Sensex ends 91 points higher; Nifty just short of 10,400; Infy up 2%

3:30 pm Market at Close: After trading steady through the day, frontline indices ended the week on a very positive note as the Nifty closed just short of 10,400-mark.

The Sensex closed higher by 91.16 points at 33679.24, while the Nifty was up 40.90 points at 10389.70. The market breadth was positive as 1506 shares advanced against a decline of 1227 shares, while 154 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, Bajaj Auto, GAIL and Aurobindo Pharma were the top gainers, while BHEL, SBI, Hindalco and Vedanta were the top losers.

3:15 pm Expert view: Moody's upgraded their rating on India last week and all eyes are now on the Standard & Poor's (S&P) report that is expected soon. How will this change the global eye on India? CNBC-TV18's Udayan Mukherjee caught up with Rana Gupta, Managing Director-Indian Equities of Manulife Asset Management and asked him about the Indian market and his thoughts on fresh buying over taking profits.

Valuations are not cheap but it is not expensive either considering that earnings growth has come back this quarter, he said.

We expect that trend to strengthen going forward, he added.

In terms of taking profits, we would rather avoid stocks where the valuation is expensive and the earnings recovery is not there, said Gupta.

We remain bullish on life insurance sector, he further mentioned.

3:00 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices erased some of its gains as Sensex was up 89.42 points at 33677.50, and the Nifty was up 39.30 points at 10388.10.

About 1442 shares have advanced, 1149 shares declined, and 133 shares are unchanged.

Infosys, M&M, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Auto, Aurobindo Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Infratel are top gainers on the Indices, while top losers are ICICI Bank, Tata Motors DVR, Hero Motocorp, Tata Steel and Adani Ports.

2:47 pm Winter Session: The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Friday recommended that the Winter Session of Parliament will be held from December 15 to January 5.

The Cabinet Committee headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh met on Friday to decide on the dates of the Winter Session.

"We request and seek cooperation from all parties, including the opposition, for smooth functioning of both Houses to make this session fruitful," Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said.

2:35 pm Buzzing Stock: Bajaj Auto was higher by over 2 percent before trimming some of its gains.

Brokerage house Motilal Oswal is upbeat about the stock and placed a target of Rs 4,197.

The brokerage said that volume growth coupled with improving mix to drive margin expansion. Further, it said that regulatory changes were driving medium term visibility. Stability in markets like Nigeria, ramp up in new markets are driving revival in exports.

2:12 pm Market Check: The Sensex is trading over 100 points higher, while the Nifty was hovering around 10,400.

The market breadth was positive as 1485 shares advanced against a decline of 1033 shares, while 146 shares were unchanged.

2:05 pm Auction: Leading stock exchange BSE today said it will auction investment limits on Monday, enabling foreign investors to purchase government bonds nearly worth Rs 4,000 crore.

The auction will be conducted on BSE's ebidxchange platform from 1530 hrs to 1730 hrs, after the close of market hours, the exchange said in a circular.

The debt auction quota gives overseas investors the right to invest in the debt up to the limit purchased.

1:50 pm Europe check: European equities were slightly higher on Friday morning amid lower liquidity levels due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up by 0.1 percent with the biggest European bourses trading slightly higher. Food and beverages was the top performing sector in early deals with Danone leading the gains. The stock rose 1.5 percent following news that China put an end to tariffs on some consumer products.

1:30 pm Drug pricing: The national drug price regulator on Friday fixed the ceiling price of 51 more drug formulations that include vaccines and medicines to treat hepatitis-C, kidney diseases, hemophilia B, cardiac problems and cancers making them much cheaper than the prevailing market prices.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which brought 51 scheduled formulations of Schedule-I under Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, asked manufacturers that are selling the branded or generic drugs at a price higher than the ceiling price to immediately comply with the notification.

The new price caps are likely to hit many Indian drug makers' domestic formulation businesses.

1:05 pm Market Check: Frontline indices continued to trade in the positive terrain, with the Sensex hovering around morning gains. The Nifty traded around 10,400-point mark.

The Sensex was up 82.78 points at 33670.86, while the Nifty was up 36.40 points at 10385.20. The market breadth is positive as 1502 shares advanced against a decline of 944 shares, while 150 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank gained the most, while Tata Motors DVR, Hindalco, Vedanta and Wipro lost the most.

