Sensex ends up 505 points, Nifty ends at 8191; autos surge

03:30pm Market closes: After a stellar rally,  the Sensex ended up 506.28 points or 1.9 percent at 27105.39. The Nifty was up 134.20 points or 1.7 percent at 8191.50.  About 1865 shares have advanced, 835 shares declined, and 169 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors, Cipla, ICICI Bank, Hindalco and HUL were top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were Hero MotoCorp, ONGC, TCS, NTPC and Vedanta.

02:45pm HUL surges: Hindustan Unilever (HUL) matched street estimates with the fourth quarter profit rising 16.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,018 crore compared to Rs 872 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income from operations grew by 8.2 percent to Rs 7,675 crore during January-March quarter against Rs 7,094 crore in the same quarter last year with volume growth of 6 percent. 4-7 percent

Profit was estimated at Rs 958 crore on revenue of Rs 7,643 crore for the quarter, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll.

02:15pm Rupee outlook: Rupee recovered by 22 paise to 64.01 against the greenback today led by an increase in dollar selling by exporters and banks. The Indian currency slipped below the 64-mark to end at a 20-month low of 64.23, depreciating 69 paise against the dollar Thursday due to foreign investors pulling out money from India amid concerns over MAT and delay in the passage of key reform bills.

Ashutosh Khajuria, President – Treasury, Federal Bank said anything above 63.91 would have established dollar strength over rupee. According to him, 63.90 must form the base for the rupee now.

He expects the currency to trade in 63.90-64.50 range against the dollar.

02:00pm Market Check
The market has maintained its strong uptrend in afternoon trade following positive global cues, tracking results of UK polls. Short covering post heavy sell-off in previous sessions also supported the market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 512.99 points or 1.93 percent to 27112.10 and the Nifty rallied 145.10 points or 1.80 percent to 8202.40 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained more than 1.5 percent.

About 1780 shares have advanced, 719 shares declined, and 164 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

In UK, David Cameron-led Conservative Party is set to win elections with 318 seats (out of 633 seats). Britain's FTSE gained 1.5 percent while France's CAC and Germany's DAX advanced 0.5 percent. In Asia, Shanghai and Hang Seng added 2.3 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

ICICI Bank, HDFC and Tata Motors are the biggest contributors to Sensex's gains, up 4-5 percent. Tata Motors's rally was led by Jaguar Land Rover's UK sales growth in April that increased by 20 percent.

Among others, Cipla climbed nearly 5 percent followed by HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, L&T, Axis Bank, M&M, Dr Reddy's Labs and Bajaj Auto with 2-3 percent rally. However, Hero Motocorp fell 2.5 percent on disappointing set of earnings in Q4 yesterday.

1:50 pm Boardroom: S Subramaniam, the CFO of Titan said, consumer sentiment has not improved for over a year and closing of GHS has affected the margins of the company. According to him, GHS was contributing around 25-30 percent to company's overall sales. The economy and demands will continue to remain soft, he added. Subramaniam believes there is a possibility of a drop in margins though growth in sales may offset the drop. The company is not losing its market share in watches segment. Weak revenues in watches segment is only a reflection of soft demand, he added. Titan is not expecting any shift in demand trends with jewellery business unlikely to grow in the first half of the fiscal.

1:30 pm Poll: PNB disappointed street with the fourth quarter profit falling 61.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 307 crore. Higher provisions, flat operating profit and lower net interest income dented the bottomline that got support from other income and tax gains. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, fell by 5.3 percent to Rs 3,791 crore for the quarter ended March compared to Rs 4,002 crore in the year-ago period, impacted by lower credit growth and NPA.

Bulls are super charged on Dalal Street today as the Sensex is up 506.09 points or 1.9 percent at 27105.20, and the Nifty up 143.75 points or 1.8 percent at 8201.05. About 1760 shares have advanced, 632 shares declined, and 151 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors is up 4.5 percent while Cipla, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC are top gainers in the Sensex. Hero is still down 2 percent.

Manufacturing and service sectors in India expanded at a faster pace last month than China, even as economic growth moderated overall in emerging markets, a survey said.

The HSBC Emerging Markets Index (EMI), a monthly indicator derived from Purchasing Managers' Index surveys, fell to 51.3 in April, from 51.5 in March, registering the weakest rate of expansion since January.

Of the four biggest emerging markets, China registered the weakest rise in output since January, while the Indian private sector business activity rose for the 12th consecutive month, albeit at the weakest pace since October.

12:35pm Market Update: The Sensex rallied 488.53 points or 1.84 percent to 27087.64 and the Nifty climbed 143.35 points or 1.78 percent to 8200.65.

