Nifty ends above 7700, Sensex up after struggle; ITC fall 2%

3:30 pm Market closing: After a lot of struggle, the market has ended marginally higher. The Sensex was up 45.12 points or 0.2 percent at 25330.49, and the Nifty was 10.65 points or 0.1 percent at 7714.90. About 1348 shares have advanced, 1254 shares declined, and 161 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Steel, M&M and Hindalo were top gainers while Dr Reddy's, ITC, Adani Ports, HUL and Wipro were losers in the Sensex.

3:20 pm Fund raising: Religare Enterprises will raise Rs 500 crore on a private placement basis by issuing non-convertible debentures.

The decision was taken at company's Investment and Borrowing Committee meeting of the Board held today.

The company said in a regulatory filing that it "...considered and approved the raising of funds for an amount up to Rs 500 crore through issue of unsecured unlisted non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis".

Religare Enterprises said it will update once the funds are raised and the NCDs are issued.

3:05 pm Market Recovers: Equity benchmarks recouped losses in last hour of trade with the Sensex rising 32.73 points to 25318.10 and the Nifty up 7.25 points to 7711.50.

It was supported by Reliance Industries, HDFC and HDFC Bank that gained around a percent.

2:45 pm Jan Dhan accounts: As many as 9.39 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been seeded with Aadhaar, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said today.

"Government is linking bank accounts with Aadhaar to accurately transfer benefits. 9.39 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been seeded with Aadhaar cards," Sinha tweeted.

Aaadhaar, the unique identity number, is being used for transfer of LPG subsidy and some other government programmes.

There are plans to transfer fertiliser subsidy through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) using Aadhaar.

2:20 pm Europe Update: European markets traded lower after an explosion at Brussels airport left at least one person dead and several injured. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 1-1.7 percent.

Two explosions rocked Belgium's airport of Zaventem, just outside Brussels, on Tuesday morning, leaving at least one dead and many more injured, according to local media.

2:00 pm Market Check
The market extended losses in afternoon trade with the Sensex lost more than 150 points, tracking weakness in Europe after blast in Brussels.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 162.12 points to 25123.25 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 48.25 points to 7656. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices erased gains to trade flat.

The market breadth also turned negative as about 1366 shares declined against 1074 advancing shares on Bombay Stock Exchange

Cigarette major ITC slipped more than 2 percent on profit booking. Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the company hiked price of flagship cigarette brands by up to 31 percent.

Infosys, ICICI Bank, HUL, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs, Adani Ports and Bharti Airtel were down 1-3 percent.

BHEL gained 4 percent after CLSA says BHEL maintained leadership in power generation equipment market in FY16, by winning 95 percent and 81 percent of orders for boilers and turbines, respectively. Mahindra & Mahindra rose 2 percent after its agri business started selling dairy products in Madhya Pradesh.

1:55 pm Fund raising: Fund-raising by Indian companies through rights issue doubled to Rs 8,785 crore in the first 10 months of the current fiscal, indicating growing traction among domestic firms to mop-up fresh capital via this route.

The largest rights issue during the period was from Tata Motors which alone raked in Rs 7,498 crore.

Most of the funds were raised for expansion, repayment of debt and working capital requirements.

In the rights issue mode, shares are issued to existing investors at a pre-determined price, normally at a discount, in proportion to their holdings.

1:30 pm: The government is looking at imposing penalties for delaying farmers' settlement claims under the new crop insurance plan, Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal said. The government in January launched a crop damage insurance plan to give a shield to millions of farmers who suffer when their crops fail. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is banking on the insurance plan to woo rural India, a key to his ambition to win a number of state elections in the next two years.

The market continues to skid as the Sensex is down 97.17 points or 0.4 percent at 25188.20. The Nifty is down 27.80 points or 0.4 percent at 7676.45. About 1217 shares have advanced, 1122 shares declined, and 172 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, M&M, Lupin, Maruti Suzuki and Sun Pharma are top gainers while Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy's, ITC, HUL and Adani Ports are losers in the Sensex.

The rupee was quoted steady against the American currency in the late morning trade at 66.54 on fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters on hopes of more foreign capital inflows.

The dollar climbed yesterday, paring its weekly decline last week. The American unit steadily strengthened against its main rivals during Monday's session after two regional Fed presidents said they would support the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at its April meeting.

Foreign funds (FPP and FIIs) continued their buying spree yesterday as they bought shares worth Rs 1,396.33 crores as per the stock exchanges.

12:59 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained under pressure with the Sensex falling 104.56 points to 25180.81 and the Nifty declining 28.95 points to 7675.30.

12:50 pm Buzzing: Shares of Titan Company gained 3.6 percent intraday after Tata Sons raised stake in the company to 20.84 percent.

Tata Sons, one of the major shareholders under promoter category, increased its stake in jewellery company to 20.84 percent from 19.80 percent (as of December 2015) through a block deal with Tata Global.

Tata Global said it has sold entire 92,48,060 equity shares held in Titan Company (representing 1.04 percent of the paid up capital of Titan) as a market transaction. These shares were sold at an average price of Rs 337.70 apiece, totalling the transaction to Rs 312.30 crore and Tata Sons was the buyer.

12:40 pm Penalty on crop insurance delay: The government is looking at imposing penalties for delaying farmers' settlement claims under the new crop insurance plan, Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal said on Tuesday.

