Nifty ends below 7750, Sensex gains 160 points; infra, FMCG gain

3:30 pm Market closing: The market has ended with gains supported by HDFC and BHEL. The Sensex closed up 160.48 points or 0.6 percent at 25262.21 and the Nifty ended up 28.95 points or 0.4 percent at 7735.50. About 1231 shares have advanced, 1318 shares declined, and 149 shares were unchanged.

L&T, Tata Motors and Ciplawere other gainers while Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, HUL and Bajaj Auto were losers in the Sensex.

2:55 pm Market outlook: Former fund manager and analyst Kenneth Andrade is betting on consumption to be the leading driver of the economy in the coming years. The Midcap Mogul's (as Forbes India once called him) take goes against the popular view in the market than only an uptick in capacity expansion by companies can boost growth.

"Corporate capex is not the place to look at if you want India's balance sheet to expand," Andrade says in a free-wheeling chat with moneycontrol.com.

"We will need to look further and my sense is that there are more people graduating into the earning cycle and trading up as consumers, than corporates expanding balance sheets. So individual balance sheet will now expand, like the corporates did so in the last decade," he says

2:45 pm Result: Eicher Motors has posted lower-than-expected profit and revenue in January-March quarter but margins were better. The Royal Enfield maker's net profit rose by a whopping 71.3 percent at Rs 334.5 crore in January-March from Rs 195.3 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal. Royal Enfield margins has hit record high of 29.8 percent.

During the period, total income rose 46.6 percent at Rs 3765 crore against Rs 2568 crore on annual basis. EBITDA in the quarter was up 75 percent at Rs 640 crore compared to Rs 366 crore while EBITDA margin stood at 17 percent versus 14.3 percent year-on-year.

The auto company was expected to see net profit at Rs 345 crore in January-March quarter, up 76 percent (YoY)  while revenue was seen jumping 55 percent at Rs 3978 crore. During the period, EBITDA was seen growing 77 percent at Rs 649 crore.

2:30 pm Results poll: Net profit of Hero MotoCorp is likely to zoom 72 percent at Rs 820 crore in January-March quarter from Rs 476.5 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, the two-wheeler major may see revenue growing 9 percent at Rs 7400 crore in Q4FY16 against Rs 6793.8 crore in year-ago period. During the period, operating profit margin may stand at 15.9 percent compared to 12.3 percent while EBITDA may also jump up 40 percent at Rs 1180 crore against Rs 839 crore year-on-year.

Supported by HDFC, ITC and Tata Motors the market is surging ahead. The Sensex is up 200.41 points or 0.8 percent at 25302.14, and the Nifty up 42.40 points or 0.5 percent at 7748.95. About 1181 shares have advanced, 1234 shares declined, and 127 shares are unchanged.

Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, Infosys and M&M are losers in the Sensex.

European stocks traded slightly higher taking cues from a rally in oil prices but with a watchful eye on Friday's crucial US jobs numbers.

European markets are being buoyed by a rebound in oil markets. Oil prices jumped by more than one percent in early trading on Thursday as a huge wildfire in Canada disrupted its oil sands production, while escalating fighting in Libya threatened the North African nation's output, Reuters reported.

1:55 pm Diesel ban: Government today raised in the Supreme Court the issue of restriction put on plying of diesel run taxis in Delhi and National Capital Region, saying it will adversely impact the flourishing industry of BPOs which may choose to go out of India.

"The BPO industry would be affected as diesel taxis had been used for pick and drop facilities of the employees. It will affect the economy," Solicitor General Ranjith Kumar told a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur.

He also said that Centre will be filing an application shortly on the issue as it also pertains to the safety and security of the BPO employees.

"Due to the inconvenience caused to the BPO employees, the companies may choose to move out of the country which will be affecting the economy," the Solicitor General said.

1:30 pm IPO: Year 2016 has seen a flurry of initial public offerings (IPO) come out and many have met with resounding response from investors. The IPOs of Thyrocare, TeamLease, Ujjivan Finance, Alkem Labs and Dr Lal Pathlabs were subscribed 73, 66, 41, 33 and 21 times respectively. The other four to have to hit the market - Equitas, Quick Heal, Narayana Hrudalaya and Healthcare Global -- too witnessed subscription ranging from 2 to 17 times. In all the nine IPOs were bid at Rs 1.84 lakh crore while the total issue size was a mere Rs 7,162 crore.

