Nifty holds 7900, Sensex firm; pharma, oil stocks lead

Moneycontrol Bureau11:55 am Exclusive: The washout of the Monsoon session of Parliament saw the country suffer two crucial setbacks: there was no progress on the Land Bill and the GST Bill too failed to pass muster, putting its April 1, 2016, rollout under question.But amid reports that the government is moving on both fronts, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari expressed hope that progress would be made soon. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Gadkari said the government would take a decision on the Land Ordinance before it lapses (on August 31).The Land Ordinance has been floated thrice by the government to dilute what it said were strict, growth-hampering restrictions laid out in the 2013 Land Act of the UPA government. 11:40 am Buzzing: Shares of Apollo Tyres jumped over 3 percent intraday Thursday on raising funds. The tyre company has  closed a €300 million or Rs 2260 crore financing for its upcoming manufacturing plant in Hungary.

An international consortium of banks comprising ABN AMRO Bank NV, Magyar Export-Import Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UniCredit Bank Hungary, supported the company and provided the debt financing, it added.

The company began construction of the plant earlier this year with a total investment outlay of €475 million. “We thank our consortium partners who provided appropriate solutions to the specific financing needs for the project and facilitated a smooth execution,” said K Prabhakar, managing director, Apollo Tyres Hungary

11:30 am Rupee outlook: Speaking about the global macros and its impact currencies world over, Sameer Goel, Head-Asia Rates & Currency Research, Deutsche Bank in an interview to CNBC-TV18 said although the Indian rupee cannot completely delink from global trends, it is much more insulated than other emerging market currencies. The Reserve Bank of India too has built up reserves which help dampen over volatility in currency market, said Goel.According to him the current financial crisis is not reminiscent of the 1997 Asian crisis because the fundamental picture is vastly different in the EMs now although the price action did look similar to the one seen in earlier crisis.Don't miss: Markets realise world will grow at much slower pace, says Jaipuria 

The market has made a smart recovery led by pharma and oil stocks. The Sensex is up 360.03 points or 1.4 percent at 26074.69 and the Nifty is up 115.50 points or 1.5 percent at 7907.35. About 1653 shares have advanced, 467 shares declined, and 61 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Vedanta, Lupin, Cipla and Tata Steel are top gainers while BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India and TCS are among laggards.

Brent crude climbed by more than USD 1 a barrel on Thursday on an unexpected fall in US crude inventories and a rally in global equity markets, but a stronger dollar capped gains. In other financial markets, a rebound on Wall Street helped soothe investors' tattered nerves, while the dollar rallied as risk aversion eased.

Regaining confidence after a sharp rebound on Wall Street where investors had been hit by worries over China's faltering economy, London copper futures also strengthened on Thursday.

Data released on Wednesday showed US non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, which is a proxy for business investment, increased 2.2 percent in July, the biggest rise since June last year and handily beating expectations.