Sensex up 250 points, Nifty ends at record closing high; telecom, banks lead

3:30 pm Market Closing: Equity benchmarks closed sharply higher for the second consecutive session as investors cheered macro data and hopes raised for early resolution to telecom NPAs post telecom deals.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 250.47 points at 32,432.69 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 71.10 points to 10,167.50.

The market breadth was weak as about 1,431 shares declined against 1,293 advancing shares on the BSE.

3:28 pm Farm growth: The country's agriculture and allied growth is likely to be over 3 percent in the ongoing fiscal, lower than around 5 percent last year, according to a Niti Aayog member.

For the 2016-17 fiscal, the farm sector growth was pegged at 4.9 percent, which is likely to be revised upward taking into account the final foodgrain production figures, it said.

"Looking at the performance of the kharif season, I can say with confidence that growth will be more than 3 per cent," Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand told reporters on the sidelines of an event on role of digital technologies in driving agri business growth.

3:26 pm Tie-up: Pincon Spirit share price rallied over 2 percent as the company entered into bottling tie-up with SDF Ind in Kerala.

3:22 pm Buzzing: Bharti Infratel continued to rally for the fourth consecutive session after the deal between its parent company Bharti Airtel and Tata Sons for Tatas' consumer telecom business.

The stock rallied 13.7 percent in four consecutive sessions, hitting a fresh 52-week high of Rs 453.80.

3:20 pm Entertainment tax cut: Shares of PVR and Inox Leisure gained 5-7 percent as investors cheered cut in entertainment tax in Tamil Nadu.

According to a report on CNBC-TV18, the state of Tamil Nadu more than halved the entertainment tax to 8 percent from its existing 19 percent.

Producers' body in the state had been protesting against the imposition of the said tax. Over and above the GST, customers were charged with 10 percent entertainment tax for Tamil films and 20 percent for films made in other languages, according to a media report.

3:10 pm Order Win: GE Power India has won two orders worth of Rs 327.5 crore from Doosan Power Systems India Pvt (DPSI) to supply ambient air quality control systems to be installed at power plants.

"... awarded two contracts by DPSI to supply ambient air quality control systems for Jawaharpur and Obra C power plants operated by Jawaharpur Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (JVUNL) and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (UPRVUNL), respectively," a company statement said.

According to the statement, the deal worth Rs 327.5 crore million (USD 49.2 million) includes four electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) that can remove particulate matter and help meet India's ambient air quality regulation standards.

2:59 pm Acquisition: BASF has agreed to buy significant parts of Bayer's seed and herbicide businesses for 5.9 billion euros (USD 7 billion) in cash, the two companies said on Friday.

BASF, the world's third-largest maker of crop chemicals, has so far avoided seed assets and instead pursued research into plant characteristics such as drought tolerance, which it sells or licenses out to seed breeders.

But Bayer's USD 66 billion deal to buy Monsanto has created opportunities for rivals to snatch up assets it must sell to satisfy competition authorities.

"With this investment, we are seizing the opportunity to acquire highly attractive assets in key row crops and markets," BASF Chief Executive Kurt Bock said in a statement.

2:50 pm Fiscal slippage: As government mulls a possible stimulus package to revive the economy, Swiss brokerage UBS has estimated a slippage of 0.5 per cent on the 3.2 per cent fiscal deficit target for the current year.

"We believe the Centre will likely breach the FY18 fiscal deficit target of 3.2 per cent of GDP by 0.5 percent if its goes about with a fiscal stimulus package," analysts at UBS Securities said in a note today.

"The government is contemplating deviating from budget targets, which could result in fiscal slippages," the note said.

Analysts said the slippage will be on lower revenue collections through excise duty cuts, lower telecom collections, lower RBI dividend transfer and also higher expenditure, where government has front-loaded spending and a possible stimulus to boost domestic demand.

As of August, the government has already touched 96.1 percent of its full year fiscal deficit.

2:45 pm Expert View: "Nifty still has 20 stocks declining. The stocks comprising advances is what is making the difference and you could ahead see the Nifty cross 10250 or so,'' Prakash Diwan of Altamount Capital Management told CNBC-TV18 , adding that Nifty constituents are going to contribute more to the market more.

2:30 pm China FDI: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China rose the most in more than two years in September, likely boosted by strong growth in the country's manufacturing and hi-tech sectors, the commerce ministry said.

FDI rose 17.3 percent to 70.63 billion yuan ($10.73 billion) in September from a year earlier, compared with a 9.1 percent gain in August, marking its biggest percentage gain since August 2015.

