Nifty still struggles below 8550; Hero, BHEL, L&T top gainers

Moneycontrol Bureau11:45 am Exclusive: Sources tell CNBC-TV18 that independent directors of Tata Sons are likely to meet ahead of the November 14 scheduled meeting. They will be discussing the manner in which the Cyrus Mistry affair was handled. It is learnt these directors will also be bringing these concerns to the board. Three of the four directors CNBC-TV18 spoke to said they were disconnected with the decision taken at Tata Sons and shocked by Mistry’s ouster. Regarding Mistry’s letter on Nano’s viability, the directors said concerns were raised over the future of the Nano. However, one of the directors said that it is not easy to shut down the Nano quickly. They didn’t agree with Mistry that Nano was kept alive only for emotional reasons as mentioned in Mistry’s letter.11:30 am Interview: Speaking to CNBC-TV18 Saugata Gupta, MD & CEO OF Marico explained the reasons behind the lower-than-estimated volume growth this quarter. “The issue was related to Parachute. We perhaps took a premature price increase which was not in line with input costs. Rural consumption was stressed. We are optimistic of a recovery; greenshoots are seen in durables, auto.” A poor Q2 show by Parachute coconut oil (27 percent of overall revenues) hit Marico’s results for the second quarter. He said he was comfortable with their operating margin of 17-18 percent. Margins will be slightly lower than the first half of the year, going forward, he said. “We will get out of the deflation effect.” There won’t be price cuts as input costs have bottomed out, he said, adding that Maico will be price competitive.Don't miss: Buy, sell, hold: 13 stocks for your portfolio

The market is gradually picking pace even though global concerns remain. The Sensex is up 73.32 points or 0.3 percent at 27600.54 and the Nifty is up 21.95 points or 0.3 percent at 8535.95. About 1765 shares have advanced, 688 shares declined, and 107 shares are unchanged.

Hero MotoCorp, BHEL, L&T, Maruti and L&T are top gainers in the Sensex while ONGC, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, NTPC and Wipro are losers in the Sensex.

Ajay Srivastava, CEO of Dimensions Consulting thinks If Donald Trump wins the US presidential elections and the Indian market takes a dive  it will be a perfect opportunity to buy.