BSE Sensex up 326 as easing crude lifts mood; RIL soars 5%

Equity benchmarks surged Monday, as investors cheered falling crude oil price and placed renewed faith in the US Federal Reserve continuing with its monetary stimulus.

The BSE Sensex climbed 326.44 points to close at 20030.77, and the Nifty rose 99.60 points to finish at 6083.15.

Brent crude futures for July were trading at USD 102 per barrel and NYMEX crude futures slipped below USD 94 per barrel on persistent concerns over global economic growth.

Reliance Industries led the rally in frontline shares with a 5 percent rise to Rs 828.25 after the company announced a discovery in the D6 block in KG Basin post-market hours Friday.

"The announced discovery looks significant given that the largest D6 discovery had a gross hydrocarbon column of 194 mts (MA-2 well). Moreover, if this discovery leads to a new commercial reservoir, it could meaningfully add to D6 reserves, in our view," brokerage house Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients while retaining its 'buy' call on the stock.

IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Jindal Steel, Ranbaxy and Bharti Airtel were the other prominent gainers in the Nifty, rising 4-6 percent.

Much of the action today was centered on stocks that had just announced their fourth quarter numbers.

Crompton Greaves, Jet Airways and SpiceJet shares fell between 2-5 percent on lower-than-expected quarterly performance.

Crompton Greaves shares managed recoup losses partially, despite a barrage of 'sell' ratings from brokerage houses after the quarterly numbers.

Britannia shares closed 16 percent after touching a record high of Rs 680 intra-day. The company on Friday reported quarterly numbers ahead of analyst estimates.

Wockhardt shares closed 4 percent higher after the company reported a 26 percent year-on-year rise in March quarter revenues, and a net profit of Rs 335 crore against a loss of Rs 191 crore last year .

The stock had shed nearly 25 percent in the previous couple of trading sessions following the import alert by the US FDA on the company's Aurangabad export unit.

Despite the stock specific action and the heady gains in benchmark indices, near term outlook remains cautious because of the weak macro-economic environment.

"I would be looking at economic growth disappointing; I think the fiscal deficit will disappoint on the upside," Jim Walker of Asianomics said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

"The likelihood of a ratings downgrade is still extremely high and is almost something that I would welcome, on the basis that it may actually get government to do something about the fiscal position," he said.

And while foreign fund flows into Indian shares have been robust, it does not necessarily mean that global investors are upbeat on India feels Stephen Dover, International CIO, Franklin Templeton.

Foreign institutional investors have net bought over Rs 18,000 crore of Indian shares in May alone, compared to around Rs 16,000 crore in March and April combined.

"I do not think there is a lot of (foreign) interest in India," he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

"There certainly have been a lot of foreign flows into India this year and last year. I think a lot of those flows flows from quantitative easing (QE), exchange traded funds (ETFs) and general flows have been there in the market. However, not a lot of strategic investors will be investing in India," Dover said.

Live Market Commentary
3:50 pm Big gainer: IndusInd Bank touched fresh high at Rs 530.60 and ended 5.99 percent at Rs 529.20 on the BSE.

3:40 pm Macro outlook: Economists today forecast a sub-five percent readings in the March quarter GDP, pulling down the overall economic expansion in FY13 to a decadal low of around five percent.

Credit Suisse Director and Chief Economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde pegged the March quarter GDP growth at 4.8 percent, which is also concurred by Nomura and DBS.

3:30pm Provisional closing: The Sensex is up 296.97 at 20001.30, and the Nifty is up 99.60 points at 6083.15. About 1356 shares have advanced, 971 shares declined, and 151 shares are unchanged.

3:20 pm Midcap gainers: Aurobindo Pharma (up 3.56 percent), Hexaware Technologies (up 6.52 percent) and JM Financial (up 2.58 percent) are midcap gainers.

3:15 pm Precious metals: Geoff Lewis, JPMorgan AMC remains bullish on Indian equities in the emerging market space, on the bet that liquidity flows will be strong. Lewis feels gold is unlikely to move to higher levels but it is still worth maintaining in one's portfolio as a hedge inflation risk.  'I don't think gold is in danger of collapse, but at the same time it won't make a stellar advance in the near-term." ( Read full interview here )

3:08 pm Losers: M&M, Cipla and Maruti Suzuki are top losers in the Sensex.

