Nifty, Sensex end flat; IT drags, metals & oil stocks up

3:50 pm Results: State-owned Canara Bank recorded 15.8 percent decline in net profit at Rs 610.83 crore for the fourth quarter ended March, 2014.

The Bangalore-based lender had a net profit of Rs 725.38 crore in the January-March quarter of 2012-13 fiscal, Canara Bank said in a filing to the BSE.

Total income of the bank increased to Rs 11,609.72 crore in the January March quarter, as against Rs 9,471.57 crore in the year-ago period.

For the entire 2013-14, the bank's net profit slipped by 15.1 percent to Rs 2,438.19 crore, compared to Rs 2,872.10 crore in the previous fiscal.

3:40 pm Market closing: The market snapped 5-day fall and rallied a bit intraday. After much of a struggle to hold 6700, the Nifty closed below it marginally. The Nifty ended the day at 6699.35, up 4.55 points while Sensex was up 41.23 points at 22445.12.

About 1218 shares advanced, 1493 shares declined, and 135 shares were unchanged.

Metals and capital goods stocks gained while IT stocks were under selling pressure.

HDFC, Cipla, Tata Power, Bharti Airtel and Infosys dragged the indices while Hindalco was up 4 percent. Other major gainers in the Sensex were ONGC, Reliance, Tata Steel and L&T.

3:30 pm International markets: European stocks slipped in thin trade after soft Chinese manufacturing data, while simmering tensions in Ukraine underpinned safe-haven government bonds and gold.

Portuguese bond yields edged to eight-year lows after Lisbon said on Sunday the country would make a clean exit from its bailout later this month.

Volumes were thinned by the closure of markets in London and Tokyo for public holidays.

3:20 pm Hot metals:  Metal refiners stocks rallied tracking a spike in copper prices, with Hindalco Industries gaining as much as 7.1 percent after slumping 8.6 percent in the previous five sessions.

The July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed as high as 47,920 yuan a tonne, hovering near a two-month high of 48,160 yuan, hit on April 28. Markets were closed on Thursday and Friday.

Tata Steel gained 3.1 percent after falling 8.4 percent in the past five sessions.

3:10 pm Market news:  About 100 AIFs - newly created class of pooled-in investment vehicles for real estate, private equity and hedge funds - are targeted to mop-up over Rs 13,000 crore in 2013-14. This was sharply higher than the target of Rs 1,544 crore at the end of March 31, 2013.

According to information available with market regulator Sebi, Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) were committed to garner Rs 13,465 crore in 2013-14 and of this they raised Rs 4,569 crore and invested about Rs 3,348 crore during the period. AIFs are basically funds established or incorporated in India for the purpose of pooling in capital from Indian and foreign investors for investing as per a pre-decided policy.

The regulator had notified in May 2012, the guidelines for this new class of market intermediaries but AIFs had started registering with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) from July 2012 and since then around 100 AIFs have been allowed to set-up shop in the country.

The market sees marginal gains on the Nifty amidst very low volume. The Nifty is up 7.25 points at 6702.05 while the Sensex is up 48.41 points at 22452.30.

About 1170 shares have advanced, 1444 shares declined, and 148 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, Tata Power and Infosys are major losers in the Sensex.

Asian markets succumb to profit taking after China manufacturing data disappointed, contracting for another month at 48.1 in April while the simmering conflict in Ukraine kept most global markets subdued.

Rupee rises to over a three-week high versus the dollar due to heavy dollar sales by foreign banks and stable equities while government bond prices rose as traders bought in the secondary market after Friday's Rs 16000 crore gilt auction was aggressively big by institutional players.

