Sensex up 321 points, Nifty ends firm; ONGC, Axis Bank gainers

03:35 pm Market closing
The market has ended on a strong note. The Sensex was up 321.32 points or 1.2 percent at 26429.85 and the Nifty was up 99.70 points or 1.3 percent at 7879.40. About 1634 shares have advanced, 1212 shares declined, and 111 shares are unchanged.

ONGC, Hindalco, Coal India, Axis Bank and Tata Motors are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Wipro, Infosys, TCS, ITC and Reliance.

03:10 Earnings
Liquor maker United Spirits has posted a net loss of Rs 55.6 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 as against profit of Rs 118.13 crore in same quarter last year on account of exceptional loss.

The company has made a provision of Rs 42.7 crore for diminution in value of investment in subsidiaries, which resulted in a loss on bottomline front.

Numbers were lower than analysts' expectations. According to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18, profit was expected at Rs 100 crore on revenue of Rs 2,340 crore for the quarter.

Revenue declined 11 percent to Rs 1,924 crore in April-June quarter of current financial year 2014-15 compared to Rs 2,161 crore in the year-ago period.

02:45 pm Results impact
Investors added more shares of Axis Bank on Monday as brokerage houses raised target price on the stock after the company's second quarter earnings met street expectations. The stock rallied nearly 4 percent intraday.

India's third largest private sector lender's net profit climbed 18.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,611 crore led by higher other income and net interest income but impacted by higher provisions. The CNBC-TV18 poll had expected it at Rs 1,612 crore for the quarter.

While maintaining outperform rating on the stock, Credit Suisse raised earnings per share estimates by around 2 percent on higher-than-expected net interest margin. "With better-than-expected NIMs and pick-up in fees, pre-provisional profitability has improved. Valuation is inexpensive at 1.8x book, for 18 percent return on equity and 21 percent EPS CAGR," it elaborated.

02:20pm Gainers and losers
ONGC maintained its uptrend, up over 6 percent on gas price hike followed by Tata Motors, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Larsen and Toubro, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Hindalco Industries and Gail India with 2-5 percent gain.

However, Infosys (down 0.8 percent), Wipro (down 1.5 percent) and TCS (down 0.3 percent) were under pressure in afternoon trade.

02:00pm The market maintained its morning gains with the Sensex rising 328.89 points or 1.26 percent to 26437.42 and the Nifty climbing 97.15 points or 1.25 percent to 7876.85.

Advancing shares ountumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1593 to 1042 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Ridham Desai, Morgan Stanley says equities look appealing because of the potential earnings upside. "India's stellar performance this year has been driven by hopes of reform momentum following strong election results, a likely turn in the economic cycle and benign global conditions," he adds.

According to him, even as the market looks fair or better than fair on valuations relative to bonds and emerging markets, an upturn in the earnings cycle will likely support valuations. Over the coming two years, he sees earnings compounding at 19.8 percent and 15.5 percent for the Sensex and broad market, respectively.

UltraTech Cement rallied over 5 percent following higher-than-expected earnings in July-September quarter. Net profit shot up 55.24 percent year-on-year to Rs 410 crore on strong topline, operational and other income, and lower tax rate but impacted by higher finance, power and freight cost. Revenue during the quarter grew by 20 percent to Rs 5,429 crore driven by higher cement sales volumes. CLSA maintains a buy on the stock with a revised target price of Rs 3150.

Jindal Steel & Power plunged over 7 percent as sources say CBI has registered a fresh case of alleged cheating and corruption against the company, in connection with its probe into coal blocks allocation probe.

1:55 pm Big deal: US private equity firm Warburg Pincus has agreed to buy a significant minority stake (around 10 percent) in Kalyan Jewellers for about USD 200 million, five sources with knowledge of the transaction told Reuters on Monday. The Indian jewellery manufacturer and retailer will use the capital for expansion purposes, said the sources, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

1:35 pm Buzzing: Shares of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) gained more than 9 percent intraday on bagging a Rs 393.08-crore worth road project from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highway.

The engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contract is for reconstruction of the 65.87 km section of NH-233, on the Indo-Nepal border, said the infrastructure construction and development company, adding the project is part of the National Highway Development Program phase-IV.

The scope of work includes rehabilitation, upgradation and augmentation of the existing carriageway to two-lane, with paved shoulders, construction of pavements, construction and/or rehabilitation of major and minor bridges, culverts, road intersections, interchanges, drains. 

The market is still maintaining its uptrend with the Nifty hovering below 7900-level. The 50-share index is up 92.45 points or 1.2 percent at 7872.15. The Sensex is up 306.95 points or 1.2 percent at 26415.48. About 1659 shares have advanced, 883 shares declined, and 120 shares are unchanged.

