Sensex gains 77 points; ICICI Bank up 3%, CPI & IIP data eyed

03:40 pm Market closing:
The market has closed in positive terrain but the Nifty was unable to hold 6100. The Nifty ended up 21.30 points to end at 6084 while the Sensex was up 85.12 points  at 20448.49.  About 1270 shares have advanced, 1327 shares declined, and 133 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, GAIL, ONGC, L&T and Reliance were top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's Labs, ITC and NTPC.

03:30 pm International results:
Norwegian telecoms group Telenor released weaker than expected fourth-quarter earnings and 2014 margin guidance, reports Reuters. Capital expenditure in Norway, political risk in Thailand and Bangladesh, and the redeployment of 5,000 sites in India were big challenges this year and it was also bracing for major investments in Myanmar, the company said.

"It's early in the year, and given the uncertainties, we think it's prudent to guide in line with 2013, but the internal ambition is definitely higher," Chief Financial Officer Richard Aa told a news conference.

03:20 pm Foreign fund:
Piramal Enterprises has formed a strategic alliance with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) to provide rupee debt financing to residential projects in Indian cities, the company said on Wednesday.

Piramal and CPPIB will initially invest USD 250 million each in the venture, which will focus on providing project-level debt to local developers across Mumbai, Delhi region, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai markets, it said.

03:10 pm Capital infusion:
Government may consider infusing capital into stressed state-run lender United Bank of India (UBI) , media reports suggest. There is no systemic risk to Indian banks from Kolkata-based UBI, he was quoted as saying by the channels.

Last week, UBI said its net loss in the October-December quarter widened to 12.4 billion rupees from nearly 5 billion in the preceding quarter.

On Tuesday, ratings agency Fitch said UBI was at risk of becoming the first lender in Asia to breach the minimal capital ratios mandated by Basel III norms after the small lender posted a net loss and said bad debts increased.

03:05 pm Result impact:
Chennai based TVS group company Sundaram-Clayton's net profit grew a whopping 58 times year-on-year to Rs 23.2 crore in the quarter ended December 2013, driven by other income.

The company, which supplies aluminium die castings to automotive and non-automotive sector, reported other income of Rs 18 crore during the quarter as against Rs 0.04 crore in a year-ago period.

Net sales rose 24.4 percent to Rs 300 crore compared to corresponding quarter of last fiscal. The stock was up 7.35 percent to Rs 445 amid large volumes on the BSE.

02:55pm Orchid Chemicals on buyers' radar post Q3 earnings
Shares of Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals jumped 5 percent post its December quarter results. The drug company's third quarter net loss shrunk to Rs 53.90 crore against a net loss of Rs 72.35 crore year-on-year.

During the quarter, its total operating income jumped 18.5 percent to Rs 371.60 crore from Rs 313.53 crore in the same period last fiscal.

"Though the company continues to face tight working capital situation, the approval for the corporate debt restructuring package (CDR), expected before end of February 2014 would facilitate completion of Penicillin and Carbapenem Business transfer to Hospira. It will also bring in working capital availability from deal proceeds besides de-leveraging debt profile," said R Raghavendra Rao, Chairman and managing director of the company.

02:40pm Mastek talks to CNBC-TV18
In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Farid Kazani, group chief financial officer & director of finance at Mastek spoke about two new orders that the company has recently bagged from the UK government and the road ahead.  ''The margins in these two projects are pretty much in line with our business margins, which are close to around 40 percent odd at a gross margin levels,'' he said.

IT solutions provider reported a 21.9 percent sequential growth in its third quarter profit on better operational performance. Its net profit increased to Rs 18.3 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 from Rs 15.1 crore in previous quarter.

02:20pm Cowen sees better topline growth from IT sector
Nasscom's optimistic forecast for the Indian IT sector is very much inline with his own expectations, said Moshe Katri, MD, Cowen & Co.

After 3 years of being slammed for reporting conservative numbers, Nasscom has finally given a strong guidance for the coming fiscal. For FY15, Nasscom expects IT exports to grow by 13-15 percent and the domestic market to grow by 9-12 percent. Industry revenues are expected to reach USD 130 billion. This confidence is based on economic data and the increase in global IT spending & global sourcing models.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Katri said Indian IT companies are showing potentially better top-line growth for 2015. On top of that, he feels the PE multiples may come back to where they were pre the last downturn, which is anywhere between 20-25 times earnings.

Katri observed that there has been slight up tick in discretionary spending. Financial services as a vertical will continue to look very healthy in terms of spending patterns, states a survey they released back in December, which is in line with Nasscom's predictions.

