Nifty eyes 7950, Sensex firm; ITC & Dr Reddy's fall 1%

Moneycontrol Bureau10:50 am IDBI Bank: Maharashtra's Dabhol Plant, operated by Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited, has started operations by supplying 300 megawatts (MW) to the Central Railways. Operations at the plant have been stuck since January 2014 and this October, the Union Power Ministry decided to revive the plant.

GM Yadwadkar, executive director, IDBI, a lender to the power plant, says starting of the business is a big positive for the industry. He further adds he is positive that the account would not turn into a non-performing asset (NPA).

10:40 am Rupee Check: The Reserve Bank of India likely sold dollars through state-owned banks to stem the rupee's fall around 66.88 per dollar, three state-owned bank traders told Reuters.

The Indian rupee was trading at 66.7950/8000 to the dollar, after plunging to an over two-year low at 66.8950.

The Indian rupee tumbled in line with its Asian peers due to persistent risk-off sentiment on the back of broad dollar strength.

Asian shares fell and the dollar held near an 8-1/2-month peak today, while the euro hovered around seven-month lows on expectations of additional stimulus from the European Central Bank next week.10:30 am Buzzing: Reliance Infrastructure's shares gained 1.4 percent intraday on top of a 3.3 percent rise in previous session. A a media report indicated that the company is in talks with Aditya Birla Group company for stake sale in cement units.

"The Aditya Birla Group's cement company, UltraTech Cements, is in talks to take over cement units of the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure," a media report says quoting unnamed sources.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company's cement units are likely to fetch an enterprise valuation of Rs 5,000-5,500 crore, the report adds.

10:15 am Market Expert: Sahaj Agrawal, Associate Vice President-Derivatives, Kotak Securities says he expects volatility to remain high in the month of December with resistance seen around 8000.

Overall trend remains negative as he expects selling pressure at higher levels of the index. "On the downside support is seen at 7750 and 7550.  One can look at initiating a 7900 straddle for the December series," he says.

Also read - See slowdown in addition of NPLs for banks in FY16: Moody's10:00 am Market Check

The market continues to see good buying in December series as the Nifty eyes 7950. The 50-share index is up 42.35 points or 0.5 percent at 7926.15. The Sensex is up 127.51 points or 0.5 percent at 26086.14.About 1198 shares have advanced, 596 shares declined, and 139 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, M&M, Axis Bank and Cipla are top gainers while Dr Reddy's Labs, ITC, GAIL, Maruti and Lupin are major losers.

Crude oil futures fell on Friday with losses this month standing at over 8 percent, hurt by disappointing Chinese economic data and worries over a supply glut.

A firmer US dollar also weighed on oil, making greenback-denominated contracts more expensive for holders of other currencies. Although trading was quiet after Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Profits earned by Chinese industrial companies fell 4.6 percent in October from a year earlier, data from the country's statistics bureau showed on Friday, declining for the fifth consecutive month.