The Sensex is up 102.73 points or 0.4 percent at 25204.46, and the Nifty isup 12.95 points or 0.2 percent at 7719.50. About 1106 shares have advanced, 1249 shares declined, and 139 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Tata Motors, BHEL, ITC and Sun Pharma are top gainers while Adani ports. Hindalco, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and Axis Bank are losers in the Sensex.

Crude oil surged 2.79 percent to Rs 2982 per barrel in futures market today as speculators indulged in creating speculative positions, taking positive cues from Asian markets.

Analysts said speculative positions built-up by participants after oil prices climbed in Asia today with Brent breaching USD 45 a barrel as raging wildfires threatened to cut Canadian output and a decline in the US crude production also boosted the commodity, influenced crude futures here.

The market is gradually climbing. The Sensex is up 175.59 points or 0.7 percent at 25277.32 and the Nifty is up 36.35 points or 0.5 percent at 7742.90. About 1215 shares have advanced, 982 shares declined, and 115 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, BHEL, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and Lupin are gainers while Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, TCS and M&M are losers in the Sensex.

After a sharp rally in March, market is finding it hard to cross the 8000-mark.

Currently, the market seems to be consolidating around 7700-7900 level, says Krishna Kumar Karwa, Managing Director of Emkay Global Financial Services.

"Market is taking a breather to evaluate valuations during earnings season,'' he says.

Earnings, so far, have been decent, he says, adding, banking stocks, which are reeling under stressed asset situation, have shown resilence post earnings.

The next bit trigger for market now is monsoon. Karwa says. Post earnings season and with more clarity on how monsoons will pan out, stocks will react positively and chances of Nifty touch 8000 level is more.

11:45 am Result analysis: Share prices of Hexaware Technologies plunged 9.5 percent intraday. The company's Q1 (Jan-March) net profit was down 15.3 percent at Rs 84.2 crore versus Rs 99.4 crore on sequential basis. According to Nomura, "The revenue and margins were materially below expectations and that reinforce their cautious stance of less conviction on growth sustainability and expensive valuation." The firm has put reduce rating on the stock with a target at Rs 200 per share.

However, Morgan Stanley has an overweight rating on the stock.

11:30 am Interview: A "fairly vibrant FY17" for the steel industry is likely to aid in significant improvement in Jindal Steel & Power's operating performance, says CEO and MD Ravi Uppal. "Strong EBITDA coupled with money received from the JSW Energy deal, should help pare debt. Target is to reduce debt to equity ratio to 1.6-1.8x by 2019-20," Uppal said in an interview to CNBC-TV18. The company is also looking to sell non-core assets worth nearly Rs 3,000 crore to deleverage its balance sheet, he said. On weakness in the power business, Uppal said the fourth quarter performance was hit by transmission constraints but things are likely to look up as we head into peak summer season.

The market seems to be consolidating snapping a three-day losing streak. The Sensex is up 114.73 points or 0.5 percent at 25216.46, and the Nifty is up 19.35 points or 0.2 percent at 7725.90. About 1094 shares have advanced, 906 shares declined, and 104 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Lupin and ITC are gainers while Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, M&M and TCS were losers in the Sensex.

Oil prices climbed with Brent breaching USD 45 a barrel as raging wildfires threatened to cut Canadian output and a decline in US crude production also boosted the commodity.

Authorities say wildfires are burning out of control in the Alberta oil sands region of Canada, which mines and ships heavy crude south to the US market, and oil companies have reduced operations to facilitate the evacuation of non- essential employees.

News of the Canada fires came as official data showed that US oil output sank last week by more than 100,000 barrels a day to 8.83 million barrels per day, its lowest level since September 2014.

10:55 am Gold check: Gold futures were up by Rs 151 to Rs 30,376 per 10 grams as speculators created fresh bets amid positive cues from global markets.

Analysts attributed the rise in gold prices to a firming trend overseas where it snapped a three-day losing run as investors assessed the outlook for US interest rates before monthly payrolls data on Friday. Meanwhile, gold was trading 0.3 per cent higher at USD 1,283.31 an ounce in Singapore. Prices retreated in the past three days after briefly surpassing USD 1,300 earlier this week to reach the highest since January 2015.