ONGC, Hindalco, Tata Motors, Axis Bank and L&T were top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Wipro, Infosys, Reliance and TCS. Midcap index is over 1 percent.

The BJP is still undecided over going with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra despite Uddhav Thackeray's overtures according to BJP sources. Meanwhile with 47 seats - the BJP is set to form its first ever governmwnt in Haryana but eyes are one who will be Chief Minister. Captain Abhimanyu among those in the race for the top job.

Japan's Nikkei share average surged 4 percent to post its biggest daily rise since June 2013 as investors took heart from upbeat US data and the weaker yen lifted exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co.

Also underpinning the market was news that Japan's USD 1.2 trillion public pension fund will likely raise its allocation to domestic stocks to about 25 percent from 12 percent at present. The Nikkei share average added 578.72 points to end at 15,111.23, recouping most of the losses posted last week.

12:59pm KSK Energy rallies
Shares of KSK Energy Ventures rallied 6 percent after the board has allotted over 8 crore warrants to KSK Power Holdings. It is priced at Rs 99 per share, around 43 percent premium to current market price.

''The board has allotted 8,08,08,080 warrants to KSK Power Holdings entitling for subscription of equivalent number of equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 99 per warrant (including a premium of Rs 89 per equity share) as per provisions of Chapter VII of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirement) Regulations, 2009 as amended,'' it said in a statement to the exchange.

The Mauritius-based KSK Energy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of KSK Power, an Isle of Man incorporated entity that is currently listed on the London Stock Exchange.

12:45pm JSPL under pressure
Shares of Jindal Steel & Power tanked 6 percent as investors are growing nervous after CBI registered a fresh case of alleged cheating and corruption against the company, in connection with its probe into coal blocks allocation probe.

A CBI spokesperson, on Sunday, said that it is the 36th FIR in connection with its probe into the coal blocks scam.

The fresh case has been registered against Jindal Stripes Limited, Jindal Steel and Power Limited and unknown public officials for alleged criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, CBI sources said.

12:30pm PE deal with unlisted company
US private equity firm Warburg Pincus has agreed to buy a significant minority stake in Kalyan Jewellers for about USD 200 million, five sources with knowledge of the transaction told Reuters on Monday.

The Indian jewellery manufacturer and retailer will use the capital for expansion purposes, said the sources, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

"The deal is almost done and we may probably announce it later the day," said one of the sources, who is directly involved in the stake sale.

Kalyan and Warburg Pincus did not have immediate comments when asked by Reuters.

12:15pm Nikkei rallies
Japan's Nikkei share average surged 4 percent to post its biggest daily rise since June 2013 as investors took heart from upbeat US data and the weaker yen lifted exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co.

Also underpinning the market was news that Japan's USD 1.2 trillion public pension fund will likely raise its allocation to domestic stocks to about 25 percent from 12 percent at present.

People familiar with the process told Reuters that a weighting in the middle of the 20-30 percent range is the main proposal for an impending reallocation of the fund's asset mix and is under final discussion within GPIF.

The Nikkei share average added 578.72 points to end at 15,111.23, recouping most of the losses posted last week.

Upbeat US consumer confidence supported investor sentiment and lifted risk appetites. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment unexpectedly rose in early October to its highest level since July 2007. Separate data showed groundbreaking on new homes rose more than expected last month.

Traders said investors scooped up recently-battered stocks after the Nikkei tumbled 5 percent last week on concerns about faltering global growth and the stronger yen, reports Reuters.

12:00pm Market Check
Bulls kept tight control over bears on the first day of Diwali week. Key indices gained more than 1 percent each buoyed by the election verdict in Haryana and Maharashtra and the much awaited reform moves by the government. Midcaps too gained in-line with frontliners with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rallied 1.4 percent each.

The Sensex climbed 367.57 points to 26476.10 and the Nifty surged 111.65 points to 7891.35. About 1686 shares have advanced, 771 shares declined, and 108 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
 
Madhu Kela of Reliance Capital is bullish on equities with a three-year horizon and expects the asset class to outperform others like real estate, fixed income and gold in that time frame.

Post state elections, the government raised gas prices to USD 5.6 per mmbtu and deregulated diesel linking it to global market prices. Key beneficiaries, oil marketing companies stocks and ONGC gained anywhere between 4-6 percent in trade.

Meanwhile, the BJP is still undecided over going with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra despite Uddhav Thackeray's overtures, say BJP sources. With 47 seats, the BJP is set to form its first ever government in Haryana.

On the global front, Japan's Nikkei led a strong rally in Asia, rising 4 percent on the back of strong US data. Analysts expect Europe to open higher, tracking strength in Asia.

