BSE Sensex ends up 219 points, Nifty above 5450; rupee recovers

3:55 pm Gainers and movers: Bajaj Auto , Cipla , TCS , HDFC Bank and HUL are top gainers in the Sensex. Meanwhile, Jindal Stee;, Sesa Goa , Tata Motors , Hindalco and M&M are losers in the index.

Banks, tech, pharma and FMCG stocks added strength to the market, while metals and capital goods were weak in today's trade.

Financial Tech (down 20 percent), United Bank, Amtek India and Federal Bank are top losers among the midcap stocks.

3:45 pm Market closing: The September series starts on a volatile note with a dramatic recovery in late trade. The Sensex ends up 218.68 points or 1.19 percent at 18619.72, and the Nifty ends at 5471.80, up 62.75 points. About 1146 shares have advanced, 1061 shares declined, and 185 shares are unchanged.

The rupee also recovers more than 100 points. The prime minister says the rupee's fall is a matter of concern but adds the government is not contemplating any capital control measures to stem the decline.

Meanwhile all eyes are on the first quarter GDP numbers to be announced later today. A CNBC-TV18 poll suggests that the GDP could be in the range of 4.3 to 4.8 percent.

3:35 pm Views on macro: The Prime Minister highlighted a few positives of the Indian economy in his address to Parliament today, but the government doesn't seem to be in a quick-fix mode, says Siddhartha Sanyal, chief India economist, Barclays Capital.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Sanyal says the government is likely to announce a few measures to combat the steep rupee fall in the medium-term.

''Expecting measures that can generate very quick inflows, turnaround the fortune of rupee dramatically, etc may not be right as of now. However, over a medium-term period of time, one can possibly expect some more measures on the part of the government,'' he adds.

3:20 pm Views on gold: Kishore Narne of Motilal Oswal Commodity Brokers is bearish on gold and sees the precious metal heading toward Rs 32,000 per 10 gram in the next week or so. The yellow metal touched a high of USD 1,420-1,430 per ounce, but it wasn't able to sustain in the global markets, he said.

For the rupee he has an intraday target of close to 67.60/USD-67.80/USD, but gradually it should be going back to 65.80/USD kind of levels in the next week or ten days, he added.

The market is swinging in extreme volatile trading session. After some cut just after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech in Parliament, investors have started to buy again. The Sensex surges 223.28 points at 18624.32 while the Nifty is 5478.05, up 69.00 points.

About 1084 shares have advanced, 1007 shares declined, and 184 shares are unchanged.

Jindal Steel , which rallied 22 percent in August till yesterday, dropped 9 percent today on lower-than-expected buyback offer price announced by the company. The board decided to buyback shares at upto Rs 261 per share while analysts had expected it at around Rs 300 apiece.

Oil & gas explorers Reliance Industries and ONGC slipped nearly 1.5 percent.

02:55pm Buzzer
Ranbaxy Labs shares lost 4 percent as CNBC-TV18 reports quoting sources that initial findings suggest some minor deficiencies in manufacturing process, according to a initial report submitted by Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

However, it is learnt that deficiencies are not so serious as to attract suspension. The company has been given a month to rectify and respond to DCGI, say sources. DCGI inspected all India-based manufacturing facilities of Ranbaxy.

02:45pm Market Update
The market remained in a tight range from afternoon trade due to lack of direction on either side. It is eyeing for gross domestic output data that will be announced later in the day.

Leif Eskesen, chief economist -India & Asean, HSBC forecasts FY14 first quarter GDP growth at 4.8 percent with significant downside risk. Most of the street is also expecting growth to stagnate at around the 4.8 percent mark.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Eskesen painted a slightly better picture for the agriculture sector, what with expectation of good harvest after an impressive monsoon. But the chief economist of HSBC suggested that most other sectors will disappoint in Q1. The softening of manufacturing and services sector will continue in the coming quarters leading to a lot of hardship, he said. For the full year (FY14), he expects the GDP at 5.5 percent.

The Sensex is up 21.81 points at 18422.85, and the Nifty is up 3.60 points at 5412.65 while European markets declined nearly 0.5 percent.

Indian rupee is trading to 66.30 against the dollar, up 25 paise from previous close and 100 paise from intraday low.