02:00pm The market has maintained its positive momentum in afternoon trade but the broader markets underperformed benchmarks. Investors are eyeing January consumer price index and December industrial output data due later in the day today.

The Sensex rose 76.84 points to 20,440.21 and the Nifty climbed 18.20 points to 6,080.90 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are flat with negative bias.

Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 1281 to 1171 on the BSE.

ICICI Bank, GAIL, ONGC, Reliance Industries, HDFC and HCL Technologies are top gainers, rising 1.5-3 percent while Tata Steel, Cairn India, Jaiprakash Associates, Dr Reddy's Labs, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Tata Power are under pressure, falling 1-4 percent.

The December IIP is expected to remain subdued, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll. The street expects a decline of 0.8 percent versus a contraction in the month of November of around 2.1 percent.

However, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January, which is also expected today, is likely to be a more critical number than the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for December. The street is expecting an estimate of 9.1 percent. This compares to 9.87 percent on the month-on-month basis. So there is a cool off, which is expected on a month-on-month basis.

1:50 pm RBI views: A decision on setting up 'Payments Banks' or specialised banks to provide services to small businesses will be taken only after looking into various aspects including arbitrage issues, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said today.

"At this point there is no decision to move forward. We will look at it in great detail, including what value it brings, the viability as well as whether it presents arbitrage opportunities vis-a-vis the Schedule commercial banks," he told reporters on the sidelines of Nasscom India Leadership Summit.

Rajan said only after looking into all issues, will the RBI firm up views on whether to "move forward and if so, under what structures".

1:40 pm Buzzing: Shares of OnMobile Global rose 13.5 percent intraday on its fund raising plans. The mobile value-added solutions provider OnMobile is planning to raise Rs 47.6 crore through an open offer by diluting 10.03 percent stake.
 
"The voluntary open offer for acquisition of up to 11,900,000 equity shares represents 10.03% of the total fully diluted voting share capital from the public shareholders of OnMobile Global," the company said.
 
The offer price has been set at Rs 40 per share, adding up to Rs 47.60 crore, it added.
1:30 pm Result poll: Coal India, the world's largest coal producer, will declare its third quarter (October-December) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect profit after tax to fall 13.5 percent to Rs 3,800 crore compared to a year-ago period. Net sales may decline 2 percent to Rs 17,000 crore versus Rs 17,325 crore

Coal India's volumes will be hit due to extended monsoons, after effect of cyclone Phiallin hitting production and strike at its mines.

Analysts expect volume degrowth of 3 percent Y-o-Y mainly due to cyclone-related disruptions.

The market is trading firm amid a rally in global markets, following the US Federal Reserve's policy stance to continue providing monetary stimulus to bolster the US economy. The Sensex is up 109.10 points at 20472.47, and the Nifty up 29.90 points at 6092.60. About 1212 shares have advanced, 1090 shares declined, and 143 shares are unchanged.

Railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge presented UPA-II's last Railway Budget . The minister proposed to introduce 17 new premium and 38 express trains but freight rates and passenger fares unchanged.

Shares of Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers), Texmaco Rail and Engineering, Kernex Microsystems (India) and Titagarh Wagons were down 2-4 percent intraday post the Rail Budget speech.

Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's Labs and ITC are laggards in the Sensex. Among the gainers are GAIL, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Reliance and BHEL.

12:55pm Industrial output data due today
All eyes are on core consumer price index data for January and December industrial output data which will be released later in the day today.

December IIP is expected to be subdued with a decline of 0.8 percent versus a contraction of 2.1 percent in November. January CPI may cool off on a month-on-month basis, is expected to be at 9.1 percent versus 9.87 percent.

12:50pm United Spirits falls 2%
United Spirits (USL) reduced select product prices by 5-15 percent in various states, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

Sources say USL cut McDowell's No. 1 prices by 10-15 percent in three states and Royal Challenge prices by 5-15 percent.

McDowell's No.1 is United Spirits' largest-selling brand.

Brokerage house Espirito Santo said the move will hurt operating margins of the company.