Expert views:
Banks to buckle under margin pressure; buy ICICI: Kotak

The market is holding its gains strongly. The Sensex surges 344 points to 20049.07 while the Nifty is at 6086.45, up 102.90 points. About 1276 shares have advanced, 940 shares declined, and 153 shares are unchanged.

Oil and gas, metals and consumer durable stocks are leading the indices.

Sun Pharma has hit record high at Rs 1,024.75.  The stock is currently at Rs 1,018.50, up Rs 48.85, or 5.04 percent on the BSE. Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) jumps 8.64 percent at Rs 166 on the BSE.

Reliance Industries maintains its upmove through out the day, gaining 5.4 percent.

Other big gainers in the Sensex are Jindal Steel, Bharti Airtel and Hindalco.

02:59pm Financials, metals and technology drive the market higher in afternoon trade. Reliance Industries and Sun Pharma remain top gainer, rising 5 percent each.

The Nifty is inching towards 6100 lev Wheels India ined 100 points at 6083.75. The Sensex is up 333.80 points or 1.69% at 20038.13.

02:55pm Nifty Put Call ratio increased to 1.17 Monday as against Friday's close of 1.12. Nifty 6000 Put added 20 Sun Pharma es in open interest and its premium declined from Rs 56.8 to Rs 15.

Wheels India lost 2.5 percent after its fourth quarter net profit slipped nearly 23 percent year-on-year to Rs 5.4 crore.

02:50pm The BSE Sensex crosses the 20000 level and the Nifty goes above the 6050 level. Sun Pharma extended gains quite sharply in last half an hour of trade, rising 6 perc Reliance bsp;hit a new Sun Pharma gh of IndusInd Bank National Stock Exchange.

The Sensex is up 303.73 points or 1.54% at 20008.06, and the Nifty up 89.40 points or 1.49% at 6072.95.

02:40pm Equity benchmarks extended gains led by financials, technology, telecom, metals and capital goods stocks. Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma and IndusInd Bank are top gainers, rising 5 percent.

The Sens Reliance 284.46 points or 1.44% at 19988.79, and the Nifty up 78.15 points or 1.31% at 6061.70.

02:35pm The government approved ONGC's bid to buy st IndusInd Bank oil field and also a bid to buy USD 5.5 b ICICI Bank ocoPh SBI ips stake, reports dowjoneswire. However, the stock is down 0.2 percent.

Reliance Broadcast surged nearly 8 percent as the company Bajaj Auto ertisement rates on 92.7 BIG FM by 20-30 percent.

02:30pm Private sector lender IndusInd Bank shares rallied more than 5 percent while ICICI Bank and SBI are marginally up.

The BSE Sensex Jet Airways 30 points or 1.01% at 19902.63, and the Nifty up 53.70 points or 0.90% at 6037.25.

Bajaj Auto trimmed losses to 1 percent from 2 percent. Mahindra & Mahindra remained top loser, falling nearly 2 percent.

02:20pm In a press conference after fourth quarter and full year earnings, Jet Airways said passenger traffic fell by 5 percent for FY13 and passenger growth slipped 14 percent in Q4.

High fuel costs and rupee depreciation impacted operating AstraZeneca Pharma d.

Its January-March quarter losses widened to Rs 496 crore from Rs 298 crore reported in a year ago period. AstraZeneca heighthitting-q4-air-pocket_881626.html">Shares dropped more than 3 percent .

02:10pm AstraZeneca Pharma recovered quite sharply, rising more than 17 percent to Rs 810.50 amid large volumes, ahead of offer for sale issue tomorrow. The stock was down 5 percent in early trade.

Promoter AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals A B Sweden, which holds 90 percent stake, will sell over 37 lakh equity shares through the offer for sale route on Tuesday. The stake sale is for complying minimum public shareholding norms of 25 percent by June 2013.

02:00pm < Bharti Airtel y benchmarks extended gains in afternoon trade, with t Reliance Industries g 181 points and the Nifty holding 6000 level quite nicely.

The Sensex is up 180.83 points TTK Healthcare 9885.16, and the Nifty up 47.50 points or 0.79% at 6031.05.

Sun Pharma rose 4 percent to trade above the Rs 1,000 level while Bharti Airtel shares surged 3.5 percent.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries remains on buyers' radar, rising more than 4 percent after gas discovery in KG D6 block.

TTK Healthcare dropped more than 10 percent to Rs 568.50, after its weak performance in fourth quarter numbers. Net profit declined to Rs 2.25 crore in January-March quarter from Rs 3.7 crore in a year ago period.

