Opening Bell - Nifty above 8650 mark

At 9:15 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28,104 up 44 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,669 up 19 points.

Asian markets are trading mixed. Nikkei 225 is trading in red, while Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng are trading lower. Market-wide rollovers to the September F&O series were above average while rollovers for Nifty futures so far have been much higher than the past three series. Bank Nifty rolls have been lower so far and some action is anticipated here. Few global developments like North Korea testing another missile and Turkey launching attacks on Syria have once again brought in the tension factor. The only thought now on investors’ minds seems to be about what the Fed is likely to do in September. Yellen’s speech at Jackson Hole tomorrow may provide some clues.

Wall Street closed lower on Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.35% lower, at 18,481.48. The S&P 500 fell 0.52% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.81%, to 5,217.69.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved nine projects worth about Rs.24,000 crore in nine states for expansion of railway network and connectivity across the country. The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved a revised India-Cyprus tax treaty that seeks to plug loopholes used by investors to avoid paying taxes in India.

BSNL announced a national unlimited 3G mobile data plan for Rs.1,099 and doubled the data usage limit in some existing plans.

The rupee opened marginally higher by two paise at 67.08/$ against US Dollar Thursday as against the previous close of 67.10/$. In currency markets, traders will remain on the sidelines ahead of Yellen’s speech. Amid the slew of hawkish remarks from various Fed officials, it has become imperative for the investors to hear from horse’s mouth. 

Live Stock Market Updates - Sensex, Nifty edges higher ahead Yellen's speech, derivatives expiry eyed

Closing Bell:
Finally, the BSE Sensex ended with a gain of 70 points at 28,060. The BSE Sensex opened at 28,065 touched an intra-day high of 28,108 and low of 27,960.

The NSE Nifty closed with a gain of 18 points at 8,650.30 The NSE Nifty opened at 8,648.50 hitting a high of 8,661 and low of 8,621.

Live Market:

The BSE Sensex opened 75.04 points up at 28,065.25, while Nifty50 opened 15.90 points up at 8,648.50.

 
At 2:28 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28,003 up 13 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,642 up mere nine points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.62% at 13,026 whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.66% at 12,516.

Cipla, Maruti Suzuki, Infosys, NTPC and Sun Pharma are among the gainers, whereas Lupin, Adani Ports, TCS, Tata Motors and Tata Steel are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in oil and gas, pharma,utilities, auto,  IT, energy and teck sectors, while telecom, banking, capital goods, metal and finance are showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is down 2.80% at 13.5075. Out of 1,852 stocks traded on the NSE, 644 declined, 919 advanced and 289 remained unchanged today.

A total of 71 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while 16 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.
Gammon Infrastructure Projects advanced 1.5% to Rs.5.36 after media reports that Brookfield is close to purchase remaining assest in road and power projects, as part of the deal struck in 2015. 

InterGlobe Aviation slipped 2.2% to Rs.876.50 on BSE after media reports that Tigerair will take back 11 jets subleased to the aviation company. Tigerair will grow capacity via the returning aircraft subleased to Indigo.

JK Tyre climbed 7% to Rs.118.55 on BSE. The company is planning to set up a new R&D centre of excellence in Mysuru. In this regard, the company will invest Rs 100 crore. It will initially have about 200 engineers and scientists and the number will double during the next one year.

Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd gained 1.5% to Rs.40. Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd has informed BSE that the Core Committee of the Lenders of the Company met on 23 August. E&Y presented their evaluation on all responses received from various financial and strategic investors and decided to recommend to Joint Lenders Forum that the offer received from Jiangsu Longzhe is best offer, the modalities and terms sheet of Jiangsu Longzhe was discussed in details to finalize the next steps of the transactions.

Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd gained 2% to Rs.277.70. The company has filed draft red herring prospectus with Securities Exchange Board of India to raise Rs.10,000 crore via public sale of bonds.

Maruti Suzuki rallied 2.6% to Rs.4,957 on BSE as the Japanese yen weakened against the dollar.

