Markets remain lacklustre; RIL dips 0.5%; HDFC gains 0.5%

Markets have turned range bound and are hovering near the flat line amid thin volumes.

By 11:35 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading lower by 6 points at 26,075 and Nifty50 was flat at 7,929.

Meanwhile, investors are cautious ahead of the December F&O expiry, which is due tomorrow.

On the currency front, the rupee weakened again today by another 4 paise to 66.44 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on increased month-end demand for the US currency from importers.

Further, crude oil prices resumed their decline in Asia today ahead of the release of data on US crude stockpiles and production.

In absence of any cues, Asian equities have also lost steam and are trading mixed with only Nikkei trading with 0.3% gains.

Bharti Airtel has acquired 74% stake in Augere Wireless, which holds 4G spectrum in Madhya Pradesh, but did not disclose financial details of the deal. Shares of Bharti Airtel have gained 0.4%%.

HDFC Bank reduced its base rate, or minimum lending rate, by five basis points (bps) to 9.3%, making it on a par with that of State Bank of India. The stock has dropped marginally.

Shares of HDFC have gained 0.6% after Standard Life received approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to increase its stake in HDFC Life Insurance by 9% to 35%.

Other notable gainers are Tata Steel, Dr Reddy’s , BHEL, NTPC , up between 0.5%-1.5% each.

On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto all have dropped between 0.5%-1% each.

Among other shares, shares of United Spirits have lost 2% after the company reportedly will seek shareholders’ nod to report sick to the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) as its accumulated losses as on March 31, touched 86 per cent of peak net worth during the past four financial years.

Shares of SREI Infrastructure Finance were down 5.3% on the BSE after investors booked profits following sharp gains in the previous session.

Bosch fell 0.33% to Rs 18,500 on BSE after the company said it will suspend all production activity at its Bengaluru and Bidadi plants for two days to adjust to the market demand.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)

HDFC Bank