Sensex, Nifty end flat; Ranbaxy up 6%, Tata Steel gain 5%

03:50 pm Stock call
Espirito Santo has maintained a neutral rating on Jubilant with recommendations to pick up the stock on dips. Mathur is positive on Titan. Speaking to CNBC-TV18's Sonia Shenoy and Latha Venkatesh, he said the company is doing well in terms of strategy and keeping the traction.

"On a valuation front it is 20 times on our estimates on 12 months forward, so we would think that probably a lot of negativity is getting built-in," he said.

Espirito Santo has kept a positive outlook on Radico Khaitan as well. "We have liked Radico for the transformation of the portfolio, which they are doing essentially from bulk liquor to more branded liquor perspective. We continue to like this stock at these levels," Mathur added.

03:40 pm Market closing
The market has ended a volatile trading day on flat note. The Sensex ended up 49.10 points at 20261.03, and the Nifty closed at 6022.40, up 21.50 points. About 1452 shares have advanced, 1096 shares declined, and 141 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel closed with a gain of 5 percent, while other gainers in the Sensex were Tata Motors , M&M, Coal India and NTPC .

Among the laggards in the Sensex were ITC , BHEL , Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma and Reliance.

03:30 pm Rupee talk: The Indian rupee is unlikely to react much to volatility in short-term courtesy the adjustments made in current account deficit (CAD) Nizam Idris, MD, Macquarie Bank said, but he is not looking to buy the currency now .

Sharing his views on currency market, he told CNBC-TV18 that reforms would be key area of difference for flows into EMs & DMs. ''If you do promise growth and outlook for growth improves then there could be equity and bond inflows into your economy regardless of your status as a developed market or an emerging market for now,'' he added. He further added that US treasury yields and the dollar index are likely to inch upwards, which could apply more pressure on EMs.

03:20 pm Boardroom
Renowned fitness chain, Talwalkars Better value Fitness expects its margins to rise consistently due to higher value added services.

CFO & Wholetime Director, Anant Gawande told CNBC-TV18 that Q3FY14 is typically a weak quarter for the company , but it managed to clock same-store-sales growth of 7-8 percent as opposed to the usual trend of 3-4 percent. Having added 14 new gyms on a year-to-date basis, the company is looking to add 25-30 new gyms in FY14, maintaining guidance.

03:10 pm Market outlook
Raj Bhatt, Chairman & CEO of Elara Capital is of the view that India funds will not face any more redemptions going forward because but emerging markets could continue to be under pressure because of the currency crisis.

The emerging market story right now being weak led to a sell off in ETFs and that could continue until a time there is more stability seen in EMs; especially the slowdown in China is a major worry, it being a significant global and emerging economy feels Raj Bhatt. "As far India is concerned whatever selling you are seeing on Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) counter was largely driven because of liquidation of Exchange Traded Fund ( ETF ) positions," says Bhatt.

03:00pm Redington India gains post Q3 nos
Redington India's Q3 consolidated net profit grew 14 percent to Rs 86.7 crore from Rs 76 crore sequentially.

Consolidated net sales rose 6.8 percent to Rs 7,127 crore from Rs 6,672 crore during the same period.

The stock rose 1.5 percent to Rs 69.40 amid large volumes on the BSE.

02:52pm ACC to announce Oct-Dec quarter earnings on Thursday
Brokerage house Prabhudas Lilladher expects ACC to report a 46.9 percent growth quarter-on-quarter (degrowth of 30.5 percent year-on-year) in net profit at Rs 174.7 crore on weak operational earnings and lower tax last year.

Sales are expected to increase by 6.8 percent Q-o-Q (down 0.4 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 2680.5 crore.

Cost is expected to rise 1.5 percent or Rs 58 per tonne Y-o-Y at Rs3,871 due to higher freight cost and fuel cost. Hence, EBITDA/tonne would decline by 13.5 percent at Rs 460.

02:42pm Talwalkars talks to CNBC-TV18
Renowned fitness chain, Talwalkars Better value Fitness expects its margins to rise consistently due to higher value added services.

CFO & Wholetime Director, Anant Gawande told CNBC-TV18 that Q3FY14 is typically a weak quarter for the company , but it managed to clock same-store-sales growth of 7-8 percent as opposed to the usual trend of 3-4 percent.

Having added 14 new gyms on a year-to-date basis, the company is looking to add 25-30 new gyms in FY14, maintaining guidance.

02:32pm SKS Microfinance gains on FY15 profit guidance
Shares of SKS Microfinance gained 0.7 percent after the company doubled its profit guidance for FY15 over FY14.