State Bank of India is currently trading at Rs. 255.15, up by Rs. 0.55 or 0.22% from its previous closing of Rs. 254.6 on the BSE. The bank has informed BSE that the Committee of Directors for Capital Raising at its meeting held on August 24, 2016 authorized the Bank to raise upto Rs. 11,100 crore  Additional Tier 1 capital, by way of issue of Basel III compliant Perpetual Debt instrument in USD and / or INR, at par, through private placement to overseas and / or Indian investors, in such number of tranche(s), at such time(s) as may be considered appropriate and on such coupon(s) as may be decided at the time of actual issuance.

Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 509.1, up by Rs. 4.5 or 0.89% from its previous closing of Rs. 504.6 on the BSE. The company has announced that it has received Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) final approval for Telmisartan Tablets, USP 20,40 and 80mg, the generic version of Micardis Tablets of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is used for the treatment of hypertension.

MOIL Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 259, up by Rs. 6.3 or 2.49% from its previous closing of Rs. 252.7 on the BSE. The company has executed the Mining lease over 76.409 Ha. land granted by Government of Madhya Pradesh in the village Bharweli-Awalajhari, Tehsil & Dist.Balaghat of Madhya Pradesh.

ONGC advanced 1.3% to Rs.190. ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of ONGC, has received one-year extension to explore a Vietnamese oil block in the contested waters of the South China Sea.

Gillette India dipped 1% to Rs.4632.90 on BSE. Gillette India reported a 35.4% decline in standalone net profit at Rs.46.9 crore for the fourth quarter that ended on June 30, 2016, on account of a drop in oral care segment sales.

Majesco soared 9.8% to Rs.532.45.  Majesco and Elafris announce strategic partnership Source text for Eikon to enhance insurers' customer communication and payment experience.

Inox Wind Ltd gained 1% to Rs.193. The company is expected to get a boost from the upcoming wind-solar hybrid policy, the newly-announced central tender of 1 gigawatt under reverse bidding, as per media report.

Jai Corp declined 2% to Rs.76. The company reported 41.7% fall in net profit to Rs.6 crore for the quarter ended June 30 compared with Rs.10.3 crore reported in the year-ago period.

Reliance Communications inched up 0.58% to Rs.51.70.  The company has launched content delivery network 'Fast Edge' for faster delivery of web content to users.

Man Infraconstruction slipped 1% to Rs.50.25.  The company will announce its Q1 numbers today.

Wipro is trading marginally up at Rs.520.70. Qualys, Inc. announced an expanded strategic partnership with Wipro Limited. Wipro will leverage Qualys Vulnerability Management, Policy Compliance and Web Application Security services in its managed Enterprise Security Service offerings for its customers, world-wide, as per media report.

Sensex, Nifty sluggish; Infy & Sun Pharma up, InterGlobe slips

The market is still sluggish with the Sensex up 24.88 pointsat 28015.09. The Nifty is up 5.25 points at 8637.85.  About 1449 shares have advanced, 1086 shares declined, and 193 shares are unchanged.

 Maruti, Cipla, NTPC, Infosys and Sun Pharma are top gainers while Lupin, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Coal India and Adani Ports are losers in the Sensex. 

IndiGo Airlines owner InterGlobe Aviation fell 2 percent as media reports suggest that Tigerair may take back 11 jets subleased to IndiGo. Tigerair says it will grow capacity via the returning aircraft subleased to IndiGo. 

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI)  said it will raise up to Rs 11,000 crore through Basel III compliant debt instruments on a private placement basis.

 The bank has informed the BSE that "the Committee of Directors for Capital Raising at its meeting held on August 24, 2016 authorised the bank to raise up to Rs 11,100 crore additional tier 1 capital, by way of issue of Basel III compliant perpetual debt instrument in USD and/or INR, at par, through private placement to overseas and/or Indian investors".

