BSE Sensex rally but Nifty still below 5600; Realty up 5%

3:50 am Passenger pinch: Jet Airways has followed its rival SpiceJet and hiked it's passenger tariff by a steep 25 percent. The hikes come in wake of sharp fall in rupee and higher ATF prices. Oil marketing companies hiked ATF prices by 6.9 percent last week to touch an all time high due to rising crude prices and weaker rupee.

Unlisted players like Indigo and GoAir too have raised fares from 15-25 percent.

Airline companies have been unable to pass on cost due to slowdown in passenger growth. However with the festive season coming up, it seems like a good opportunity for them to take upon such hikes.

3:40 am Alert: Lashing out at a move to force it to sell gas from main KG-D6 fields at old rate of USD 4.2, Reliance Industries said the "illegal" action runs contrary to the signed contract and will stifle private investment in oil and gas hunt, reports PTI.

While the Cabinet has approved doubling of gas price from April 1 next year, Oil Ministry is proposing that old rates of USD 4.2 per million British thermal unit apply to gas from D1/D3 and MA fields in eastern offshore KG-D6 block till it proved that RIL had proved less than targets only because of geological factors.

3:30 pm Volume check: The currency derivatives turnover on the country's three stock exchanges fell by 42 percent to Rs 7.42 lakh crore in July, with NSE and MCX-SX witnessing a slump for the first time in the current fiscal, reports PTI.

The three bourses -- NSE, MCX-SX and USE -- together had recorded a turnover of Rs 12.80 lakh crore in June 2013, as per the latest data compiled by market regulator Sebi. USE had witnessed a fall in its currency derivative turnover in June as well, while NSE and MCX-SX recorded their first monthly decline since April.

The volumes of currency derivatives trading on the three stock exchanges also plunged by nearly 44 per cent to 12.13 crore in July as against 21.6 crore in June, 2013. The decline follows market regulator Sebi's move in early July to tighten the exposure limits for currency derivative to check large scale speculations in the market and help government stem fall in rupee value.

3:20 pm Buzzer: Shares of real estate firm Unitech advanced more than 3 percent Wednesday after one of its promoter released pledge on some shares.

Promoter Mayfair Capital Private Limited, which holds 25.51 percent in the company, has released a pledge on its 85 lakh shares or 3.3 percent of total shares outstanding.

As of June 2013, it pledged 98.4 percent of its total shareholding in the company.

It is a blockbuster rally as investors are greedily lapping up shares on the Dalal Street. The Sensex is up 433.89 points or 2.34 percent at 19001.44, and the Nifty is up 149.95 points or 2.75 percent at 5598.05. About 1390 shares have advanced, 805 shares declined, and 128 shares are unchanged.

BSE Bankex is up 8 percent while realty surges 5 percent.

Among midcaps, Financial Technologies , Federal Bank , Oriental Bank of Commerce, HDIL and Sobha Developer rallied 10-16 percent.

In the smallcap space, Elder Pharma surged 15 percent while Astrol Poly, JM Financial and Indian Metals gained 10 percent each.

02:59pm Market Update
The Sensex is up 414.67 points or 2.23 percent at 18982.22, and the Nifty is up 145.60 points or 2.67 percent at 5593.70.

Shares of ITC , Larsen & Toubro, ONGC and Tata Motors jumped 3-4 percent.

Among midcaps, Financial Technologies , Federal Bank , Oriental Bank of Commerce, HDIL and Sobha Developer rallied 10-16 percent.

In the smallcap space, Elder Pharma surged 15 percent while Astrol Poly, JM Financial and Indian Metals gained 10 percent each.

02:53pm Banks on buyers' radar
S&P BSE Bankex remained in bull grip, rising 8.5 percent after Raghuram Rajan, in its first speech as a RBI governor, said on Wednesday that the central bank will take more measures to liberalise and modernise Indian banking system.

ICICI Bank and State Bank of India shares rallied nearly 10 percent while their rival HDFC Bank rose 6 percent.

02:43pm Rupee Appreciation
The Indian rupee gained on Thursday, while most emerging Asian currencies turned lower as US Treasury yields rose amid increasing expectations that the Federal Reserve may start dialling down its stimulus as soon as this month, reports Reuters.

The rupee rallied as measures announced by the RBI chief Raghuram Rajan late on Wednesday raised hopes of a new approach to the current crisis.

02:33pm Technology in bear grip
Technology stocks like TCS , Infosys and Wipro plunged 3 percent each on profit booking and rupee appreciation. These stocks had hit multi-year highs in previous sessions on rupee appreciation and Q1 earnings.

Select metals are also under pressure; Tata Steel , Hindalco Industries and Sesa Goa fell 0.5 percent.

10:50am Underperformers
IT stocks are hit quite badly on profit booking and rupee appreciation. Infosys and TCS fell 2.6 percent each while Wipro lost 1 percent.

Rupee appreciated nearly 300 paise from its record low of 68.80 touched on August 28.

GAIL , Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Steel declined 0.5-1 percent.

10:45am Market & Currency Update
Indian rupee erased half of its early gains on dollar demand. It trimmed gains from 149 paise to 73 paise to trade at 66.3 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the Sensex is up 368.66 points or 1.99 percent at 18936.21 after rising as much as 550 points in early trade. The Nifty is up 122.90 points or 2.26 percent at 5571.