The non-banking finance company today announced a profit guidance of Rs 125 crore for the next financial year 2014-15. "The profit guidance comes close on the heels of its recent announcement that there could be a positive surprise in its guided net profit of Rs 55-60 crore for FY14," the company said in its release.

The company also announced its plans to raise capital of up to Rs 400 crore in the next financial year with a maximum dilution of 20 percent as it sets out to create SKS Microfinance 3.0.

02:22pm Market Expert
The Indian rupee is unlikely to react much to volatility in short-term courtesy the adjustments made in current account deficit (CAD), Nizam Idris, MD, Macquarie Bank said, but he is not looking to buy the currency now .

Sharing his views on currency market, he told CNBC-TV18 that reforms would be key area of difference for flows into EMs & DMs. ''If you do promise growth and outlook for growth improves then there could be equity and bond inflows into your economy regardless of your status as a developed market or an emerging market for now,'' he added.

He further added that US treasury yields and the dollar index are likely to inch upwards, which could apply more pressure on EMs.

02:12pm The market recouped its losses in afternoon trade and climbed higher with marginal gains amid volatility. The Sensex rose 47.69 points to 20,259.62, and the Nifty added 20 points to 6,020.90.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks with the BSE Midcap gaining 0.4 percent and Smallcap 1 percent. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1348 to 1001 on the BSE.

Healthcare firm Ranbaxy Laboratories , which has been struggling for drug production due to USFDA issues, reduced its net loss to Rs 159 crore for the fourth quarter (October-December) as against Rs 486.55 crore in same quarter last year. The loss was due to inventory provision for Toansa, higher tax expenses and finance cost. The stock rallied 6 percent.

Tata Motors, Tata Steel and GAIL are top losers in the Sensex 30 followed by M&M and Coal India with more than 2 percent upmove.

Bajaj Auto rose over a percent as the two-wheeler maker said its Quadricycle will hit the road by October.

However, BHEL shares declined 1.6 percent as its net profit fell 41 percent year-on-year to Rs 695 crore during October-December quarter on account of lower revenues in its power and industry segments.

Cigarette major ITC lost nearly 2 percent while Reliance Industries , HDFC , Bharti Airtel , Sun Pharma, Maruti and ICICI Bank too are under pressure.

In the broader space, shares of Venus Remedies gained 4 percent as the company received approval from Indonesia for Baddi, Himachal Pradesh unit.

2:00 pm Market outlook: Concerns relating to Chinas economy and tapering will cause serious jitters in emerging market equities in the near-term, but India is on a better footing courtesy steps taken by the central bank and government to manage current account deficit (CAD), Saurabh Mukherjea, CEO, Institutional Equities, Ambit Capital said. Structurally, Indian equities will be driven by local events like general elections and macro-economic data in the second half of the year, he added.

Though broader EM jitters are likely to hold India back in the near-term, the downside in Indian equities looks modest from current levels, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

On specific stocks, Mukherjea is bullish on Voltas and will continue to buy the stock. However, he cautioned that Voltas' West Asia business and higher competition in EMP segment is a concern. He recommends buying Cummins.

1:50 pm Buzzing: Voltas shares gain over 5 percent after Citi upgrades the stock to "buy" from "sell" and raises its target to Rs 128 from Rs 84, citing improvement at unitary cooling and engineering agency divisions, dealers say.

"Better-than-expected performance of unitary cooling (UCP) and engineering agency (EA) over the short term more than makes up for delayed recovery of electro-mechanical projects (EMP)," Citi said in a report on Wednesday.

1:40 pm Results: Bharat Heavy Electricals' ( BHEL ) net profit fell 41 percent year-on-year to Rs 695 crore during October-December quarter on account of lower revenues in its power and industry segments.

Net sales slipped 15.7 percent, higher-than-expected, to Rs 8,462 crore compared to same quarter last year.

Year-on-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation or operating profit halved to Rs 813 crore and margin declined 640 basis points to 9.6 percent in the quarter ended December 2013. Analysts had estimated EBITDA at Rs 804 crore and margin at 9.2 percent.

1:30 pm FM's take: Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said it was doubtful whether any key legislation, except for the vote-on-account, will be passed in the current session of Parliament.

"If Parliament does not meet to pass laws, and beginning today you will see Parliament will meet, but I doubt whether it will pass any law. We have to go through the ritual of attending Parliament everyday and come back empty handed," he said.

He said the Finance Bill, Vote-on-Account and Appropriation Bill will be passed.

''But if it is passed without debate or discussion, I won't be happy. I want it to pass with discussion and debate,'' the Finance Minister said.

