Record close for Nifty; realty, metals jump

3:30 pm: Indian benchmarks surged to fresh record highs at Friday close with a 0.3 percent gain, with the Nifty rising 27 points to 8,385 while the Sensex climbed 82 points to 28,023.

High-beta shares led the gains through the day, with stocks of real estate, metals, chemicals and oil & gas rising 2.2 percent, 2.2 percent, 1.7 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. While defensive sectors such as pharmaceuticals and consumer durables closing in the red (down 1.2 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively).

Among individual stocks, top gainers for the day included Hindalco, GAIL, SBI and Tata Steel (up between 2.3 and 3.7 percent) while losers were pharma firms Sun, Cipla and Dr Reddy's lost 1.2 to 2.5 percent.

3:00pm: The Sensex is up 120.59 points at 28061.23, and the Nifty up 31.85 points at 8389.70. About 1549 shares have advanced, 1418 shares declined, and 116 shares are unchanged. The realty index is up 2.5 percent.

Meanwhile, Sukumar Rajah, Templeton Asset Management is bullish on Indian equities and finds the Indian market attractive for long-term investors. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, he said going ahead returns of market will depend on earnings growth of India Inc. He foresees revenue growth of Indian companies to be over 15 percent in next five years.

Rajah is overweight on financials, industrial and consumer discretionaries.

2:30 pm: India would have the fastest economic expansion among Asian countries and its gross domestic product is expected to grow by 6.3 percent in 2015, according to Morgan Stanley forecasts of global economies. The Indian rupee's exchange rate to USD would be at Rs 62.2 by end of next year compared to Rs 62 in the current quarter (Q4 this year), according to a presentation made at the Morgan Stanley's Annual Asia Pacific Summit held here from November 12-14 said.

It is seen at Rs 62.5 in the first two quarters of next year and Rs 62.3 in the third quarter of next year. Comparative to other Asian GDP growths, India would have the fastest economic expansion, it said.

The market seems to be in sluggish mode as it refuses to move ahead. The Sensex is up 41.43 points at 27982.07 and the Nifty is up 12.30 points at 8370.15. About 1570 shares have advanced, 1347 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged.

Metals are up while healthcare stocks are dragging. Hindalco, Coal India, GAIL, SBI and Tata Steel are top gainers while Sun Pharma, Cipla, BHEL, DR Reddy's and HDFC are among the laggards.

The August WPI inflation was revised higher to 3.85 percent from 3.74 percent earlier, the data said. Inflation in the fuel and power segment which include LPG, petrol and diesel declined to 0.43 percent as compared to price rise of 1.33 percent in September.

The Reserve Bank which maintained status quo in interest rate since January, will come out with the monetary policy review on December 2. The RBI factors in retail inflation while formulating its monetary policy. The decline in both retail and WPI inflation for October, coupled with improvement in industrial output for September, will put pressure on the RBI to lower interest rates to boost growth.

Japanese stocks gained on Friday to close near a seven-year intraday high amid choppy trade ahead of Monday's third quarter GDP figures. The Nikkei advanced 0.6 percent to 17,490.83, its fourth consecutive day of gains. For the week, the average has added 3.6 percent and since the Bank of Japan's shock easing on Oct 31 it has soared 11.7 percent. The broader Topix advanced 0.8 percent to 1,400.41, while the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 added 0.8 percent to 12,790.16.

1:50 pm Exclusive: Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has withdrawn power tariff hike of up to 7 percent. DERC chairman said a lot of data was not submitted by the generating companies and discoms and so it has withdrawn.

Yesterday itself the DERC had approved a hike between 2.5 percent to 7 percent for Delhi based Discoms in lieu of power cost going up.

Answering a query if this was a political decision because of upcoming elections in Delhi, and most political parties being against the hike - he said there was no political pressure to withdraw tariff hike and that the decision was taken because of not receiving data.

DERC would examine power purchase cost adjustment charges of generation companies. It has asked for more information from the power generating companies and the discoms. It said further examination of additional cost of generation companies is required.

1:30 pm Market outlook: R Sreesankar, Head - Institutional Equities, Prabhudas Lilladher says given the recent developments in the oil and gas space, oil marketing companies (OMCs) are good trading bets but not investment. He said that OMCs are grappling with regulatory issues and they can still suffer from under-recoveries, so one can't predict their profitability.

