Sensex ends on sombre note, Nifty above 9500; Axis Bank, Tata Steel gain

3:30 Market at Close: On the expiry day of June F&O series, benchmark indices ended on a sombre note, with the Nifty ending just above 9500-mark. Both Sensex and the Nifty had gained strong during the course of the day, only to trim them into the final hours of trade.

The Sensex closed up 23.20 points at 30857.52, while the Nifty ended 12.85 points higher at 9504.10. The market breadth was positive as 1597 shares advanced against a decline of 980 shares, while 162 shares were unchanged.

Axis Bank, Tata Steel and Vedanta were the top gainers, while Kotak Mahindra Bank and Tata Motors DVR lost the most.

Among midcaps, CARE, Jaiprakash Associates, Jaypee Infratech, Jaiprakash Power, GVK Power, Reliance Communications, Shiva Cement, Can Fin Homes, DHFL and PNB Housing Finance rallied 3-15 percent while InterGlobe Aviation and RCF lost 2-6 percent.

3:25 pm NPA: Top lender SBI and other creditors have moved insolvency proceedings against Kolkata- based Electrosteel Steels at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

State Bank of India initiated the corporate insolvency resolution process and filed the documents with NCLT, Kolkata, against the company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, Electrosteel Steels said in a regulatory filing.

Electrosteel Steels owes Rs 10,274 crore to the consortium of banks led by SBI.

3:17 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks erased all gains amid volatility ahead of expiry of June futures & options contracts.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 4.89 points at 30,829.43 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 6.60 points to 9,497.85.

The market breadth remained strong as about two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

3:10 pm Turnover: National Stock Exchange recorded highest ever turnover in Futures & Options segment.

2:45 pm Buzzing: Shiva Cement shares jumped 16.43 percent intraday after the JSW Group company increased its stake in the company to over 50 percent.

On Wednesday, JSW Cement bought 25 lakh equity shares (representing 1.28 percent of total paid-up equity) of Odisha-based Shiva Cement at a price of Rs 21.25 through block deal.

With this, JSW Cement's shareholding in the company increased to 50.68 percent from 49.40 percent as of March 2017.

JSW Cement had bought 35.62 percent promoter shareholding in Shiva Cement in January, followed by open offer for 32 percent equity.

2:32 pm IndiGo gains: Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of low cost carrier IndiGo, fell over 3.5 percent intraday on Thursday after reports emerged of it showing interest to buy stake in Air India.

According to reports on CNBC-TV18, the airline gave an unsolicited expression of interest in buying the stake and is believed to be the first company to show interest in the stake.

The channel also quoted aviation minister stating Air India looking to be a vibrant airline. Further, he added that it is a known fact that Air India's books are bad and all possibilities will be kept open to divest Air India.

2:10 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices traded steady after chopping off gains from the morning session.

The Sensex was up 118.70 points at 30953.02, while the Nifty was up 36.15 points at 9527.40. The market breadth was positive as 1646 shares advanced against a decline of 802 shares, while 154 shares were unchanged.

Axis Bank, Tata Steel and Vedanta gained the most on both indices, while Kotak Mahindra Bank and Sun Pharma lost the most.

1:45 pm Buzzing Stock: Shares of Madhucon Projects advanced 7.6 percent intraday Thursday as it has received order worth Rs 216.8 crore.

The company has received letter of award from Public Works Department, Government of Maharashtra worth Rs 216,83,50,200.

The contract includes upgradation of NH-353 to two lane with paved shoulder configuration in section from Wadi junction to Asola junction in the state of Maharashtra.

1:30 pm SBI moves insolvency proceedings: Top lender SBI and other creditors have moved insolvency proceedings against Kolkata- based Electrosteel Steels at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

State Bank of India initiated the corporate insolvency resolution process and filed the documents with NCLT, Kolkata, against the company under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, Electrosteel Steels said in a regulatory filing.

Electrosteel Steels owes Rs 10,274 crore to the consortium of banks led by SBI.

1:15 pm Buzzing Stock: Amtek Auto shares were locked at 5 percent upper circuit at Rs 30.90 on Thursday after a media report indicated that domestic auto ancillary companies and foreign PE firms are in race to acquire some stake in the businesses run by Amtek Group.

Other group companies - Metalyst Forgings was also locked at 5 percent upper circuit and Castex Technologies rallied 14.6 percent intraday.

"Domestic strategic buyers, including Bharat Forge and Sona Koyo Systems, are competing with bulge-bracket private equity funds such as Blackstone Group, KKR and DA Capital to acquire all or part of Amtek Group's businesses," The Economic Times said quoting multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.

1:01 pm Market Check: Ahead of the F&O series expiry later in the day, equity benchmark indices trimmed some of its morning session gains, with the Nifty trading below 9550.