02:35pm Gainers & Losers
Tata Motors shares lost 3.5 percent while M&M and Maruti Suzuki fell over 1 percent on profit booking.

Jindal Steel , which rallied 22 percent in August till yesterday, dropped 9 percent today on lower-than-expected buyback offer price announced by the company. The board decided to buyback shares at upto Rs 261 per share while analysts had expected it at around Rs 300 apiece.

Oil & gas explorers Reliance Industries and ONGC slipped nearly 1.5 percent.

Cipla is the top gainer in the Sensex, rising 4 percent followed by Bajaj Auto , TCS and Hero Motocorp with 2-3 percent gains.

02:20pm The market slipped marginally in afternoon trade with the Nifty falling below the 5400 level after PM speech, weighed down by metals, oil & gas and auto stocks.

The Sensex is down 42.73 points at 18358.31, and the Nifty is down 22.85 points at 5386.20.

Despite the high FII outflows seen by the economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh firmly stated to the House that investors have not lost confidence in India. FIIs sold nearly Rs 8,000 crore worth of equity shares in nine consecutive sessions since August 16.

He reiterated that India is not facing a repeat of the 1991 balance of payments crisis and fears that economic growth will slip to as low as 3 percent are unfounded, Prime Minister Manmohan said. "There is no reason for anybody to believe that we are going down the hill and that 1991 is on the horizon," Singh told parliament on Friday. He believes the fundamentals of economy are "inherently sound", but experts are of the opinion that macros of the Indian economy are not too great.

Meanwhile, the rupee has tumbled 10.4 percent against the dollar so far this month, which would be its largest monthly depreciation ever if it ends around current levels, according to Thomson Reuters data. Indian rupee declined 7 paise to 66.62 against the US dollar today.

1:50 pm PM's assurance: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday expressed concerns over the falling rupee and said external factors were responsible for it . "What triggered the sharp depreciation in the rupee value are certain external forces. Global factors like tension in Syria and prospects of US tapering its federal policy also had an impact," Manmohan Singh said, reports CNN-IBN.

He also urged people to control the consumption of gold and oil. "We need to reduce our appetite for gold and economise the use of petroleum products and take steps to increase our exports," Singh said.

1:35 pm Ratings: Barclays downgrades select state-owned banks and finance companies, citing a slowing economy and unpredictable monetary policy responses, reports Reuters .

The brokerage expects asset quality to remain problematic as the stress in economy is seen extending beyond the SME and mid-corporate segments to the large corporate segment.

"We are negative on PSU stocks on concerns that they not only have stressed exposures, but are likely to be constrained in taking risk mitigation actions," Barclays said in a report on Thursday.

1:20 pm Buzzer: Coal India fell below the IPO price of Rs 245 apiece on stake sale plan. The stock lost 4.6 percent intraday to touch an all-time low of Rs 238.35 Friday as CNBC-TV18 reports quoting sources.

The government has selected seven merchant bankers for divestment in the company. These seven bankers are Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, SBI Capital Markets, Kotak Mahindra Capital, JM Financial and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The government is likely to sell a 5 percent stake in country's largest coal mining company which is likely to fetch around Rs 8,000 crore.

The market is going flat ahead of the first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data today. The Sensex is up 18.72 points or 0.10 percent at 18419.76 while the Nifty is down 5.00 points or 0.09 percent at 5404.05. About 1026 shares have advanced, 891 shares declined, and 140 shares are unchanged.

IT stocks continue with their outperformance, TCS is among the top gainers in trade today as it crosses the Rs 2000 level. CLSA says TCS has the potential to be India's first firm to reach the 100 billion dollar mark  in market cap.  Also MphasiS gains over 1 percent on the back of strong third quarter numbers.

Sun Pharma is up after Taro enters into an exlcusive licensing and co-developement agreement with Novabiotics for a new drug.

12:50pm Buzzers
Sun Pharma shares gained 3 percent after its subsidiary Taro entered into an exlcusive licensing and co-developement agreement with Novabiotics for its investigational new drug - Novexatin. The USD 100-200 million drug will be used to treat toe-nail fungal infections.

