BSE Sensex ends 234 pts higher; ITC, Tata Power up 4%

4:00 pm Market closing: It was a strong day of trade on Dalal Street. The Nifty recaptured the 5,800 level decisively with a 67 point gain. The Sensex surged about 234 points. The market was supported by the FMCG and IT sectors.

3:50 pm: India's top sugar refiner Shree Renuka Sugars will soon begin exporting white sugar from its Haldia unit on the east coast as strong demand during Ramadan and limited supplies in Asia amid a weak rupee made exports lucrative, a senior company official told Reuters on Thursday.

3:40 pm Midcap gainers: Firstsource Solutions, UCO Bank , Shasun Pharma, Finolex, Unichem  and Motherson Sumi are among midcap gainers.

3:35 pm  Rupee check: The rupee turns lower as absence of any soothing comments from RBI chief Subbarao on rupee hurts sentiment, says dealers.The RBI Governor says he does not have a specific foreign exchange rate target, which raises concerns that the central bank is unlikely to defend any particular level strongly.

3:30 pm Market closing: The Sensex ends 240 points up at 19417.76, and the Nifty closes at 5840.75, up 69.85 points (provisional). About 1247 shares have advanced, 1030 shares declined, and 151 shares are unchanged.

3:26 pm RBI Governor: The Reserve Bank Of India Governor DuvvuriSubbarao said on Thursday not all eligible companies that have applied for bank licenses will be granted one, reports Reuters.

Earlier this week, the RBI said it had received 26 applications for new bank licenses.

RBI Governor Subbarao also said an increase in non-performing assets at lenders was a matter of concern, but added that banks were well capitalised, during a media briefing at the conclusion of the central bank's board meeting.

3:20 pm Fitch Ratings: The 26 applicants for new bank licences in India face tough requirements that are likely to lead to only a limited number receiving licences and developing into substantial banks, Fitch Ratings says.

The central bank's objective to address financial inclusion places heavy demands on profitability and capital, and is likely to lengthen the time it takes for a successful applicant to establish a presence.

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The market is holding firm in the last trading hour of the day as the Nifty is comfortable well above the 5800-mark. The Nifty is at 5836.60, up 65.70 points while the Sensex is up 220.12 points at 19397.88. About 1171 shares have advanced, 999 shares declined, and 143 shares are unchanged.

ITC , Tata Power , TCS , Tata Motors and Infosys are top gainers in the Sensex while BHEL , Tata Steel and ONGC are major losers.

The share price of Firstsource Solutions has jumped 20 percent as Rakesh Jhunjhunwala buys 5.14 percent in the company. ICICI Bank , Metavante Investments Mauritius are sellers of the stake.  As on March 2013, ICICI Bank and Metavante Investments Mauritius held 6.88 percent and 6.90 percent stake in Firstsource respectively.

According to CNBC-TV18's sources Antique Brokers was advisor to the block deal.

2:54 am Market check: The Sensex is up 240.40 points or 1.25 percent at 19418.16, and the Nifty is up 68.60 points or 1.19 percent at 5839.50.

2:40 pm Buzzing: The share price of Firstsource Solutions has jumped 20 percent as Rakesh Jhunjhunwala buys 5.14 percent in the company. ICICI Bank , Metavante Investments Mauritius are sellers of the stake.

As on March 2013, ICICI Bank and Metavante Investments Mauritius held 6.88 percent and 6.90 percent stake in Firstsource respectively.

According to CNBC-TV18's sources Antique Brokers was advisor to the block deal.

2:30 pm Rupee poll: The battered rupee will remain under pressure against the US dollar over the next year as a wide current account deficit and policy inaction dissuades foreign investment into the country, a Reuters poll showed.

The rupee is expected to trade at 59.0 in a month and 58.0 in six months, before reaching 57.5 in a year from now. That would be just over 4 percent stronger than the 60.0 it was trading at earlier on Thursday.

2:23 pm Houseviews: Broking firm Kotak Institutional Equities Kotak has raised its 12-month forward target price for Reliance Industries to Rs 920 (previously Rs 870), citing weaker rupee assumptions and higher gas prices.

Kotak has retained its 'add' rating on the stock.