12:45pm More highlights of last UPA-II's Rail Budget: Railway minister Kharge says

• FY15 freight loading target at 1,101 million tonne versus 1,052 million tonne (Y-o-Y)
• Passenger fares to remain unchanged
• FY15 gross traffic receipts at Rs 1.61 lakh crore
• FY14 plan outlay revised to Rs 59,359 crore
• Budgetary support for FY15 annual plan at Rs 30,200 crore
• To pay Rs 9,100 crore dividend to exchequer in FY15
• FY15 pension outgo seen at Rs 27,000 crore versus Rs 24,000 crore (Y-o-Y)
• Extra budgetary resources for FY15 annual plan at Rs 19,800 crore
• Pegs FY15 total expenditure at Rs 1.45 lakh crore versus Rs 1.28 lakh crore (Y-o-Y)

12:40pm Interim Rail Budget highlights

• Rail minister seeks okay for spending for first four months FY15
• To bring in 17 new premium, 38 express trains
• Leaves freight rates unchanged
• Need to take serious note of needs of the Rails
• Completed electrification of 4556 km versus aim of 4500 km
• Set up 2207km of new lines in 11th five-year plan
• Setting up 11.2 km-long tunnel in J&K a landmark
• Successfully met 6th pay panel recommendations
• Will provide funds for some pressing national projects
• Extending rail services to north-eastern states a focus area
• Meghalaya, Arunachal to figure on railway map in FY14
• FY15 annual plan at Rs 64,300 crore versus Rs 59,359 crore (YoY)
• Rail Vikas Nigam to borrow Rs 1000 crore from market in FY15
• Fund balances are likely to be Rs 12,728 crore
• Railways met extra expenditure through own means
• FY15 pension outgo seen at Rs 27000 crore versus Rs 24000 crore
• Railway sees investments via PPP for FY15 at Rs 6,005 crore

12:23pm Rail Budget Speech
Railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge said train will be run on trial in Arunachal Pradesh by this fiscal-end. "Two states - Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh are set to come on Railway map in FY14," he added.

"Extending rail connectivity to north-eastern states has been focus area," he said.

12:19pm Rail stocks
Texmaco and Titagarh Wagons fell over a percent. Kernex Microsystems tanked 3.6 percent.

12:17pm Two states - Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh are set to come on Railway map in FY14.

12:15pm Last Rail Budget of UPA II
Railway is setting up of 11.2 km long tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir, a landmark project.

"We completed electrification of 4556 km as against target of 4500 km," Kharge said.

12:10pm Railway Minister speech
While announcing last UPA II Rail Budget, Kharge said the railway is need to provide funds for some pressing national projects.

"We seek approval for spending for first four months of next financial year 2014-15," he said.

12:00pm The market maintained its positive momentum in noon trade supported by oil & gas, banks and technology stocks. Railway minister presented Rail Budget in parliament.

The Sensex advanced 122.40 points to 20,485.77, and the Nifty rose 34.65 points to 6,097.35. About 1226 shares have advanced, 939 shares declined, and 132 shares are unchanged.

Shares of Reliance Industries , ICICI Bank , HDFC, ONGC , Sun Pharma , GAIL and BHEL rallied 1-3 percent.

TCS , L&T, HDFC Bank , Infosys and Tata Motors climbed between 0.4-0.9 percent.

However, Tata Steel extended its fall to 3.5 percent. Shares of ITC, Sesa Sterlite, Dr Reddy's Labs, Maruti, Coal India and Hindalco slipped 0.5-1 percent.

11:50 am Buzzing: Shares of OnMobile Global rose 13.5 percent intraday on Wednesday on its fund raising plans. The mobile value-added solutions provider OnMobile is planning to raise Rs 47.6 crore through an open offer by diluting 10.03 percent stake.
 
"The voluntary open offer for acquisition of up to 11,900,000 equity shares represents 10.03% of the total fully diluted voting share capital from the public shareholders of OnMobile Global," the company said.
 
The offer price has been set at Rs 40 per share, adding up to Rs 47.60 crore, it added.

11:40 am Market expert views: Sandeep Shenoy of Anand Rathi Financial Services believes Nifty will continue to be rangebound for time being and will see support between 5900 and 6000 on the downside.

"If you look at the volatility, it is going to be accentuated more and more. We are foreseeing that the more safer sectors to remain in and the numbers flow have borne out that fact - IT definitely remains and healthcare is slowly and steadily exhibiting much more stability than what people envisaged it to do," he said.

11:30 Rail Budget expectations: Titagarh Wagons ' vice-chairman Umesh Choudhary does not expect path-breaking announcements from the Interim Railway Budget, to be presented today.

''We are hoping to see some initiatives towards the projects that have already been announced… big-ticket projects like the dedicated freight corridor, although we have seen some momentum, but they need to be implemented in a more time-bound fashion,'' he told CNBC-TV 18.

He said the industry would definitely like to see some announcements aimed towards the growth of railway traffic.