02:00pm Jet Airways earnings concall: "High Fuel costs and rupee depreciation has impacted operating results. The passenger traffic was down 5 percent for FY13."

01:49pm Bajaj Electricals Q4 results announced. The company reported close to 5 percent growth in sales at Rs 1,112 crore compared to Rs 1,058 crore, a year ago. Its Q4 net profit was down to Rs 63 lakh from Rs 49 crore in the same quarter last year.

Global check: US weekly jobless claims Thursday could be the most anticipated because of what it might say about the job market, a week before the June 7 release of the crucial May employment report, which is important for the Fed.

01:40pm Idea Cellular cuts Gujarat 2G data tariff rates to 3 paise per 10kb from 4 paise per 10kb reports cogencis

01:31pm Wockhardt Q4 results announced. The company's consolidated net sales were up 26 percent at Rs 1,486 crore compared to Rs 1,175.6 cr, a year ago.

The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 335 crore compared to loss of Rs 191.6 crore in the same quarter last year.

EBITDA margins also jumped by 131 basis points to 36.7 percent from 35.29 percent, a year earlier.

However, the company reported an exceptional loss of Rs 10.7 crore in this quarter which is much lower compared to loss of Rs 396 crore last year same period.

01:27pm Major auto stocks were down in trade today. Auto companies will announce their monthly sales numbers on Saturday. The weakness in yen is hurting Maruti and stock has been underperforming post yen appreciation from five-year high. Mahindra and Mahindra (Rs 944.35, -2.38%), Bajaj Auto (Rs 1774.00, -1.64%) and Maruti Suzuki (Rs 1638.00, -1.76%)

01:19pm Heard on the street: Sources told Cogencis that PTC might get order from UP to supply 390 megawatt power for 25 years. The stock was down 1 percent.

01:17pm Monsoon updates: India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the monsoon might advance to parts of the Arabian Sea in 2-3 days which is a positve sign for market.

01:13pm International brokerage houses Credit Suisse has upped its rating on state-run ONGC  to "Neutral" from its earlier "Underperform", surprised by the oil major's FY13 subsidy estimates. The stock was down less than a percent.

01:07pm Crompton Greaves down 5 percent. Major broking firms are bearish on Crompton Greaves post dismal fourth quarter results. Morgan Stanley however, remains overweight on the stock.

01:04pm Shares of Jet Airways and SpiceJet were big losers in the midcap space. The losses of SpiceJet were a big shocker for market considering the low-cost carrier gained market share in last quarter.

Key equity benchmarks hold on to early morning gains in the afternoon trade. Asian shares ended in green barring Nikkei losing 3 percent. US and Europe markets are shut today on account of UK spring bank holiday.

At 12.58 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 157.00 points or 0.80% at 19861.33, and the Nifty up 39.95 points or 0.67% at 6023.50. About 1123 shares have advanced, 922 shares declined, and 141 shares are unchanged.

Key gainers in the Nifty were Reliance (Rs 821.35, 4.44%), IndusInd Bank (Rs 519.55, 4.27%), Sun Pharma (Rs 1,007.80, 4.02%), Bharti Airtel (Rs 309.90, 3.82%) and HDFC (Rs 921.15, 1.67%).

Laggards included Lupin (Rs 750.15, 2.53%), Mahindra and Mahindra (Rs 945.25, 2.36%), Maruti Suzuki (Rs 1,639.15, 2.13%), Bajaj Auto (Rs 1,774.60, 1.67%) and Cipla (Rs 402.05, 1.58%).

12.50 pm Market update: The Sensex is up 149.17 points or 0.76% at 19853.50, and the Nifty up 37.65 points or 0.63% at 6021.20. Reliance, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma gain over 3% each.

12:40 pm Corporate announcement: United Spirits approved the allotment of 14.5 million shares on a preferential basis to a wholly owned unit of UK drinks group Diageo Plc, as part of the stake sale deal announced in November.

United Spirits will allot the shares to the Diageo unit at Rs 1,440 a share, the company said in a statement to the BSE. The stock is quoting at Rs 2,527.00, down Rs 42.50, or 1.65 percent on the BSE.

12:37 pm Telecom talk:
British telecom major Vodafone plans to invest billions of dollars in India, according to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, who feels foreign investors are back in the mood to invest in the country. This is notwithstanding the problems the company is facing on the tax front.