About 1731 shares have advanced, 621 shares declined, and 145 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

12:30pm PNB tanks 5%: Punjab National Bank (PNB) disappointed street with the fourth quarter profit falling 61.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 307 crore, dented by lower net interest inocme.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, fell by 5.3 percent to Rs 3,791 crore for the quarter ended March compared to Rs 4,002 crore in the year-ago period.

Profit was estimated at Rs 873 crore and net interest income at Rs 4,322 for the quarter, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll.

Asset quality deteriorated during January-March quarter with the gross non-performing assets (NPA) climbing 6.55 percent compared to 5.97 percent in December quarter. Net NPA rose by 24 basis points sequentially to 4.06 percent from 3.82 percent.

12:15am Interview: Titan Company reported a dismal set of numbers for the March 2015 quarter due to a 15 percent year-on-year fall in jewellery business which was hit by sales plunging in the absence of Golden Harvest Scheme (GHS).  The company's operating profit margins came in at 10.8 percent versus 10.6 percent from a year ago period.

Discussing the results, S Subramaniam, the CFO of the company said, consumer sentiment has not improved for over a year and closing of GHS has affected the margins of the company.  According to him, GHS was contributing around 25-30 percent to company's overall sales. The economy and demands will continue to remain soft, he added.

Subramaniam believes there is a possibility of a drop in margins though growth in sales may offset the drop. The company is not losing its market share in watches segment. Weak revenues in watches segment is only a reflection of soft demand, he added.

Titan is not expecting any shift in demand trends with jewellery business unlikely to grow in the first half of the fiscal.

12:00pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks extended rally in noon trade with the Sensex rising more than 400 points led by auto, capital goods and financial stocks. The broader markets too posted strong gains, in-line with benchmark indices.

The Sensex climbed 441.60 points or 1.66 percent to 27040.71 and the Nifty jumped 117.35 points or 1.46 percent to 8174.65. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 1.7 percent each.

The market breadth remained strong as about 1696 shares have advanced against 573 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Globally, Asian markets recovered, tracking a positive lead from US. Attention now turned to the closely-watched US nonfarm payrolls data due later in the day. UK also remained in focus as exit polls predicted a hung parliament with the conservatives leading but falling short of a majority.

The rupee also recovered from its 20-month low on across-the-board selling by banks. Further gains limited as traders are unlikely to take fresh positions before US April jobs data later today.

Tata Motors topped the buying list, up 5 percent. The company raised Rs 9,040 crore through rights issue that oversubscribed by 1.21 times. Jaguar Land Rover UK sales increased by 20 percent year-on-year to 6,700 units led by Land Rover.

11:50 am Outlook: Moody's said India's credit rating was unlikely to be impacted by the recently strong foreign investor sales of shares and bonds over concerns about a tax on overseas funds, despite the uncertainty being created over the country's tax regime. "India's external balances are strong relative to peers on some accounts, and can withstand the current outflows, for instance, due to the high level of foreign-exchange reserves," Thomas Rookmaaker, director at Fitch's Asia-Pacific Sovereign Group, wrote in an email to Reuters. Fitch affirmed its "BBB-minus" and "stable" outlook on India last month. Meanwhile, Moody's, which revised India's "Baa3" sovereign rating outlook to "positive" from "stable" last month, said its outlook reflects a 2-5 year horizon, rather than near-term growth outlook.

11:30 am FII view: The volatility is expected to continue in the market for next 2-3 months, said Andrew Holland, CEO, Ambit Investment Advisors. He expects markets to go higher from current levels and sees Nifty hitting 8500 in the short-term. The market opened on a strong note Friday after witnessing sharp falls over the last few trading sessions. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Holland said he remains bearish on consumer goods. Even though banking sector remains his favourite, Holland said he would watch for PSU bank results before taking a buy call.

The market is holding up its gain fuelled by autos and banks majorly. The Sensex is up 399.53 points or 1.5 percent at 26998.64 and the Nifty is up 118.65 points or 1.5 percent at 8175.95. About 1679 shares have advanced, 512 shares declined, and 128 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors, Cipla, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto and Tata Power are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Hero, Vedanta and Sun Pharma.

Taking cues from overseas markets, gold futures prices today fell 0.22 percent to Rs 27,120 per 10 grammes as speculators offloaded their positions. Analysts said the fall in gold futures was attributed to trimming of positions by speculators, tracking with trend overseas after data on US jobless claims showed an improving labour market ahead of the release of non-farm payroll figures for April, boosting speculation that interest rates will rise this year.

Meanwhile, gold traded at USD 1,183.29 an ounce in Singapore from USD 1,184.51 yesterday

11:00am Market Update: The Sensex climbed 382.81 points or 1.44 percent to 26981.92 and the Nifty rose 111.40 points or 1.38 percent to 8168.70.