1:20 pm Focus on auto: Honda Motor Co said it would build a fourth motorcycle factory in India with initial investment of roughly 11 billion rupees and annual output capacity of 1.2 million vehicles, reports Reuters.

The factory, to be located in Gujarat, is due to start production in the latter half of the business year ending in March 2016, the world's biggest motorcycle maker said in a statement.

About 3,000 new jobs will be created at the plant, which will mainly manufacture scooters, demand of which has surged in the world's biggest two-wheeler market.

Don't miss: Jubilant Food skids 3%: Brokerages tell you how to trade it

The market recovers from initial losses with Nifty trading at 6,000 level. Auto, IT and realty stocks gain. Broader markets outshine benchmark indices. The Sensex is up 23.54 points at 20235.47, and the Nifty is up 10.50 points at 6011.40. About 1291 shares have advanced, 906 shares declined, and 131 shares are unchanged.

Auto and realty stocks are supporting the indices with M&M, Tata Motors as big gainers in the Sensex. Coal India , M&M and NTPC are other gainers. Among the laggards are BHEL, ITC , ICICI Bank and Sesa Sterlite.

The two-week long second half of Parliament's winter session begins today amidst the Telangana tangle. At stake are 39 bills to be considered. Lok Sabha is adjourned till tomorrow and fears of the winter session going into cold storage seems realistic.

Brent crude rose above USD106 a barrel, pulled higher by gains in US benchmark oil after industry data showed a drop in inventories at the WTI contract's delivery point.

WTI crude futures were also buoyed by news that the U.S. government has for the first time in years authorized limited re-exports of foreign crude to Europe, raising hopes that such shipments may ease the supply glut caused by the sharp rise in shale oil output.

March Brent crude was up 38 cents at USD 106.16 a barrel after three straight sessions of losses. US crude for March delivery rose for a second session to USD 97.77, up 58 cents.

"WTI is leading the market," said Yusuke Seta, a commodity sales manager at Newedge.

12:00 pm Buzzing: Shares of SKS Microfinance gained more than 4 percent intraday on Wednesday after the company doubled its profit guidance for FY15 over FY14.

The non-banking finance company today announced a profit guidance of Rs 125 crore for the next financial year 2014-15. "The profit guidance comes close on the heels of its recent announcement that there could be a positive surprise in its guided net profit of Rs 55-60 crore for FY14," the company said in its release.

The company also announced its plans to raise capital of up to Rs 400 crore in the next financial year with a maximum dilution of 20 percent as it sets out to create SKS Microfinance 3.0.

11:50 am Macro data: India's private sector output contracted for the seventh consecutive month in January as services sector output remained weak amid tough economic conditions, an HSBC survey said today, reports PTI.

The HSBC India Composite Output Index, which maps both services and manufacturing, stood at 49.6 in January, below the crucial 50 mark, for the seventh consecutive month. The fall in the composite index was largely on account of drop in services sector output unlike the manufacturing sector which had seen acceleration in production growth in January. The headline HSBC Services Business Activity Index, though improved from December's 46.7 to 48.3 in January, it was still below the crucial 50 mark which separates growth from contraction.

According to HSBC, tough economic conditions, political issues and lower new order levels are the main reasons behind the fall in services sector output.

11:40 am Stock in news: Shares of BHEL are down over 2 percent ahead of announcing its December quarter results. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect weak numbers from the company with profit after tax falling 45.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 644 crore.

Net sales may slip 12.5 percent to Rs 8,790 crore compared to same quarter last year on account of on the back of depleting order book.

In April-September period of current financial year, revenues declined 19 percent Y-o-Y due to low order backlog and also on non-delivery due to non-payment by the developers.

11:30 am Poll: Cognizant will report its December quarter numbers today. Nomura expects dollar revenue to come in 3.3 percent higher at USD 2383 million. PAT is seen 5 percent higher at USD 336 million quarter-on-quarter. JP Morgan and Nomura expect the guidance to be atleast 17 percent. CY 13 guidance stands at 20.3 percent at USD 8.84 billion.

 Don't miss: Tech Mahindra up 4%, brokerages bullish on Q3FY14 nos

The Sensex is down 122.80 points at 20089.13, and the Nifty is down 34.25 points at 5966.65. About 1122 shares have advanced, 815 shares declined, and 113 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, ITC , Sesa Sterlite, NTPC and Reliance are top losers in the Sensex. Among gainers are M&M, Coal India , Tata Steel , Wipro and TCS .