Investors' renewed confidence to pump money in India's telecom sector is due to the new policy that has a clear roadmap for the next 20 years, he said.

''Foreign investors have all come to me and said that they are very keen to invest more. As we talk, Vodafone has agreed to invest billions of dollars more in the sector itself,'' Sibal said, adding that the Vodafone chief had expressed plans to expand operations in India.

12:30 pm European market update: CAC opened in the green territory with 0.2 percent gains. UK market is shut today on account of spring bank holiday.

12:20 pm FII views: Even though the macro picture has started to look slightly better, Stephen Dover, international chief investment officer at Franklin Templeton says, there is not a lot of interest about India among foreign investors. India has seen record FII flows last year, a trend that has continued in 2013 as well.

"A lot of those flows were from quantitative easing (QE), flows from exchange traded funds (ETFs) and general flows into the market but not a lot of strategic investors investing in India," Dover told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

12:15 pm: Wockhardt is quoting at Rs 1,296.00, up Rs 66.30, or 5.39 percent.The company is expected to announce March quarter earnings today.

12:10 pm Big gainers: Reliance, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank and Dr Reddys Labs are major gainers in the Sensex.

Expert take:
India to see big flows from Japan, avoid PSU banks: Kotak

It's a stable start to the day, as the Nifty is holding above 6000 led by oil and gas, pharma and consumer durables. The Sensex is up 172.67 points at 19877.00, and the Nifty is up 48.45 points at 6032.

Jim Walker of Asianomics says it is premature to assume liquidity withdrawal, but warns that India could face economic challenges in the near-term. He fears the risk of a rating downgrade in India is still high. ( Read full interview here )

Oil price fell as traders look concerned about global energy demand took profits ahead of economic data from China and the United States.

Benchmark oil for July delivery fell to USD 93.67 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

12:05pm HDFC and HDFC Bank extended gains in afternoon trade, rising more than 1.5 percent.

Capital goods majors Larsen & Toubro and BHEL rebounded with marginal gains.

Bajaj Auto and M&M shares remain top losers, falling more than 2 percent.

11:58am Madras Cements rose 2 percent after two big block deals on Monday. 11.5 lakh equity shares exchanged hands at Rs 249 a piece on National Stock Exchange and 8.5 lakh shares changed hands at same price on the BSE.

Himadri Chemicals and Himatsingka Seide jumped 7-8 percent after March quarter earnings.

In a block deal, around 8 lakh shares (0.74 percent equity) of Aditya Birla Nuvo changed hands on both exchanges. The stock is down just 0.36 percent.

11:50am Den Networks gained nearly 3 percent, after a block deal of 2.48 lakh equity shares that changed hands at Rs 209.10 a piece.

More than 2 lakh equity shares of Piramal Enterprises changed hands on National Stock Exchange at Rs 561 a piece. The stock slipped 1.6 percent.

11:45 am State Bank of India, Wockhardt, ICICI Bank, Reliance Communications, Reliance Industries and United Spirits are most active shares on exchanges.

Britannia Industries is the top midcap gainer, rising nearly 17 percent after strong fourth quarter earnings.

However, SpiceJet, Crompton Greaves and Jet Airways are top losers among midcaps, losing 3-5 percent after dismal performance in March quarter.

11:40am The BSE Sensex and Midcap rose nearly 0.8 percent Monday despite mixed Asian cues. Japan's Nikkei 225 Average dropped nearly 3 percent.

Geoff Lewis of JPMorgan AMC, however, says the Japanese markets are at a turning point. He expects the Nikkei to stabilise soon and recommends investor to enter the Nikkei.

11:35am Winsome Diamonds and Jewellery (erstwhile Su-raj Diamonds) plunged 5 percent to hit a new 52-week low of Rs 9.15 after media reports that lenders of the company will take Rs 4000 crore hit.

HSIL rose nearly 10 percent, after its fourth quarter net profit increased 47 percent year-on-year to Rs 48.1 crore.

11:25am United Spirits (USL) alloted 1.45 crore equity shares at Rs 1,440 a piece to Diageo, as per Nov 2012 agreement. Diageo's open offer, which was a part of USD 2 billion deal, for acquiring 26 percent stake in Vijay Mallya-led USL had failed to get good response from public investors

Met Dept said monsoon would hit Kerala on June 3, as per forecast.

