Nifty breaks 8100 amid consolidation; Bajaj Auto, Hero Moto slip

Moneycontrol Bureau10:40 am Acquisition target: The Indian Alternative asset manager Blackstone Group and Canadian investor Brookfield are vying with each other to pick up around 40 percent stake in Bharti Infratel.

While Brookfield is bidding on its own, Blackstone is throwing its hat in the ring with private equity fund KKR & Co and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CCPIB), according to a media report quoting unnamed sources.

A 40 percent stake sale in Bharti Infratel will cost around Rs 27,000 crore as per Wednesday's closing price.Bharti Airtel owns 72 percent in Infratel, wihle the remaining is vested with public shareholders. 10:20 am Demonetisation effect: The government’s demonetisation move impacted paints demand by nearly 40-50 percent initially, said Abhijit Roy, MD & CEO of Berger Paints. However, Roy clarifies that the primary sale to dealers is not impacted but the demand from customers to dealers has reduced on back of concerns over availability of cash.The company’s 85 percent revenues comes from repainting. States like Kerala which has less rural populations are expected to recover faster than others.Also read - Buy, sell.hold: 5 stocks that you should watch out today10:00 am Market Check

The 50-share NSE Nifty breached 8100 level amid consolidation in morning trade. HDFC twins and two-wheeler stocks were under pressure while oil and PSU banks were strong.

The BSE Sensex gained 12.15 points at 26310.84 and the NSE Nifty rose 1 point to 8112.60. The broader markets too were rangebound.

The market breadth was marginally weak as about 1052 shares declined against 855 advancing shares on the BSE.

Laurence Balanco of CLSA says the Philippine Stock Exchange, Hang Seng & Nifty have been the weakest markets having broken below their respective August/September lows, but are now 'oversold' & due a rebound rally.

According to him, the Nifty is likely to spend a period of time consolidating between 8,076 - 8,143 support & 8,507 - 8,562 resistance.

Clearly a break below 8,076 - 8,143 would be a concern opening the door for further weakness towards next chart support at the 7,700 - 7,722, Balanco says.

Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto fell more than 2 percent as demonetisation might be hitting company's sales.