Sensex ends 105 points down; SAIL slips 2%, ITC gains 2%

03:30 Market closing
After a day of consolidation, the market ended in red. The Sensex closed down 104.72 points at 28458.10 and the Nifty slipped 26.10 points at 8538.30. About 1364 shares have advanced, 1603 shares declined, and 92 shares are unchanged.

IT, oil and pharma stocks dragged the indices with major losers like Dr Reddy's Labs, TCS, Sun Pharma, Wipro and Cipla. SAIL closed with 2.4 percent loss. M&M, ITC, Sesa Sterlite, HDFC and Coal India were top gainers in the Sensex.

03:10 pm Revival of Dabhol
Reiterating that revival of the beleaguered Dabhol was on the cards, NTPC today said all possible options are being explored for the same.

"Dabhol will be revived. How can we afford in a country like ours to leave one project to get killed by itself. Many options are being considered and it has to be revived," NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury told reporters.

The Dabhol or Ratnagiri Gas and Power Ltd (RGPPL), is currently not generating electricity.

02:55pm HCC in News
Hindustan Construction Company climbed more than 6 percent on selling annuity road project in Andhra Pradesh by its subsidiary HCC Concessions.

HCC Concessions (the infrastructure development arm of the HCC Group), today announced the sale of Nirmal BOT to Highway Concession One Private Limited, an entity majorly held by IDFC Alternatives managed India Infrastructure Fund, said the company in its filing.

HCC Concessions will receive total consideration of Rs 64 crore for the transaction, it added.

Highway Concessions One will acquire 74 percent equity stake upfront, while the balance 26 percent equity stake will be acquired upon receipt of an approval from NHAI. Additionally, Nirmal has also received an arbitration award in its favour for Rs 16.67 crore, which will be payable to HCC, upon receipt.

Nirmal was the first NHAI BOT project of the HCC Group and was completed in July 2009. The project, awarded by NHAI for a concession period of 20 years, has been operational for 5 years now. The project was developed with a total capital cost of Rs 315 crore.

02:30pm SAIL OFS
State-run SAIL's offer for sale issue fully subscribed today. The issue received bids for 27.09 crore shares, which was 1.3 times over the total issue size of 20.6 crore shares.

Indicative price came in at Rs 83.49 a share as against floor price of Rs 83 apiece decided by the company yesterday.

The government will divest its 5 percent stake in SAIL. It means the shareholding of the government will be reduced to 75 percent from current 80 percent. Through this, the government hopes to rake in Rs 1500-1700 crore.

Retail investors will get shares at a discount of 5 percent.

The stock fell nearly 2 percent to Rs 83.85 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

02:00pm Market Check
The market remained flat as the 50-share NSE Nifty hovered around the 8550 mark while midcaps exhibited mild outperformance. Meanwhile for the week the benchmark indices are likely to be flat and the NSE Midcap Index is headed to close with 3 percent gains.

The Sensex declined 4.33 points to 28558.49 and the Nifty rose 1.10 points to 8565.50. About 1498 shares have advanced, 1292 shares declined, and 107 shares are unchanged.

Nirmal Jain of IIFL told CNBC-TV18 that the Budget is expected to be a good one and the underlying trend for this market is strong. He does not expect to see any correction atleast until the Budget in February.

Sesa Sterlite topped the buying list in the Sensex, up 2.66 percent followed by Mahindra and Mahindra, and ITC climbed nearly 2 percent. L&T, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank advanced 0.2-0.8 percent. However, shares of TCS, Infosys, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sun Pharma, ONGC and Wipro declined 1-2 percent.

In important stock action, India's largest lender SBI cut interest rates of three retail term deposits by 25 basis points. The management told CNBC-TV18 that the bank expects a positive impact on margins, liquidity in the system is adequate and that base rates will be cut in CY15.

The rupee recovered marginally to 61.86 a dollar compared to a close of 61.92 in previous session on increased selling of the dollar by exporters and banks amid persistent foreign capital flows.

Global markets remained upbeat with consistent outperformance from the Shanghai index. For the week, Shanghai rallied 10 percent. For today, European markets also traded in the green with a gain of 0.5 percent.

1:50 pm Price rise?  Bajaj Auto is looking to raise prices of its two models - Platina and Discover - from next month in order to partially offset increase in input costs. The Pune-based company had earlier raised prices of its Pulsar model range by Rs 1,000 at the end of festival season this year.