For the first nine months of the year, FDI rose 1.6 percent from the same period to 618.57 billion yuan, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

FDI in China's manufacturing sector rose 7.5 percent in January-September, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total foreign investment in the period.

2:20 pm M&M activity in Q2: Corporate India's merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in September quarter stood at USD 2,142 million, down 81 percent in value terms over last year, largely owing to GST impact and lingering effect of demonetisation, says a report.

However, in January-September, M&A activity clocked in USD 33 billion, recording a promising 22 per cent growth as the year to date (YTD) saw increasing domestic consolidation with deals like Vodafone-Idea, PropTiger-Housing.com, among others.

According to assurance, tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton's latest Dealtracker report, in July-September there were 118 M&A transactions worth USD 2,142 million, while in the year-ago period, the deal count stood at 139 and the value at USD 11,221 million.

Absence of big ticket transactions in the said quarter drove transaction values to the lowest in the last 32 quarters.

2:10 pm Loan settlement: LIC Housing Finance has filed an application before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to start insolvency process against DB Realty for recovery of Rs 30.63 crore outstanding loan, the Mumbai-based developer said.

DB Realty said both the parties are in talks to settle this outstanding loan.

In a filing to the BSE, DB Realty informed that the company had availed of Rs 200 crore loan from LIC Housing Finance Ltd in January 2010 and out of that, Rs 188 crore were disbursed to it.

The developer repaid Rs 157.37 crore to LIC Housing Finance within 18 months from the disbursement and the balance loan outstanding is Rs 30.63 crore.

"LIC Housing Finance has filed an application by financial creditor to initiate corporate insolvency resolution process under the code at the NCLT Mumbai against DB Realty for recovery of this outstanding money," the filing said, adding that the matter is pending admission before the NCLT.

DB Realty said that "settlement talks" are in progress between the two companies.

1:59 pm Telecom deal: Idea Cellular has received an approval from its shareholders for merger with Vodafone India. Idea share price gained 7.5 percent.

Earlier in the month, sources said Vodafone India and Idea Cellular merger deal is expected to be completed by March next year, as all regulatory approvals are likely to be obtained by that time.

1:51 pm Market Check: The market celebrated early Diwali at Dalal Street today as the 50-share NSE Nifty hit a fresh record high of 10,179.15, backed by banks.

Earlier on September 19, the index had hit a record high of 10,178.95.

The Sensex was up 251.83 points or 0.78 percent at 32,434.05 and the Nifty rose 68.70 points or 0.68 percent to 10,165.10.

1:40 pm IPO subscription: General Insurance Corporation of India's (GIC) initial public offering (IPO) has been fully subscribed on the last day of issue.

The issue IPO received bids for 12,71,54,576 shares against total IPO size of 12,47,00,000 shares, as per data available with the NSE.

The IPO, which aims to raise Rs 11,370-crore, had fixed the price band of Rs 855-912 apiece. It plans to use the funds to ramp up capital for business growth and maintain current solvency levels.

1:25 pm Market Check: Positive macro data, big telecom deal between Bharti Airtel & Tatas and earnings pushed equity benchmarks as well as the Indian rupee higher in trade today.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 253.72 points at 32,435.94 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 75 points at 10,171.40.

The broader markets continued to underperform benchmarks as the BSE Midcap index was up 0.24 percent and Smallcap up 0.5 percent. About 1,400 shares advanced against 1,100 declining shares on the BSE.

Bharti Airtel (up 8 percent), Reliance Industries (up 1.35 percent), Bharti Infratel (up 3.4 percent), TCS (up 0.17 percent) and Tata Steel (up 2.5 percent) were most active shares on the National Stock Exchange.

1:18 pm Buzzing: Tata Motors share price gained 1.5 percent as sources told CNBC-TV18 that the company has unveiled medium-term business plan, including mega product pipeline with select vendors this week.

It is eyeing 12 new products in commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles over next 3 years. It also shared plan of launching 6 new cars in next 3 years.

It is learnt that new Tata Motors cars code named as X-451, X-422, X-445, X-434, X-441 and X-442.

Entry level small car, mid-sized sedan and compact SUVs are part of product pipeline and this new product plan will focus on 80-90 percent commonality of back-end, sources said.

The company also has unveiled plan of cutting tier-1 suppliers to 300 from 1100 currently.

1:06 pm SC's action on realty major: The Supreme Court today restrained the directors of real estate major Amrapali Group from leaving the country without its permission.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra issued notice to the company and sought its reply within two weeks on a plea filed by Amrapali Silicon City Flat Owners Welfare Society.

The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, appointed senior advocate Shekhar Naphade as amicus curiae to assist it by espousing the home buyers' cause.

