Sensex gains over 416 points, Nifty ends at 8159; BHEL up 5%

3:30 pm Market close The market took home massive gains on Thursday. The Sensex ended up 416.44 points or 1.6 percent at 27126.57. The Nifty was up 129.50 points or 1.6 percent at 8159.30. About 2165 shares have advanced, 695 shares declined, and 97 shares are unchanged. BHEL was up 5 percent, while Hindalco, ICICI Bank, GAIL and Maruti gained 4 percent each. M&M and Dr Reddy's Labs were losers in the Sensex.

03:10 pm Modi's moves Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken direct control of a project-monitoring body to fast-track investments worth almost USD 300 billion and revive manufacturing in the country, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Pro-business Modi has faced criticism in recent weeks that his ambition to spur investment and re-energise the economy has yet to be realised, more than six months after he won elections with the strongest mandate in three decades.

Industrial output contracted in October in its worst performance in three years, jarring with a much-publicised "Make in India" campaign Modi has championed to make the country a manufacturing powerhouse. By taking over the Project Monitoring Group (PMG), which was previously in the Cabinet Secretariat, Modi could help firms planning coal, power, steel and infrastructure projects cut through a maze of up to 180 clearances.

02:55pm RPP Infra on buyers' radar Shares of RPP Infra Projects rallied 5.5 percent on bagging order for providing combined water supply scheme in Tamilnadu. RPP has awarded a contract from Tamilnadu Water Supply & Drainage Board for providing combined water supply scheme to 158 rural habitations in Gudimangalam and Udumalaipettai Unions in Tiruppur District, Tamilnadu," said the infrastructure development company.

The contract included paid maintenance for a period of 12 months for a total value of Rs 49.55 crore. "This year is looking very good with winning many orders and few more in pipe line and civil supply. We are very positive that the topline of our company will touch new heights at end this fiscal year," said Arul Sundaram, CMD.

02:40pm Rupee, crude update The Indian rupee recovered further, up 43 paise to 63.18 a dollar compared to previous day's closing value of 63.62 a dollar. Brent crude rose 0.16 percent to USD 61.28 a barrel while US crude declined 0.09 percent to USD 56.42 a barrel

02:20pm Coal e-auction The government today came out with draft rules for e-auction of 92 cancelled coal mines in the first phase, fixing a floor price of Rs 150 per tonne for sectors like steel, sponge iron, cement and captive power. This paves way for auction and allotment of 204 coal blocks that were cancelled by the Supreme Court in September. "In order to conduct the auction of coal mines in accordance with the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 2014 and the rules framed thereunder, the Authority (Nominated) is required to prepare a tender document. "Accordingly, an Approach Paper to the tender document has been prepared for public consultation," the government today notified. The Coal Ministry has sought comments from stakeholders by December 22, reports PTI.

02:00pm Market Check Short covering after sharp fall in previous sessions helped the equity benchmarks trade strong in afternoon trade. The Sensex rallied 395.45 points or 1.48 percent to 27105.58 and the Nifty gained 121.15 points or 1.51 percent at 8150.95 on broadbased buying. Manpreet Gill, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered says India amongst the emerging market basket has been the top pick for the last six months. He thinks if the reform momentum is sustained then Indian equities are sure to rally. The broader markets consistently outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 2.6 percent and 3 percent, respectively. About 2024 shares have advanced and 674 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

M&M Financial, SBI, Mastek, Wockhardt, Reliance Industries, Infosys, ICICI Bank and Larsen & Toubro were most active shares on exchanges. Globally, European markets like CAC, DAX and FTSE gained 0.5-2 percent. Most Asian markets closed lower with the Hang Seng and Nikkei rising 1-2 percent.

1:55 pm Clipped wings? Troubled airline SpiceJet resumed operations after being forced to cancel over 150 flights with oil marketing companies refusing to refuel its planes forcing the budget carrier to pay Rs three crore last evening to buy jet fuel. "So far, the operations are going as scheduled," airport sources said, as the airline flew at least five flights out of Delhi till 1000 hours to Mumbai, Jaipur, Port Blair, Kochi and Varanasi.

The airline came out of the brink today after all its flights were grounded for about ten hours yesterday before it made part payment of Rs three crore to oil companies enabling it to partly resume operations. Of the 243 listed flights, it claimed to have operated 75 across the country after 1600 hours yesterday. Ajay Singh, one of the original promoters of SpiceJet, met with Civil Aviation Secretary V Somasundaran fuelling speculation about the former planning to invest in the carrier once again.

1:40 pm Buzzing: Shares of defence stocks are rallying as the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved proposals worth Rs 4,444 crore. The nod is also for purchase of four helicopters for survey vessels at Rs 2,324 crore, but deferred a decision on a joint bid of Tata Sons Ltd and Airbus for replacing IAF's Avro transport fleet. Stocks like BEL, BEML and Premier Explosives are up 6-8 percent intraday.