11:20am AstraZeneca Pharma recouped all its losses quite sharply in late morning trade, rising nearly 3 percent. The stock was down 5 percent in early trade.

Promoters of the company will sell over 37 lakh equity shares through the offer for sale issue Tuesday.

Force Motors crashed more than 6 percent, after it reported a net loss at Rs 23.3 crore in March quarter as against profit of Rs 798.4 crore in a year ago period.

11:15am Reliance Communications surged 4 percent after it increased its base rates for both GSM and CDMA pre-paid mobile-to-mobile calls by 33 percent to 2 paise per second from 1.5 paise per second. Pre paid contributes significant portion to their revenues (around 85-90 percent).

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel jumped more than 3 percent and Idea Cellular gained 1 percent.

11:07am Sun Pharma  bounced back Monday, with nearly 3 percent gains following by Dr Reddys Labs with 1.6 percent rise.

Excluding Ranbaxy, which is grappling with its own problems, the pharma sector looks good , Hiren Ved, director & CIO, Alchemy Capital Management said.

11:00am Equity benchmarks remain in bulls' hand Monday, helped by Reliance Industries that along with British Petroleum and Niko announced gas discovery in KG D6 block. The stock rallied 4 percent.

The BSE Sensex is up 135.49 points or 0.69% at 19839.82, and the Nifty up 37.25 points or 0.62% at 6020.80.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel shares surged more than 3 percent followed by Sun Pharma with 2.6 percent gains.

Private sector lender HDFC Bank and software services provider Infosys too are quite supportive, rising over 1.3 percent.

However, Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra are top loser, falling more than 2 percent.

10:55am Delhi High Court issues notice to Idea Cellular on Department of Telecom's contempt plea quotes Cogencis. The stcok was up 1 percent. The company is trading close to its 52-week high post heavy buying on stellar fourth quarter earnings.

10:45am Sandeep Bhatia of Kotak said the current flow of liquidity from the US will tend to slow down in the next two years although it will be in abundance in Europe and Japan; and India can enjoy some of the benevolence coming from Japan.

Also Read: India to see big flows from Japan, avoid PSU banks, says Kotak

10:38am Apollo Hospitals rebounds 5 percent after losing substantially last week on poor results. Brokerage house Nomura downgraded the stock to neutral and also cut its revenue and net profit estimates for FY15 by 4-16 percent.

10:32am The rupee today lost 10 paise to 55.73 against the dollar in early trade, extending fall for the seventh straight day, on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to higher demand for the US currency from banks and importers.

Also Read: Indian rupee down 10 paise against dollar in early trade

10:24am Aviation stocks grounded Shares of Jet Airways and SpiceJet were down 3-4 percent after both airlines reported dismal fourth quarter numbers post-market hours Friday.

SpiceJet's massive operating loss came as a nasty surprise to the market, which was expecting a much better performance.

10:18am Britannia Industries shares rallied nearly 13 percent in early trade to touch a fresh 52-week high of Rs 664.65 Monday, after it reported strong fourth quarter numbers post-market hours Friday.

Also Read: Britannia hits fresh year-high on strong Q4 nos; Religare, MOSL say 'buy'

10:15am Reliance Industries up over 3 percent. Brokerage house Goldman Sachs has reiterated its 'Buy' rating on Reliance Industries with 12-month sum of the parts based target price of Rs 1,070.

10:13am Crompton Greaves shares were down 3 percent to Rs 93.50 on weak fourth quarter numbers reported post-market hours Friday.

Also Read : Why ICICI Securities recommends to 'sell' Crompton Greaves

10:07am Wockhardt rebounds after last weeks steep losses of over 30 percent and ahead of results today. CNBC-TV18 poll expects 10 percent growth in revenues at Rs 1368 crore. Operating profit margins growth will remain flat at 34 percent. The company may post profits of Rs 307 crore versus loss of Rs 191.6 crore. 

10:05am Reliance Communications is up 3 percent after the company has raised basic rates for both GSM and CDMA pre-paid calls by 33 percent to 2 paise per second.

Indian shares surged more than half a percent in the morning trade shrugging off the weakness in Japanese market which was down over 2.5 percent.

At 09.58 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 132.94 points or 0.67% at 19837.27, and the Nifty up 38.75 points or 0.65% at 6022.30. About 785 shares have advanced, 433 shares declined, and 57 shares are unchanged.

