Bumper Listing:Astron Paper and Board Mills started off trade with a hefty premium of 141 percent at Rs 120.75 on the National Stock Exchange, against issue price of Rs 50 per share.

Affordable Houses Approval: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has approved the construction of over 5.4 lakh more affordable houses for urban poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), according to an official release.

The construction of houses entails an investment of Rs 31,003 crore. The central assistance will be to the tune of Rs 8,107 crore, the release said.

In the latest approval, Andhra Pradesh has been sanctioned 1,42,447 houses, while Uttar Pradesh got 1,20,645 houses and Karnataka 1,18,646.

Madhya Pradesh has been sanctioned 1,00,341 houses; Jharkhand 30,486; Chhattisgarh 29,703 and Arunachal Pradesh 2,822 houses.

This takes the total number of houses funded under PMAY (Urban) to 37,42,667.

Pre-Opening: Astron Paper & Board Mills share price settled at Rs 115 in pre-opening trade on the National Stock Exchange, up 130 percent premium over its issue price of Rs 50.

USFDA Approval: Shares of Lupin gained 2 percent in morning trade as it has received final approval from USFDA for Calcipotriene Topical Solution.

The company has received final approval for its Calcipotriene Topical Solution, 0.005% (Scalp Solution) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market a generic version of Dovonex Scalp Solution, 0.005% of Leo Pharmaceutical Products.

Company's Calcipotriene Topical Solution, 0.005% (Scalp Solution) is the AT rated generic equivalent of Leo Pharmaceutical Products' Dovonex Scalp Solution, 0.005%.

It is indicated for the topical treatment of chronic, moderately severe psoriasis of the scalp.

Sebi on rating agencies: Markets regulator Sebi said cross-holding in credit rating agencies (CRAs) will be capped at 10 percent and also decided to raise the minimum networth requirement to Rs 25 crore from the current Rs 5 crore.

Also, the board of Sebi has approved a slew of measures for tightening the financial and operational eligibility of the promoters of CRAs, besides greater disclosure requirements for them.

The moves are likely to have an impact on global rating agencies like S&P, Moody's and Fitch which have significant holdings in domestic agencies besides their direct presence.

Buzzing: Shares of Tata Global Beverage has touched 52-week high of Rs 309, gaining 1 percent in the early trade on Friday as it has sold stake in its associate company.

The company through a share sale and purchase agreement has divested 31.85 percent stake (1,20,78,406 shares) in the joint venture company Estate Management Services (EMSPL) for a consideration of Rs 120 crore.

Consequently, EMSPL has ceased to become an associate of the company effective December 28, 2017.

This is a part of company's overall strategy to focus on branded business in key geographies.

Tata Steel, Vedanta, Bosch, UPL, Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp and SBI were early gainers while HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were under pressure.

Nifty Midcap was up 0.6 percent.

Reliance Communications surged 28 percent on sealing wireless assets deal with Reliance Jio.

Monnet Ispat, Jaiprakash Power and JP Associates rallied 5-13 percent.

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