Besides giving its go-ahead to acquire four choppers, the DAC, under Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, also cleared the upgradation of the mobile integrated electronic warfare system, Samyukta, at a cost of Rs 1,682 crore, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said. The DAC also cleared a proposal relating to purchase of P-7 Heavy Drop Platform, which is used for military logistics, for Rs 402 crore, the official said. Another proposal of Rs 36 crore for acquiring propeller engine for offshore patrol vessel of the Coast Guard was also given a go-ahead, the spokesman said.

1:34 pm Market check: The Nifty has hit 8150, up 120.80 points or 1.5 percent while the Sensex is up 406.34 points or 1.5 percent at 27116.47. About 1979 shares have advanced, 634 shares declined, and 88 shares are unchanged. BHEL and Hindalco are up 5 percent each while Tata Power, Sesa and GAIL gain 4 percent each. Among the losers Dr Reddy's Labs is down 1 percent.

The bulls are pulling through a strong trading session on Dalal Street. The Sensex is up 329.97 points or 1 percent at 27040.10. The Nifty is up 99.60 points or 1 percent at 8129.40. About 1959 shares have advanced, 606 shares declined, and 75 shares are unchanged. Banks, infra and metal stocks are lending support to the indices. Hindalco, GAIL, BHEL are up over 4 percent each. Tata Power and ICICI Bank are other gainers in the Sensex.

Among the losers are Sun Pharma, HUL and HDFC. Real estate stocks gained after the Cabinet deferred a decision on setting up a regulator for the sector. the Cabinet yesterday discussed the Real Estate Development and Regulation Bill but deferred a decision on it.

The bill, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August last year, seeks to protect home buyers from unscrupulous developers. It was then referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee, which had submitted its report in February. The bill provides for mandatory registration of all projects, besides mandatory disclosure of information like details of promoters, layout plan, land status, schedule of execution, status of various approvals and carpet area.

12:59pm Market Update The Sensex climbed 284.43 points or 1.06 percent to 26994.56 and the Nifty jumped 85.10 points or 1.06 percent to 8114.90 led by banks, capital goods, metals, power, select auto and technology stocks. About 1954 shares have advanced, 585 shares declined, and 76 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

12:55pm Intellect interview Intellect Design Arena, the demerged BFSI focused product company from Polaris, listed on the stock exchanges today. The stock was trading almost 5 percent higher after listing at Rs 69.25 per share. Arun Jain, CMD, Intellect Design Arena, expects a 20 percent growth in the company in coming years.

The growth has been hit by lower sales investments in the last 3 years, he said. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Jain said that 47 percent revenue of the company comes from developed markets and that products are accepted by more than 20 clients. The company has been able to increase its sales investments to 27 percent from 17-18 percent of revenue and has been increasing it by USD 10 million every year, Jain said, adding that he expects gross margins to improve to 60 percent in 3 years.

12:40pm SKS Microfinance on buyers' radar Shares of SKS Microfinance rallied 5 percent on issuing commercial papers of an aggregate amount of Rs 70 crore on December 16, 2014. These commercial papers have been rated A1+ by a leading rating agency, said the company in its filing. Instruments with this rating are considered to have a very strong degree of safety regarding timely payment of financial obligations and such instruments carry the lowest credit risk.

The aggregate commercial paper outstanding as on date is Rs 150 crore, it added. This was the second issuance of commercial papers in December. The microfinance lender had issued commercial papers of an aggregate amount of Rs 50 crore on December 01, 2014, which also had been rated A1+ by a leading rating agency.

12:20pm SpiceJet in focus Troubled airline SpiceJet today resumed operations after being forced to cancel over 150 flights with oil marketing companies refusing to refuel its planes forcing the budget carrier to pay Rs three crore last evening to buy jet fuel. "So far, the operations are going as scheduled," airport sources said, as the airline flew at least five flights out of Delhi till 1000 hours to Mumbai, Jaipur, Port Blair, Kochi and Varanasi.

The airline came out of the brink today after all its flights were grounded for about ten hours yesterday before it made part payment of Rs three crore to oil companies enabling it to partly resume operations. Of the 243 listed flights, it claimed to have operated 75 across the country after 1600 hours yesterday. Ajay Singh, one of the original promoters of SpiceJet, met with Civil Aviation Secretary V Somasundaran fuelling speculation about the former planning to invest in the carrier once again. Singh refused to reply to questions on whether he would invest, but said SpiceJet had a "lot of potential", reports PTI.