Key gainers in the Nifty were Reliance  (Rs 815.95, 3.75%), Bharti Airtel (Rs 308.05, 3.20%), Sun Pharma (Rs 997.00, 2.91%), IndusInd Bank (Rs 509.00, 2.16%), and Ranbaxy Labs (Rs 396.00, 1.62%).

Laggards included Lupin (Rs 754.55, 1.96%), Mahindra and Mahindra (Rs 953.20, 1.54%), Bank of Baroda (Rs 683.10, 1.21%), Maruti Suzuki (Rs 1,656.00, 1.13%) and Bajaj Auto (Rs 1,788.40, 0.9%).

09:55am: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought USD 57.16 million in equities on May 23.

09:50 am Losing: SpiceJet is at Rs 36.20, down Rs 1.60, or 4.23 percent on the BSE. Low-cost airline SpiceJet on Friday said its net loss has narrowed to Rs 186 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 on the back of higher passenger traffic and fare hikes.

The airline company reported a net loss of Rs 249 crore in the same period a year ago. The company's revenue rose by 31 percent to Rs 1,456 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 from the year-ago period, SpiceJet said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges.

9: 48 am Market Update: The Sensex is up 133.12 points 19837.45, and the Nifty up 39.35 points at 6022.90.

09:44 am: CNBC-TV18 Exclusive: Finance Ministry sources say that volatility in currency should settle in a few days and rupee is expected to be back to its range in a few days. Rupee weakness is likely due to volatility in rupee non-deliverable forward (NDF).

9:42 am Brokerage view

Brokerage house Credit Suise has retained its 'neutral' rating on upstream oil firm OIL India after the fourth quarter numbers, saying the company will not benefit much from lower under-recoveries.

"Revenue was in line, while costs were meaningfully ahead, due to higher expenditure on provisions and support services," said the Credit Suisse note.

Experts' views:
How banks will benefit from bond yield fall: Moses Harding

Nifty to fall further; sell in May and go away: Sukhani

9:37 am Losing stocks: M&M, Bajaj Auto, Wipro, Hero Motocorp and Cipla are key losers in the Sensex.

9:34 am Market update: The Sensex is up 85.78 points at 19790.11, and the Nifty up 27.25 points at 6010.80. About 659 shares have advanced, 325 shares declined, and 43 shares are unchanged.

9:25 am Index losers: Technology and auto stocks are growing weak.

What Udayan tells you: Nifty to remain rangebound ahead of expiry

The market opened in positive territory. The Sensex is up 44.27 points at 19748.60 and the Nifty up 5.85 points at 5989.40.

RIL is big index gainer today as it gained 2.7 percent on the BSE. RIL on Friday announced a huge natural gas discovery , possibly the biggest find ever in KG-D6 block. RIL and its partner BP Plc of UK encountered 155 metres of gas pay zone in the first exploration well drilled on the block in more than five years.

Other major gainers include Bharti Aitel, Coal India, NTPC and HDFC Bank. Coal India will announce March quarter earnings today. A CNBC-TV18 poll, sees a flat topline growth at Rs 19,500 crore year on year. Profits may see 32 percent surge while lower employee expenses and higher volumes will aid margins.

Star of the day remains to be Britannia Industries which surged 13.36 percent, following stellar March quarter earnings. The bakery confectionery products manufacturer beat street estimates with its fourth quarter standalone net profit rising 65.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 87.8 crore on other income and better operational performance, despite an increase in tax expenses. Total income rose by 13.65 percent to Rs 1,502.4 crore in January-March quarter FY13 as against Rs 1,322 crore in a year ago period, which was in-line with expectations.

The Indian rupee opened lower at 55.77 per dollar versus 55.63 Friday.

Agam Gupta, Standard Chartered Bank said, "Exporters are looking to sell the dollar on uptick to 55.50-55.80/USD. For short-term cues, the rupee will track domestic equity market performance. The range for the day is seen between 55.55-55.95/USD."

Other companies which are expected to announce March quarter earnings are NALCO, GSPL, NBCC, Wockhardt, Ansal Properties, Bajaj Electrical, Bhushan Steel, DCM, Everest Kanto, Flexituff, Fresenius Kabi, Gabriel India, Jindal Saw, Jindal Stainless, Lakshmi Vilas, Mc Leod Russel, PAE, Peninsula Land, Ramky Infra, Rane Holding, Tata Chem, Tree House Education, Timken India, TTK healthcare, UB Engineering, Wheels India, Zenith Health.