBC Global Research believes the Reserve bank of India will further rollback the remaining 75 bps marginal standing facility (MSF) within the next three months after cutting it to 9.5 percent from 10.25 percent, last week. He also expects the central bank to hike repo rate once more by 25 bps given the same time frame.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Eskesen says that instead of RBI briefly rolling back the liquidity tightening measures, he would have been more inclined to continue with those measures unless there was confidence regarding the currency stabilisation.

3:25 pm Exclusive: Within days of the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines joint venture for introducing a full service carrier being announced, Tiger Airways could be seeking alliance with SpiceJet. The airline is gearing up for funds to invest in SpiceJet, reports CNBC-TV18.

After Jet Airways deal with Etihad and Tata's foray into aviation with Air Asia and Singapore Airlines, Spice Jet is next on the radar. The airline has reportedly been in talks with various investors for selling a minority stake in the company.

"Tiger Airways is actively looking at investing in India and Spice Jet is an interesting target," said a source close to the development, who did not wish to be named.

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The market remained volatile as investors paused aggressive selling seen in the last two sessions triggered by Raghuram Rajan’s maiden credit policy. The Sensex is up 19.02 points or 0.10 percent at 19919.98, and the Nifty up 3.85 points or 0.07 percent at 5893.60. About 1035 shares have advanced, 1159 shares declined, and 148 shares are unchanged.

Kingfisher Airlines shares are locked at 10 percent upper circuit after founder Vijay Mallya, in company's annual general meeting, says the airline company has submitted three revival plans to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

"We have requested United Breweries Holdings' (UBHL) board for additional funds. The board has agreed to provide funds to Kingfisher. We will recover UBHL's investment of over Rs 3,400 crore in the airline company," Mallya said.