The market has gone flat now. The Sensex is up 14.40 points at 28548.37 and the Nifty is up 14.70 points at 8642.10. About 1105 shares have advanced, 582 shares declined, and 154 shares are unchanged. Hero Motocorp, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Hindalco and MAruti are top gainers in the Sensex.

Among the losers are BHEL, Bharti Airtel, SBI, ITC and Axis Bank. 9:30 am Big boost: Shares of Pipavav Defence rallied over 15 percent intraday as reports suggest that Mahindra & Mahindra is eyeing a stake in the company. According to media reports, M&M is likely to purchase around stake in Pipavav Defence for around Rs 3000 crore at Rs 66 a share in a three-phase deal. The deal may value Pipavav at an enterprise value of Rs 12000 crore ( with a debt of Rs 6800 crore) and the promoters own 45 percent stake in the company.

It is learnt that board of Pipavav Defence is expected to meet on February 13 to take a decision on the deal. Pipavav Defence is India’s first private company to get license and contracts to build warships for the Indian Navy. It also has a joint venture with Mazagon dock, which is largest defence shipyard. Its current order book stands at Rs 9,000 crore and has further bid for orders worth Rs 30,000 crore from India’s defence.

The sharemarket is showing strength in early trade. The Sensex is up 126.55 points at 28660.52 and the Nifty is up 49.55 points at 8676.95. About 450 shares have advanced, 116 shares declined, and 124 shares are unchanged. Hindalco, M&M, ICICI Bank, SBI and Dr Reddy’s Labs are top gainers while BHEL, Infosys, ITC and Bajaj Auto are losers in the Sensex. The Indian rupee slipped in the early trade.

It has opened lower by 14 paise at 62.39 per dollar versus 62.25 Wednesday. Euro declines led by a barrage of conflicting headlines that left investors no clearer on whether Greece may yet secure a new debt agreement with its European lenders. Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “Strong US data suggests that the odds of a Fed rate hike in June is increasing. Consequently dollar is rallying against major currencies Rupee is also headed towards gradual depreciation.

USD-INR is likely to trade today in a range of 62.20-62.50/dollar.??? Stocks in US closed narrowly mixed following a choppy day of trading with the Dow recovering from a triple-digit loss. Europe closed in the red, while Asia was mixed in morning trade with Japan up nearly 2 percent as dollar-yen hit a near six-week high.

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