The rupee is trading higher against the dollar tracking Asian currencies. However negative local share indices weigh on the rupee. Government bond prices trade steady amid lack of fresh triggers. Rupee's strength against the dollar also aids.

The two-week long second half of Parliament's winter session begins today amidst the Telangana tangle. At stake are 39 bills to be considered. The Congress party-led coalition government hopes to approve the splitting of the state of Andhra Pradesh into two states as well as a number of corruption bills.

11:00am BHEL may post weak Q3 earnings, stock down 2%
According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect weak numbers from the company with profit after tax falling 45.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 644 crore.

Net sales may slip 12.5 percent to Rs 8,790 crore compared to same quarter last year on account of on the back of depleting order book.

In April-September period of current financial year, revenues declined 19 percent Y-o-Y due to low order backlog and also on non-delivery due to non-payment by the developers.

Operating profit or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (including other operating income) is expected to decline 50.8 percent to Rs 804 crore in the quarter gone by.

Operating profit margin may drop 680 basis points on yearly basis to 9.2 percent on account of lower operating leverage due to slower pace of project execution.

Contracting revenue and lower margin will lead to adjusted PAT contraction by 45 percent Y-o-Y, analysts say.

10:51am Midcaps and Smallcaps
Most active shares are Aban Offshore, Tech Mahindra, Cadila Healthcare, Aurobindo Pharma, Risa International, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank.

In the midcap space, Kaveri Seed, Voltas, Amtek India, Radico Khaitan and Oberoi Realty gained 4-6.5 percent while IRB Infrastructure, Kirloskar Oil, Religare Enterprises, Jubilant Foodworks and Andhra Bank fell 2-4 percent.

Among smallcap stocks, Hercules Hoists, Aban Offshore, Strauss Industries, HEG and Elder Pharma rallied 8-13 percent while Banas Finance, Swan Energy, Rupa and Company, Genesys International and Cressanda Solution lost 4-5 percent.

10:41am Prestige Estates Projects talks to CNBC-TV18
Confident of recognising its revenues in the upcoming quarter, Irfan Razack, chairman and managing director, Prestige Estates Projects, says the company will earn Rs 7000 crore revenue.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Razack says the Bangalore based realty company will exceed its presales guidance.

''We have already done sales to the extent of Rs 1,200 crore plus and now it is just a question of production and these numbers getting recognised because I need to touch the trigger of 30 percent to recognise these numbers. During the year, we have made Rs 3,700 crore and my guidance was Rs 4,300 crore,'' adds Razack.

On his outlook for the company's business, Razack says there is no slowdown in the Bangalore market and aims to concentrate on the phase 2 and 3 of its Lakeside Habitat project newt quarter.

10:31am Tech Mahindra gains post earnings
Shares of Tech Mahindra rose 4 percent, riding on its December quarter earnings . Its net profit jumped 38 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs Rs 1,001 crore with an exceptional gains of Rs 346.6 crore.

Its rupee revenues grew 2.7 percent quarter-on-quarter (33.5 percent year-on-year) to Rs 4,900 crore and dollar revenues shot up 4.35 percent (17.2 percent Y-o-Y) to USD 791 million, beating analysts' expectations.

Brokerages are bullish on the stock. Both Nomura and Religare have a buy rating. Nomura has revised target price to Rs 2070 from Rs 1750. According to the brokerage, Tech Mahindra is best in class revenue growth. Its near-term outlook remains strong and FY15 revenue growth is raised to 13 percent.

Meanwhile, Religare increased its target price on the stock to Rs 2100 from Rs 1900. It says that the software company's merger benefits will lead to better deal win ratio.

10:21am Ranbaxy Labs up 0.5% ahead of Oct-Dec quarter earnings
According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect profit after tax at Rs 98 crore during October-December quarter as against loss of Rs 492 crore in same quarter last year.

Revenue is seen going up by 4 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,815 crore in the quarter gone by.

Analysts are worried about the guidance (Rs 13,000-13,500 crore - with no first-to-file included) after the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) banned manufacturing and distributing active pharmaceutical ingredients from its Toansa facility. Toansa was the fourth plant that was banned by USFDA after Mohali, Dewas and Poanta.

For January-September period of CY13, Ranbaxy reported revenues of Rs 7,907 crore. Hence, for the remaining two quarters to reach this guidance it will have to do Rs 5,093 crore to Rs 5,593 crore of revenues. It means that is around Rs 2,600 crore to Rs 2,800 crore per quarter.

10:11am The market is not seeing a sigh of relief after Tuesday's recovery. It fell more than 100 points on the Sensex weighed down by FMCG, financials, auto and oil & gas stocks.