Sensex, Nifty rangebound; Lupin, TCS, HUL major laggards

The market is rangebound as investors are on wait and watch mode ahead of F&O expiry. The Sensex is up 46.89 points or 0.2 at 28037.10, and the Nifty up 9.50 points or 0.1 percent at 8642.10. About 1392 shares have advanced, 815 shares declined, and 145 shares are unchanged.

 Lupin, TCS, HUL, Coal India and ITC are laggards while Maruti, NTPC, Cipla, Infosys and Sun Pharma are gainers in the Sensex.

 Oil fell after industry data showing an increase in US crude stocks added to oversupply worries and traders took advantage of a recent rally to book profits.

 Prices had closed higher on news that Iran was willing to join calls by OPEC and Russia for production curbs after scuttling previous efforts to reach a deal in April.

 But the gains were reversed in Asian trade after data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) overnight showed US crude inventories rose by 4.5 million barrels in the week ending August 19, after falling by one million barrels the week before.

Live Stock Market Updates - Nifty hovers around 8,650 mark

At 9:31 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28,013 up 23 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,634 up mere two points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.43% at 13,001 whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.25% at 12,465.

Maruti Suzuki, Infosys, ONGC, NTPC, Cipla, RIL and Bajaj Auto are among the gainers, whereas Lupin, Bharti Airtel, HUL, ITC, TCS and Coal India are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in oil & gas, pharma, IT, energy and teck sectors, while telecom, banking, capital goods, metal and finance are showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is down 1.02% at 13.7550. Out of 1,826 stocks traded on the NSE, 512 declined, 848 advanced and 466 remained unchanged today.

A total of 31 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while nine stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

The rupee opened lower by eight paise at 67.14/$ against US Dollar Tuesday as against the previous close of 67.06/$.

Asian markets are trading mixed. Nikkei 225 is trading in green, while Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng are trading lower.

Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.1% higher, at 18,547.3 points. The S&P 500 gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq advanced 0.3%. Oil prices fell as an unexpected build in US crude stocks weighed on markets, along with concerns that Chinese crude demand could falter as Beijing clamps down on alleged tax evasion in the oil industry. The dollar index held steady as as investors reassess the outlook for US monetary tightening.

Market participants were also jittery as the speech by Fed chair Janet Yellen at an annual summer gathering in Jackson Hole was awaited, for indications of how policymakers view the interest rates outlook and ahead of the expiry of the derivative contracts on Thursday.

The Rs.1,200 crore initial public offering of RBL Bank received strong investor response on its last day on Tuesday garnering bids close to 70 times the shares on sale.

Cement, power and steel firms may remain at the receiving end as the Railway Board decided to rationalize coal tariff by rejigging the distance slabs effectively increasing rates by up to 19pc. Recent reports indicated that the budget may be advanced. But before that on Friday the Prime Minister is expected to call a meeting with ministers to review the progress of Budget proposals ever since the BJP-led government came to power. 

Indices snaps 2-day losing streak... Sensex, Nifty end flat

After falling for past two trading sessions, the Indian stock market closed on a flat note on Tuesday. Market participants were also jittery as the speech by Fed chair Janet Yellen at an annual summer gathering in Jackson Hole was awaited, for indications of how policymakers view the interest rates outlook and ahead of the expiry of the derivative contracts on Thursday.

Heavy selling pressure was witnessed in oil & gas, power, metal, energy, utilities and basic materials stocks, while IT, telecom, tech and banking stocks were among the gainers.

Among the 50-stocks of Nifty, Idea Cellular, Bank of Baroda, Infosys, TCS, Bharti Infratel, Zee, Asian Paints and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers on NSE, whereas Grasim, BHEL, BPCL, Tata Power, NTPC, Aurobindo Pharma and Bajaj Auto were among the losers today.

Finally, the BSE Sensex ended with a gain of mere five points at 27,990. The BSE Sensex opened at 28,013 touched an intra-day high of 28,029 and low of 27,854.

The NSE Nifty closed with a gain of three points at 8,632. The NSE Nifty opened at 8,628 hitting a high of 8,639 and low of 8,580.