He thinks that there's a little possibility of reducing passenger rail fares, but feels that Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge may introduce variable passenger component.

11:20 am Poll: Cipla will announce its third quarter (October-December) earnings today. Analysts feel coming quarters of the company are expected to be challenging due to pricing policy in domestic market and increasing pressure on PAT due to ongoing business transition.

Two factors to watch for are launch of inhalers in Europe and improvement in profits of Cipla Medpro.

The market is holding on gains with the Nifty above 6100, up 40.70 points at 6103.4. The Sensex is up 147.29 points at 20510.66. About 1191 shares have advanced, 741 shares declined, and 106 shares are unchanged.

Shares of rail stocks are rallying ahead of interim Rail Budget. Shares of Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers), Texmaco Rail and Engineering, Kernex Microsystems (India), Titagarh Wagons jumped 2-4 percent intraday.

Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to announce new trains and some measures for providing better amenities at stations and trains besides steps to strengthen safety for passengers.

GAIL , ICICI Bank , BHEL , Reliance and Sun Pharma are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Steel , Coal India , Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco and Cipla.

Asian markets trade higher tracking gains in US equities. Markets are also reacting to the Chinese trade data which recorded a trade surplus of USD 31.86 billion higher than estimates of USD 27 billion.

Gold futures rose for a fifth straight session while Nymex futures ended lower, unable to sustain above USD 100/bbl.

The market is expecting bunched up dollar inflows post the bank strike. Bonds are trading flat from yesterday's closing level of 8.74 percent.

10:55am Most active stocks
SBI , Aban Offshore , Tata Steel , Aurobindo Pharma , United Spirits , TCS and Tata Motors are most active shares on exchanges.

OnMobile Global shares rallied 11 percent as the promoter will acquire up to 1.2 crore shares via open offer. "Promoter to acquire up to 10 percent equity at Rs 40/share via open offer," the release said.

SKS Microfinance has completed Rs 222.65 crore securitisation. "Total sum of securitisation completed for FY14 at Rs 950 crore," the company said in its release. The stock climbed nearly a percent.

10:40am IIFL on Tata Steel
Tata Steel clocks net profit of Rs 503 crore in Q3 buoyed by better operational performances in both India and Europe. IIFL has upgraded the stock to a buy with a target of Rs 433.

Tarang Bhanushali, IIFL believes stable earnings in Corus coupled with volume push from domestic capacity and with stable steel prices over the next one year, Tata Steel may report a jump in profit of around 50-60 percent.

10:30am Market Expert
Bharat Iyer of JP Morgan remains concerned about the stressed local macro. "Portfolio stance remains biased towards global sectors - IT healthcare, materials and private sector energy. Concentration risk, in terms of FII holdings in Indian equities, is limited," he adds.

According to him, a more meaningful risk comes from the overweight position that emerging markets (EM) investors have in Indian equities, in the event of any significant global risk aversion.

10:20am Watch out for IIP today
According to CNBC-TV18 poll, economists expect subdued performance for industrial output to continue. They expect December industrial output may be at 0.8 percent or negative 0.8 percent as against negative 2.1 percent in November.

The little ray of hope (that output may be at 0.5 percent) is on the back of  core sector data for December that expanded at 2.1 percent as against 7.5 percent Y-o-Y.

10:10am Cipla to announce Q3 results today
Analysts feel coming quarters of Cipla are expected to be challenging due to pricing policy in domestic market and increasing pressure on PAT due to ongoing business transition.

Two factors to watch for are launch of inhalers in Europe and improvement in profits of Cipla Medpro.

Revenue of the company may grow 22 percent to Rs 2,526 crore and EBITDA is likely to rise 15 percent to Rs 567 crore compared to a year-ago period.

Operating profit margin may decline at 22.5 percent versus 23.8 percent and PAT may go up 6.1 percent to Rs 359.6 crore versus Rs 339 crore.

However, analysts feel profit after tax may come in as low as Rs 300 crore during the quarter due to margin pressure.

10:00am The 50-share NSE benchmark touched the 6100 level supported by banks, capital goods, FMCG and technology stocks. Tata Motors extended upmove for the second consecutive session, rising 2 percent on top of previous day's 3 percent upmove post strong Q3 numbers.

The Sensex rose 134.64 points to 20,498.01, and the Nifty climbed 37.55 points to 6,100.25. About 939 shares have advanced, 537 shares declined, and 66 shares are unchanged.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank spiked 2 percent while its rival State Bank of India , HDFC Bank and Axis Bank gained over 0.6 percent.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose 0.9 percent on short covering as it had fallen 2 percent in previous session.