The Sensex was up 143.59 points at 30977.91, while the Nifty was up 45.85 points at 9537.10. The market breadth was positive as 1706 shares advanced against a decline of 646 shares, while 131 shares were unchanged.

Axis Bank, Tata Steel and Indiabulls Housing were the top gainers, while Kotak Mahindra bank and Sun Pharmaceuticals lost the most.

12:45 pm Management Speak: Axis Bank on Thursday said they have exposure to 8 out of 12 accounts sent under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and the fund-based outstanding on the 8 accounts is Rs 5,071 crore. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, V Srinivasan, Deputy Managing Director of Axis Bank said that Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) direction in referring these eight accounts to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is underway.

You can watch the whole interview here.

12:25 pm SEBI chief cautions MFs: Amid the concerted efforts by the government and RBI to rein in the mounting bad loans issue, Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi on Thursday cautioned mutual fund (MF) players against letting some of such money flow into the industry by way of debt funds.

Non-performing assets in the banking system should not shift to mutual funds by way of debt funds. The industry should be careful about that, Tyagi told an industry summit organised by MF lobby Amfi here this morning.

12:07 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks gained further in noon trade, with the Sensex rising above 31,000 level on positive global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 224.40 points at 31,058.72 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 70.65 points to 9,561.90.

Infosys, ITC, Axis Bank, M&M and Bharti Airtel were top gainers, up 1-3 percent while Kotak Mahindra Bank and Sun Pharma fell 1 percent each.

The broader markets also participated in the rally, with the BSE Midcap index up 0.8 percent and Smallcap up 1.3 percent on strong breadth.

More than 3 shares gained for every share falling on the BSE.

Asian markets continued to trade higher, taking positive cues from Wall Street, with Hang Seng and ASX 200 up 1 percent each.

11:35 am Offer for sale: Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) shares lost more than 5 percent intraday as the offer for sale issue opened for subscription.

The two-day share sale began today with over 2.20 crore shares being sold to institutional investors while over 55 lakh shares have been reserved for retail investors who will get shares at an additional discount over the issue price.

Of its total shareholding of 80 percent in RCF, the government is selling over 2.75 crore share (representing 5 percent of total paid-up equity), at a floor price of Rs 74.25.

The floor price is at a discount of over 7 percent over Wednesday's closing price of Rs 80. The government will receive around Rs 200 crore through offer for sale.

The portion set aside for institutional investors oversubscribed 1.04 times within the first hour of trade today, with getting bids for 2.3 crore shares against 2.2 crore shares on offer, as per data available on the NSE.

11:15 am Buzzing: Shares of Axis Bank soared 4 percent intraday as investors cheered fresh fundraising by the bank.

The private sector lender raised Rs 3,500 crore by issuing debt securities on a private placement basis.

The board of directors of the bank approved and allotted 35,000 unsecured subordinated perpetual additional tier-I Basel III compliant non-convertible debentures aggregating Rs 3,500 crore on a private placement basis, it said in a regulatory filing

"These debentures will strengthen the overall capital adequacy ratio of the bank by an estimated 74 basis points (0.74 percentage) and also enhance the long term resources," the bank said in its statement.

11:00 am USFDA approval: Cadila Healthcare gained around a percent intraday after the firm's subsidiary received a drug regulator's approval.

Nesher Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA received final approval from US FDA to market Dextroamphetamine Sulfate Extended Release Capsules, 5 mg. The drug will be produced at the company's manufacturing facility located at Sr Louis, MO, USA.

Dextroamphetamine is a central nervous system stimulant used in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and in the treatment of narcolepsy, a type of sleep disorder, the company informed the exchanges in a statement.

The development follows a string of positive news flows in terms of US FDA's approvals. Its Moraiya plant has received several drug approvals, setting the ball rolling for the company.

10.45 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended gains in morning trade, with the Nifty reclaiming 9550 level ahead of expiry of June derivative contracts.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 179.57 points at 31,013.89 and the 50-share BSE Nifty rallied 57.30 points to 9,548.55, driven by banks, technology and auto stocks.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.7 percnet and 1.2 percent, respectively. About four shares advanced for every share rising on the BSE.

10:39 am Stake buy: CARE Ratings (erstwhile Credit Analysis and Research) shares rallied more than 16 percent in morning trade after its rival picked up stake in the company through block deals. CRISIL shares gained as much as 2.6 percent and Canara Bank rose 4 percent in morning trade.

Rating agency CRISIL has purchased 26,22,430 equity shares of CARE Ratings (representing 8.9 percent of its equity share capital).

The investment has been made pursuant to a bid process conducted by Canara Bank, subsequent to their request for quotation issued on June 19, 2017, CRISIL said in its filing.

