Sensex, Nifty to open on a negative note

Santa Claus seems to have made a late surprise visit on Tuesday but didn’t stay back for long as the market was back to its tight range on Wednesday. The December series will see its demise today as F&O expiry gets underway. Market-wide rollover of F&O contracts are higher than 3-month average and rollover of Nifty futures too has been higher this series.

The outlook is a flat to negative start. While indices may not swing much except towards the close, heightened activity would be seen in select stocks including the banking pack. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley met public sector bank heads to discuss how they are handling the demonetisation issues besides taking suggestions for the upcoming Union Budget.

The Indian currency weakened yet again on Wednesday to end at a month’s low. US indices lost their winning ways following a fall in home re-sales which indicated that higher interest rates may take a toll on the housing market.  The NSE has filed its DRHP with Sebi for one of the biggest IPOs in recent years.

Most Asian indices opened weak following overnight cues from the US where the Dow Jones fell over 100 points. Weakness in oil & fall in bond yields all saw profit booking in equities with year end blues prompting raising cash. However the silver lining was a strong rally in the Brazilian 'Bovespa' which gained due to value buying & weakness in the US$.

Nifty faced strong resistance around 8100 levels as derivative contract expiry due today saw intra day gains disappear. For today expect volatility to be the order with 8000-8100 being the range for the Nifty expiry of the last series of calendar 2016.Initial weakness may be bought into with stock specific action expected in the 2nd half of the day.

Among other stocks in focus:

Reliance Industries: Reliance Industries on Wednesday said it has successfully commissioned the first phase of its 2.2 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) para-xylene (PX) plant at Gujarat's Jamnagar.

IRB Infrastructure: IRB Infra has informed stock exchanges that the company has received Letter of Award from NHAI for the project of six laning of Kishangarh to Gulabpura section of NH 79A and NH 79 in the State of Rajasthan (length 90.000 km) on DBFOT (Toll) under NHDP Phase V package -I Project.

JMC Projects: The company secured new orders worth over Rs 1,457 crore.

Pratibha Industries: The company's board to meet on January 4, 2017 to approve the issue and allotment of shares on preferential basis to the lenders of the company under strategic debt restructuring (SDR) scheme.

IDFC Bank: The private sector bank is close to merging various lending divisions with a plan to reduce headcount, as per media report.

Phoenix Mills: The company on Wednesday said it has acquired the remaining 8.72 per cent stake in its wholly-owned subsidiary Island Star Mall Developers Pvt Ltd (ISMDPL).

JK Tyre: The tyre manufacturer said its board has given approval to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore by issuing securities.

Sasken Communication: The company has proposed to buy back 29,27,879 equity shares having face value of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 410 per share in cash for a total consideration not exceeding Rs 12004.31 lakhs.

Cadila Healthcare: The company’s wholly owned subsidiary Zydus Healthcare has acquired six brands from US drug maker MSD and its subsidiaries for an undisclosed amount.

Jet Airways: The appointment of Vikram Mehta, Rajshree Pathy and Ranjan Mathai have received the nod of the shareholders, the airline said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.