02:50pm Earnings Boardroom of Gammon Infra
Gammon Infrastructure  is confident of maintainig FY15 revenue guidance of Rs 1000 crore said managing director KK Mohanty in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Commenting on the loss of Rs 39 crore seen in Q4, he said it was mainly due to exceptional item of exiting two NHAI projects Yamunanagar-Panchkula project in Haryana and Birmitrapur-Barkote project in Odisha. Read more

02:40pm Puravankara up 4% as it sells 50% stake in Kochi project
Shares of  Puravankara Projects  jumped over 4 percent intraday as the realty firm has sold 50 percent stake in its upcoming project at Kochi to Sobha Developers for Rs 326 crore. Read more

02:30pm Economy Outlook: See FY15 GDP at 6%; fiscal deficit at 4.5%, says Deutsche

Most infrastructure projects are stuck due to state-government related issues and the centre has no role and so, even a very strong Prime Minister may not be able to turnaround those issues, says Taimur Baig. Read more

02:20pm European markets under pressure
DAX and CAC, benchmark indices of European markets were down over a percent each. Ukraine market was down over 2.5 percent.

02:10pm V-Guard jumps 12%, FY14 revenue crosses Rs 1500 cr
Shares of  V-Guard jumped over 12 percent intraday on Monday as investors are impressed by its March quarter earnings.  The consumer electrical and electronics marker's net profit jumped 129 percent to Rs 20.5 crore in the three months period, aided by cost control measures. Read more

02:00pm It was a steady session for the market as the Nifty managed to add more gains in the afternoon trade. Metal stocks saw huge buying interest in trade followed by oil & gas, capital goods and banking stocks.

The Sensex was up 144.51 points or 0.65 percent at 22548.40, and the Nifty was up 30.75 points or 0.46 percent at 6725.55. About 1234 shares advanced, 1271 shares declined, and 142 shares were unchanged.

Hindalco (up 6.19 percent), Jindal Steel (up 3.56 percent), Tata Steel (up 3.27 percent), Reliance (up 3.12 percent) and ONGC (up 2.60 percent) were top gainers in the Nifty.

Blue-chip stocks like HDFC (down 2.53 percent) and HCL Tech (down 2.35 percent) saw some profit booking today. Cipla (down 2.09 percent), NMDC (down 1.61 percent), and Tata Power (down 1.5 percent) also shared the list of top losers in the Nifty.

1:50 Buzzing: Shares of Puravankara Projects jumped over 4 percent as the realty firm has sold 50 percent stake in its upcoming project at Kochi to Sobha Developers for Rs 326 crore.

Both Bangalore-based companies will jointly develop a housing project on this 16.69 acres of land near Marine Drive in Kochi, Kerala. The company has entered into a co-owner agreement with Sobha Developers to develop this project.

''Puravankara Projects has sold by way of sale deed and agreement for sale to Sobha Developers Ltd, lands in Marine Drive Kochi Kerala and as co-owner, Sobha Developers would be constructing a residential project at Marine Drive in Kochi Kerala," Puravankara said in a filing to the BSE on Friday.

1:40 pm Market outlook: Dipan Mehta, Member, BSE & NSE recommends to trade cautiously as the poll outcome is a big event and may actually make or break this market.

''We should enter into the event with a bit of cash on the portfolios,'' he advises. He suggests long-term investors to be better off and hold adequate cash because if there is a positive outcome, market will rally, but the cash can be deployed suitably after a few weeks, given more opportunities will open up for investment and a lot of new idea will flow through.

1:30 pm Economist's opinion: Taimur Baig, India Economist, Deutsche Bank expects India's gross domestic product growth for FY15 to be around 6 percent.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he says that most infrastructure projects are stuck due to state-government related issues and the centre has no role and so, even a very strong Prime Minister cannot magically turnaround those blockages. He expects a fiscal deficit of 4.5 percent for FY15.

"The low hanging fruits of subsidy reduction are behind us. Petrol is more or less cost recovery, diesel is heading in that direction. But if you want to do further fiscal consolidation what should you do? You cannot cut anymore capital that has been pushed down substantially in the last couple of years in the name of keeping fiscal discipline and so, it will be a difficult job for the finance minister, who looks at the perks in June or July," he said in an interview to CNBC.

1:20 pm Results impact: Shares of V-Guard jumped over 12 percent as investors are impressed by its March quarter earnings.  The consumer electrical and electronics marker's net profit jumped 129 percent to Rs 20.5 crore in the three months period, aided by cost control measures.

