Sensex, Nifty end marginally higher; Coal India, BHEL down

Moneycontrol Bureau3:30 pm Market Closing: The market closed marginally higher. The Sensex rose 45.35 points or 0.17 percent to 26079.48 and the Nifty went up 3.80 points to 7928.95.Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp and GAIL were leading gainers, up 1-2 percent while Coal India and BHEL fell more than 1 percent.3:05 pm Kotak on realty sector: New project launches in the real estate sector have slowed down due to weak sales, but top tier developers like Oberoi, Godrej and Lodha sell relatively better backed by their strong track record, says Samar Sarda, Senior Analyst, Kotak Securities.

“Sales on under-construction projects have been weak and therefore new launches are very slow”, Sarda says, adding that he does not expect any major pick-up in sales in 2016, particularly in some of the North Indian markets like Gurgaon.

However, some of the other markets like Mumbai and Pune have seen signs of improvement because there has been not much price increase for nearly 2 years.2:45 pm PM on financial inclusion: Underlining that financial inclusion is the government's core focus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said banks have given loans worth Rs 50,000 crore to small entrepreneurs under the MUDRA Yojana. Addressing dalit entrepreneurs here, he said: "80,000 borrowers have benefited from the scheme under which more than Rs 50,000 crore worth of loans have been given primarily to SC, ST, OBCs and women entrepreneurs who are engaged in small business and provide jobs to about 14 crore persons." Speaking at the National Conference of SC/ST Entrepreneurs on B R Ambedkar's ideas and thoughts on industrialisation and entrepreneurship, Modi said it was quite difficult earlier for SC/ST entrepreneurs to get loans from banks. Under Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), loans between Rs 50,000 and Rs 10 lakh are provided to small entrepreneurs as an initiative to fund the unfunded.2:25 pm BHEL commissions plant: State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has commissioned a 660 MW unit of Prayagraj Super Thermal Power Project at Bara in Uttar Pradesh. "The unit has been commissioned at the upcoming 3x660 MW Prayagraj Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) at Bara in Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh", BHEL said in statement today. According to the statement, this is the first supercritical thermal unit in the state to achieve capacity addition on attaining full load.

The greenfield thermal power project is owned by Prayagraj Power Generation Company Limited (PPGCL), a subsidiary company of Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited.Also read - Commercial vehicles sales may grow 15-20% in FY16: SIAM2:00 pm Market CheckThe market continued to be lacklustre despite positive global cues. The Sensex gained 53.53 points at 26087.66 and the Nifty rose 8.35 points to 7933.50.

The BSE Midcap remained outperformance in afternoon trade, gaining half a percent. SREI Infrastructure topped buying list on Midcap index, up 17 percent after BNP Paribas finalised to pick up 5 percent stake in company.

Among other midcaps, ABG Shipyard, MMTC, CARE and J&K Bank surged 7-9 percent while Pipavav Defence, Tube Investment, Gujarat Pipavav, KSK Energy Ventures and ICRA lost 4-7 percent.

European markets like France's CAC and Germany's DAX rallied 1.3 percent each, taking positive lead from Asian peers. Britain's FTSE was up 0.33 percent.