Nifty holds 8700, Midcap outperforms; Maruti hits record high

Moneycontrol Bureau12:59 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained strong with the Sensex rising 302.85 points or 1.09 percent to 28168.81 and the Nifty up 103.85 points or 1.21 percent at 8715.About 2043 shares advanced against 587 declining shares on the BSE.12:40 pm Europe opens: European stocks opened mixed as markets eye developments on the Deutsche Bank settlement and Britain's Brexit process.

The London FTSE 100 index was was up around 0.1 percent, while the French CAC was down around 0.1 percent. Germany markets are closed for a national holiday.12:20 pm Rate cut likely?: The newly-constituted Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel is unlikely to lower rates at its maiden policy review on Tuesday as it awaits more supporting data on inflation, experts said.The monetary policy review on October 4 will be the first by the six-member MPC as well as Governor Patel, who as the deputy governor had described the RBI as an owl when it comes to inflation management."I don't think the Reserve Bank is going to change rates as inflation -- both WPI and CPI -- have not softened much," Bank of Maharashtra Managing Director and Chief Executive R P Marathe told PTI.August retail inflation eased to a five-month low of 5.05 percent but WPI inflation climbed to a two-year high of 3.74 percent.Before the dip in August, both the retail as well as wholesale price indices were on a continuous upward spiral.Also read - Spectrum auction: Top stock bets as telcos battle it out12:00 pm Market Check

Bulls continued to keep control over Dalal Street in noon trade on short covering in auto, banks, infra and oil stocks. The broader markets outperformed equity benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising more than 1.5 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 276.42 points or 0.99 percent at 28142.38 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 93.65 points or 1.09 percent to 8704.80. About four shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.