Capital goods majors Larsen & Toubro and BHEL advanced over a percent.

However, Tata Steel plunged 3 percent despite the company reported profit of Rs 503.2 crore in Q3FY14 as against net loss of Rs 763 crore in a year-ago period. Credit Suisse is still underweight on the stock with a target price of Rs 210.

Bharti Airtel , Maruti and Sesa Sterlite too are under pressure. Coal India and Cipla declined 1 percent ahead of Q3FY14 earnings.

10:00 am Macro data: The December IIP, which will be released later in the day, is expected to remain subdued, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll. However, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January, which is also expected today, is likely to be a more critical number than the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for December.

The street is now working with a decline of 0.8 percent versus a contraction that we saw in the month of November of around 2.1 percent. The range for the IIP varies all the way from a decline of 1.5 percent to a meager growth of around 0.5 percent. The IIP is already in contraction mode; it is down around 0.2 percent for April to November versus a growth of 1 percent in the same period last year.

9:50 am Results: Tata Steel posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 503.24 crore for the October-December quarter, buoyed by better operational performances in both India and Europe.

The company, however, said market conditions continue to be challenging in all geographies. Tata Steel had clocked Rs 763.06 crore net loss in the October-December quarter last fiscal. However, it had logged Rs 917 crore net profit in the July-September 2013 quarter.

Total income of the company in the third quarter of this fiscal rose 14 percent to Rs 36,736 crore from Rs 32,107 crore on higher sales, which stood at 6.83 million tonnes (MT) from 5.83 MT a year earlier.

9:40 am Buzzing: Shares of rail stocks are rallying ahead of interim Rail Budget. Shares of Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers), Texmaco Rail and Engineering, Kernex Microsystems (India), Titagarh Wagons jumped 2-4 percent intraday on Wednesday.

Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to announce new trains and some measures for providing better amenities at stations and trains besides steps to strengthen safety for passengers.

Since Lok Sabha elections are round the corner, there are demands from many zones and MPs for new trains.

9:30 am FII view: Bharat Iyer of JP Morgan are concerned about the stressed local macro. "Our portfolio stance remains biased towards global sectors - IT healthcare, materials and private sector energy. Concentration risk, in terms of FII holdings in Indian equities, is limited. A more meaningful risk comes from the overweight position that emerging markets (EM) investors have in Indian equities, in the event of any significant global risk aversion," he said.

Ian Scott of Barclays feels that although there are plenty of risks for EM equities, we think it is time to buy.

The market has opened slightly higher. The Sensex is up 103.09 points at 20466.46, and the Nifty is up 22.65 points at 6085.35. About 236 shares have advanced, 52 shares declined, and 10 shares are unchanged.

Dr Reddy's Labs, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Steel, Coal India, GAIL and NTPC.

The rupee opened higher by 15 paise at 62.07 per dollar as against Tuesday's closing value of 62.22 to dollar. The dollar held off a two-week low against a basket of major currencies early on Wednesday, having rebounded after Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen offered no surprises on policy in her inaugural congressional testimony.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO of Alpari India sees some stress in the rupee as Fed's new chairman in her statement yesterday favoured further reduction in the stimulus package if spurred by positive gains in US economy.

"This coupled with a choppy equities market and cautious trading ahead of key inflation and IIP data due later during the day will push rupee to trade in the negative zone. Range for the day is seen between 62.02 to 62.83/USD," he added.

In the US, stocks surged, with the Dow Jones rising triple-digits and the Nasdaq turning positive for the year, as Fed chair Janet Yellen reassured Wall Street that the Fed would continue the central bank's policy of providing monetary stimulus to bolster the economy. Yesterday's rally marked the best four-session stretch for both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq in more than a year.

Asian stocks extend gains on Yellen reassurance. Yen fell to its lowest level in nearly two weeks at 102.71 per dollar. The December core machinery orders fell 15.7 percent from November, worse than the 4.1 percent expected fall.

Focus is on China's January trade growth. According to a poll of economists by Reuters, exports likely grew 2 percent, lower than December's 4.3 percent, while imports are forecast to have risen an annual 3 percent, compared to December's 8.3 percent gain.
In commodities, crude prices climb buoyed by data from the American Petroleum Institute that showed crude stocks fell by 2.5 million barrels at a key US delivery hub.

From precious metals space, gold gave back some of its sharp overnight gains on Wednesday as stocks rallied but was still trading near its highest in three months on assurances from the new Federal Reserve chair that there would be no abrupt changes to US monetary policy.