Nifty ends below 8550, Sensex up 93 pts; SBI, HUL down 1%

Moneycontrol Bureau3:30 pm Market closing: The market ended higher but the Nifty was below 8550. The 50-share was up 31.10 points or 0.4 percent at 8541.20. The Sensex is up 92.72 points or 0.3 percent at 27803.24. About 1490 shares have advanced, 1187 shares declined, and 190 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors, HDFC, L&T, Cipla and Lupin were top gainers while Bajaj Auto, SBI, HUL, Sun Pharma and Wipro.

3:00 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained higher amid consolidation. The Sensex was up 81.78 points at 27792.30 and the Nifty gained 29.60 points at 8539.70.About 1463 shares advanced against 1148 declining shares on the BSE.2:50 pm Syngene capex: Biocon's contract research arm Syngene International has lined up USD 200 million (around Rs 1,342 crore) capex to bolster its manufacturing capabilities over the next three years.

The company plans to invest USD 100 million (around Rs 665.27 crore) in a greenfield facility at Mangalore, the first phase of which would be operationalised by financial year 2018-19.

Besides, it has also earmarked another USD 100 million to create additional infrastructure at its existing facility at Bangalore.

"We have acquired a site at Mangalore. We plan to come up with a manufacturing base there in line with long term strategy of the company. The unit, when functional, would support our existing Bangalore complex," Syngene International Ltd CEO Jonathan Hunt told reporters during a conference call.

The first phase of the facility is expected to be completed by 2018-19, he added.2:40 pm Bonus issue: Nava Bharat Ventures, a firm engaged in power, mining and ferro alloys business, today said that its board has approved issuance of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1.

"The board of directors of the company, at its meeting held on July 22, has approved the issuance of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 i.e. one bonus equity share of Rs 2 each for every one existing equity share of Rs 2 each, by capitalising a part of the general reserves," Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd said in a filing to BSE.

However, the issuance of bonus shares is subject to the approval of shareholders at the annual general meeting to be held on August 24.

Nava Bharat Ventures is a diversified organisation with interests in power generation, ferro alloys, mining and agri-business.2:30 pm Moody's on PSB: Government's Rs 23,000-crore equity infusion will provide some respite to the public sector banks (PSBs), but their capital needs are significantly higher than the budgeted amount, Moody's Investors Service has said. The firm estimates that the 11-rated PSBs need Rs 1.2 lakh crore capital to shore up their balance sheets, which far exceeds the Rs 45,000-crore budgeted for disbursal to the banks by March 2019. "The capital infusion will provide some respite for the recipient banks, especially those with weak capitalisation," Moody's said, adding the infusion is positive for banks, but their capital needs remain elevated.Don't miss: ITC Q1 cigarette volume rises: How to trade it now?

The market has started to gradually pick up pace with the Nifty nearing 8550. The 50-share index is up 30.10 points or 0.3 percent at 8540.20 while the Sensex is up 88.84 points or 0.3 percent at 27799.36.

Auto, capital goods, metals, oil & gas stocks are rallying. Tata Motors, GAIL, HDFC, NTPC and L&T are gainers while Bajaj Auto, HUL, Sun Pharma, SBI and Infosys are losers in the Sensex.

India's crude oil production fell 4.5 percent in June following a sharp drop in output at fields operated by private firms.

Crude oil production at 2.96 million tons in June was lower than 3.1 MT produced in the same month last year, an official statement said here.

While state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp produced 2.75 percent less crude oil at 1.85 MT, fields operated by private companies saw output drop by almost 8 percent to 975,890 tons.