Financial Technologies (FTIL) crashed 10 percent on reports that other global exchanges promoted by the company are also under the scanner. The government is investigating links of NSEL with other Financial Technologies owned exchanges. FTIL is also the promoter of Singapore Mercantile bourse.

12:40pm Market Update
The market erased all its gains in afternoon trade with the Nifty falling below 5400 level, weighed down by index heavyweights Reliance Industries , ITC and Infosys .

The Sensex is down 2.71 points at 18398.33, and the Nifty is down 13.10 points at 5395.95.

Amit Trivedi, Co-Founder, Investworks.in feels that the market will be quite choppy in the month of September. "On the lower side it could touch 5,000-5,050 and on the upper side around 5,600-5,650," he adds.

Reliance Industries shares lost 2 percent while ITC and Infosys declined 1 percent each.

Jindal Steel & Power shares crashed 8 percent on lower-than-expected price for its buyback offer. The board of directors of the company approved to buyback shares at a price of upto Rs 261 per share while expectations were of Rs 300 per share.

12:30pm Currency Update
Indian rupee today fell by 12 paise to 66.67 against the US dollar. In August so far, the currency fell more than 11 percent to touch a record low of 68.80 per dollar on Wednesday.

The rout in emerging market (EM) currencies is unlikely to be contained and could lead to a global crisis, according to Societe Generale strategist Albert Edwards.

Edwards, who is known for his extremely bearish views, argues that the sharp fall in emerging Asian currencies will force China to devalue the yuan in order to remain competitive and that, in turn, will trigger deflation in western economies and subsequently lead to a worldwide downturn, reports CNBC.

12:20pm Upward journey of the market continues in noon trade following a recovery in the rupee from intraday low of 67.30 per dollar, helped by HDFC and HDFC Bank that were beaten down quite badly.

The Sensex is up 111.60 points at 18512.64, and the Nifty is up 28.25 points at 5437.30.

The market gained quite nicely from previous session on short covering, but the pain is not yet out, feel experts.

Gautam Shah, CMT, VP-Financial Services, JM Financial . He says the market may be heading lower, as there are still no clear signs of bottoming out. He says eventually Nifty will head towards 5000 and on the upside it will be difficult to break the 5500-5600 band.

Shah told CNBC-TV18, every time the market moves beyond 5400, the risk reward actually turns in favour of the bears and every time the market will move toward 5000-5100, the risk reward would turn in favour of the buyers.

On banking, he feels, Bank Nifty going below 11,000 was a surprise for most. But now, it could now head lower to 7800-7900 soon as PSU banks continue to look weak, he adds.

Meanwhile, Indian rupee gained 2 paise to 66.53 against the US dollar after seeing a recovery from its intraday low.

11:55 am Gold update: India, the world's biggest buyer of gold, raised the initial margin on gold futures to 5 percent from 4 percent for domestic traders effective Monday, the market regulator said, reports Reuters.

The Forward Markets Commission's (FMC) move comes after gold prices rose 18 percent to reach a record high earlier this week.

The FMC, which regulates the commodity futures market in India, also imposed an additional 5 percent margin on gold, silver and crude oil futures contracts from Monday.

11:45 am Opinion: The market over the past few months has seen a lot of pain, but it is not the end yet, says Gautam Shah, CMT, VP-Financial Services, JM Financial . He says the market may be heading lower , as there are still no clear signs of bottoming out. He says eventually Nifty will head towards 5000 and on the upside it will be difficult to break the 5500-5600 band.

Shah told CNBC-TV18, every time the market moves beyond 5400, the risk reward actually turns in favour of the bears and every time the market will move toward 5000-5100, the risk reward would turn in favour of the buyers.

11:30 am Macro outlook: India will continue to face economic slowdown in the coming months with gross domestic product refusing to show signs of any pick-up. Leif Eskesen, chief economist -India & Asean, HSBC forecasts FY14 first quarter GDP growth at 4.8 percent with significant downside risk. Most of the street is also expecting growth to stagnate at around the 4.8 percent mark.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Eskesen painted a slightly better picture for the agriculture sector, what with expectation of good harvest after an impressive monsoon. But the chief economist of HSBC suggested that most other sectors will disappoint in Q1. The softening of manufacturing and services sector will continue in the coming quarters leading to a lot of hardship, he said. For the full year (FY14), he expects the GDP at 5.5 percent.