European equities are seen slightly higher on Friday morning amid lower liquidity levels due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The FTSE 100 is seen up by 0.2 points at 7,412; the DAX is expected to start up by 13 points at 12,009 and the CAC 40 is set to open up by 1.3 points at 5,376, according to IG.

12:55 pm Sale complete: Reliance Industries today said it has completed sale of its interest in one of the three shale gas assets in the US to BKV Chelsea for USD 126 million.

Reliance Marcellus II, LLC, a subsidiary of Reliance Holding USA and RIL, closed the sale of its stake in the Marcellus shale gas asset operated by Carrizo Oil and Gas, the company said in a statement.

The transaction, which was announced on October 6, will be effective April 1, 2017.

RIL held stakes in three US shale gas ventures - 45 per cent with Pioneer Natural Resources in the Eagle Ford shale play; 40 per cent with Chevron and 60 per cent with Carrizo Oil & Gas in the Marcellus Shale play.

12:45 pm IPO plans: State owned HAL's initial public offering (IPO) could just be round the corner as the company has received all regulatory approvals and the IPO could be announced soon.

CNBC-TV18's Rukmini Rao caught up with T Suverna Raju, Chairman and Managing Director of the company and asked him on the timeline of the IPO and the company's orderbook.

''We know that we got the clearance from Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). It is a process. Process is on and as the process moves on, you will see the thing getting opened up, so there is no hurdle, no restriction, it is just the process time,'' he said.

12:20 pm Results: Siemens today reported a sharp 74.94 per cent decline in standalone net profit at Rs 623.77 crore for the fourth quarter to September on account of lower exceptional income.

The company, which follows October to September financial cycle, had reported net profit of Rs 2,489.62 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Its total income fell 2.54 per cent to Rs 3,204.8 crore, from Rs 3,288.46 crore earlier, Siemens said in a BSE filing.

During the quarter under review, Siemens reported an exceptional income of Rs 560.3 crore following the sale of a property in Worli in Mumbai. In the September quarter of 2016, Siemens had reported an exceptional income of Rs 2,992.32 crore.

12:05 pm Expert View: How has the Moody's upgrade changed the outlook on equities and how are earnings likely to pan out going forward?

Watch accompanying video here for a word from Kenneth Andrade, Founder & CIO of Old Bridge Capital who has been there, done that and watched this market for long.

11:50 am Gujarat Pipavav surges: Shares of Gujarat Pipavav Port surged 5.2 percent intraday Friday as HSBC has upgraded the stock to hold from reduce rating.

The broking firm has also hiked price target to Rs 144 from Rs 120

Maersk Line has revised two of its services that would raise Pipavav's annual container throughput by 15 percent, it said.
The firm has raised earnings estimates over financial years till March 2019 by 4-16 percent, driven by higher throughput from the additional service.

11:35 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of Info Edge India trading flat on Friday as foreign brokerage Jefferies has downgraded the stock to hold from buy rating.

However, it has hiked price target to Rs 1,150 from Rs 1,118.

The firm has downgraded the stock as risk-reward unfavourable, while hiked the target price to factor in higher value for Zomato.

Prospects for Zomato have improved over the last 12 months, helped by strong momentum in online ordering and lower cash burn, it added.

11:15 am Market Check: Frontline indices continued to trade steady, with Nifty holding 10375-mark.

The Sensex is up 91.70 points at 33679.78, while the Nifty is up 33.20 points at 10382.00. The market breadth was positive as 1468 shares advanced against a decline of 804 shares, while 98 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, Bajaj Auto, Aurobindo Pharma and Infosys were the top gainers, while HUL, Tata Steel and Zee Entertainment lost the most.

10:48 am Price on Display: The government has ordered manufacturers of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) to display new price tags on existing stock so that the recent Goods and Services Tax (GST) cut is reflected, The Economic Times reported.

The order came from the Department of Consumer Affairs' Metrology Division, which looks at matters pertaining to measurement and labelling.

"Permission is granted under the legal metrology rules to affix an additional sticker or stamping for declaration of reduced MRPs (maximum retail prices). Earlier labelling of MRP will continue to be visible," the division said in a letter dated November 16 that the newspaper reviewed.