12:00pm Market Check The market maintains strong uptrend in noon trade despite some profit booking at higher levels. The Sensex climbed 267.52 points or 1 percent to 26977.65 and the Nifty jumped 78.05 points or 0.97 percent to 8107.85 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rallied 2-2.5 percent. About 1864 shares have advanced while 545 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Market experts remain bullish despite the recent correct in the equity markets. Adrian Mowat of JPMorgan says he is not worried about a little bit of volatility in emerging markets. Nirmal Jain too is betting on India, saying 2015 can emerge as a good year for the market. Gail, BHEL, Hindalco Industries, Tata Power, ICICI Bank and Jindal Steel topped the buying list, up 3-4.5 percent while Hero Motocorp, HDFC, HUL and Reliance Industries are only losers on Sensex.

In the broader space, Intellect Design Arena, the demerged BFSI focused product company from Polaris, listed on the stock exchanges today. The stock traded almost 5 percent higher after listing at Rs 69.25 per share. Sentiment today is boosted by the Cabinet passing the Constitutional Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax on Wednesday. The GST bill is likely to be tabled in the ongoing winter session now. Likely beneficiaries include companies from the logistics sector such as Gati and Snowman Logistics. Kotak said organised companies in unorganised sectors will also benefit, which are Exide Industries, Amara Raja, Pidilite, Marico amongst others. Globally, Asian equities are mostly higher on US Fed's decision to be patient in raising interest rates. Brent crude jumped above USD 61 per barrel.

11:50 am Market check: The market is holding on to key levels. The Sensex is up 261.77 points or 0.9 percent at 26971.90, and the Nifty is up 77.05 points or 0.9 percent at 8106.85. About 1844 shares have advanced, 528 shares declined, and 73 shares are unchanged. Banks, infra and oil & gas stocks are lending strong support to the indices.

11:30 am Buzzing: Investors bought shares of Transformers & Rectifiers India (TRIL) on Thursday on signing technology license agreement with Japanese company. The stock rallied as much as 16 percent intraday. "TRIL has entered into the technology license agreement with Fuji Electrical Company, Japan, the manufacturer power transmission and distribution equipment," said the transformer manufacture in its filing to the exchange. Fuji grants the license to TRIL in India to use its technology and know-how; to design, manufacture, assemble, inspect and sale of generator step up transformers with single phase or three phase and shunt reactors with single & three phase.

The Sensex is up 233.51 points or 0.8 percent at 26943.64, and the Nifty is up 66.70 points or 0.8 percent at 8096.50. About 1797 shares have advanced, 431 shares declined, and 63 shares are unchanged. Both BHEL and GAIL are up 4 percent. Tata Power, Hindalco and ICICI Bank are other top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Hero, M&M, Wipro, HDFC and HUL. Brent crude edged further above USD 61 a barrel on Thursday, after sharply lower prices forced companies to cut upstream investments around the world.

Brent this week dipped to its lowest since May 2009 at USD 58.50 a barrel, falling close to 50 percent since late June due to rising production in the United States, weak economic growth and a decision by OPEC members last month not to cut output. Brent crude for February delivery was 21 cents higher at $61.39 a barrel at 0438 GMT, after settling up uSD 1.17 on Wednesday. OPEC members which backed an output cut at the group's meeting last month are coming around to the view of Saudi Arabia that they need to focus on market share, further reducing the chance of any action to defend prices.

10:58am Market Check The market saw some profit booking at higher levels as the Sensex trimmed gains from 396 points to 237.10 points to trade at 26947.23. The Nifty rose 69.45 points to 8099.25. The broader markets remained strong with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 2-2.5 percent. About 1800 shares have advanced, 403 shares declined, and 66 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

10:45am Interview The first tranche of Rs 1000 crore investment by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) into L&T Infra Development Project will come in twelve months time said the company CEO and MD, K Venkatesh. He said as of now the agreement has been signed for Rs 2000 crore and it could go higher depending on business prospects and market conditions. Investment will be done via preference shares of L&T IDPL and the shares will be compulsorily convertible into equity shares by 2018. When asked if the company had any plans of listing IDPL, he confirmed that they had no immediate plans of listing in the short to medium term.

10:30am FII View Manishi Raychaudhuri, BNP Paribas says the brokerage believes the main investment drivers in 2015 will be USD appreciation, commodity price moderation, policy divergence, and reform and restructuring across Asia. ''The main beneficiaries are likely to be North Asia, India and Thailand. Apart from the well-understood economic risks, 'black swan' events in 2015 could arise from geopolitical conflicts. We take comfort from the fact that, in the past, the impact on equities of such events has been relatively short lived. HDFC Bank, Infosys are among our top picks,'' he adds.

10:15am Fed comments The Federal Reserve on Wednesday offered a strong signal that it was on track to raise interest rates sometime next year, dropping a pledge to keep them near zero for a "considerable time" in a show of confidence in the US economy. Closing out a two-day meeting against a backdrop of solid domestic growth but trouble overseas, the US central bank ditched its long-standing vow and instead said it would take a "patient" approach in deciding when to bump borrowing costs higher. In doing so, it looked beyond economic difficulties in the euro zone, Japan and Russia and offered a mostly upbeat assessment of the US economy's prospects.