About 1664 shares have advanced, 510 shares declined, and 128 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

10:40am Moody's on India: Moody's said India's credit rating was unlikely to be impacted by the recently strong foreign investor sales of shares and bonds over concerns about a tax on overseas funds, despite the uncertainty being created over the country's tax regime.

"India's external balances are strong relative to peers on some accounts, and can withstand the current outflows, for instance, due to the high level of foreign-exchange reserves," Thomas Rookmaaker, director at Fitch's Asia-Pacific Sovereign Group, wrote in an email to Reuters.

Fitch affirmed its "BBB-minus" and "stable" outlook on India last month.

Meanwhile, Moody's, which revised India's "Baa3" sovereign rating outlook to "positive" from "stable" last month, said its outlook reflects a 2-5 year horizon, rather than near-term growth outlook.

India's positive outlook "is about the next two to three to five years," Moody's sovereign rating analyst Atsi Sheth told Agency in a telephone interview.

"If reforms are implemented as planned, that would be quite positive."

10:20am FII View: Aditya Narain, Citi said the India mood, its earnings expectations and the equity market have all dropped.

That said, it's still early days in the earnings calendar, earnings ex-metals & energy are in double digits, and with interest rates likely to head lower, he believes India is now offering distinctly more opportunities than risks.

He has maintained his December 2015 Sensex target of 33,000.

10:00am Market Check
The market remained strong in morning trade led by short covering in banking & financials, auto, capital goods and FMCG stocks. Even the recovery in rupee helped equity benchmarks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 346.47 points or 1.30 percent to 26945.58 and the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 98.90 points or 1.23 percent to 8156.20. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 1.3 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Nearly 5 shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Deven Choksey of K R Choksey Securities expects market to consolidate and says if the Nifty holds on to 8000 levels then there is not need to panic but in case it breaches those levels then 7800 are also possible.

According to him, the concern for investors has been the uncertainty of important bills getting passed by the government. The fact that bills are getting through the Lok Sabha and getting stuck in Rajya Sabha is making both domestic and international investors nervous.

The rupee also recovered, gaining past 64 a dollar mark. The currency appreciated by 26 paise to 63.97 a dollar.

9:50 am FII view: Sunil Garg, JPMorgan said that Nifty support must come in at 7500 but there can be downside risks to 6800. According to him, the FY16 earnings too have a downside estimates. However, the long-term structural story for India remains intact, he added. ''Do not believe for a minute the India structural story is over,'' he said. Garg further said that weak trends for banks will continue in coming days but select IT and pharma stocks look attractive. He believes IT stocks are holding better and are likely to outperform. Garg is also bullish on a couple of metal stocks that are looking good after the recent correction.

9:40 am Market marches: The Sensex is up 383.24 points or 1.4 percent at 26982.35, and the Nifty is up 109.60 points or 1.4 percent at 8166.90. About 1265 shares have advanced, 239 shares declined, and 88 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, M&M, HUL and HDFC are top gainers in the Sensex.

9:24 pm Market check: The market is in high spirits on short covering as the Sensex is up 334.01 points or 1.3 percent at 26933.12. The Nifty is up 98.05 points or 1.2 percent at 8155.35.  About 1007 shares have advanced, 175 shares declined, and 82 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Cipla and Maruti Suzuki are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Hero, Vedanta, GAIL and Bajaj Auto.

The market has opened on strong note after falling sharply for last few days. The Sensex is up 236.40 points or 0.9 percent at 26835.51 and the Nifty is up 68.05 points or 0.8 percent at 8125.35.  About 569 shares have advanced, 80 shares declined, and 64 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors is up 3 percent while ICICI Bank, Tata Power, Tata Steel and Vedanta are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Hero, Sun Pharma and Reliance.

The Indian rupee has rebounded in early trade. The currency opened at 64.12 a dollar, up 11 paise compared to 64.23 a dollar in previous session.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity feels local equity markets are likely to trade sideways today as investors are expected to trade cautiously ahead of US job data due for the day.

He expects the USD-INR pair to trade in the range of Rs 63.80-64.60 a dollar. On Thursday, the rupee closed at 64.23 a dollar, the lowest closing level since September 6, 2013, down 69 paise compared to 63.54 a dollar in previous session. The currency failed 0.97 percent intraday, most since December 15, 2014.

On the economic data front in the US, initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 265,000 for the week ended May 2. The number was below forecasts and continues to show a steady improvement in the jobs market.

In Europe, equities trimmed losses and closed mixed, rebounding from heavy selling earlier in the session, as weak data from the US helped to curb expectations of a rate rise from the US Federal Reserve.

Crude prices fell more than 3 percent yesterday, wiping out recent gains, as euphoria from the first US inventory drawdown in months faded and focus returned to oversupplies in crude and gasoline. From the precious metal space, gold prices hover around USD 1180 an ounce following a strong dollar.