Nifty ends at 8002, Sensex up 161 points; Sun Pharma falls 1%

3:30 pm Market close: The market ended with gains even though it lost steam mid way. The Sensex was up 161.19 points or 0.6 percent at 26392.38 and the Nifty gained 53 points or 0.7 percent at 8001.95. About 1295 shares advanced, 1403 shares declined and 109 shares were unchanged.

Sun Pharma, Lupin, Coal India, TCS and Cipla were among losers while ONGC, Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto and GAIL were top gainers in the Sensex.

2:59 pm Market Update: The Sensex erased more than 300 points gains from day's high, trading at 26292.82, up 61.63 points. The Nifty slipped below the 8000-mark, up 21.20 points at 7970.15.

The market breadth also turned negative as about 1221 shares have advanced against 1412 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

2:50 pm Underperformer: Sun Pharma plunged 4 percent today after the company has faced class action suit in US over 2009 plant closures.

US court of appeals affirmed lower court's findings that Caraco, the subsidiary of Sun Pharma, violated Worker Adjustment Act.

2:40 pm Buzzing: Shares of MMTC surged 4 percent intraday as the government has approved bids for import of 1,000 tonnes of onion. MMTC which had floated a tender for 10,000 tonnes of onion import, received only one bid from Singapore-based Cross Trade Line for 1,000 tonnes.

The shipment of 1,000 tonnes will reach either Chennai or JNPT ports by September 10. The approved bidder has been asked to source onions from Egypt, China, Pakistan and other countries where the commodity is available.

The imported onions would be supplied to state governments after seeking their requirements. Stating more imports would be undertaken in coming weeks to check prices, Agriculture Additional Secretary Avinash K Srivastava said, "It has been decided that MMTC will float tender after tender till onion situation comes under control. MMTC has been asked to float a fresh tender for import of 10,000 tonnes."

2:20 pm Boost to medical devices biz: The government is working on several steps, including removing duty anomalies, to boost medical devices manufacturing sector and make it a USD 50 billion industry in the next five years, a top official today said.

Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals, V K Subburaj, said that soon recommendations will be made to rectify the inverted duty structure for the growing medical devices sector. He said departments of health and pharmaceuticals along with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is working on the matter and soon they will make recommendations to the revenue department on the issue.

An inverted duty structure impacts domestic industry adversely as manufacturers have to pay a higher price for raw material in terms of duty, while imported finished products land at lower duty and cost lesser.

"The important hurdle (which the sector is facing) is the regulatory mechanism...The duty structure has to be modified. Health, DIPP and Pharma are jointly discussing the issue... Probably by next week, we will finalise the recommendations," Subburaj said here at a CII function.

2:00 pm Market Check
The market erased more than half of morning gains in afternoon trade due to profit booking in select banking & financials, capital goods and healthcare stocks. The Sensex rose 177.07 points or 0.68 percent to 26408.26 and the Nifty advanced 52.15 points or 0.66 percent to 8001.10.

Even the broader markets came off day's high with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising only 0.3 percent each. About 1386 shares have advanced against 1184 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The rupee fell 15 paise to 66.19 a dollar, which indicated that the foreign institutional investors may be net sellers in today's trade.

Infosys, ONGC, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel and Vedanta topped the buying list on Sensex, up 3-5 percent. Dr Reddy's Labs gained nearly 2 percent post management changes.

However, Sun Pharma, HDFC, Lupin, TCS, L&T, Cipla and Coal India saw profit booking, down 0.3-1 percent.

1:50 pm Market falls off cliff: The Sensex is up 118.13 points or 0.4 percent at 26349.32 and the Nifty is up 40.70 points or 0.5 percent at 7989.65. About 1412 shares have advanced, 1151 shares declined, and 104 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Sun Pharma, Coal India, Lupin and Cipla are major laggards while ONGC, Vedanta, Bajaj Auto, Infosys and Bharti Airtel are top gainers in the Sensex.