10:28 am CDSL listing: After overwhelming response to issue price, Central Depository Services (CDSL) is all set to make its debut on exchanges on Friday, June 30. The final issue price is fixed at Rs 149, the higher end of price band.

According to sources, the grey market premium for the stock is around Rs 90-100, which indicated that the listing may be around Rs 225-250 per share.

The Rs 524-crore initial public offering of CDSL, which was opened for subscription during June 19-21, received tremendous response from all types of investors, oversubscribing 170.16 times.

The portion set aside for qualified institutional buyers oversubscribed 148.71 times while non-institutional investors' category comprising high net-worth individuals subscribed 563 times.

The reserved portion of retail individual investors applied for 23.83 times the shares on offer.

10:02 am Eris lists: Eris Lifesciences started off first trade at Rs 614.55 on the National Stock Exchange, up nearly 2 percent over issue price of Rs 603. The moderate upside was due to tepid response to the issue and subdued market conditions.

The stock touched a high of Rs 628 (up 4.14 percent) and low of Rs 605.60 in early trade.

At 10:02 hours IST, it was trading at Rs 608.25, up 0.87 percent over issue price, with more than 18 lakh shares volume on the NSE.

The company's public issue, which was oversubscribed 3.29 times, opened for subscription during June 16-20.

Eris Lifesciences is into manufacturing of branded pharmaceutical products in select therapeutic areas.

9:59 am Market Outlook: Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution, Religare Securities expects volatility to remain high, due to scheduled F&O expiry and GST implementation ahead.

Traders are already struggling. He feels the upcoming events will further add to their worries. He reiterated his view to keep leveraged positions hedged and avoid highly volatile counters for day trade.

9:55 am Listing: Eris Lifesciences settled at Rs 611 in pre-opening trade, marginally higher over issue price of Rs 603.

9:49 am F&O data: ICICIdirect said FMCG, telecom and automobile stocks are witnessing high rollover of positions while the media, finance and banking space is witnessing relatively low rolls into the June series

Roll activities have found further momentum while total Nifty open interest has increased further by almost 2 percent due to continuous fresh additions seen in the next series.

July series has added close to 3 million shares against closure of 2.58 million shares in the June series. The roll spread has remained subdued near just 13 points (excluding dividend of almost 24 points in the July series). Data suggests short accumulation in the July series as the Nifty failed to sustain its highest Put base of 9500 strike. The near month open interest for the Nifty is on the lower side but looking at high open interest prevailing in stocks, VWAP activity cannot be ruled out.

9:37 am Buzzing: Shares of LT Foods rose 2 percent intraday as the company has started new rice processing plant at Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The company has commenced operations at its first rice processing plant in Europe at Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The company has made an investment of USD 15 million in this plant, which has initial capacity of 60000 tonnes and scope for further expansion in the future.

''The company is planning to expand its geographical footprint in important markets of Europe and UK through this plant by increasing its sales from the current 5000 tonnes to 60000 tonnes over the next 3 years,'' company said in press release.

9:27 am FII View: Sanjay Mookim of Bank of America Merrill Lynch feels the impact of GST on listed company volumes and earnings may extend beyond the June quarter.

"At rich valuations, any hiccup in numbers could be a risk; though we think the Indian market continues to be joined at the hip to global/EM equities," he said.

He stayed cautious in the near term.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened strong on Thursday ahead of expiry of June F&O contracts later today and due to positive global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 146.19 points at 30,980.51 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 44.90 points to 9,536.15.

Axis Bank, Infosys, Tata Motors DVR, Infosys, Tata Steel, Bharti Infratel, Eicher Motors, Bank of Baroda and L&T were trading higher in early trade while Bank Nifty gained 100 points.

Nifty Midcap rose more than 100 points as about six shares gained for every share falling on the NSE.

Tinplate, Goa Carbon, Amtek Auto, Metalyst Forgings, Jaypee Infratech, Jaiprakash Associates, Mindtree, Hexaware, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Shree Renuka, Bajaj Hindusthan, Sintex and India Cements rallied 1-5 percent. However, RCF fell 5 percent on offer for sale issue.

The Indian rupee has opened higher by 9 paise at 64.46 per dollar against previous close of 64.55.

The dollar fell close to one-year lows against the euro and slipped against sterling as investors priced in tighter monetary policy in Europe.

This after Bank Of England Governor Mark Carney said that the central bank is likely to need to raise interest rates as the British economy comes closer to operating at full capacity. Also the release of disappointing US housing sector data continued to weigh on sentiment.

Asian bourses traded higher, taking cues from a stronger finish in US markets, with traders expected to digest comments from top central bankers overnight.