Net revenues from operations rose to Rs 422.25 crore, up 12 percent from the comparable period in the previous year. For 2013-14, net revenue rose to Rs 1,517.14 crore, a growth of 11.70 percent, while net income gained 11.46 percent to Rs 70.13 crore.

V-Guard Managing Director Mithun K Chittilappilly attributed the higher numbers to lower ad spends along with low base in the year-ago period when the company took some exceptional hit on bottom line.

The market is holding gains firmly as the Sensex is up 117.13 points at 22521.02, and the Nifty is up 23.05 points at 6717.85. About 1136 shares have advanced, 1284 shares declined, and 135 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco, ONGC, Reliance, Axis Bank and Tata Steel are gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Power, Wipro, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and Cipla.

The rupee trades at an over three-week high tracking Asian currencies and firm sentiment from equity markets. Gilts rise as rupee holds firm despite upbeat US jobs data.

Asian markets are weak in trade following disappointing Chinese manufacturing data. China's HSBC's final reading of manufacturing activity in the mainland came in at 48.1 for April. Trading volumes are thin with Japanese and South Korean markets shut.

Shanghai shares slipped 0.4 percent while the Hang Seng Index shed 1.45 percent, as investors reacted bearishly the manufacturing PMI.

12:50pm Sectoral Check
BSE Oil&gas index was the top sectoral index gainer with 2.5 percent gains. BSE Capital Goods and Metal indices were up over a percent each. IT, pharma and telecom stocks saw some profit booking today.

12:40pm Volume Shockers
Stocks like AIA Engineering, MT Educare, Ajanta Pharma, Century Textiles, ING Vysya Bank, Atul and Apollo Hospital have seen multi-fold  jump in volumes today on BSE.

12:30pm Market outlook: JPMorgan Asset Management is bullish on India
Richard Titherington of JPMorgan Asset Management is bullish on cyclicals. He advises reducing exposure to defensives in the Indian market. ''We think India will continue to outperform its peers,'' he said. Read more

12:20pm Stocks at all-time high
Stocks like Aarti Drugs, Atul, Bharti Infratel, Cera Sanitaryware, Deepak Nitirite, Eicher Motors, Kajaria Ceramics and Vinati Organics were trading at life-high today.

12:10pm Midcaps outperform
In the midcap space, Century Textiles was the top gainer with 14 percent gains followed by Tube Investment (up 7.54%), Rallis India (up 6.23%), Apollo Hospital (up 5.86%) and Raymond (up 4.46%).

The Sensex was steadily inching higher in the afternoon trade led by gains in metal and oil & gas stocks. Midcaps continue to hog limelight in trade today while selective largecaps saw some profit booking.

The Sensex was up 120.48 points or 0.54 percent at 22524.37, and the Nifty was up 26.80 points or 0.40 percent at 6721.60. About 1076 shares advanced, 1179 shares declined, and 127 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers in the Nifty were Hindalco (up 4.48 percent), ONGC (up 3.86 percent), Jindal Steel (up 3.22 percent), Reliance (up 2.47 percent) and BPCL (up 2.15 percent).

On the losing side, HCL Tech was biggest loser with 2 percent loss. NMDC (down 1.81%), HDFC (down 1.66%), Tata Power (down 1.5%) and Bharti Airtel (down 1.46%) were other top losers

11:50 am Big open offer: General Electric Comade tender offers to buy shares worth up to USD 389 million in two of Alstom SA's India units to comply with local rules, following its USD 16.9 billion bid to buy the French group's energy unit.

GE has offered to buy 25 percent in Alstom T&D India from public shareholders at Rs 261.25 a share in a deal valued at up to USD 278 million, according to a notice issued to Indian stock exchanges by the offer manager Credit Suisse.

GE is also seeking to buy 26 percent of Alstom India at Rs 382.20per share for up to USD 111 million, said a separate filing. GE will proceed with the offers only if its bid for Alstom's energy arm goes through, the filings said.

Cash-strapped French engineering group Alstom said last week it would explore a USD 16.9 billion offer from General Electric for its energy arm while leaving the door open to a rival bid from Germany's Siemens .