11:50 am Poll: Telecom operator Idea Cellular is expected to report a 9.4 percent decline (Q-o-Q) in second quarter profit at Rs 660 crore today as July-September quarter is a seasonally weak quarter for the sector, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. Profit in the previous quarter was Rs 728.2 crore. Revenue may fall 1.9 percent to Rs 7,417 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 7,561 crore in previous quarter. Operating profit is likely to decline 3.9 percent sequentially to Rs 2,413 crore and margin may slip 67 basis points to 32.53 percent in the quarter gone by (but may rise 130 basis points on year-on-year basis).

11:35 am Market outlook: Madhu Kela of Reliance Capital is bullish on Indian equities from a three-year horizon and expects the asset class to outperform others like real estate, fixed income and gold in that time frame.

He says many investors are feeling left out in this current rally and are waiting for dips to participate. Continuing his positive tone, he says that earnings growth over the next three years will take many market participants by surprise. He foresees earnings growth crossing 20 percent from FY16 onwards. Speaking about the macros, Kela says that India is coming out of a dismal phase of capex and investment cycle. Also, there are early indications of improvements on stalled projects, but the real turnaround in India's fundamentals will happen significantly over the next six months. He expects the Modi government to surpass most expectations in next five years and sees accelerated policy actions over the next six months. 

The market has started the Diwali week with celebrations buoyed by the election verdict in Haryana and Maharashtra where BJP is set to form the government. Along with the positive reaction of the oil & gas space to the much awaited gas price hike and diesel price de-regulation, global cues are supporting the market.

The Sensex is up 370.99 points or 1.4 percent at 26479.52 and the Nifty is up 113.65 points or 1.5 percent at 7893.35. About 1595 shares have advanced, 605 shares declined, and 87 shares are unchanged.

ONGC, L&T, HDFC and Axis Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Infosys, Wipro, Reliance, BHEL and TCS.

In earnings reaction Axis Bank reacts positively to Q2 earnings. Bank of America Merill Lynch hikes target to Rs 500 versus Rs 450 earlier.

It is good going for the global markets, Nikkei rebounded from a four month low. Markets reacted to US consumer sentiment rose that to a 7-year high, and the rupiah in Indonesia jumped to 3-week highs on the swearing in of their new president. The rupee strengthened on selling of the US dollar by exporters.

10:55am Market Update
The market extended gains with the equity benchmarks rising 1.5 percent each in morning trade. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 382.52 points to 26491.05 and the Nifty reclaimed 7900, up 123.45 points to 7903.15.

About 1573 shares have advanced, 567 shares declined, and 79 shares are unchanged.
 
Among midcaps, Torrent Power, Trent, HCC, SKS Microfinance and Dewan Housing shot up 6-9 percent while Unichem Labs, Persistent, Trinity Trade, Den Networks and HT Media lost 3-8 percent.

10:45am Idea second quarter earnings today
Telecom operator Idea Cellular is expected to report a 9.4 percent decline (Q-o-Q) in second quarter profit at Rs 660 crore today as July-September quarter is a seasonally weak quarter for the sector, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. Profit in the previous quarter was Rs 728.2 crore.

Revenue may fall 1.9 percent to Rs 7,417 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 7,561 crore in previous quarter.

Operating profit is likely to decline 3.9 percent sequentially to Rs 2,413 crore and margin may slip 67 basis points to 32.53 percent in the quarter gone by (but may rise 130 basis points on year-on-year basis).

10:30am Interview
The government on Saturday fixed new gas price at USD 5.61 per million british thermal unit (MMBTU), increased from USD 4.2 per mmbtu earlier. However, it reduced diesel price by Rs 3.37 per litre following sharp fall in crude oil prices in international markets.. So how are the reforms going to impact the oil marketing companies?

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, B Ashok, Chairman, IOC , said the gas price hike will benefit industry and economy as a whole and expects a higher competition going ahead.

Ashok expects subsidy burden to be around Rs 85,000 crore with fall in crude. ''When you compare it with last year, the overall subsidy was about or under recoveries were about Rs 1,40,000 crore out of which the diesel component was nearly Rs 63000 crore. So there has been a significant impact in terms of diesel under recoveries and for the rest of the year since the decontrol has happened there is not likely to be any under recovery on diesel,'' he said.

10:15am Market Expert
Madhu Kela of Reliance Capital is bullish on Indian equities from a three-year horizon and expects the asset class to outperform others like real estate, fixed income and gold in that time frame. In a Diwali special interview Samavat 2071, to CNBC-TV18, he says many investors are feeling left out in this current rally and are waiting for dips to participate.

Continuing his positive tone, he says that earnings growth over the next three years will take many market participants by surprise. He foresees earnings growth crossing 20 percent from FY16 onwards.