10:45 am New norms: Government has relaxed norms for utilisation of domestic coal that will help bring down the cost of power generation by 40 to 50 paise per unit and eventually lead to yearly savings of up to Rs 30,000 crore in the next 4-5 years.

"The Union Cabinet has given its approval for allowing flexibility in utilisation of domestic coal for reducing the cost of power generation," a press release said.

Later after the Cabinet meeting, Power Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters, "Our own estimate is that this could result in bringing down cost of power (generation) by 40 to 50 paise per unit. In the next four to five years, it could lead to savings of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 crore per year."

10:30 am Market outlook: After a sharp rally in the March, market is finding it hard to cross the 8000 level.

The market is going through a consolidation phase in range of 7700-7900 level, says Krishna Kumar Karwa, Managing Director of Emkay Global Financial Services.

''Market is taking a breather to evaluate valuations during earnings season,'' he says.

Earnings, so far, have been decent, he says adding that banking stocks, which are reeling under stressed asset situation, have shown resilence post earnings. The most important trigger for market now is monsoon.

The market is still holding up its early gains supported by few index heavyweights. The Sensex is up 117.95 points or 0.5 percent at 25219.68, and the Nifty is up 22.50 points or 0.3 percent at 7729.05. About 940 shares have advanced, 670 shares declined, and 66 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors, Lupin, Sun Pharma, HDFC and Hindalco are gainers while Adani Ports, Axis Bank, TCS, Infosys and Wipro are losers in the Sensex.

Gold firmed after three days of losses on weaker global equities, but held below a 15-month peak as the dollar rebounded against the yen after a recent slump.

US interest rates futures rose as the weaker-than-expected US private jobs growth in April caused traders to price in lower chances the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its June policy meeting.

9:55 am Result analysis: Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) narrowed its consolidated net loss to Rs 371 crore in January-March quarter of 2015-16, helped by higher steel sales and cost optimisation measures. 
The Naveen Jindal-led firm had posted a net loss of Rs 519 crore in the year-ago period.

Total consolidated income was up by 7 percent to Rs 4,874 crore in the January-March quarter of last fiscal from Rs 4,558 crore during the same quarter in 2014-15, the company said a statement today.

The quarter ending March 2016 saw good recovery of steel prices in the domestic market, which for the past 18 months had slumped to an all time low, the statement said.

Introduction of minimum import price (MIP) in the first week of February 2016 also helped to curb the rapidly growing imports at predatory prices, it added.

9:45 am Banruptcy code: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said government will take up the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code for discussion and passage in Lok Sabha immediately after his reply on the Finance Bill. "One important bill from the point of view of the economy which has been cleared is MMRD Bill. Now we are going through Finance Bill. Tomorrow I have to reply to that. Immediately thereafter we will take up the bankruptcy code," he told reporters here.

A 30-member Joint Committee of Parliament, constituted to scrutinise the bankruptcy code, has already submitted its report on April 28.

Enactment of the bankruptcy code is expected to improve India's position in the World Bank ease of doing business ranking significantly.

9:30 am Result: SKS Microfinance reported more than two-fold jump in standalone net profit at Rs 84.47 crore for the last quarter ended March 2016. The micro-finance lender had a net profit of Rs 40.54 crore in the corresponding January-March period of 2014-15.

Total income has increased to Rs 370.31 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2016, from Rs 226.2 crore a year earlier. For the full fiscal ended March 2016, company's standalone net income rose by 61.5 percent to Rs 302.98 crore as against Rs 187.66 crore.

The market has opened with some gains on Thursday. The Sensex is up 83.47 points or 0.3 percent at 25185.20, and the Nifty up 22.90 points or 0.3 percent at 7729.45. About 304 shares have advanced, 138 shares declined, and 20 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and Lupin are gainers while ITC, Tata Steel and Dr Reddy's Labs are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened marginally lower by 4 paise at 66.59 per dollar on Thursday versus 66.55 Wednesday.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "Mixed data from US and fall in crude oil prices has resulted in underperformance of commodity currencies and Asian risk assets. Non-farm payroll data tomorrow from US will determine further course for the currency markets."
Asian shares slipped for a seventh straight session as a mixed batch of US economic data did nothing to assuage concerns about global growth and deflation, keeping sovereign bonds well supported.

Wall Street slipped even as data showed the vast US services sector expanded in April as new orders and employment accelerated, offering hope economic growth would rebound after a sluggish first quarter.