The Sensex declined 117.78 points to 20,094.15, and the Nifty dropped 33.10 points to 5,967.80, but the broader markets outperformed benchmarks. The BSE Midcap Index gained 0.12 percent and Smallcap rose 0.5 percent as advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 829 to 581 on the BSE.

Savita Subramanian of Bank of America Merrill Lynch said while near-term volatility could persist, she recommended that investors avoid panic selling and use pullbacks as buying opportunities.

"The underlying fundamentals for US equities remain healthy. We do not expect the issues in certain emerging market countries will lead to an outright EM crisis," she added.

Shares of ITC, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel slipped 1-1.6 percent.

NTPC fell 2 percent on profit taking while BHEL dropped over a percent ahead of Q3 earnings today.

However, TCS, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Wipro and Dr Reddy's Labs gained on short covering.

9:50 am Poll: Pharmaceutical major Ranbaxy Laboratories will announce its earnings for the October-December quarter. The revision in full year revenue guidance will be key factor to watch out for.

Analysts are worried about the guidance (Rs 13,000-13,500 crore - with no first-to-file included) after the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) banned manufacturing and distributing active pharmaceutical ingredients from its Toansa facility. Toansa was the fourth plant that was banned by USFDA after Mohali, Dewas and Poanta.

For January-September period of CY13, Ranbaxy reported revenues of Rs 7,907 crore. Hence, for the remaining two quarters to reach this guidance it will have to do Rs 5,093 crore to Rs 5,593 crore of revenues. It means that is around Rs 2,600 crore to Rs 2,800 crore per quarter.

 9:40 am FII view: Savita Subramanian of Bank of America Merrill Lynch says while near-term volatility could persist, she recommends to avoid panic selling and use pullbacks as buying opportunities. "The underlying fundamentals for US equities remain healthy. We do not expect the issues in certain emerging market countries will lead to an outright EM crisis," she said.

Ridham Desai of Morgan Stanley believes any argument for a sustained change to extreme growth factors (beta, leverage and capex) is premature. "Indeed, even if the cycle is troughing, we do not see a major turn unless policy fixes are put in place. In our view, investors should persist with picking stocks with a 'growth at reasonable price' orientation," he added.

9:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Tech Mahindra rose 4 percent intraday on Wednesday, riding on its December quarter earnings. Its net profit jumped 38 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs Rs 1,001 crore with an exceptional gains of Rs 346.6 crore.

Brokerages are bullish on the stock. Both Nomura and Religare have a buy rating. Nomura has revised target price to Rs 2070 from Rs 1750. According to the brokerage, Tech Mahindra is best in class revenue growth. Its near-term outlook remains strong and FY15 revenue growth is raised to 13 percent.

Religare increased its target price on the stock to Rs 2100 from Rs 1900. It says that the software company's merger benefits will lead to better deal win ratio.

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After the severe cut on Tuesday, the market opened on a flat note today but slipped quickly again. The Sensex is down 80.50 points at 20131.43, and the Nifty is down 20.05 points at 5980.85. About 359 shares have advanced, 189 shares declined, and 28 shares are unchanged.

ITC, Reliance, HDFC, Infosys and Hindalco are top losers in the Sensex. Among the gainers are M&M, Tata Steel, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tata Power and L&T.

The rupee opened higher by 10 paise at 62.42 per dollar on Wednesday as against previous day's closing value of 62.52 a dollar.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank believes the markets are now gearing for the Friday's US jobs report which can provide cues to the future course of markets. "Indian market has been fairly resilient in the face of this global sell off. Equity and currency markets have performed better than majority of the other EMs. Dollar-rupee is back in 62.0-63.0 range with an appreciating bias," he adds.

The yen got off to a weak start in Asia on Wednesday having retreated from multi-month highs as emerging markets stabilized and stocks rebounded, while the Australian dollar took a breather following a powerful rally.

Against the US dollar, the euro was slightly softer at USD 1.3516, holding near a two-month low of USD 1.3476 amid caution that the European Central Bank (ECB) could sound more dovish at Thursday's policy review.

Encouraging earnings and steady emerging market currencies pulled the global markets with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closing 0.7 percent higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.5 percent.

Taking a cue from the US markets, Asian markets too made a comeback with Japan's Nikkei leading gains. European market, however, closed mixed over disappointing earnings.

In other asset classes, crude prices gained in early Asian trade on the expectation that US oil storage at a key delivery point would show a large drop with a persistent cold snap driving demand for heating fuels in the world's largest economy. Precious metal gold dipped for a second session as modest rebounds in equities dampened safe-haven interest in the metal.