Among other stocks, he is bullish on phrama player Cipla and has a buy rating on the stock with a long-term perspective. He also likes FMCG company Britannia.

The market continues to consolidate. The Sensex is up 65.33 points at 28005.97 and the Nifty is up 21.20 points at 8379.05. About 1513 shares have advanced, 1265 shares declined, and 91 shares are unchanged.

SBI is up 2 percent as its September quarter profit is in-line with estimates at Rs 3100 crore with stable asset quality.

Hindalco, Gail, Coal India, Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Cipla, Sun Pharma, Tata Power and Dr Reddy's Labs.

Bhel is down 2 percent as it Q2 margins disappointed at 4.7 percent. Its profits were at Rs125 crore versus a CNBC-TV18 poll of Rs 380 crore.

WPI for the month of October eases to a multi-year low, at 1.77 percent versus 2.38 percent in the previous month. The ease was driven by downward movement in primary articles, manufactured items, and fuel and power.

12:55 pm Results: Net profit of State Bank of India jumped to Rs 3100 crore in the quarter ended September 30. During the quarter, its net interest income (NIIs) stood at Rs 13274 crore. This is almost in-line with CNBC-TV18 poll.

According to estimates, the country's largest lender was expected to post Q2 net profit growth of 30 percent at Rs 3096 crore from Rs 2375 crore in the year-ago period. Analysts expected NIMs to grow 11 percent to Rs 13588 crore versus Rs 12251 crore year-on-year.

SBI's asset quality, a factor which most analysts were looking out for, was stable with Q2 gross non-performing assets at 4.89 percent versus 4.9 percent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q). Net NPA was at 2.73 percent versus 2.66 percent sequentially.

12:30 pm Outlook: The market is currently in an expectation and delivery phase and hence there are high hopes from the Winter Session, says Sandeep Bhatia, executive director & head- sales, Kotak Institutional Equities. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Bhatia says the tabling of the good and services tax (GST) and the Insurance Bill is high on everyone's agenda for now.

On the government's progress so far, Bhatia says the BJP seems to be committed to winning state elections even after its landslide vistory in the general elections this year.

The market has caught some momentum after October WPI data was announced. Inflation data based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for October hit multi-year low at 1.77 percent against 2.38 percent on a month on month basis. A CNBC-TV18 poll had estimated WPI to come in at 2 percent on a lower primary and fuel inflation.

The Sensex is up 86.96 points at 28027.60 and the Nifty is up 25.65 points at 8383.50.
About 1564 shares have advanced, 1144 shares declined, and 93 shares are unchanged.

GAIL, Coal India, Tata Steel, ONGC and Hindalco are up over 2 percent each. Among the losers are Cipla, Tata Power, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs and HUL.

Gold prices moved down by 0.24 percent to Rs 25,760 per 10 grams in futures trade today as
participants engaged in offloading of positions amid a weak trend overseas as physical demand declined.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold for delivery in December declined by Rs 62, or 0.24 per cent, to Rs 25,760 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 445 lots.

11:30 am Buzzing: Shares of DLF rose 3 percent intraday after its September quarter results bet expectations. The realty developer's consolidated net profit grew 9 percent to Rs 109.06 crore in Q2, driven by higher sales.

Deutsche Bank has a hold rating with a target of Rs 170 per share. It said that DLF posted strong Q2FY15 earnings, anchored largely by greater focus on execution, as manifest in handing over of 7.8 million square feet (msf) to customers) highest delivery in past 6 quarters.

The brokerage says that while September quarter earnings have been a positive surprise overall, the medium-term sentiment over stock will largely be driven by judicial developments.

The market is consolidating with the Sensex up 64.43 points at 28005.07. The Nifty is up 19.75 points at 8377.60. About 1424 shares have advanced, 1018 shares declined, and 73 shares are unchanged.

Tata Power is down 2 percent while Cipla, Dr Reddy's Labs, HUL and Sun Pharma are among the losers. The gainers include GAIL, ONGC, SBI, Bajaj Auto and Coal India.

Brent crude edged above USD 78 a barrel but remained close to a four-year low because of concern over excess supply and uncertainty over whether oil cartel OPEC would cut production at a meeting in two weeks.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi appeared to rule out a cut in output but other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are pushing for action to tackle the fall in prices when delegates meet in Vienna on November 27. Oil prices have plunged 30 percent since June.