In a similar petition by 100 home buyers who invested in three other projects of Amrapali Centurion Park Pvt Ltd at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, the apex court had on October 6 issued notice to the Centre and the housing group.

This plea sought quashing of a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order initiating insolvency proceedings against Amrapali Silicon City Pvt Ltd under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 as the proceedings affected the home buyers of Amrapali Centurion Park Pvt Ltd.

12:57 pm Buzzing: Electrosteel Steels share price rallied 8.5 percent in afternoon as sources told CNBC-TV18 that six players have submitted expression of interest for buying stake in company.

Tata Steel, Mesco Steel and Dalmia Group among others are in race to acquire stake in Electrosteel Steels that included in 12 NPA accounts identified by RBI in June under insolvency bankruptcy code.

It is learnt that the committee of creditors will meet next week to discuss expression of interest & offers.

Electrosteel Steels has a debt of about Rs 11,000 crore that owed to a consortium of banks led by SBI.

SREI Infrastructure is one of the unsecured lenders to Electrosteel Steels.

12:47 pm FM on economic recovery: A "different India" is ready to benefit from a strong global economic recovery after a series of reforms including demonetisation, goods and services tax, easing of regulations and procedures, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said.

In first public appearance at the IMF headquarters here after his arrival in the city, Jaitley echoed International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, who have said that the world is experiencing a strong economic recovery.

"After several years of disappointing growth, the global economy has begun to accelerate," Kim told reporters earlier.

In a separate news conference, Lagarde later said she expects higher global growth this year and next.

By all indications there is a "more positive mood around the world" as far as economy is concerned, Jaitley said while participating in a seminar at the IMF headquarters organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

"Obviously as an economy which is globally integrated, if
world economy moves on consequential impact on demand, the
Indian economy would also follow. And I do see, that as one of
the various reasons why in the coming months and years India
economy is also probably destined to move up," he said, while
admitting that the last three years had been extremely
difficult.

12:36 pm Europe trade: European markets opened slightly higher, as investors monitored fresh economic data, earnings and speeches from central bank policymakers.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged 0.24 percent higher shortly after the opening bell with almost all sectors in positive territory.

UK investors will be watching the stalemate following the fifth round of Brexit talks in Brussels this week.

12:25 pm CEO resignation: The CEO of Samsung Electronics Kwon Oh-Hyun resigned today, saying the South Korean tech giant was facing an "unprecedented crisis", even as it expected profits to hit an all-time high in the third quarter.

Kwon's resignation comes as the company struggles to overcome a bribery scandal that sent Lee Jae-Yong, its de-facto head and heir to the Samsung empire, to jail.

But in a sign of good news for the company, its estimated operating profits for the July-September period of 14.5 trillion won (USD 12.8 billion) marked a record for quarterly profit, nearly tripling the 5.2 trillion won earned a year earlier.

Sales are expected to have surged 29.65 percent on-year to 62 trillion won, with the booming semiconductor business boosting the company's bottom line.

12:15 pm Buzzing: Gujarat Borosil share price has touched a 52-week high of Rs 129.95, 14.5 percent intraday Friday, following the strong outlook by management.

"We are actively considering doubling our capacity," Pradeep Kheruka, Vice Chairman, Gujarat Borosil said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

He expects to sell glass on a decent premium than normal glass and expects revenue around Rs 200 crore in FY18.

Gujarat Borosil had reported total revenue at Rs 184 crore in FY17, up 0.6 percent compared with Rs 182.9 crore in previous financial year. Profit during the year was at Rs 14.1 crore, increased from Rs 7.4 crore in previous year.

12:00 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained strong in noon, with the Nifty inching towards its record high of 10,178.95 level hit on September 19.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 234.31 points at 32,416.53 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 63.30 points to 10,159.70.

The BSE Midcap underperformed benchmarks, trading flat but the BSE Smallcap index gained half a percent. About 1,389 shares advanced against 983 declining shares on the BSE.

Nifty Bank index surged over 300 points on lower retail inflation, higher industrial output growth and hope of early resolution of telecom sector.

11:44 am FII View: Investors in the Indian market seem to cheer the festive rally on frontline indices, as the Nifty surpassed the previous closing high. But, is this rally here to stay or will bears give a strong counter attack?

Deutsche Equities said it was encouraging to see the Diwali cheer in the market and the momentum could well continue.

''Going forward, the direction of this market will shift according to how Q2 earnings will pan out. Right now, it is an interplay between global and domestic factors. While rest of the world is seeing return of economic and earnings growth, in India we are seeing a consolidation of both,'' Abhay Laijawala of Deutsche Equities told CNBC-TV18 in an interview, adding that how this dynamic plays out will be critical.