1:30 pm Power generation: State-owned NTPC Ltd, India's largest power generator, has achieved a record highest single-day electricity generation of 733.12 million units. The record generation of 733.12 million units from NTPC's 18 coal-based power plants, 7 gas-based units and 8 solar and hydro power stations, was achieved on August 27, the company said in a statement. "The Declared Cumulative Capability of the stations was 91.10 percent and Plant Load Factor (PLF) of 86.34 percent on the day," it said. NTPC currently has an installed capacity of 45,548 Mega-Watts (MW) (including 6,196 MW through joint ventures), according to the company website.

The market is holding gains comfortably. The Sensex is up 271.92 points or 1 percent at 26503.11 and the Nifty is up 85.10 points or 1 percent at 8034.05. About 1613 shares have advanced, 913 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged.

Vedanta, ONGC, NTPC, Bajaj Auto and GAIL are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Sun Pharma, Coal India, Lupin, TCS and HUL.

Meanwhile, the US economy grew faster than initially thought in the second quarter on solid domestic demand, showing fairly strong momentum that could still allow the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates this year.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 3.7 percent annual pace instead of the 2.3 percent rate reported last month, the Commerce Department said on Thursday in its second GDP estimate for the April-June period.

The GDP report, which was released in the wake of a global stock market sell-off, should assure investors and cautious Fed officials that the United States is in good shape to weather the growing strains in the world economy.

12:59 pm Market Update: The Sensex rallied 393.40 points or 1.50 percent to 26624.59 and the Nifty climbed 126 points or 1.59 percen to 8074.95.

About 1708 shares have advanced, 756 shares declined, and 101 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

12:55 pm Market Expert: VK Sharma of HDFC Securities believes that 8100 is a good buy level for the Nifty. Initiatives by US Federal Reserve and Reserve Bank of India will boost market sentiment, added Deven Choksey of KRChoksey Investment Mangers.

Choksey says 8050-8150 is a good support level at present. He doesn't expect the Nifty to breach 7600 level in near future.

12:45 pm IPO opens: Ahmednagar-based (Maharashtra) Prabhat Dairy has opened its initial public offer for subscription today. The price band for the issue, which will close on September 1, is fixed at Rs 140-147 a share.

The issue comprises of fresh issue of Rs 300 crore and an offer for sale of up to, 1,47,06,000 equity shares (comprising of up to 31,51,000 shares by Nirmal Family Trust (promoter), 65,80,000 equity shares by the India Agri Business Fund, 23,000 shares by the Real Trust, and 49,52,000 shares by Societe De Promotion Et De Participation Pour La Cooperation Economique.

Net proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised for part pre-payment of loans availed by company & its wholly owned subsidiary, SAIPL; capital expenditure; and general corporate purpose, said an integrated milk and dairy products company.

12:30 pm Buzzing: Shares of kitchen appliances firm TTK Prestige today surged as much as five percent on bourses after the company said it has signed a long-term settlement with the workers' union at its Hosur unit in Tamil Nadu.

"The company has signed a long-term settlement with the workers' union at the company's Hosur unit in Tamil Nadu. This settlement provides for a superior productivity compared with the earlier settlements," the company said in a regulatory filing on August 27.

Shares of the company opened on a strong note at Rs 3,800 and then jumped 4.53 percent to an early high of Rs 3,912.15.

12:15 pm Oil Update: Crude oil futures rose today in Asian trading, adding to their biggest one-day rally in over six years, the day before led by recovering equity markets and news of diminished crude supplies.

US crude futures are on track for their first weekly gains in 11 weeks, ending the longest losing streak since 1986. Brent crude is on track for its first weekly gain in two weeks.

Stock markets around the world rallied on Thursday, shaking off a slump related to China growth fears, as strong US economic data boosted investor sentiment, and the dollar advanced for a third consecutive session.

Front-month October Brent crude was up 44 cents, or nearly 1 percent, at USD 48 per barrel, after trading sideways earlier. It settled USD 4.42 higher at USD 47.56 per barrel in the previous session.

US crude was 80 cents, or nearly 2 percent, higher at USD 43.36 per barrel, after ending up USD 3.96, or 10.3 percent, at USD 42.56 per barrel, its biggest one-day percentage gain since March 2009.

12:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets remained strong in noon trade with the Sensex and Nifty rising 1.6 percent each, led by a surge in oil & gas, metal and IT stocks. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap gained 1.5 percent each.