11:20 am Buzzer: Tech Mahindra shares gained 4.5 percent in morning trade Friday to touch more than six-year high of Rs 1,428. Morgan Stanley has resumed its coverage on the stock with overweight rating with a target price of Rs 1,650.

"Company's revenue growth over next 2-3 years could surpass our and street expectations. Tech Mahindra could trade at mid-teens multiples and its re-rating could continue," Morgan Stanley report said.

The market has made a good come back with a strong gain. The BSE Sensex is up 168.37 points or 0.92 percent at 18569.41, and the Nifty jumps to 5450.65, up 41.60 points or 0.77 percent. About 1014 shares have advanced, 535 shares declined, and 106 shares are unchanged.

Stock specifically, Wipro , Cipla , Tata Steel , Sun Pharma and Bajaj Auto are top gainers.

Tata Consultancy Services  ( TCS ) shares gained more than 2 percent in early trade Friday to touch a record high of 1,992.60. CLSA has maintained its outperform rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 2200.

"Scale and innovation in delivery should help it maintain its sector-leading margins and premium valuations. The stock remains the best medium to long-term IT-services play," CLSA report said.

Asian stocks are mostly mixed today, off the days high on uncertainty on when the US Fed could begin its tapering programme and Syria.

Brent slid to USD 113 as geopolitical tensions eased after Britain's parliament rejected a motion supporting military action in Syria. Gold softened to around USD 1400 per ounce.

The dollar index strengthened to its best level in four weeks. Emerging market currencies were mixed with the Mexican peso at 10-week lows and Turkish Lira making a record low but the Indonesia Rupiah reacting positively to the central banks interest rate hike

Gilts are soft ahead of the Rs 17000 crore gilt auction and on the back of the rupee opening weaker.

10:59pm Buzzers
Maruti Suzuki fell over 1 percent after Deutsche Bank cut its target price on the stock by 14 percent to Rs 1,450 apiece. The brokerage house has cut its FY14/15 volume forecasts by 3 percent /7 percent to factor in 8-10 percent rupee depreciation. "While demand recovery in entry level cars (24 percent of volumes) is aiding Maruti's competitive position, Maruti's market share gains are being offset by weak overall demand (down 8 percent year-to-date) and rupee depreciation (20 percent year-to-date)," Deutsche Bank report said.

Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals surged over 9 percent on the back of a huge block deal of 2.8 percent stake witnessed in early trade on the NSE.

10:45am Expert talks
The market gained further with the Nifty rising above 5450 level on account of short covering in most beaten down financials.

Given the current local and global cues, the market is likely to be quite choppy September, says Amit Trivedi, Co-Founder, Investworks.in. On the downside, the Nifty could touch 5,000-5,050 and on the upside 5,600-5,650 looks possible . He also shared his stock views and strategies with CNBC-TV18.

10:30am Market Update
The Sensex rallied 150.60 points to 18551.64, and the Nifty jumped 35.35 points to 5444.40. The market breadth also strengthened; two shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries slipped 0.6 percent while auto stocks like Tata Motors and Maruti fell 0.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

Power stocks are also under pressure; NTPC and Tata Power declined 1.7 percent each.

The rupee is down just 13 paise from previous close to 66.68 per dollar as against intraday low of around 67.30 per dollar.

10:20am Results Impact
MphasiS gained nearly 3 percent after margins and profits beat street estimates in May-July quarter. EBITDA margin gained 100 bps at 18.2 percent during the quarter despite wage hike.

Rolta India rose 3 percent as the company announced a dividend of Rs 3 per share. Earnings were disappointing as the company reported a loss at Rs 1,046 crore due to exceptional loss on account of additional depreciation.

Elder Pharma dropped 4 percent. Sales fell nearly 50 percent to Rs 184 crore in June quarter and profits were down to Rs 84.3 lakh from Rs 18 crore on lower sales and a higher finance cost YoY.

10:10am The market extended its upward journey in morning trade Friday with the Sensex gaining 100 points, supported by financials and technology stocks.