"We plan to hike prices of Discover and Platina models in January. We have not hiked the prices of these models so far," Bajaj Auto Ltd President (Motorcycle) Eric Vas told PTI.

The company has, however, not yet decided on the quantum of the price hike, he added. "We have'nt decided on the quantum of the hike so far but it will definitely depend on two things. One, we will have to look at the sales performance and secondly also have to consider excise duty structure going ahead," Vas said.

1:30 pm Interview: RK Jain, Group President Finance, Uflex in an interview to CNBC-TV18 said there will be no major impact on margins from crude derivatives. Neither does he expect exceptional jump in profits because there's being a pass through industry, both fall or rise in raw material costs is passed on to the consumers. So, this time too the benefits of crude derivatives will be passed on, says Jain.

However, only if there is too much volatility in the raw material costs then it becomes a bit difficult to pass though and causes problems in fixing the prices of products, he adds.

Jain says 85-90 percent of raw material costs for the company are on account of crude derivatives.

The market has slipped into red as IT stocks drag. The Sensex is down 61.06 points at 28501.76, and the Nifty is down 15.80 points at 8548.60. About 1391 shares have advanced, 1319 shares declined, and 123 shares are unchanged.

IT stocks TCS, Infosys and Wipro are down 1-2 percent each. Among other losers include Dr Reddy's Labs and ONGC. Sesa Sterlite, M&M, ITC, Tata Power and L&T are top gainers in the Sensex.

Manufacturing and services sectors in India expanded at a faster pace than China in November, even as emerging market output slipped for the second consecutive month to a six-month low, a HSBC survey said today. The HSBC Emerging Markets Index (EMI), a monthly indicator derived from PMI surveys, slipped for the second month running to 51.2, signalling the weakest rate of expansion since May

12:55pm Interview
The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has granted industrial licences to several defence companies. In tune with the Modi government's 'Make in India' push, the DIPP has cleared most of the 34 industrial licence proposals stuck since 2012.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 about the same, MV Kotwal, Whole-time Director & President (Heavy Engineering), L&T said that the company sees strong orders coming from defence sector.

He added that the company has been present in this sector for almost 25 years and has expertise in building key warships and submarines.

Kotwal sees award opportunity of USD 18-20 billion in army and navy each.

12:45pm SBI in News
India's largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) has cut interest rates of three retail term deposits below Rs 1 crore by 25 basis points with effect from December 8.

Term deposits for 1-3 years and 3-5 years has been lowered to 8.5 percent from existing 8.75 percent, while for 5 years and above it has been reduced to 8.25 percent from current 8.50 percent.

The above rates will also be applicable to NRE deposits for tenors of one year and above.

12:30pm Iron ore imports in FY15
India's iron ore imports rose to a record 6.76 million tonnes in the first seven months of its fiscal year as sliding global prices and limited supply at home pushed steel producers to buy the raw material overseas, industry data showed today.

Formerly the world's No. 3 supplier of iron ore, India has been importing over the last two years due to court-imposed restrictions aimed at curbing illegal mining in the key producing states of Karnataka and Goa.

The shortage deepened this year as some mines in Odisha and Jharkhand were ordered closed after the expiry of licences.

But analysts say India is unlikely to absorb a big chunk of the global surplus that has halved iron ore prices this year.

Global seaborne iron ore supply will grow by around 330 million tonnes over the next three years, far outpacing demand that will rise by just 194 million tonnes in the same period, Morgan Stanley said in October.

JSW Steel, India's third largest steel producer, imported 4.6 million tonnes of iron ore in April-November, followed by Tata Steel with nearly 1 million tonnes, according to data from industry consultancy SteelMint, which tracked shipments at 12 ports, reports Reuters.

12:00pm Market Check
The market remained lacklustre in trade with the 30-share BSE Sensex hovering around 28500 level. The index declined 32.22 points to 28530.60 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 4.70 points to 8559.70.

About 1434 shares have advanced, 1158 shares declined, and 115 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Deven Choksey of KR Choksey Shares and Securities feels the market would remain in consolidation phase ranging from 8,400 to 8,800 in December series.

TCS, Wipro, ONGC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and BPCL topped the selling list, falling 1-2 percent whereas Sesa Sterlite, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, DLF, Ambuja Cements and ACC gained 1-2 percent.