Speaking on the global setup, Laijawala said FIIs are now beginning to look at risk-reward for India in comparison to other emerging markets. Currently, valuations in India are higher than other EMs, he added.

On the earnings expectations, he expects Q2 Nifty earnings to improve to 14 percent after 11 percent fall last year.

11:34 am Order Win: Shriram EPC share price rallied 20 percent intraday on the back of receiving multiple orders worth Rs 349 crore.

The first order amounting to Rs 311 crore from Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation involves improvement of water supply system in Gaya Municipal Corporation, the company said in its filing.

The Asian Development Bank funded project is to be executed over a period of 42 months, with operations and maintenance period of 3 years, it added.

The second order worth Rs 38 crore received from Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation, which entails construction of pipeline, overhead tank and distribution network of 24*7 water supply system at Byadgi along with operations and maintenance.

11:24 am Buzzing: Jaiprakash Associates share price gained 4 percent after the company told Supreme Court that it was unable to raise Rs 2,000 crore to deposit before court as directed.

It sought court nod to sell Yamuna Expressway to mobilise funds.

Supreme Court will hear Jaiprakash Associates plea on October 23.

11:15 am Rate cut likely post macro data?: Sonal Varma of Nomura said the macro data on both growth and inflation are currently tracking below the RBI's projections.

Given higher core inflation and risks of fiscal slippage, she expects the RBI to stay on hold in base case (75 percent probability), but given the possibility of undershooting on macro forecasts, she also assigned a 25 percent probability to a cut.

11:06 am Management interview: Private sector lender IndusInd Bank aims to grow its microfinance portfolio to 5-6 percent in three years, likely to be boosted by the merger with microfinance player Bharat Financial Inclusion.

The Bank's board members will meet on Saturday, October 14, and most likely announce the merger deal.

Currently, IndusInd Bank's microfinance book is a little less than Rs 3,000 crore, which is 2.5 percent of the total loan book.

''We plan to take our microfinance book to about 5-6 percent over a period of three years…We have strong faith in the microfinance business and want to grow in it organically and inorganically,'' said Romesh Sobti, Managing Director and CEO of the bank.

The two entities entered into discussions earlier this year and announced its exclusive talks in September to consider a merger.

10:59 am TCS in focus: TCS gained over 1 percent as investors digested the company's earnings numbers that it declared on Thursday.

The IT major's second quarter (July-September) earnings beat analysts' expectations as consolidated profit rose 8.4 percent sequentially Rs 6,446 crore, backed by robust volume growth and operational performance.

Consolidated revenue during the quarter grew by 3.2 percent to Rs 30,541 crore on sequential basis, with volume growth of also 3.2 percent, driven by all industry verticals except retail and CMI.

Dollar revenue growth for the quarter was also 3.2 percent at USD 4,739 million compared with previous quarter, which was slightly ahead of estimates (of USD 4,731 million).

Constant currency revenue growth was 1.7 percent in Q2, driven by digital service offering.

Brokerages remain mixed on the results, but highlighted that there were some sectoral gains seen in the September quarter performance.

10:52 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extend rally in morning, with the Nifty inching towards its previous record high of 10,178.95 hit on September 19.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 237.20 points at 32,419.42 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 68.90 points to 10,165.30.

The market breadth was positive as about 1,383 shares advanced against 828 declining shares on the BSE.

Bharti Airtel (up 6.7 percent), Reliance Industries (up 0.95 percent) and TCS (up 1.34 percent) were most active shares on the National Stock Exchange.

Buying activity picked up momentum on positive economic
data after industrial production grew to a 9-month high of
4.3 percent in August while retail inflation came in at 3.28
percent in September, unchanged from August.

10:38 am FII View: Ridham Desai of Morgan Stanley said the Indian market seems poised for a big macro trade, which may be triggered by any sign that the economy and earnings are registering broad-based change.

He further said India's return correlation with the world has fallen sharply, reflecting concerns about the domestic economy but, even so, one should not disregard the fact that the bulk of India's absolute performance is a reflection of a global equity market.

That remains the key source of risk, both upside and downside to the market call, he feels.

10:25 am IIP Analysis: IIP for August came in at 4.3 percent YoY (Edelweiss estimate: 3.0 percent), a rebound from paltry 0.4 percent average growth clocked in previous 2 months.

While mining and electricity jumped particularly sharply, manufacturing also picked up pace to 3.1 percent (-0.4 percent past 2 months' average). Within manufacturing, the consumer goods space performed particularly well, perhaps a reflection of early festive season.

However, given that August is a restocking month post destocking in previous two months, 3-month average will be a better gauge, which shows growth of around 1 percent in manufacturing versus 3 percent clocked in May month.

