Sensex rallies over 150 points, Nifty reclaims 8850; top 12 stocks in focus

NEW DELHI: The S&P BSE Sensex rose as much as 158 points in trade on Wednesday tracking positive trend seen in other Asian markets. The rally in the index was led by gains in HDFC, ITC, ICICI Bank, L&T and HDFC Bank.

Other Asian markets were trading higher tracking a mild bounce on Wall Street, as pessimism about the Greek debt saga receded somewhat. US shares gained modestly overnight, with the S&P 500 touching another record high, Reuters reported.

Tracking the momentum, the 50-share Nifty index also managed to reclaim its crucial psychological level of 8850, supported by gains in capital goods, consumer durable, FMCG and realty stocks.

At 10:20 a.m.; the 30-share index was at 29277.51, up 141 points or 0.49 per cent. It touched a high of 29296.61 and a low of 29126.91 in trade today.

The Nifty was at 8846 up 36 points or 0.42 per cent. It touched a high of 8851.05 and a low of 8808.90 in trade today.

Here is a list of twelve stocks which are in focus today:

Sun Pharma: City-based Cipla Pharma; Hyderabad's Natco and US drug maker Mylan are among the companies in the fray to buy select brands of Sun Pharma that have been put up for sale by the companies as per an order of the Competition Commission of India.

At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 0.8 per cent higher at Rs 922.

Hero MotoCorp Ltd: Controlling shareholders of Hero MotoCorp Ltd, India's biggest maker of motorcycles and scooters, plan to sell $300 million worth of shares later in the day, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 4 per cent lower at Rs 2692.

Future Consumer Enterprise Ltd: The Future Group company is close to buying wet wipes brand Kara from the Aditya Birla Group, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the Kishore Biyani-owned company works on its strategy to grow annual sales five-fold to Rs 10,000 crore in the next five years.

At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 2.2 per cent higher at Rs 13.99.

Suzlon Ltd: Within days of committing to invest in wind turbine maker Suzlon, Dilip Shanghvi Family and Associates have made an open offer to buy another 26 per cent stake for Rs 2,837 crore in the company.

At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 17 per cent higher at Rs 27.10.

Eicher Motors Ltd: Royal Enfield, the two-wheeler division of Eicher Motors, will invest Rs 500 crore this year on various activities, including setting up of two technology centres and increasing its production capacity to 4.5 lakh units annually. At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 2.8 per cent higher at Rs 16560.

PNB: State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) said government will infuse Rs 870 crore into the lender by way of equity capital for the current fiscal.

At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 1.6 per cent higher at Rs 169.50.

NTPC: Country's largest power producer NTPC will invest close to $10 billion for executing green energy projects in the next five years as part of government's plans to provide thrust to clean electricity generation.

At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 1.5 per cent higher at Rs 146.25.

Lupin Ltd: Drug major Lupin has inked a pact with Poland-based Celon Pharma to jointly develop and market a generic version GlaxoSmithKline's Advair Diskus, a drug used to treat asthama, in global markets.

At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 0.4 per cent higher at Rs 1666.

Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL): In a disclosure to the stock exchange, HCL said that the company has bought the assets, both moveable and immovable, of JCL, which was in liquidation, through auction from Asset Reconstruction Co (India) Ltd (ARCIL) for an undisclosed amount, said media reports.

At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 1.3 per cent higher at Rs 71.

Jyoti Structures Ltd: The company said that it has bagged orders worth Rs 582 crore for transmission line projects. "Gulf Jyoti International LLC Dubai, a joint venture of Jyoti Structures Ltd and Gulf Investment Corporation of Kuwait have recently secured several prestigious export and domestic orders for transmission lines," Jyoti Structures said in a statement.

At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 8 per cent higher at Rs 35.30.

Crompton Greaves (CG): A Avantha Group Company, has been awarded with a Rs 119-crore contract by National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC), the largest generation utility in India, for the design, manufacturing and supply of generator step-up (GSU) transformers for its largest capacity, 800 MW super-critical thermal power plant at Darlipali in Odisha.

At 10:20 a.m.; the stock was trading 0.7 per cent higher at Rs 173.

Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd: The government today issued show cause notice to Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd for allegedly using coal meant for Raipur sponge iron plant at another plant in Raigarh.