SAIL traded with 1.5 percent losses. The Government of India is going to sell 20.6 crore shares via the offer for sale route at a floor price of Rs 83 per share today. Brokerages are not impressed as Macquarie says risk reward is unfavourable while Ambit recommends avoiding the issue.

Mangalore Chemical, Zuari Industries and Deepak Fertilizers traded higher today as the fight for Mangalore Chemicals intensified. The Zuari group made a fresh open offer for 25.90 percent stake in Mangalore Chemicals at Rs 91.92 per share.

Asian markets traded mixed. Nikkei hit a fresh multi-year high while the Shanghai also reversed early losses. All eyes are now on the US jobs data expected later today.

11:50 am Interview: Vinod Aggarwal, CEO-VE, Commercial Vehicles Eicher Motors is optimistic of seeing a positive turn for the Commercial Vehicle industry (CV) going forward. According to him the CV industry is slated to grow by 4-5 percent on blended basis for FY15 led by heavy duty truck segment. There has been a 60 percent sales growth in Heavy Duty Truck segment because of low base and revival in the industry. He is also hopeful of seeing a recovery in the light duty truck after six months.

Government actions like coal block auction etc could further propel industry growth, says Aggarwal. The bus segment according to him continues to see a drop led by low purchases by state transport undertakings but going forward the state transport undertakings are likely to purchase more next year based on the government assisted Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme.

11:30 am Market outlook: The long-term India growth story backed by the new government's efforts to turnaround the economy is selling among foreign investors like hot cakes. According to CNBC-TV18's Udayan Mukherjee, the inflow of foreign funds into the Indian market is likely to continue next year as well. While there is no evidence or cue in sight that FIIs will back out of India in a hurry, China could spoil the FII party for India, he cautioned.

China's outperformance against peers is getting more pronounced now. Foreign investors have made money both in India and China, so a portfolio shift from India to China seems to be the only worry, he said. Start of the next year better would be a better time to analyse FII flows, but one should keep an eye on China, he added.

Meanwhile, Mukherjee recommends traders to follow the market trend with caution. For investors, he suggests shuffling portfolios. The broader market is performing better. Stick to high quality stocks and buy on dips, he added.  Further, passive investors can consider index funds.

The market consolidates for the second day as the benchmark indices trade flat. The Sensex is up 17.05 points at 28579.87 and the Nifty is up 5.95 points at 8570.35. About 1424 shares have advanced, 858 shares declined, and 90 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite, Bharti Airtel, ITC, M&M and GAIL are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Dr Reddy's Labs and HUL.

SpiceJet loses almost 11 percent in trade after the Airports Authority of India withdraws credit facility for the company for all airports in the country.

Asian markets trade mixed. Nikkei hits a fresh multi-year high while the Shanghai markets come off their three-year highs. All eyes are now on the US jobs data expected later today.

Oil fell in Asia today after major producer Saudi Arabia slashed the price of the crude
that it sells to Asia and the United States, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery tumbled 31 cents to USD 66.50 a barrel in late-morning trade and Brent crude for January dropped 38 cents to USD 69.26.

10:55am Ashiana Housing in News
Shares of Ashiana Housing hit a life high of Rs 216 on foraying into Chennai's real estate market.

The New Delhi-based real estate firm has entered the Chennai market by signing a development agreement, on revenue sharing basis, with Escapade Real Estate.

Escapade is a group company of Chennai-based real estate company Arihant Foundations and Housing. The joint venture will develop a 'senior living project' as well as 'regular group housing project' on 20 acres (approximately) of land with saleable area of 9.70 lakhs square feet (approximately), said the company in its filing.

10:25am Market Expert
Ajay Srivastava of Dimensions Consulting expects the market to correct in January as he feels the market is getting too optimistic about the macro recovery and about the upcoming Budget.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he says the excise duty hikes in fuel is a clear indicator of the stress being faced by the government in meeting revenue targets.

Srivastava is advising investors to be cautious while investing in midcaps as the gains in quite a few are unwarranted.

10:00am Market Check
Equity benchmarks remained in a consolidation mode for the fourth consecutive session today but the broader markets outperformed frontline indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 47.17 points to 28609.99 and the 50-share NSE Nifty advanced 10.70 points to 8575.10. More than two shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Shares of ITC, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel were top contributors to the Sensex down 0.4-1 percent.