10:32 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of Swaraj Engines rose 16.5 percent intraday Friday on the back of buyback proposal.

A meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on November 28, 2017 to consider the proposal to buyback the fully paid-up equity shares of the company.

The trading window for the designated employees of the company will remain closed with the immediate effect and shall re-open only after 48 hours from the announcement of outcome of the board meeting to stock exchanges.

10:20 am Management Speak: In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Rajnish Kumar, Chairman of State Bank of India shared his views and readings on the bankruptcy code change.

Kumar said that the promoters can bid provided they make accounts standard by paying over dues.

According to him ordinance amending Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) makes it difficult for the promoters to bid.

He further said that enterprise will get fair value depending on quality of physical assets.

Talking about delays in resolution process, he said if the promoters challenge the law, there may be a delay.

On Moody's rating front, he said Moody's upgrade will lead to lower cost of borrowing.

10:02 am Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to trade steady, holding on to its opening gains, while the Nifty continued to hold 10,350.

The Sensex is up 86.96 points at 33675.04, while the Nifty is up 30.20 points at 10379.00. The market breadth was positive as 1287 shares advanced against a decline of 641 shares, while 101 shares were unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers, while HUL, Adani Ports, Zee Entertainment and HUL lost the most.

9:45 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of Bata India fell 3 percent intraday on Friday as investors turned cautious after Motilal Oswal downgraded the stock.

The broking firm downgraded the stock to sell, with a target of Rs 578, a downside of 23 percent.

The brokerage highlighted how the company's focus has been on product premiumisation. ''The intent is to expand average realization through premiumization and increase the revenue contribution of premium products from 30% to 45% in FY18. However, with subdued growth in 1HFY18, we expect the ramping up of premium products' contribution to get pushed to FY19, with marginal margin expansion of 70bp in FY18 to 12% and 100bp thereafter to 13% in FY19,'' the brokerage said in a report.

9:30 am Market Outlook: Chris Wood of CLSA said, "Investors need to ignore the short-term noise and focus on the long-term positives represented by the introduction of GST. In greed & fear's view it is correct to assume that most of the teething problems arising from the implementation of GST will be sorted within 6-12 months."

"If Modi remains well positioned, the rest of his first term in office is likely to be focused on generating jobs ahead of the April-May 2019 general election. There are three areas where Modi hopes to generate job growth in the next 18 months. The first, and by far the most important, is in the ramp up of affordable housing under Modi's "Housing for All by 2022" policy."

9:15 am Market Opens: Frontline indices began on a positive note, with the Nifty opening above 10,350-mark. Midcap index was trading at a record high, but at par with the benchmarks.

The Sensex was up 70.74 points at 33658.82, while the Nifty is up 23.00 points at 10371.80. The market breadth was positive as 641 shares advanced, against a decline of 227 shares, while 33 shares were unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, Cipla and Bharti Infratel gained the most on both indices, while HUL, Asian Paints, Zee Entertainment and HPCL were the top losers.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 64.58 per dollar on Friday versus previous close 64.58.

Bhaskar Panda of HDFC Bank said, "The dollar had lost some sheen yesterday after FOMC minutes cautious about inflation. In Indian markets, the rupee gained on the hopes of a favourable S&P decision after Moody's upgraded India ratings."

"Expect USD-INR pair to trade within a range of 64.50-64.70 today with a further appreciation bias."

Asian markets were mixed, following a relatively quiet overnight trading session as U.S. markets had been closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Investors also kept an eye on Chinese markets, which bounced back after taking a tumble in the last session.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was lower by 0.47 percent as markets reopened for trade after a day off. Losses were seen in trading houses, banks, manufacturing and retail names. Technology stocks were a mixed picture: Nintendo rose 1.98 percent, SoftBank Group edged up 0.46 percent and Sharp was down 0.98 percent.

In the US, The Nasdaq composite eked out a record close on Wednesday, led by gains in Amazon. The tech-heavy index closed 0.1 percent higher at 6,867.36 as Amazon gained more than 1 percent. Amazon shares rose after CNBC reported the company's cloud business is about to announce a huge health-care deal with Cerner, one of the largest health technology companies in the world. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average, meanwhile, finished lower after Federal Reserve expresses concern about the impact of the market's sharp rise on the economy in a summary of its previous meeting.