10:40am Gainers
Tata Motors shares gained 3 percent in morning trade Thursday after a good show by its UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in August.

USA retail sales volume of JLR grew by 40 percent year-on-year (3 percent sequentially) to 6,661 units in August - the best month since 2005.

Jaguar's sales jumped 67 percent and Land Rover was up by 32 percent Y-o-Y.

Meanwhile, CLSA says that Tata Motors is its top pick in auto sector, with a target price of Rs 380.

"The relative attractiveness of Tata Motors within the auto sector has increased significantly given the weakening demand / margin outlook for its peers," CLSA report said.

10:20am Buzzers
Jet Airways gained 0.7 percent and SpiceJet rallied 2.7 percent after they increased fares by steep 25 percent due to sharp increase in ATF prices by 7 percent and 20 percent depreciation in rupee.

Ipca Labs gained another 2.6 percent today after a 8 percent rally in previous session on getting USFDA approval for its Indore manufacturing facility. Citi has a buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 785. The brokerage house says that USFDA's green light for Ipca's Indore facility allows the company to optimally commercialize its us pipeline and lends more certainty to Citi's above-consensus FY15 estimates.

10:05am The mood is positive on both Dalal Street and Mint Street as several measures announced by new RBI governor Raghuram Rajan pushed equity benchmarks more than 2 percent higher.

The Sensex is up 414.46 points at 18982.01, and the Nifty is up 137.45 points at 5585.55. Nearly four shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Ambareesh Baliga, Managing Partner-Global Wealth Management, Edelweiss Financial Services advises investors to use the current market rally to exit the market.

"If there is a decent rally in banks look to exit that sector. It doesn't make sense getting into the market today," he told CNBC-TV18.

BSE Bankex gained nearly 7 percent today after Rajan decided to modernise and liberalise the Indian banking system with several measures.

In some key measures, RBI has opened a swap window for banks to attract FCNR (B) dollar funds and raised overseas borrowing limit from to 100 percent.

Meanwhile, the rupee gained 125 paise to go above 66 level at 65.82 against the US dollar.

Bhanu Baweja, head of research and EM strategy at UBS, feels that Rajan may not be able to put a ceiling on the currency's fall. The overshooting rupee may see some stability in the near-term and reduce the panic in the market, but may falter again strong US jobs data, he told CNBC-TV18.

9:55 am FII view: Bhanu Baweja, head of research and EM strategy at UBS, feels that Rajan may not be able to put a ceiling on the currency's fall. The overshooting rupee may see some stability in the near-term and reduce the panic in the market, but may falter again strong US jobs data, he told CNBC-TV18.

On the market's expectations of slashing interest rates, he believes the governor may not do it and wait for the FOMC's actions on September 17-18. Also, current account deficit (CAD) needs to be balanced which can happen only by having a reduction in domestic demand, Baweja adds.

9.47 am Market check: The Sensex is up 489.63 points or 2.64 percent at 19057.18, and the Nifty is at 5610.95, up 162.85 points or 2.99 percent.  About 876 shares have advanced, 188 shares declined, and 44 shares are unchanged.

9:40 am Alert: Moody's has downgraded 11 banks' sub-debt ratings on increased bail-in risk. The banks include BoB, BoI, Canara Bank , IDBI Bank , IOB , SBI , Axis Bank , HDFC Bank , ICICI Bank , Syndicate Bank and Union Bank .

9:30 am Gainers and movers: It seems the new RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has set the market on fire. Most of the index heavyweights are on a high except for technology stocks as rupee recovers t0 65.65 per dollar. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ITC and SBI are top gainers in the Sensex. BSE Bankex jumped around 8 percent.

Meanwhile on the losing side are TCS , Infosys and Wipro .

The market continues its gaining streak on Thursday morning boosted by banking stocks. The Sensex gains 376.86 points or 2.03 percent at 18944.41, and the Nifty is up 105.65 points or 1.94 percent at 5553.75.About 282 shares have advanced, 25 shares declined, and 12 shares are unchanged.

Meanwhile, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan announced a slew of reforms measures, from freeing up bank branches, to improved debt recovery systems, to stricter controls on debt restructuring. He also rescheduled by a few days the date for his much- anticipated first monetary policy statement to September 20.

On Thursday the Indian rupee opened with a gain of 97 paise at 66.09 per dollar versus 67.06 Wednesday.

Himanshu Arora, Currency Analyst, Religare said, "Rupee may witness another session of strength today. RBI came up with fresh selling of dollars yesterday which may keep dollar under some pressure. Further, with overall downward trend in rupee, the local currency may witness some technical bounce as it is trading in technically oversold zone. The range for the day is seen between 66.60 to 67.30/USD."

Ahead of the monthly jobs data due tomorrow, the US markets closed higher for a second session with the Dow rallying nearly 100 points aided by an upbeat beige book report on Wednesday. European markets gained as Q2 GDP data confirms that the eurozone has exited its longest recession on record.

Asian markets were trading on a firm note today morning.

There was a bit of bounce in crude prices today morning. Yesterday they slipped as the prospect of an immediate US military strike on Syria faded, alleviating fears of a potential supply shock.

From precious metals space, gold fell 1.5 percent slipping below USD 1,400/ounce as strong US auto sales boosted economic hopes and fears of a US-led military strike against Syria lost some of its urgency.