Nifty sets fresh record; Sensex ends up 110pts

The Sensex opened marginally higher at 14,419, up 21 points. Some weakness in early trades saw the index slip into red to a low of 14,372. However, steady buying in select heavyweights helped the index rebound into positive zone.

The buying gained momentum in the latter half of the trading day and the index rallied to a high of 14,530 - up 158 points from the day's low. The Sensex finally ended with a gain of 110 points at 14,508.

The NSE Nifty rallied to a new all-time intra-day high of 4299, before settling at a record 4293 - up 36 points.

The market breadth was positive - out of 2,672 stocks traded, 1,357 advanced, 1,213 declined and 102 were unchanged today.

BHEL, Cipla lead...

BHEL and Cipla soared nearly 5% each to Rs 2,856 and Rs 219, respectively. Larsen & Toubro surged 4% to Rs 1,857.

Ranbaxy and Reliance Communications rallied over 2% each to Rs 390 and Rs 521, respectively.

Reliance and HDFC Bank advanced 1.8% each to Rs 1,755 and Rs 1,145, respectively.

SBI, Grasim, HLL, Tata Motors and Reliance Energy were up around 1% each at Rs 1,322, Rs 2,509, Rs 203, Rs 741 and Rs 555, respectively.

HDFC shed 1.7% to Rs 1,813. Gujarat Ambuja and NTPC were down 1% each at Rs 115 and Rs 161, respectively.

MOST ACTIVE COUNTERS

Orbit Corp topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 208.40 crore followed by Unitech (Rs 150 crore), Reliance (Rs 149 crore), Advanta (Rs 129 crore) and India Infoline (Rs 122 crore

Cos like HAL, NALCO, PFC will get navratna status

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, National Aluminium Co and Power Finance Corp are among the seven public sector firms that would be given the navratna status soon, Minister for Heavy Industries Santosh Mohan Dev said on Friday.

An apex committee had recommended granting of navratna status to HAL, NALCO, PFC, Bharat Electronics Ltd, National Mineral Development Corporation, Power Grid Corporation of India and Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd, he said.

He said these would be granted the status as soon as they induct independent directors on their board.

With these, the number of navratna CPSUs under the Heavy Industry ministry would increase from nine to 16. Oil and Natural Gas Corp, NTPC Ltd, BHEL and Indian Oil are among the nine existing navratna companies.

Read more in The Economic Times article

Batliboi acquires Canada's Quickmill

On an expansion spree in the North American market, Mumbai-based machine tool and engineering company, Batliboi Ltd has acquired Canadian firm Quickmill Inc to leverage on the latter's distribution network and research and development capabilities.

The 100 per cent equity acquisition deal is estimated at Rs 22 crore and is the first foray by Batliboi into the mergers and acquisition space.

Batliboi primarily manufactures machine tools, specialised machines, textile air engineering machines and air conditioners at its Surat and Bangalore facilities. The company's clients include textile manufacturers, automobile manufacturers like TVS, Honda, Mahindra and Mahindra and power makers like BHEL besides hotels which use its air conditioners and refrigerators.