Further, breadth is weak with 15 of 23 manufacturing industries contracting on trend basis. Thus, the rebound in IIP is largely a result of re-stocking and early festive season and may not necessarily be a true reflection of underlying activity, Edelweiss said.

Going ahead, IIP readings will be supported by low base, the research house feels. However, exports and government spending (given mounting fiscal challenges) trends will shape the underlying momentum, it said.

10:15 am Buzzing: Reliance Industries hit a fresh record high of Rs 891 in morning ahead of second quarter earnings later today.

10:10 am Rupee trade: The rupee strengthened 17 paise to 64.91 against the US dollar today, buoyed by a set of positive economic data.

Industrial production expanded to a 9-month high of 4.3 percent in August while retail inflation was stagnant at 3.28 per cent in September compared to the previous month.

A stronger opening in domestic stocks and the dollar's reduced strength against some currencies overseas kept the rupee on a firm ground, traders said. But continuous outflow of foreign money kept the upmove in check.

Yesterday, the rupee had appreciated by another 6 paise to end at a fresh one-week high of 65.08 on continued selling of the greenback.

9:55 am Divestment: The government invited bids from private companies, including foreign ones, to buy out its entire 51 percent stake along with management control in helicopter service operator Pawan Hans Ltd.

The Miniratna PSU is under the administrative control of the civil aviation ministry and the remaining 49 percent stake is held by oil behemoth ONGC.

In a "global invitation for expression of interest", the government asked private players to submit the bids by December 8.

"The government proposes to disinvest its entire equity shareholding of 51 per cent in Pawan Hans Ltd by way of strategic disinvestment to investors, along with transfer of management control," it said while inviting bids.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has already lined up a host of PSUs for strategic disinvestment.

9:45 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks gained further in morning as the Nifty hit its previous record closing high of 10,153.10, backed by Reliance Industries and telecom stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 165.45 points at 32,347.67 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 48.20 points at 10,144.60.

9:34 am Listing on Monday: Godrej Agrovet is set to debut on bourses on Monday, October 16. The issue price is fixed at Rs 460 per share, the higher end of price band.

The Rs 1,157-crore initial public offer was a big hit as the issue oversubscribed 95.34 times.

The issue comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 291.51 crore besides an offer for sale worth up to Rs 300 crore by Godrej Industries and sale of up to 1.23 crore shares by V- Science.

The price band has been fixed at Rs 450-460 per share.

9:25 am Management Interview: We at TCS are finding that the customers are much more specific about the projects that they are speaking about and they are working towards a strategy, a plan, Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO & MD said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Diligenta will start growing here onwards, the pipeline still continues to be good for Diligenta, he added.

It is difficult to call the timeframe but directionally we definitely see optimism returning, he further mentioned.

COO, NG Subramaniam said demand environment remains stable. The way we have structured ourselves now, we are able to more positively participate in some of the digital initiatives and our digital services growth is a direct result of some of those initiatives that we have taken.

9:20 am IPO subscription: The initial public offer (IPO) of state-owned General Insurance Corporation of India has been subscribed 90 percent. Today is the last day for its subscription.

GIC Re's Rs 11,370-crore IPO received bids for 11,16,79,024 shares against total issue size of 12,47,00,000 shares, data available with the NSE showed.

The portion meant for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was oversubscribed 1.68 times, that for non- institutional investors by 2 percent and retail investors' quota by 16 percent.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended previous day's gains in opening, with the Nifty reclaiming 10,100 level and inching towards its record high level.

The rally was driven by Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 113.08 points at 32,295.30 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 31.40 points to 10,127.80.

Bharti Airtel was up 6 percent, Tata Teleservices up 9 percent and Tata Communications up 2 percent after Airtel decided to buy consumer telecom business of Tata Sons. Bharti Infratel was up 3 percent.

Reliance Industries gained a percent ahead of second quarter earnings later today.

Shriram EPC rallied 15 percent post bagging of multiple orders.

Bharat Financial and IndusInd Bank gained 0.4 percent each ahead of IndusInd's board meeting on Saturday.

Nifty Midcap was up 0.3 percent as about three shares advanced for every share falling on the NSE.

BHEL, EON Electric, LEEL Electricals, Indian Toners, Aimco Pesticides, Indo Count, Teamlease, NBCC, Adani Transmission, Cyient, MCX (ahead of Q2 earnings later today), Manappuram Finance and DHFL gained 1-10 percent.

The Indian rupee started off last day of the week at Rs 64.95 against the US dollar, continuing the appreciation further.

It gained 13 paise compared with previous closing value of 65.08 per dollar.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.