"Based on its current assessment, the committee judges that it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy," the Fed said in a statement. Significantly, the Fed said it viewed that statement as "consistent" with its previous language that it would be a considerable time before it hiked rates. While the growth outlook remained solid, Fed policymakers indicated that they would take a slower approach to the pace of future rate hikes, a nod to the still-weak inflation picture, reports Reuters.

10:00am Market Check Equity benchmarks saw sharp rebound today after falling for the last five consecutive sessions. The Sensex climbed 316.70 points or 1.19 percent to 27026.83 and the Nifty rose 97.05 points or 1.21 percent to 8126.85 after Fed meet outcome. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices jumped 2.3 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. More than five shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Major lenders like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank gained 2-3 percent while state-run power equipment maker BHEL topped the buying list on Sensex, up 4 percent.

Cigarette major ITC rebounded with a percent gain after seeing a marginal fall in early trade. Engineering and construction major L&T gained 1.7 percent after Canada Pension Plan Investment Board through its subsidiary made initial investment of Rs 1,000 crore in L&T IDPL (the subsidiary of L&T). Tata Steel climbed 3 percent after sources said the steel maker restarted iron ore production from two Odisha mines. Odisha government on Tuesday allowed Tata Steel to operate 4 iron ore mines. Among others, Hindalco Industries and Tata Power surged 3 percent each followed by Tata Motors, ONGC, Maruti, Bajaj Auot, Cipla, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Gail and Sesa Sterlite with 1-2 percent gain.

9:55 am FII view: The current global situation looks like we are hostage to redemption in EM debt funds, says Adrian Mowat of JP Morgan. He however is not worried about ''a little bit of volatility'' in emerging markets and remains overweight on India. He sees falling crude as a big positive for the country. "I remain overweight India and the dynamics of the oil price what we are seeing in United States makes me more bullish, not less bullish on the Indian story, " he said. Though Mowat agrees that there has been too much pessimism around Europe, he expects business sentiment to improve and feels global growth may surprise positively in next one year.

9:30 am Buzzing: Sugar stocks are in focus as production rose by 47 percent to 42.25 lakh tonnes till December 15 of this marketing year, which started in October this year, leading to a fall in ex-factory prices of the sweetener. Sugar production of India, the world's second largest producer and biggest consumer, stood at 28.77 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. "Sugar production upto 15th December 2014, in the current 2014-15 sugar season is 42.25 lakh tonnes," Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said in a statement. Bajaj Hindusthan, Balrampur Chini and Shree Renuka Sugar are up  4-5 percent each.

After deep cuts seen in last few days, the market has opened with a loud roar with support from global cues triggered by Fed meeting outcome. The Sensex is up 343.73 points or 1.3 percent at 27053.86, and the Nifty is up 110.75 points or 1.4 percent at 8140.55. About 3 shares have advanced, 0 shares declined, and 0 shares are unchanged. Banks are up including SBI and ICICI Bank (3 percent gains each). Other gainers in the Sensex are Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel. Among the losers are ITC, HUL and Wipro. The Indian rupee gained in the early trade. It has opened higher by 26 paise at 63.35 per dollar against 63.61 Wednesday.

The dollar pared gains against major currencies after the Federal Open Market Committee released a statement saying there remains "considerable time" before an interest rate hike. Deepali Bhargava of Credit Suisse said, ''The rupee continues to see a sharp sell-off, led by a pick-up in risk aversion, concerns on global growth, and year-end position adjustments. While the current risk-off tone may persist, we expect the upside to USD-INR to be limited.'' Among global markets, stocks surged in the US, with the Dow marking its best session of the year, as investors celebrated a rally in the energy sector and the Federal Reserve's pledge to be patient in raising interest rates.

Federal Reserve retained the phrase "considerable time" in its policy statement on Wednesday, and also introduced another word, "patient," as the central bank readies to raise interest rates next year. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the new language was not a change in policy, and that a rate increase was unlikely for the next several meetings. In Europe, shares closed mixed, as banking stocks with a heavy exposure to Russia pared losses and energy stocks rebounded as oil prices recovered some ground. Russia again attempted to halt a rout in the ruble, which climbed after the finance ministry said it had purchased the currency, with the nation moving towards recession.

Meanwhile, Fed Chairperson, Janet Yellen says linkages backed spillovers to the US both through trade and financial channels would be small. in Asia, Bank of Japan kicks off its two-day monthly meeting today and will release its last policy decision for the year tomorrow. In commodities, Brent crude prices rise towards USD 61 per barrel as US data showed falling crude inventories. The move stemmed deep losses brought on by a supply glut and signals from OPEC producers and Russia that they will not cut production.