Nifty hits 8950, Sensex firm; Coal India, HDFC, TCS gainers

Moneycontrol Bureau

11:50 am Outlook: While the market may be worried about fiscal stress in FY15, brokerage house house Credit Suisse government can raise capex by at least 1.2 percent of GDP in FY16. "The gains pocketed from falling oil prices could be used for counter-cyclical pump-priming. A further 0.9 percent of GDP can come from the new GDP series and a slight push-out of deficit targets," the brokerage said in its note to clients. “This fiscal expansion could drive a 0.75-1.00 percentage point addition to growth, driving outperformance of the broader India market. In particular, rising expenditure on roads and housing should drive a pick-up in cement and paints demand,” the note said.

11:40 am Market check: The market surged higher as the Sensex is up 91.43 points or at 29662.47. The Nifty is up 38.20 points at 8948.70. About 1176 shares have advanced, 1239 shares declined, and 243 shares are unchanged.

Maruti, Coal India, HDFC, Sun Pharma and TCS are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto.

11:30 am Rights issue: Auto major Tata Motors plans to raise up to Rs 7,500 crore via rights issue which will be used to invest in business expansion and reduce debt.

The company's board has approved seeking shareholders' approval through a postal ballot for raising funds up to Rs 7,500 crore through a rights issue of ordinary shares for meeting the company's growth plans as well as for reducing the debt on its balance sheet, Tata Motors said in a statement.

The quantum, pricing and timing of the issue will be decided later, depending on market conditions post the shareholders' and other approvals, it added.

Tata Motors, country's largest automobile company, had registered consolidated revenues of Rs 2,32,834 crore in 2013-14.

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It's a day of consolidation for the frontliners with the Nifty hovering around the 8900 level. The 50-share index is up 4.10 points at 8914.60. The Sensex is down 21.61 points at 29549.43. About 1120 shares have advanced, 1131 shares declined, and 230 shares are unchanged.

Maruti, SBI, TCS, NTPC and Sun Pharma are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Bharti, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite and Cipla.

Globally, most Asian markets recover intraday but mood is cautious ahead of the Fed Reserve policy outcome today. China, however, is in the red. Brent crude continues to trade sub USD 50 a barrel.

Oil jumped as much as a weak dollar propped up commodities, but crude prices came off their highs in post-settlement trading on signs of another big US supply build last week.

A Reuters poll showed U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 4.1 million barrels, on average, in the week to January 23. That would add to the previous week's build of over 10 million barrels, the biggest in 14 years, which had already brought inventories to the highest level on record for this time of year.