The Sensex climbed 416.89 points to 26648.08 and the Nifty jumped 131.25 points to 8080.20. About 1688 shares have advanced against 687 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Oil & gas stocks are the winners in trade today after crude prices spiked over 10 percent overnight. Cairn India and ONGC topped the charts with over 5 percent. But oil marketing companies lost in trade with BPCL down 2 percent.

Rise in copper and zinc prices led the rally in metal stocks. CNX Metal index rose over 1 percent led by stocks like Vedanta (up 7.4 percent), Hindalco (up 4.3 percent).

In the midcap space, Gammon Infra jumped 5 percent as it sold stake in 9 project companies to Brookfield & Core Infra India Fund. Sequent Scientific gained 2.5 percent as it will acquire animal health business of Lyka Exports.

Globally, Asian markets extended recovery as investors cheered a second day of gains in Chinese and US market. Sentiment also got a lift on news that Chinese pension funds will invest USD 313 billion in stocks and other assets.

11:50 am Interview: Bharat Madan, Group Financial Controller at Escorts expects the tractor volume to be sluggish in the second quarter due to deficient monsoons. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he says that festive season and base effects will boost tractor volumes in third quarter. He expects a 15-20 percent overall volume growth in FY16. Madan expects 2-3 percent margin improvement in its tractor business for the year. With better volume and sales, margins will start expanding Q3 onwards, he adds. Sales in second half will be better than the first half of the year by nearly 15 percent, he says adding that he expects a 3-4 percent sales improvement for the year.

11:30 am Market call: VK Sharma of HDFC Securities believes that 8100 is a good buy level for the Nifty. Initiatives by US Federal Reserve and Reserve Bank of India will boost market sentiment, added Deven Choksey of KRChoksey Investment Mangers. Choksey says 8050-8150 is a good support level at present. He doesn't expect the Nifty to breach 7600 level in near future. Sharma is bullish on pharmaceutical stocks as he expects the sector to perform relatively better in case of fall in market. He has buy call on Cipla at Rs 680, Lupin at Rs 1,900 and Dr Reddy 's at Rs 4,200.

The market is gushing with some strong gains led by banks, IT, metals and cappital goods. The Sensex is up 392.51 points or 1.5 percent at 26623.70 and the Nifty is up 122.65 points or 1.5 percent at 8071.60. About 1651 shares have advanced, 540 shares declined, and 62 shares are unchanged.

Vedanta, ONGC, NTPC, Hindalco and Bajaj Auto are top gainers while Lupin, M&M and ITC are laggards in the Sensex.

Crude oil futures rose 2.37 percent to Rs 2,855 per barrel today as speculators widened positions amid a firm trend in Asia.

Analysts attributed the rise in crude oil futures to a firming trend in Asian trade today where it extended gains following a 10 percent price surge in the previous session fuelled by strong US economic data.

10:45 am Iron ore prices weak: Spot iron ore prices held near one-month lows and were headed for their steepest weekly fall since early July, with the raw material failing to catch up with a recovery in other commodities amid weak steel prices in China.

Chinese spot steel prices dropped for most of the week, reflecting slow demand in the world's top consumer.

"Mills have been trying to push up steel prices but demand is really weak. It's difficult for them to sell their products unless they lower the price," said a Shanghai-based trader.

Some Chinese mills in the top producing province of Hebei have halted or limited production to clear skies ahead of a big military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in nearby Beijing, reducing demand for iron ore.

Iron ore has lost 4.1 percent so far this week, largely reflecting its Monday slide when a slump in China's equity markets fed a global rout that stretched to commodities.

10:30 am Buzzing: Investors continued to buy shares of Aurobindo Pharma. The stock rallied 4.6 percent intraday (in addition to 3 percent upside in previous session) after brokerage Citi has maintained Aurobindo as its top pick and sees 50 percent potential upside.

The pharma company on Thursday received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration to manufacture and market Entecavir tablets. It is a bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Baraclude tablets of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Entecavir tablets are indicated for treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection of the liver. The product has an estimated market size of USD 294 million for the twelve months ending June 2015, according to IMS.