Speaking about the macros, Kela says that India is coming out of a dismal phase of capex and investment cycle. Also, there are early indications of improvements on stalled projects, but the real turnaround in India's fundamentals will happen significantly over the next six months. He expects the Modi government to surpass most expectations in next five years and sees accelerated policy actions over the next six months.

Despite this, he feels that the current market rally is not as compelling as the one seen 2003. ''The market is not as cheap as it was in 2003. The market in 2003 was literally undiscovered with company valuations on the lower side,'' he adds.

10:00am Market Check
Equity benchmarks maintained strong upside of over a percent after the government kicked off its reforms agenda with announcement of gas price hike and diesel deregulation. Oil and gas, banking and financials, healthcare, capital goods and auto stocks continued to support the market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 320.77 points to 26429.30 and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 101.80 points to 7881.50. The broader markets gained too with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 1.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

About three shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

ONGC kept its top position in the buying list, up over 5 percent after the government raised natural gas price to USD 5.61 per mmbtu from USD 4.2 per mmbtu while oil marketing companies like IOC, HPCL and BPCL gained 4-6 percent after the government deregulated diesel price.

Shares of HDFC, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, L&T, SBI, Axis Bank, Cipla, Gail India and Hindalco Industries rallied 2-3 percent.

However, Infosys, TCS, Hero Motocorp and Wipro declined 0.5-1 percent.

9:55 am Expert take: The gas price hike is broadly positive, but the market is unlikely to be excited about it because the quantum is much lower than what it was expecting, feels Mehraboon Irani of Nirmal Bang Securities. In addition to the BJP not getting an absolute majority in a key state like Maharashtra, the market is also likely to be disappointed at the government playing it safe on key reforms such as gas price hike feels Irani.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Irani says he is bullish on oil marketing companies because of diesel price deregulation. He is bullish also on telecom stocks, which he feels are now available at attractrive valuations. Speaking in the same discussion, Sandip Sabharwal of asksandipsabharwal.com said the market has most likely seen its peak for this year given both domestic and global headwinds.

9:35 am Buzzing: Shares of UltraTech Cement rose 5 percent intraday. The Aditya Birla Group company beat street expectations on every parameter with the second quarter standalone net profit soaring 55.24 percent to Rs 410 crore on strong topline, operational and other income but impacted by finance, power and freight cost. Profit in the year-ago period was Rs 264.1 crore.

Profit was expected at Rs 338 crore on revenue of Rs 5,150 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. Revenue during the quarter grew by 20 percent to Rs 5,429 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 4,523 crore in same quarter last year driven by higher cement sales volumes. 

Boosted by fuel stocks, the market has opened on a strong note. The Sensex is up 341.55 points or 1.3 percent at 26450.08 and the Nifty is up 112.70 points or 1.4 percent at 7892.40.
About 532 shares have advanced, 74 shares declined, and 9 shares are unchanged.

The government has begun with the mother of all reforms. It has raised the gas prices to USD 5.6 per unit effective from November with a review every six months. Also, in a huge boost to public sector oil companies, diesel price deregulation finally sees the light of the day. Government has deregulated the price of diesel, linking it to global market prices. Diesel has now become cheaper by Rs 3.37.

ONGC is up 7 percent while Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors are top gainers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee advanced in the early trade. It has opened higher by 24 paise at 61.20 per dollar against 61.44 Friday. Dollar gained after upbeat data restored some calm to the financial markets, prompting equities to rally back from deep losses and triggering a rise in treasury yields.

Agam Gupta of Standard Chartered said, "The diesel price decontrol and the state election results will support risk appetite. Expect exporters to sell on upticks to 61.35-61.40/dollar and local government banks to be buyers of USD on dips towards 61.05-61.10/dollar. Expect the rupee to trade in the range of 61.05-61.40/dollar," he added.

It was a massive victory for the BJP in Maharashtra. It came out as the single largest party in the state with 123 seats in Haryana.It created a record getting majority on its own in Haryana assembly winning 47 seats.

US stocks rallied, softening a fourth week of losses, as investors bet on further stimulus from central banks and corporations including General Electric and Morgan Stanley reported profits that topped expectations.

Meanwhile Fed Chair, Janet Yellen believes that the widening inequality paused during recession, has resumed in recovery. In economic data, new-home construction climbed 6.3 percent in August, signaling improvement in the US residential real-estate market.

Also the preliminary read for consumer sentiment in October came in at 86.4 versus 84.0 estimate. Asian markets gained in a broad rally on Monday. The Nikkei rebounded from four-month low while Kospi recovered from eight-month low.

Nymex crude futures bounce back after a three-week fall that pulled prices to their lowest since 2012 amid abundant supply and slack demand. Brent crude too rises to 86 dollars per barrel.