11:40 am Big rise: Shares of Suzlon soared over 10 percent intraday after board approved cashless restructuring of its foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) worth USD 485 million dollars interest. The issue size will be about USD 485 million, assuming the zero percent October 2012 bonds, 7.5 per cent October 2012 bonds, zero percent July 2014 bonds and 50 percent of the 5 per cent April 2016 bonds are substituted.

The restructured bonds will have a maturity of five years and one day from the issue date. They will mature in 2019-20 and the conversion price will be Rs 15.46, the statement said.

11:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) slumped 8 percent intraday as its March quarter results was disappointing. It reported a net loss of Rs. 2.51 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014 from a net profit of Rs 44.04 crore year-on-year mainly on account of increase in expenses during the period.

The total income of the company declined to Rs 42.57 crore during the first quarter, as compared to Rs 71.83 crore in the same period of previous fiscal.

The company's expenses during the quarter rose by 78.43 percent to Rs 48.16 crore in the first quarter, as against Rs 26.99 crore during the same period of previous fiscal.

11:20 am FM speaks: India's economic growth will pick up to 6 percent in the current financial year, said Finance Minister P Chidambaram, adding that the government is largely responsible for putting the economy back on a more stable footing.

"I've done more heavy lifting in the last 12 months than the RBI," Chidambaram told CNBC on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank's annual meeting in Kazakhstan.

Chidambaram, however, points to his progress in bringing the twin deficits - current account and fiscal - under control. "I have laid out a new fiscal consolidation path [and] set tough limits on the fiscal deficit. I've not only achieved those targets but I've bettered those targets," he said.

The market is inching higher steadily. The Sensex is up 85.95 points at 22489.84 and the Nifty is up 17.85 points or at 6712.65.  About 1049 shares have advanced, 956 shares declined, and 118 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, HUL and Tata Motors are dragging the indices. ONGC, Reliance, GAIL, ITC and Axis Bank are top gainers in the Sensex.

The rupee is trading at an over three week high tracking Asian currencies and firm sentiment from equity markets and gilts rise as rupee holds firm despite upbeat US jobs data.

The dollar index gained from three week lows on Friday post positive jobs data. The Asian currencies are holding up despite weaker Chinese PMI.

From commodities Brent prices hold steady as fighting intensified in Ukraine and positive US jobs report supported. Gold saw safe haven buying rising above USD 1300 per ounce.

US markets closed marginally lower on Friday with concerns over rising tensions in Ukraine which outweighed the upbeat jobs report. The US jobs indicated a generation 288000 jobs in April the biggest increase in two years with the unemployment rate falling to 6.3 percent the lowest since September 2008.

10:50am Market Outlook: As earnings disappoint, doubts grow over Sensex rally
A rally that's taken India's stock market to record highs faces a reality check as profits at some blue chips have been bolstered by non-operating items such as tax credits and investments, rather than by a revival in demand. Read more

10:40am SPARC slumps 8%, high expenses impact Q1 results
Shares of Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) slumped 8 percent intraday on Monday as its March quarter results was disappointing. It reported a net loss of Rs. 2.51 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014 from a net profit of Rs 44.04 crore year-on-year mainly on account of increase in expenses during the period. Read more

10:30am Suzlon up 6%, approves restructuring of bonds
Suzlon was up 6 percent post approval of cashless restructuring of convertible bonds. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Kirti Vagadia, group head (corporate finance) at Suzlon said the interest rate of FCCBs will be closer to 5 percent. ''The total interest burden on annual basis is at Rs 1,300-1,400 crore right now,'' he said. Read full interview

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Kirti Vagadia, group head (corporate finance) at Suzlon said the interest rate of FCCBs will be closer to 5 percent. ''The total interest burden on annual basis is at Rs 1,300-1,400 crore right now,'' he said.