The brokerage expects Entecavir to be a potentially chunky and sustainable product for Aurobindo. It is only the third generic company (after Teva & Par) to get approval for this
product.

It does not see too many additional competitors in the near future. This should keep price erosion & profitability at attractive levels, Citi said.

Generic Entecavir is Aurobindo's 15th approval in FY16 compared to only 3 approvals in FY15. If this pace continues, revenues could ramp up meaningfully over the next few years, said the brokerage in its latest note.

10:15 am Market Expert: Sanjeev Prasad, Kotak Institutional Equities said they at brokerage found valuations of the Indian market more reasonable post the recent sharp correction. Lower valuations and weaker rupee post the recent market selloff can provide for meaningful returns of 15-18 percent over the next 12 months, he believes.

He said the brokerage sees increasing likelihood of a rate cut at the next policy meeting.

10:00 am Market Check
Equity benchmarks maintained uptrend for the second consecutive session. The Sensex rallied 399.57 points or 1.52 percent to 26630.76 and the Nifty climbed 126.35 points or 1.59 percent to 8075.30.

The broader markets marginally outperformed benchmarks. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained over 1.5 percent. Nearly five shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

ONGC topped the buying list on Sensex, up nearly 6 percent followed by Infosys, Axis Bank, SBI, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, Cipla, BHEL, Vedanta, GAIL, Hindalco and Tata Steel with 2-4 percent upside.

9:50 am FII view on market crash: With volatility appearing to ebb a bit following the Black Monday that hit global markets this week, leading market experts are now saying a major part of it was driven more by technicals than fundamentals. "There was forced selling on the part of momentum traders. And selling begets more selling," Bob Doll of Nuveen Asset Management told CNBC-TV18. While admitting that there have been growth concerns in emerging markets, Doll said the intensity of the crash -- which wiped off as much as USD 5 trillion off investor wealth globally -- meant there was more to it than fundamentals. However, Doll said he was underweight most emerging markets -- barring exceptions such as India -- and said strong economic data out of the US could mean the Federal Reserve could hike rates in September.

9:30 am RBI on stressed loans: Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan came down heavily on promoters of some large distressed companies taking advantage of banks' fear of an asset turning dud and making unjustified demands. "Some large promoters take advantage of bankers fear about assets turning non-performing to extract unwarranted concessions, without any sacrifice in the value of their stake," Rajan wrote in his Overview on the 2014-15 Annual Report of the central bank release on Thursday. The Reserve Bank follows a July-July financial year.

After a very weak August series, the market has kickstarted September series with a bang. The Nifty is up 104.75 points or 1 percent at 8053.70 and the Sensex is up 319.03 points or 1 percent at 26550.22. About 201 shares have advanced, 35 shares declined, and 7 shares are unchanged.

ONGC, Hindalco, Maruti, M&M and Cipla are top gainers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened on a flat note. It was trading at 66.03 per dollar against previous closing of 66.04.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "US GDP data suggests that economic conditions are getting better and are on the right track. Taking cues from this Indian equities will open positively but profit booking at higher level may cap the gain."

"Rupee is also expected to trade strong, supported by local equities. We see the range for the rupee between 65.60-66.60/dollar," he added.

The dollar retained at one-week highs against a basket of major currencies, having benefited from upbeat US data and as investors continue to cut back on safe-havens such as the yen.

On the global markets front, Wall Street rallied more than 2 percent on Thursday as strong US economic data and hints that a September interest-rate hike was unlikely fueled optimism that the worst of recent market turmoil was over.

The Dow Jones industrial average scored its biggest two-day percentage gain since 2008, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite racked up their biggest two-day increases since 2009.

With Thursday's gains, the S&P has recovered about half of the 11-percent meltdown it suffered over a six-day losing streak caused by fears of slowing growth in China. Asian stocks extended their recovery into the final trading day of the week as investors cheered a second day of gains in Chinese and US markets.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite spiked more than 1 percent in early trade on Friday, building on a 5.4 percent gain in the previous session following news that the People's Bank of China purchased stocks from big firms and requested state-owned banks to buy more yuan on its behalf late on Thursday.

Oil prices jumped 7 percent after a rally in equity markets and an unexpected fall in US crude inventories.