However, the fall in TCS, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Wipro, Dr Reddy's Labs, State Bank of India, Hero Motocorp and Sun Pharma capped the gains. These stocks declined 0.2-1 percent.

Among midcaps, Pipavav Defence, Atul, Honeywell Automation, Sundaram-Clayton and NBCC rallied 4-8 percent while Vaibhav Global, Kaveri Seed, Responsive Industries, Coromandel International and Natco Pharma fell 2-3 percent.

In the smallcap space, SQS India BFSI, Selan Exploration, Mangalore Chemicals, Zensar Tech and Elantas Beck surged 8-13 percent whereas Moryo, Supreme Infra, Sunflag Iron, Genus Power and PFL Infotech slipped 2-5 percent.

9:50 am ECB action: The European Central Bank will decide early next year whether to take further action to revive the euro zone's economy, its president said on Thursday, signalling that he would not allow opposition from Germany or anyone else to stop it. In his clearest language yet, Mario Draghi underlined the central bank's commitment to supporting the ailing economy of the 18-country bloc, and argued the case for printing fresh money to buy assets such as state bonds.

But his remarks, which came within minutes of a meeting where he clashed with German officials over his ambitions, set him on a possible collision course with the euro zone's biggest and single most important country. Painting a gloomy picture of the euro bloc's prospects, Draghi announced that the ECB expected economic output to be lower in the coming years than it had predicted three months ago, while a slump in the price of oil would further weaken inflation.

9:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) slipped 2 percent intraday as its offer-for-sale (OFS) kicks off. The government, which will divest its 5 percent stake in SAIL has fixed the floor price at Rs 83 per share. The government, which has 80 percent stake in SAIL, plans to sell up to 206.5 million shares through an auction on the stock exchanges. Through this, the government hopes to rake in Rs 1500-1700 crore.

"Government expects to garner Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 1,700 crore from SAIL disinvestment. Floor price will be Rs 83 and retail investors will get a discount of 5 percent," an official said after a meeting on SAIL disinvestment in the finance ministry.

The SAIL offering would be the first PSU share sale under the new government, which targets to raise Rs 43,425 crore through share sales in various state-owned firms during the ongoing fiscal. Retail investors would get a discount of 5 percent to the bid price in the SAIL offering.

The market has opened on a flat note. The Sensex is at 28606, up 41.80 points while the Nifty is at 8571, up 6.9 points. About 689 shares have advanced, 282 shares declined, and 41 shares are unchanged.

Bharti, Sesa Sterlite, GAIL, ITC and Coal India are top gainers in the Sensex while losers include Tata Motors, Cipla, SBI, HUL and HDFC Bank. Mangalore Chemicals is up 11 percent as Adventz Group makes fresh open offer for the company.

The Indian rupee rose in the early trade. It has opened higher by 10 paise at 61.83 per dollar against the previous close of 61.93.The euro trades higher against most of its peers after ECB Chief Draghi disappoints. But the currency could struggle to extend gains if US employment data due later in the day re-energize dollar bulls.

Himanshu Arora of Religare said, "Rupee is expected to trade slightly higher today amid surging Indian equities and consistent inflows into the economy. The Rs 14,000 crore bond auction today will support rupee. Range for the day is seen between 61.77-62.08/dollar."

Stocks in the US closed marginally lower with benchmarks not far from record highs, as investors considered reports that the European Central Bank would consider a broad-based package of quantitative easing in January and awaited the monthly jobs report.

Most Asian markets are up except the Nikkei. In Europe, the European Central Bank has voted to leave interest rates at their current record lows across the eurozone. That means the headline rate is pegged at just 0.05 percent while banks are charged deposit rate of negative 0.2 percent to leave money with the ECB overnight. The rates on its marginal lending facility has also been left unchanged at 0.3 percent.

In a speech that followed the statement Mario Draghi hinted that further stimulus measures including QE that involves the purchase of sovereign bonds, might be on the agenda in early 2015. Listen in to those comments. Markets closed lower after ECB president Mario Draghi's regular press conference revealed that any further monetary easing measures would not be instituted until next year.

In commodities, crude prices fall as the debate for a sustainable price level continued after Saudi Arabia announced deep discounts for the crude it sells to Asian and US buyers in an apparent attempt to defend its market share.

From precious metals space - gold prices hover around USD 1200 an ounce as the euro rebounded against the dollar.