Sensex ends flat; Nifty below 8650; Bajaj Auto,Tata Motors up 3%

Moneycontrol Bureau3:30 pm Market closing: The market ended flat on first day of November Futures & Options (F&O) series. The Sensex ended  up 25.61 points at 27941.51 and the Nifty was up 22.75 points or 0.3 percent at 8638. About 1564 shares have advanced, 1093 shares declined, and 276 shares are unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Coal India, Tata Steel and Lupin were top gainers while ICICI Bank, Cipla, Bharti, Asian and Infosys were losers

2:59 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices remained marginally higher amid consolidation. The Sensex was up 46.87 points at 27962.77 and the Nifty gained 24.95 points at 8640.20.About 1565 shares advanced against 1039 declining shares on the BSE.2:50 pm Results: London Stock Exchange listed Vedanta Resources' associate company Vedanta said consolidated profit during July-September quarter grew by 11.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,252 crore. Bottomline was supported by operational performance but growth limited due to weak revenue.

Revenue in Q2 fell by 4.3 percent to Rs 16,777 crore on yearly basis, impacted by oil, zinc and copper segments.

Consolidated operating profit grew by 8.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,667 crore and margin expanded by 330 basis points to 27.8 percent in the quarter ended September 2016, aided by lower excise duty, employee expenses and input cost.2:40 pm FDI relaxation: Government is considering further relaxing foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in several areas, including trading, with an eye on more inflows.

The commerce and industry ministry is already on the job in this direction, sources said. They said there are certain sticking points in single brand retail trading that need to be reviewed.

In this segment, a big retailer has made a plea to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to look into the issue of putting the maximum retail price labels and re-labeling of goods.

The government may also consider easing certain norms in the information and broadcasting sector, among others, they added.

It had relaxed the FDI policy in November last year. In June this year, it lifted certain restrictions in over a dozen sectors, including civil aviation, food processing, defence and pharmaceuticals.

2:20 pm Earnings: Kansai Nerolac Paints today reported a 41.77 percent rise in standalone net profit to Rs 139.31 crore for the second quarter ended September 30.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 98.26 crore for the same quarter last fiscal, Kansai Nerolac Paints said in a filing to BSE.

Standalone total income from operations also rose to Rs 1,133.75 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 1,075.47 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Shares of Kansai Nerolac Paints were today trading at Rs 379 per scrip on BSE, up 1.13 percent from its previous close.Also read - Bajaj Auto Q2 profit rises 7% to Rs 1122cr on other income boost2:00 pm Market Check

Benchmark indices extended gains amid consolidation, with the Nifty reclaiming 8650 level while the broader markets continued to outperform, rising around a percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 69.07 points at 27984.97 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 33.55 points at 8648.80. About 1598 shares advanced against 947 declining shares on the BSE.

Bajaj Auto gained more than 2 percent after profit in Q2 beat analysts' expectations, rising nearly 7 percent on other income growth but revenue was flat on tepid volume growth.

Grasim Industries climbed over a percent after better-than-expected earnings. Profit in Q2 jumped 55 percent and margin expanded 490 basis points.

Eicher Motors fell over a percent after profit missed estimates.