10:50 am Result: Diageo-controlled United Spirits reported a net loss of Rs 27.8 crore for the September quarter, against a net profit of Rs 94.3 crore in the year ago period. The bottomline was weighed down by an exceptional loss of Rs 74 crore during the quarter. Total income for the quarter rose 8 percent year-on-year to Rs 2178.6 crore. Operating profit rose slightly year-on-year to Rs 233 crore against Rs 223 crore, but operating margin fell 40 basis points to 10.7 percent against 11.1 percent.

The company said that overall volume sales for the quarter rose 5.8 percent to 29.7 million, and that the September quarter was traditionally a lean quarter operationally.

10:30 am Exclusive: The government is approaching banking sector reforms in a proper and correct manner, is the word coming in from Anshu Jain, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank. It is looking to strengthen the balance sheets of public sector banks, which is needed if India is to achieve and enjoy the 7-8 percent GDP growth that it aspires to, he adds

Shifting focus to the Indian market, he says the fundamentals are looking good and there seems to be a new mood of optimism as far as the Sensex is concerned and there certainly are early signs that suggest that the tide may have shifted.

Investors today seem confident that the Narendra Modi government will follow through and deliver on promises.

The market is struggling to pick up pace in early trade. The Sensex is up 55.71 points at 27996.35 and the Nifty is up 13.35 points at 8371.20. About 1269 shares have advanced, 810 shares declined and 60 shares are unchanged.

Oil & gas stocks have recovered after yesterday's massive fall reacting to government increasing excise duty of petrol and diesel. GAIL, Bajaj Auto, ONGC, Coal India and Tata Motors are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Power, Cipla, Dr Reddy's Labs, HUL and Sun Pharma.

Gold eased and was likely to finish lower for a third week in four, as a resilient dollar and strong US economic data undercut bullion's appeal as a hedge. It has failed to recover strongly from a 4-1/2-year low of USD 1,131.85 hit last week, on steady outflows from gold-backed funds.

The dollar rose to a fresh seven-year high against the yen, bolstered by rising Japanese equities amid speculation that Japan's leader would call an election and delay a sales tax hike.

9:50 am Fund raising: Private sector lender ICICI Bank raised 600 million yuans from the Chinese debt market (Dim Sum bonds) or a little over USD 95 million, at a coupon of 4 per cent, merchant banking sources said here this evening.

This is the fourth time that the city-based lender has tapped the Dim sum bond market and has so far raised 2,050 million yuans.

According to merchant bankers, the three-year money has been raised by ICICI's Bahrain branch and will be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The issue is part of the bank's USD 7.5 billion medium term note programme.

Dim sum bonds are denominated in the Chinese currency and are issued in the Hong Kong market, and therefore resident Chinese investors cannot subscribe to these instruments.

9:35 am Result poll: Tata Motors is likely to post consolidated net revenue growth of 7.5 percent at Rs 61180crore in the quarter ended September 30 versus Rs 56882 crore in the year-ago period. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, the auto major's net is seen rising 26 percent to Rs 4457 crore from Rs 3541.8 crore year-on-year (Y-o-Y).

Its EBITDA is seen growing 22 percent at Rs 10530 crore while operating profit margin (OPM) may have grown 17.2 percent versus 15.2 percent Y-o-Y.

The market has opened flat. The Sensex is up 19.71 points at 27960.35 and the Nifty is up 2.85 points at 8360.70. About 465 shares have advanced, 222 shares declined, and 36 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, SBI, Wipro and ONGC are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Power, Cipla, GAIL, BHEL and Bharti Airtel.

The Indian rupee opened marginally lower at 61.62 per dollar versus 61.55 Thursday. Dollar holds near 7-year high versus the yen as investors continued to monitor whether Japan's leader would call an election and delay a sales tax hike.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "We expect Indian equities to open in the green and touch a new high. Rupee too, is expected to appreciate backed by the strength in local equities. We see range for the rupee between Rs 61.20-61.80/dollar."

The Dow industrials closed at a record high, boosted by gains in Wal-Mart, but the S&P 500 was little changed as energy shares tracked crude futures prices lower.

European market too ended in the green while Asian market is mixed in morning trade. In other asset classes, crude prices plunged, with Brent Crude slipping to USD 77 per barrel on global growth concerns. Nymex too dropped to USD 74. Precious metal gold continues to trade flat at around USD 1160 an ounce.