The Sensex is up 110.94 points at 18511.98, and the Nifty is up 21.85 points at 5430.90. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.5 percent each. About two shares advanced for every share declining on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Ambareesh Baliga, managing partner-Global Wealth Management, Edelweiss Financial Services says the market bounce back will not last long although Nifty can rally up till 5500-5550.

Meanwhile, Indian rupee erased some of its gains today, falling 78 paise to 67.33 against the dollar.

Coal India shares lost 1.5 percent as the department of divestment has appointed 7 merchant bankers to divest 5 percent stake in the company, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources. Bankers were Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, SBI Capital Markets, Kotak Mahindra Capital, JM Financial and Bank of America Merrill lynch.

9:50 am Update: State Bank of India ( SBI ) on Thursday raised interest rates by up to 1.5 per cent on bulk deposits of over Rs 1 crore. The interest rate for bulk deposits for the tenors 7-60 days will be 9 per cent.

Fixed deposits between 61 days to less than one year will be 8.25 per cent, SBI statement said.

The new rates would be effective from August 31, it added.

9:45 am Market outlook: There is not much reason for FIIs to stay invested in India and will continue to exit the market, UR Bhat, MD, Dalton Capital Advisors  told CNBC-TV18. However, the sell of may not happen in a big way.

As far as the rupee goes, he expects it to stabilise at around 65/ USD if some measures are taken and there is no major FII outflow. Otherwise, 70/USD will not be out of the reckoning, he cautioned.
Globally, with US announcing better than expected GDP numbers, Fed starting its tapering in September may just be a reality.

Though there is still hope that Fed may extend its bond buying programme, Bhat said. But if the tapering starts this month, then it will unsettle markets rather dramatically, he added.

9:30 am Buzzer: TCS " target="_blank" title="Tata Consultancy Services">Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) shares gained more than 2 percent in early trade Friday to touch a record high of 1,992.60. CLSA has maintained its outperform rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 2200.

"Scale and innovation in delivery should help it maintain its sector-leading margins and premium valuations. The stock remains the best medium to long-term IT-services play," CLSA report said.

After a good run yesterday, the market kickstarts September series on a weak note. The Sensex is up 26.17 points or 0.14 percent at 18427.21 while the Nifty is  down 1.60 points or 0.03 percent at 5407.45.

About 175 shares have advanced, 89 shares declined, and 25 shares are unchanged.

Indian rupee fell by 45 paise to 67 against the dollar in opening trade Friday after sharp recovery in previous session. The domestic currency was closed at 66.55 per dollar on Thursday, up 225 paise from its record low of 68.8 touched on Wednesday.

Himanshu Arora of Religare sees range for the day between 65.50-67.30/USD. He expects GDP to come in at 4.7 percent and that will be the important domestic cue for currency markets.

Stock specifically, Sesa Goa and Infosys are major losers in the Sensex.

The first quarter GDP numbers are set to come out today. The figure could be lower than the street expectations of 4.7 percent. A CNBC-TV18 poll suggests that the GDP could be in the range of 4.3 to 4.8 percent.

With the general elections in sight, the UPA has been pushing ahead with the last of Sonia Gandhi's priority schemes and rewritten the century-old Land Acquisition Act. Just three days after the Lok Sabha passed the Food Security Law, Lok Sabha passed the Land Acquisition Bill moved by rural development minister Jairam Ramesh.

The final bill has over 150 amendments to the original draft. The changes include the ones sought by the main opposition party the BJP. Initiating the debate on the BJP's behalf, party president Rajnath Singh said that there should be full retrospectivity in the new law. He also said that the proposed compensation structure was inadequate.

Globally, US markets gained for a second day on Thursday on better than expected economic data and as Syria concerns eased. European markets also gained over half a percent. Back home, Sensex ended 404.89 points at 18401.04. Nifty gained 124 points to close above 5,400.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were trading mixed in early trade today.

Asset class
Crude prices slip as the possibility of a delay in a US-led military strike on Syria helped calm concerns over Middle East oil supplies. Brent prices eased to sub USD 114/barrel with Nymex at USD 107/barrel levels.

From precious metals space, gold snapped a five-day rally on fading fears that US-led forces would soon launch a military strike on Syria and it now looks to be heading back towards USD1400/oz levels.