The India VIX (Volatility) index was down 2.37% at 13.8975. Out of 1,400 stocks traded on the NSE, 721 declined and 622 advanced today.

The rupee was trading up nine paise at 67.09 per US dollar.

On the global front, Asian stocks closed on a mixed trend. Oil prices fell for a second straight session on supply concerns. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.61%. China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended marginally higher.

European stocks edged higher after the latest data showed that eurozone's economic recovery gained speed in August. The FTSE 100 was trading inched up 0.5%. The CAC 40 and DAX gained 0.87% each.

Tata Power Company tumbles 3.2% to Rs.74 on the BSE. The company has posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of profit of associates of Rs.72.5 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.303 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

HPCL dropped 5.3% after the company has posted a net profit of Rs.2,098 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.1614.1 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Welspun India closed lower for the second consecutive sessions after Bloomberg report said Target Corp is ending all business with Welspun India Ltd, one of the world’s biggest textile manufacturers, after saying the supplier was sending it phony Egyptian cotton sheets. Welspun India Ltd hit 20% lower circuit for the second day to Rs.65.85 on BSE.

Shriram EPC jumped 10.6% to Rs.24 after it said that the company through its 100% subsidiary, Shriram EPC FZE, Sharjah has been awarded an overseas contract for an amount of $230 million (around Rs.1530 crore).

Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd dipped 3.5% to Rs.16.35 after the company said its net profit for the June quarter fell 58% to Rs.46.18 crore against Rs.109.40 crore a year ago. Net sales fell 20% to Rs.503.99 crore.

Hotel Leelaventure Ltd climbed 3% to Rs.18.35 after the company said in a notice to BSE that it has sought shareholder approval to sell its properties The Leela Palace Delhi and The Leela Palace Chennai to pare debt.

NTPC Ltd skid 3% to Rs.159. The company has posted a net profit of Rs.2369.5 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.2276.5 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015. The company to raise funds upto Rs.15,000 crore through issue of Bonds/Debentures on Private Placement basis.

Allcargo Logistics Ltd fell 3% to Rs.189. The company reported 11.8% decline in its net profit to Rs.28.30 crore in June quarter against Rs.32.07 crore a year ago. Total income rose 0.5% to Rs.306.15 crore.

MEP Infrastructure Developers Ltd rose 3.8% to Rs.44. The company has received the Letter of Acceptance (LOA) dated 22 August 2016 from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) informing that MEP has been engaged as the Contractor for the Project of “Collection of user fee through Fee Collection Agency on the basis of competitive bidding through (e-tender) for Ghangari at 346.100km (Gorhar to Barwa Adda) from 320km-398.750km of National Highway No. 2 in the State of Jharkhand.

Pfizer gained 2.3% to Rs.1949 after the company said it would buy U.S. cancer drug company Medivation Inc for $14 billion in cash, adding its blockbuster prostate cancer drug Xtandi to the company's growing oncology roster.

A total of 74 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, whereas 17 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

Sensex below 28000, Nifty ends at 8632; Idea Cellular top gainer

Equity benchmarks remained in a consolidation mode. The Sensex was up 4.67 points at 27990.21 and the Nifty up 3.45 points at 8632.60. 

Idea Cellular surged nearly 8 percent on hopes of merger with Vodafone.

 The Rs 1,200 crore public issue of RBL Bank, erstwhile Ratnakar Bank, has received overwhelming response from investors as it already received bids for Rs 37,897 crore worth of shares on last day of subscription. 

The issue has oversubscribed 44.44 times as the IPO received bids for 168.4 crore equity shares against the total issue size of 3.79 crore shares (excluding anchor investors' portion), according to the latest data available on the exchange (15:00 hours IST). 

The reserved portion of qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) is oversubscribed 72 times while the non-institutional investors' portion subscribed 98 times. The quota reserved for retail investors saw oversubscription of 5 times. RBL Bank is the first private sector lender came out with initial public offering in a decade. 