The brokerage expects domestic gas price to increase to USD 9-10/mn BTU by FY2016-18E versus USD 8.4/mn BTU computed for 1QFY15 based on the CCEA-approved formula led by (1) increase in price of long-term LNG imports from RasGas and (2) likely start of higher-priced LNG contract from Gorgon project in 2015.

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The market has cooled off a bit in late afternoon trade.  The Sensex is up 132.54 points or at 19310.30, and the Nifty is up 33.55 points at 5804.45. About 1068 shares have advanced, 1033 shares declined, and 120 shares are unchanged.

 Technology and FMCG stocks are lending support to the indices. Tata Power (up 3 percent), ITC (up 3 percent), TCS , Infosys and Bharti Airtel are top gainers in the Sensex.

Future Venture relists on exchanges today. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Kishore Biyani says they expect Rs 1000 crore in sales this year and are looking at 30-40 percent EBIDTA growth.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on ECB and Bank of England's policy decisions today. While no policy change is expected from the European Central Bank, a jump in yields in Portugal, and other periphery markets, could keep ECB President Mario Draghi sounding dovish. The Bank Of England will have its first meeting under new governor Mark Carney.

1:55 pm: Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank expects the rupee to be in the 59-61 per USD range for the time being. He sees this weakness continuing in the Indian currency on the back of good jobs data from the US and expectations of quantitative easing (QE) tapering off sooner than later.

He expects the rupee to find support at 60 per USD now.

The rupee on Wednesday breached the psychological mark of 60/USD in early morning trade before closing at 60.20/USD. He expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to step in to curb the volatility in the rupee, but not support it.

1:45 pm Macro outlook: SL Bansal, CMD of Oriental Bank of Commerce expects more public sector banks to cut interest rates, which will mean a 10 basis point hit on margins.

"The net interest margins (NIM) of the bank will be around 2.9 percent in the first quarter," he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview .

Bansal said that the lower short-term deposit rates and healthy statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) conditions will give help banks to cut rates. However, he says, rate cuts won't have an immediate impact. He sees credit rates picking up in the next six months.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday asked public sector banks to reduce their base rates to boost investor sentiment.

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Equity benchmarks were firm in afternoon trade, but brokers expect the trend to be  volatile near term. The Sensex was up 221 points at 19399.47 and the Nifty was up 70 points at 5840.85.

IT, FMCG and realty shares were among the best performers, while metals, auto and state-owned banks were lagging.

"There is actually a huge chasm of almost about 25 percent YTD (year-till-date) underperformance of the Indian market vis-à-vis the US market. Given that the outlook in the international market is not very good for risk taking, we should brace for further outflows," UR Bhatt of Dalton Capital said in an interview to CNBC-TV18 earlier in the day.

The first quarter earnings season will begin next week, but analysts do not see any cause for cheer.

"Sales growth continues to falter and at 3.9 percent is expected to be lowest in last 15 quarters," brokerage house Bank of America Merrill said in a note to its clients.

The brokerage expects the aggregate earnings per share of Sensex companies to grow 8 percent this fiscal.

UCO Bank, TTK Prestige , Reliance Capital , Reliance Infra and Reliance Power were among the big gainers at this hour, up between 6-9 percent.

12:55 pm Alert: Civil Aviation Ajit Singh on Thursday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi amidst concerns over the Jet-Etihad deal. Ajit Singh has been defending the deal while questions have been raised on it, reports CNN-IBN.

An inter-ministerial group, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, had earlier flagged off three concerns on the deal. Concerns have been primarily raised on the proposed ownership and control structure of the domestic airlines.

However, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh tried to play down the issue. He said the deal, if approved, will see the largest FDI in India.

12:50 pm Update: Piaggio, leading manufacturer of quadricycles in Europe, hits out at quadricycle norms clearance, reports CNBC-TV18. It says that clearance should have happened post unanimity in industry and OEMs interested should have been given time for such products.

12:40 pm Alert: Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it has acquired an additional 2 per cent stake in all the four Indian broadband wireless access (BWA) entities of Qualcomm, thereby making them its subsidiaries, reports PTI.

''Bharti Airtel has subscribed to an additional 2 per cent equity share capital in all the four India BWA entities of Qualcomm AP. With this, all four entities are now subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel,'' the company said in a statement.

On May 24, 2012, Bharti Airtel and Qualcomm had announced an agreement under which Bharti had acquired 49 per cent interest in Qualcomm AP's India entities with licences to offer 4G data services in four circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.