10:20am Buzzing Stock: Reliance Comm falls 2% on March quarter earnings
Shares of Reliance Communications are under pressure, losing over 2 percent intraday on Monday. The telecom operator's net profit slipped 48.5 percent to Rs 156 crore in the quarter ended March 31, from Rs 303 crore a year earlier. Read more 

10:10am Sanitaryware stocks gain
Sanitaryware stocks were buzzing in trade today. Cera Sanitaryware was the top gainer with 15 percent gain followed by HSIL (up 9 percent), Orient Bell ( up 8 percent), Kajaria Ceramic and Nitco (up 4 percent each).

It was yet another dull session for the market as the benchmark index Nifty was trading flat around 6700 with marginal gains. The market is eagerly waiting for the polls outcome which will be announced on May 16.

The Sensex was up 39.51 points or 0.18 percent at 22443.40, and the Nifty was up 5.40 points or 0.08 percent at 6700.20. About 791 shares have advanced, 705 shares declined, and 84 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers in the Nifty were Jindal Steel (up 1.90 percent), Reliance Industries (up 1.55 percent), BPCL (up 1.26 percent), ONGC (up 0.94 percent) and ITC (up 0.75 percent).

UltraTechCement (down 1.56 percent) was the top loser in the Nifty. NMDC (down 1.45 percent), ACC (down 1.15 percent), BHEL (down 1.14 percent) and Tata Power (down 0.94 percent) were other losers

9:50 am International market: Peter Hooper, Chief US Economist of Deutsche Bank believes that any pick in the US growth will benefit emerging markets.

The weakness seen in the bond yields is mainly because the US bond market seems to be focusing on weak inflation numbers says Hooper. However, according to him this weakness may not be negative for equity markets because US has is seeing growth in employment along with reasonably strong growth in real consumer spending.

9:40 am Buzzing: Shares of Reliance Communications are under pressure, losing over 2 percent intraday on Monday. The telecom operator's net profit slipped 48.5 percent to Rs 156 crore in the quarter ended March 31, from Rs 303 crore a year earlier.

"In the same period last year, there was a one-time income of about Rs 550 crore due to some provision in business restructuring, which had impact on performance in that period. Otherwise, business is as usual," RCom Chief Executive Officer for Consumer Business Gurdeep Singh said.

On a quarterly basis, profit increased 44 percent from Rs 108 crore in the third quarter.

9:30 am Results: ABB India Limited has reported a net profit of Rs 52 crore for the first quarter ending on March 31, 2014, up from Rs 43 crore for the same period in  2013, despite subdued market sentiment.

The company received orders worth Rs 1,982 crore during the quarter, compared to an order intake of Rs 1,540 crore for the same period in 2013. The large orders were for transformers, substations as well as medium-voltage drives and traction converters.  ABB continued its progress towards localisation and value-chain optimisation to remain competitive, as per the official reports.

The market opens the week in red as it seems to be in profit booking mode. The Sensex is up 8.91 points at 22412.80, and the Nifty is down 13.15 points at 6681.65. About 4 shares have advanced, 1 shares declined are unchanged.

Reliance, HDFC Bank, ITC, TCS and Cipla are early gainers while Suzlon is up 9 percent. Among the laggards are  BHEL, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank and Tata Power.

The Indian rupee opened with marginal gains of 7 paise at 60.09 per dollar versus 60.16 Friday.The dollar got off to a cautious start having staged a curious reversal late last week that saw it erase all of the gains sparked by a strong payrolls report.

Against the yen, the dollar was back at 102.20, having retreated from a near one-month peak of 103.03. The euro, which fell as low as USD 1.3812, recovered to USD 1.3874.

Agam Gupta of Standard Chartered said that, "Rupee to trade in a narrow range of 59.85-60.25/dollar.'' ''Expect nationalised banks to buy below 60/dollar and exporters to sell on upticks until 60.25/dollar," he added.

In commodities, Brent prices rose as traders covered short positions after fighting intensified between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels, while a positive US Jobs report supported US Crude prices.

From precious metals space, gold rose over a percent on Friday, as rising geopolitical tensions and heavy short-covering helped bullion reverse a sharp sell-off after encouraging us nonfarm payrolls data. The yellow metal is now set for its biggest one-day gain in two months.