Idea and Vodafone merger may breach 50 percent market share in few circles and will create India's largest telecom company. Regulatory approvals are crucial for Idea and Vodafone potential merger, say sources. Vodafone India may not need to bring in its IPO if it seals a deal with Idea. Idea shares surged 5 percent. 

The Centre has rejected a proposal of software major Infosys to set up an IT special economic zone (SEZ) in West Bengal due to lack of state's recommendation. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Board of Approval (BoA), headed by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia, on August 12. "After deliberations, the board rejected the proposal due to lack of recommendation from the state government," the minutes of the BoA meeting said. Infosys had proposed to set up IT-ITeS SEZ over an area of 20.14 hectares in South 24 Parganas. 

The state government's recommendation is important to get approvals from the BoA. On the other hand, the BoA approved four new proposals to set up SEZs.

 Equity benchmarks extended losses amid consolidation in afternoon trade with the Nifty breaching 8600 level, dragged by ITC, L&T, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Reliance Industries. The Sensex fell 85.51 points to 27900.03 and the Nifty slipped 37.20 points to 8591.95. 

About 1326 shares declined against 1211 advancing shares on the BSE. Railways increased freight rates by upto 19 percent. Star Cement said that will impact cement and freight rates. UltraTech Cement, ACC and JSW Steel declined over a percent. 

BHEL extended sell-off, down 4.4 percent as Macquarie has retained its underperform rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 79. The brokerage house says the stock has held up on hopes of turnaround in orders & earnings but there is likelihood of scrapping of large tender by NTPC where the company was L1. 

It expects BHEL to return to meaningful profit only in FY19. European stocks extended gains, buoyed by data which showed that the euro zone economy had yet to feel a negative impact from the 'Brexit' vote. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.8 percent. Markets in wait-and-see mode ahead of a speech on Friday by US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen at Jackson Hole and clues about the timing of the next US interest rate hike. 

Live Stock Market Updates - Sensex, Nifty trade flat

The Indian equity market declines for third straight session and trading flat below its crucial 28,000 level, while the broader Nifty50 was heading down towards its key 8,600 mark.

The Sensex opened 27.02 points up at 28,012.56, while Nifty opened 0.80 points down at 8,628.35

At 10:58 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 27,959 down 26 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,623 down mere six points.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 0.33% at 12,939 whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.09% at 12,453.

TCS, Infosys, GAIL, Wipro, Asian Paints, Axis Bank and Adani Ports are among the gainers, whereas ITC, Bajaj Auto, SBI, L&T, Sun Pharma and Hero MotoCorp are losing sheen on BSE.

Some buying activity is seen in IT, utilities, metal and telecom sectors, while oil & gas, FMCG, capital goods, finance and power showing weakness on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is down 0.57% at 14.1525. Out of 1,850 stocks traded on the NSE, 739 declined, 779 advanced and 332 remained unchanged today.

A total of 46 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, while 11 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

Indraprastha Gas Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 773, up by Rs. 43.85 or 6.01% from its previous closing of Rs. 729.15 on the BSE. The company has posted a net profit after tax of Rs.148 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.102.5 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

The rupee opened higher by six paise at 67.12/$ against US Dollar Tuesday as against the previous close of 67.18/$.

Asian markets are trading mixed. Shanghai Composite is trading in green, while Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng are trading lower by 0.22%.

Wall Street stocks closed mostly lower on Monday, as investors looked ahead to a key speech from a top Federal Reserve official. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.12% lower, at 18,529.42 points. The S&P 500 slipped 0.06% to end at 2,182.64 points, while the Nasdaq gained 0.12% to 5,244.60 points.

Oil remained under pressure after shedding 3 percent on Monday. Prices retreated from two-month highs on worries about burgeoning Chinese fuel exports, more Iraqi and Nigerian crude shipments and a rising US oil rig count.

On the economy front, the selection panel to appoint three government nominees for the monetary policy committee (MPC) held its first meeting recently to consider the candidates, a top Finance Ministry official said.

Moody’s Investors Service said that India’s growth outlook is positive, in its annual credit analysis of government bonds.