12:35 pm Buzzing: CLSA has increased target price on Jubilant Foodworks to Rs 1,275 per share from Rs 1,150 per share. The stock is up 0.3 percent on the BSE.

12:30 pm FII view on earnings: Brokerage house Bank of America Merrill Lynch expects a weak recovery in first quarter corporate earnings , but has cautioned of disappointments due to rupee depreciation.

"Sales growth continues to falter and at 3.9 percent is expected to be lowest in last 15 quarters. The slight improvement in earnings is hinged on a 65 bps recovery year-on-year in EBITDA margins," said the BofA Merrill note to clients.

"Overall, we continue to expect FY14 Sensex EPS growth to be downgraded to 8 percent. We continue to expect a range-bound market: rate cuts rather than results will be the key trigger for markets," the note said.

12:25 pm Managment speaks: Zuari Fertilizers has no plan to change stake in UB Group firm Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCFL) in which the former has 10 percent holding. The firm had acquired 8 percent stake from a State Bank of India group entity and the rest from the open market in April this year.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18 , HS Bawa, executive vice chairman, Zuari Agro Chemicals  said that his firm has no intention to enter any bidding war on Mangalore Chemicals.

His statement follows the news of Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals purchasing a stake of little lower than 25 percent in MCFL for Rs.180 crore.

Bawa further said that his company also does not have any plan of hostile takeover of MCFL either.

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It is stable day for the market. The Nifty is holding firm above 5800 led by select banks, technology and FMCG. The Sensex is up 217.32 points at 19395.08, and the Nifty adds 66.00 points at 5836.90.

The mid and small caps are buzzing as well supported by capital goods and infra stocks.

The rupee is strong along with emerging markets as a risk on sentiment prevails across market. In fact the rupee is stronger on expected flows from Unilever whose open offer for HUL ends today. Indian bonds too are higher on the strength of the rupee.

Globally, it's a cautious session across Asia. All eyes are on the European central bank meeting later today and the US jobs data due tomorrow.

11:57 am Alert: Moves by China and India to raise local gas prices will pave the way for increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as the two nations try to ensure they can meet rapidly increasing demand for the fuel.

Gas prices in both countries have been kept artificially low at levels well below globally traded LNG costs, meaning either LNG importers suffer a loss or local LNG users have to pay a big premium to domestic prices.

11:55 am: Sadbhav Engineering is planning to raise funds up to Rs 125 crore. Its warrants will be priced at Rs 115.75 per share. The stock is up around 4 percent on the BSE.

11:50 am Buzzing: Torrent Pharma shares is up more than 2 percent Thursday after CLSA upgraded the stock to a buy. The foreign brokerage house set a target price for the stock at Rs 1,000 a share. "Cash flow stress will ease and weak rupee will aid margins," CLSA in its report said.

11.46 am Market check: The Sensex is up 192.41 points at 19370.17, and the Nifty is at 5831.65up 60.75 points or 1.05% at. About 1034 shares have advanced, 768 shares declined, and 130 shares are unchanged.

11:40 am Crude check: Brent crude slipped from a two-week high on Thursday as the threat of a disruption in supplies from the Middle East eased after Egypt's armed forces toppled the country's president to force a resolution to a political crisis there, reports Reuters.

Egypt has been facing mass demonstrations since June 30 by opposition calling for the resignation of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and his supporters. But the Suez Canal, a key waterway for oil shipments and vital to Egypt's struggling economy, has been unaffected by the uprising.

Brent crude fell 38 cents to USD 105.38 a barrel by 0351 GMT, after settling at its highest since June 19 on Wednesday.

US crude edged up 4 cents to USD 101.28, but was off a 14-month peak of USD 102.18 hit in the prior session.

11:30 am alert: Dish TV hikes set top box prices by Rs 250 effective today. The stock was up 1.5 percent on the BSE.

11:20 am Expert view: UR Bhat of Dalton Capital Advisors feels that the Nifty will trade in 5,600-6,000 range and rules out the possibility of the index falling below 5,500 level.

The market does not look good for taking risks due to an improving US economy and better job scenario, he said. This was evident in the month of June when both foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers. He expects FII outflows to continue.

