Live: Sensex closes 71 points higher, Idea down 6%

3.30 p.m: Though the market closed near the day’s low, Sensex ended the day 71 points higher at 16,877 and Nifty closed at 5045, up 6 points, as the fall was in the last 15 minutes.

Telecom continued to fall with Idea closing 6.11 percent lower at Rs 91.50, near the day’s low. Bharti Airtel closed 3.56 percent lower at Rs 376.60.

Pantaloon closed near the day’s high at Rs 195.25, up nearly 5 percent as market expected the company to now sell their financial venture in order to save the flagship company.

IT stocks did reasonably well in the markets with Wipro moving 3.1 percent higher at Rs 402.40 and Infosys closing 2.1 percent higher at Rs 2758.

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Cement stocksAmbuja CementandUltratechhave touched their 52 week high, one of the first sectoral movement seen after FMCG stocks posted new highs. Cement companies have posted strong sales number even after increasing prices of the commodity.

Pantaloon jumps 6% on finance biz sale, Sensex up 120 pts

3.00 p.m: Despite promoters of Future group denying it that they will be selling their stake in Future Capital, Pantaloon stock has zoomed 6.6 percent at Rs 198.70. UBS in its report on the development has said that it is ‘Good News’ for the company as the Rs 700 crore for the 54.14 percent stake, values the company at a premium of 47 percent over the current market value.

Other retail stocks have been slipping slowly after government said that FDI in retail is now on the backburner.

Market has come off the day’s high with Sensex currently trading at 16,925, up 120 points. Nifty on the other hand trades at 5075, up 36 points.

Cairn India is trading at the day’s low despite the company getting a no-objection certificate from ONGC for the deal with Vedanta.

IT stocks rise on euro revival hopes, Sensex up 185 pts

1.45 p.m: A strong opening of the European market has helped Indian markets touch a new high. Sensex currently trades 185 points higher at 16,990 while Nifty is up 53 points at 5092.

IT stocks have moved higher in anticpitaion of a solution being owrked out in the Euro Zone. Wipro trades 3.7 percent higher at Rs 404.60 while Infosys is at Rs 2767, up 2.45 percent.

Metal stocks too have moved higher with Tata Steel rose by 2.45 percent at Rs 420.45, Hindalco at Rs 140, up 2.5 percent and Sail up 3.4 percent at Rs 88.20 as metal commodities have moved higher in international markets.

Telecom stocks fall on govt apathy

12.45 p.m: With FDI in retail kept on hold, government inability to take tough decisions is exposed. Telecom counters have been falling as a number of important policy decisions are pending in the sector.

Issues on spectrum pricing and spectrum sharing, extension on licenses, intra-circle roaming of 3G data services and guidelines for M&A are some of the main issues which need to be cleared.

Further, with visibility of a Reliance Industries roll-out plan of its 4G services after announcement of its service for the Rs 3500 tablet computers, telecom stocks will be in pressure as margins are likely to be squeezed going forward, given Reliance’s pricing strategy.

Idea Cellular currently trades 4.5 percent lower at Rs 93, while Bharti Airtel is down at Rs 381.

Pantaloon continues to trade higher despite the FDI flip-flop. The stock currently trades at Rs 187.10, up 0.3 percent.

IT stocks are trading higher with Wipro gaining 2.5 percent and Infosys up 2.14 percent.

Cement stocks Ambuja Cement and Ultratech have touched their 52 week high, one of the first sectoral movement seen after FMCG stocks posted new highs. Cement companies have posted strong sales number even after increasing prices of the commodity.

Retail stocks take FDI decision in stride, trade higher

11.30 a.m: Markets trade in a very narrow range, but have slipped marginally now, with the Sensex at 16,891 up 86 and Nifty at 5055, up 15 points.

IT stocks continue to trade higher with Wipro trading nearly 2.75 percent up at Rs 401, Infosys up 1.5 percent at Rs 2741 while TCS is up by 0.6 percent at Rs 1187.60.

Telecom stocks continue to trade lower with Bharti Airtel down 3 percent at Rs 379.30 and Idea down 4 percent at Rs 93.60.

Retail stocks take FDI decision in stride, trade higher

10.30 a.m: India has decided to put on hold a decision to open the country’s supermarket sector according to Trade Minister Anand Sharma, after a meeting of the government and opposition parties.

After a brief fall, market has taken the decision in its stride. Sensex currently trades 150 points higher at 16,957 and Nifty is at 5084 up 44 points.

Pantaloon, which fell briefly after the announcement, is trading close to the day’s high at Rs 183.90. Vishal Retail is up nearly 2 percent at Rs 19.20, Provogue is up 1.5 percent at Rs 24.25 while Trent is trading at the same level as Monday’s close at Rs 962.30. Shoppers Stop however, is down 3 percent at Rs 356.20.

JP Associates continues to be the top traded stock, up 2.5 percent at Rs 70.90.

Telecom stocks continue to fall with Bharti Airtel trading 2 percent lower at Rs 382.70, while Idea is down 2.62 percent at Rs 94.85.

FDI in retail on hold, Pantaloon falls

9.45 a.m: Market opened flat but has moved higher since its open. BSE Sensex currently trades at 16,982 up 177 points while Nifty is up 54 points at 5091.

JP Associates is the top gainers, rising over 2 percent at Rs 70.70, Tata Motors is also trading 1.93 percent higher at Rs 195.

Cairn, which saw a block deal in opening trades is currently at Rs 327.15, up 1.65 percent after ONGC gave a no-objection certificate for its deal.

IT stocks trade higher after Nasscom has said that it will be maintaing the sector’s growth rate. Infosys trades 1.5 percent higher at Rs 2740, Wipro is up 1.7 percent at Rs 396.50 while TCS trades at Rs 1191, up 0.9 percent.

IB Real Estate is the top loser among frontline stocks and presently trades at Rs 50.60, down 19 percent. The stock is down on account of a scheme of arrangement whereby the shareholders will be awarded 2.95 shares of Indiabulls Infrastructure and Power ltd.

Pantaloon trades 2 percent lower at Rs 182, as the parliament meets today on the FDI issue.

Markets await FDI announcement, Cairn in focus

9.15 a.m: Markets worldwide are waiting for the eurozone leaders to arrive at a consensus at their 9 December meeting. Equity, as well as other asset classes, are trading in a narrow zone ahead of the meeting.

Indian markets are expected to trade in a narrow zone, unless the government takes some bold steps in the parliament today.

Markets opened flat, with the BSE Sensex, trading 8 points higher at 16,813 and the Nifty trading 6 points lower at 5044.

Among the stocks which are likely to see some activity today are Hindalco, as the company has said that it plans to double its installed capacity by 2016 with a capital expenditure of $5 billion.

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Ranbaxy can witness some action on account of the company launching another generic drug in a span of one week in the US. The company intends to launch the generic version of Caduet, used for treating cardio-vascular diseases. This drug has been launched as part of an agreement with Pfizer Inc.

Cairn has finally received a no-objection certificate from ONGC, which will help clear the acquisition of Cairn Energy’s stake by Vedanta group.

Eros International can see some buying interest after it announced that it will release Dharma Production’s Agneepath, one of the most anticipated movies of 2012.

Indian Overseas Bank is likely to be under pressure on news that it will be restructuring its SME and corporate loans by extending the tenure of payments.