The initial public offering of RBL Bank Ltd, excluding the anchor allotment, was subscribed 308.33% or 3.08 times on Monday, the second of the three-day offering. The Rs.1,211.2 crore IPO, which opened on Friday, will close on 23 August.

Top 18 stocks in focus today: Pfizer, HPCL, Future Enterprises, SpiceJet

Pfizer: Pfizer Inc, beating out numerous other bidders, said it would buy U.S. cancer drug company Medivation Inc for $14 billion in cash, adding its blockbuster prostate cancer drug Xtandi to the company's growing oncology roster.

Tata Power: Tata Power will announce its Q1 numbers today.

Birla Corporation, Reliance Infrastructure: Birla Corporation said it has completed acquisition of Anil Ambani's cement business, a wholly-owned arm of flagship Reliance Infrastructure, for an enterprise valuation of about Rs.4,800 crore.

Future Enterprises: Future Group is in early discussions with Aditya Birla Retail to buy or merge the latter's More supermarket business to consolidate its leadership in the brick-and-mortar retail sector and to build a large network of stores that could be leveraged in alliance with ecommerce companies for multi-channel sale of food and groceries, as per media report.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd: The company has posted a net profit of Rs.2,098 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.1614.1 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Shree Renuka Sugars: Shree Renuka Sugars has posted a net profit of Rs.3.2 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to net loss of Rs.150.2 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

NTPC: NTPC Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs.2369.5 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 as compared to Rs.2276.5 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015. The company has sought shareholders’ approval to raise up to Rs.15,000 crore through issuance of debentures/bonds on a private placement basis.

IGL: Indraprastha Gas reported a 44 per cent jump in its June quarter net profit on rise in gas sales and lower interest cost.

SpiceJet: SpiceJet will start flights to Silchar and Aizawl from October as the budget airline looks to boost air connectivity in the North East region.

Tata Motors: PT Tata Motors Distribusi Indonesia (TMDI), a Tata Motors’ unit, has launched two new-generation commercial vehicles in Indonesia - Tata ULTRA 1012 light truck and Tata Xenon XT D-Cab 4x4 pick-up - at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) 2016. 

RIL: Reliance Industries has sought quashing of an FIR against it on alleged irregularities in raising the price of gas from KG 6 basin, telling Delhi High Court that the AAP government was "never entitled" to lodge an FIR against it, as per media report.

Lupin: Lupin has received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for Acotiamide 100mg tablets used for treatment of indigestion.

Leelaventures: The company said it is seeking shareholders' nod to sell properties in Chennai and Delhi to pay off debt.

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd: JSPL said it has secured long-term coal linkage of 1.18 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) for power plants in Chhattisgarh.

Nestle India: Nestle India’s instant noodle brand Maggi, whose sales were severely hit by a Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ban last year, has regained its leadership position capturing 57% share of the market in June this year.

Aurobindo Pharma: Aurobindo Pharma will announce its Q1 numbers today.

GAIL (India): GAIL and Silicon Valley-based Bloom Energy announced a new partnership to transform India’s energy future through the use of innovative technology and signed a MoU to deploy revolutionary natural gas-based fuel cell technology to generate electricity.

MEP Infra: The company has received the Letter of Acceptance from National Highways Authority of India.

Sensex, Nifty under pressure in early trade; HPCL, NTPC fall

The market was marginally lower in early trade with the Sensex struggling below 28000 level amid consolidation. 

The Sensex was down 32.64 points at 27952.90 and the Nifty declined 16.20 points at 8612.95. 

The Indian rupee has opened higher by 7 paise at 67.12 per dollar against previous close of 67.19 a dollar.

 Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank says the market attention is fully focused on Fed Chief Janet Yellen's Jackson Hole speech this weekend, after some hawkish comments from Fed speakers have increased the probability of Fed hiking interest rates earlier than anticipated. 

He expects the USD-INR pair to trade in the 67-67.50/dollar range in the near term. The dollar stopped its advance against major currencies on hesitation ahead of a speech from the Fed chair on Friday.