Speaking on surging costs for the government, he sees the oil expenses to be huge on the back of the rupee touching 60/USD levels again. He also does not expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut key interest rates. The food security bill too will be a big burden, he adds.

11:15 am Brokerage call: Credit Suisse cuts SAIL target price to Rs 30 per share. The brokerage has reduced SAIL's FY14E/15e EPS by 21-37 percent. The stock is down around 3 percent on the BSE.

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The market manages to maintain momentum in Thursday's trade. The Sensex is up 132.94 points at 19310.70, and the Nifty gains 36.75 points at 5807.65.  About 907 shares have advanced, 715 shares declined, and 99 shares are unchanged.

Tata Power (up 3.3 percent), ITC (up 2.5 percent), L&T Rs (2.2 percent), Bharti Airtel are some key gainers in the Sensex.

Asian markets are trading cautious ahead of the ECB meeting later in the day and Friday's key US jobs report. Shanghai reverses earlier losses to hit a 1 week high.

Crude prices are still elevated due to fears of supply disruptions from Egypt given geopolitical tensions in that country. WTI crude is at 14-month high above USD 101 per barrel. Brent is nudging is USD 106. Gold rallies for second day on weaker dollar and as a safe haven buying given concerns over Portugal and Egypt. Gold is above USD 1250 per ounce.

10:55am Direct-to-home service provider Dish TV hiked set top box prices by Rs 250 effective today. The stock gained 0.65 percent.

Bombay High Court asked Marico to hold meet to mull Kaya demerger on July 30. The stock is up 1.4 percent.

CLSA raised target price of Jubilant Foodworks to Rs 1,275 per share from Rs 1,150, but the stock is marginally down. The foreign brokerage house says Jubilant remains structural story despite near-term concerns.

Torrent Pharma shares rallied 2 percent after CLSA upgraded the stock to buy and set a target price at Rs 1,000 a share. "Cash flow stress will ease and weak rupee will aid margins," the brokerage house reasoned.

10:45am Equity benchmarks erased some early gains on profit booking. The BSE Sensex is up 93.98 points or 0.49 percent at 19271.74, and the Nifty is up 26.45 points or 0.46 percent at 5797.35.

PSU banks continued their downward journey in today's trade as well. Country's largest lender and state-owned State Bank of India lost 1 percent while Allahabad Bank , Canara Bank , Oriental Bank , Indian Bank and Union Bank lost 2-3.5 percent.

The same finance minister P Chidambaram after failing to convince the Reserve Bank of India to cut rates, then ordered the 5 big PSU banks to do so in January 2008. Now in 2013, with the RBI refusing to oblige, the FM on Wednesday told the PSU banks yet again to cut rates.

10:35am Credit Suisse cut Tata Steel 's target price to Rs 210 a share from Rs 270. The foreign brokerage house also cut target price for SAIL to Rs 30 apiece.

SAIL shares declined 2.40 percent to Rs 48.70, which touched a new 52-week low of Rs 47.90 in early trade while Tata Steel is flat.

Future Ventures India relisted today at Rs 6.25 on the National Stock Exchange, after the company demerged its fashion business and formed a new company called Future Lifestyle Fashions.

Founder of Future Ventures, Kishore Biyani said Future Ventures formed as an idea of food and FMCG business. "Food business will be operating businesss for company now.

10:25am Expert talks on how the market will perform going ahead

UR Bhat of Dalton Capital Advisors expects the Nifty to trade between the 5,600-6,000 range. He does not expect it to breach the 5,500 level.

The market does not look good for taking risks as the US economy seems to be getting better and the jobs scenario looking good too, he says. June had seen both foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) being sellers and more outflows are expected, he adds.

Foreign institutional investors have sold Rs 705.06 crore worth of equity shares while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 252.88 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

10:15am Indian equity benchmarks gained strength in morning trade Thursday on short covering, after seeing fall of 400 points on the Sensex in previous two sessions.

The BSE Sensex is up 147.34 points at 19325.10, and the Nifty is up 40.50 points at 5811.40. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by 735 to 484 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Suzlon is likely to sell 70-75 percent of its domestic manufacturing facilities reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources. It is learnt that Suzlon may monetise Pondicherry manufacturing units and sell stake in SE Forge. As part of the strategy, it is looking to sell some office spaces across India and reduce manpower by 1000 in FY14. The stock is up 3 percent on the BSE.

Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals Corporation shares gained more than 4 percent in morning trade Thursday, after the fertiliser company through its subsidiary SCM Soilfert bought 24.46 percent stake or 2,89,91,150 equity shares in Vijay Mallya-led Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCF) on Wednesday. MCF shares are locked at 10 percent lower circuit for the second straight day.

9:50 am: Bank of America Merrill Lynch said it expects earnings per share for BSE benchmark Sensex to fall to Rs 1260 for the current financial year (FY14) and sees stock markets trading in a range-bound manner.

"Since the beginning of the year, our bottom-up FY14 Sensex EPS has got downgraded by around 6 per cent to Rs 1,315. We continue to expect further downgrades to FY14 Sensex EPS to Rs 1,260," BofA-ML said in a research note.

9:45 am Alert: Suzlon is likely to sell 70-75 percent of its domestic manufacturing facilities reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources. It is learnt that Suzlon may monetise Pondicherry manufacturing units and sell stake in SE Forge. As part of the strategy, it is looking to sell some office spaces across India and reduce manpower by 1000 in FY14. The stock is up 3 percent on the BSE.

9:40 am Buzzing: Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals CorporationWednesday acquired 24.46 percent stake in the Vijay Mallya-promoted Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCFL) for an undisclosed amount. In a filing to the BSE, Deepak Fertilisers said its wholly-owned subsidiary SCM Soilfert Limited "had acquired 2,89,91,150 equity shares of the face value of Rs.10 each, representing 24.46 per cent of share capital of Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilisers". Deepak Fertilisers in up 4 percent while MCFL slips another 10 percent.

9:35 am HUL update:  Unilever's USD 5 billion open offer to increase stake in Hindustan Unilever to upto 75 percent will close today. Sources indicate that the open offer may be subscribed only 50 percent, reports CNBC-TV18's Pragya Bharadwaj.

It will be interesting to see the final figures because right from the beginning sources were indicating that the verdict is split as far as the Unilever open offer is concerned. At best the response would be lukewarm. Subscription figure could reach only half way mark of 50 percent.

It is a voluntary open offer for 22.5 percent stake at an open offer price of Rs 600 per share taking the entire deal size to a massive Rs 29,200 crore. Unilever had chosen not to revise the price upwards calling the final open offer price fair and reasonable.

The entire success of the Unilever open offer lied in the hands of the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) who hold 22.1 percent stake. In fact the institutional holding of the entire free-float is substantially higher. Institutions hold almost 30 percent in the open offer of which FIIs hold 22.1 percent stake and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) close to an 8 percent in the company.

9:30 am Expert view on rupee: Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank expects the rupee to be in the 59-61 per USD range for the time being. He sees this weakness continuing in the Indian currency on the back of good jobs data from the US and expectations of quantitative easing (QE) tapering off sooner than later.

He expects the rupee to find support at 60 per USD now.

The rupee on Wednesday breached the psychological mark of 60/USD in early morning trade before closing at 60.20/USD. He expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to step in to curb the volatility in the rupee, but not support it.

9:20 am Gainers and losers: Tata Power , L&T,Sun Pharma, HDFC and Wipro are some gainers in the Sensex. Top losers include Sterlite, Jindal Steel , Bajaj Auto , ICICI Bank and HUL.

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After being battered on Wednesday, the market opens on a positive note. The Sensex opens up 108.80 points at 19286.56 while the Nifty adds 23.10 points at 5794. About 204 shares have advanced, 54 shares declined, and 18 shares are unchanged.

The rupee opened higher at 60.09 per dollar Thursday, up 12 paise compared to previous day's closing value of 60.21. Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank feels geopolitical risks are keeping oil prices high, which is negative for the rupee. FIIs continue to be net sellers in the debt segment, he adds.

According to him, the range for the day is seen between 60-60.50/USD.
The euro was steady above 1.30 ahead of the ECB policy decision today. The dollar index was above the 83 mark.

Asian markets were trading mixed on Thursday morning. US markets will remain closed today on account of their Independence Day.

The US markets recovered from early losses and investors brushed off ongoing turmoil in Egypt and political uncertainty in Portugal to square off positions ahead of the July 4 holiday and the jobs data tomorrow. The Dow Jones closed just a tad below 15000. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also recorded modest gains. The volatility index hovered around 16.