The government in January launched a crop damage insurance plan to give a shield to millions of farmers who suffer when their crops fail.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is banking on the insurance plan to woo rural India, a key to his ambition to win a number of state elections in the next two years.

12:20 pm Siemens in news: German conglomerate Siemens today sought shareholders' approval on the proposed sale and transfer of its healthcare undertaking in the country to its subsidiary Siemens Healthcare for a consideration of Rs 3,050 crore.

"...Siemens Ltd proposes to sell and transfer its Healthcare Undertaking as a 'going concern' and by way of a slump sale to Siemens Healthcare Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Germany with effect from July 1, 2016 for a lumpsum consideration of Rs 3,050 crore," the company said in a postal ballot notice to shareholders.

"Accordingly, the proposed ordinary resolution and the statement setting out material facts thereof are being sent to you along with a Postal Ballot Form for your consideration," it added.

12:00 pm Market Check
The market continued to trade lower in noon trade with the Sensex falling 48 points to 25236 and the Nifty down 13 points to 7690.

Ambuja Cements (-3 percent), Bharti Airtel (-2 percent), Adani Ports (-2 percent) and Dr Reddy's Labs (-2 percent) were the big losers in the Nifty. Other laggards in the index were Bank of Baroda (-1 percent), ICICI Bank (-1 percent),Hindalco (-1 percent) and Tech Mahindra (-1 percent).

Gainers included BHEL (4 percent), Tata Power (4 percent), M&M (2 percent) and Bosch (2 percent).

In sectoral performance as reflected by the respective indices, FMCG (-0.9 percent), IT (-0.6 percent) and metals (-0.1 percent) were under pressure, while consumer durables (1.3 percent), power (1.2 percent), capital goods (1.1 percent) and auto (1.1 percent) gained.

Among key Asian markets Singapore's Straits Times was up 7 points at 2888, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 21 points at 20662, and China's Shanghai was down 3 points at 3015. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed at 17048, up 323 points or 1.9 percent over its previous close, Korea's KOSPI closed at 1996, up 7 points , and Taiwan's Taiwan Index closed at 8785, down 27 points.

11:55 am IPO in pipeline: Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) is working diligently towards debt reduction through divestment of non-core assets and internal accruals, said Naveen Jindal, the company's chairman, in an interview to CNBC-TV18. As a step in the direction, the company plans sale of its wind energy business and is in talks with many strategic partners to sell off the 1000 megawatt (MW) power plant in Jindal Power, he said. However, he declined any comment on details of the sale as it is pending approval of shareholders.

11:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Indoco Remedies gained nearly 12 percent after approval from the US health regulator for Goa facility. "Indoco has received the establishment inspection report (approval) from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its solid dosages manufacturing facility at Goa (plant I)," says the Mumbai-based pharma company in its filing. The company has three finished dosage facilities in Goa. Plant I is a product manufacturing facility which includes solid dosages, creams, ointments and liquid dosages. The facility is already approved by UK-MHRA, MCC South Africa and TGA - Australia (for solid dosages, liquid orals and creams & ointments).

The market is absolutely flat as the Sensex is up 0.61 points at 25285.98. The Nifty is down 6.90 points at 7697.35. About 1259 shares have advanced, 782 shares declined, and 126 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, M&M, Maruti, Tata Motors and Lupin are top gainers while Dr Reddy's Labs, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtle, HUL and Infosys are losers in the Sensex.

Oil prices dipped slightly but stayed above USD 41 a barrel as OPEC raised hopes of a moderate rebound from a meeting of key producers in Qatar in April.

Meanwhile, given the current market scenario, Rakesh Arora of Macquarie Capital Securities is supportive of it and believes the second half will be better for earnings growth. "Till now the impact of commodity prices going down was affecting topline," he told CNBC-TV18.

He expects revenue growth to go back to 14-15 percent levels in the second half. Based on this, he sees Nifty at 9200 by December 2016.

10:40 am FII View: Given the current market scenario, Rakesh Arora of Macquarie Capital Securities is supportive of it and believes the second half will be better for earnings growth. "Till now the impact of commodity prices going down was affecting topline," he told CNBC-TV18.

He expects revenue growth to go back to 14-15 percent levels in the second half. Based on this, he sees Nifty at 9200 by December 2016.

10:20 am Buzzing: Shares of Indoco Remedies gained nearly 12 percent intraday after approval from the US health regulator for Goa facility.

"Indoco has received the establishment inspection report (approval) from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its solid dosages manufacturing facility at Goa (plant I)," says the Mumbai-based pharma company in its filing.

The company has three finished dosage facilities in Goa. Plant I is a product manufacturing facility which includes solid dosages, creams, ointments and liquid dosages. The facility is already approved by UK-MHRA, MCC South Africa and TGA - Australia (for solid dosages, liquid orals and creams & ointments).

10:00 am Market Check
The market continued to see profit booking in morning trade after one percent rally in previous session while the broader markets outperformed benchmarks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 75.81 points to 25209.56 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 26.80 points to 7677.45. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained half a percent each.

The market breadth remained strong as about 1043 shares advanced against 667 declining shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Adani Ports and Dr Reddy's Labs fell over 2 percent followed by Infosys, ITC, HUL, Bharti Airtel and Hero Motocorp with more than a percent loss. Reliance Industries, L&T, Lupin and BHEL gained 1-2 percent.

9:55 am Fund raising: State-run Andhra Bank said it will issue over 2.88 crore shares to LIC to raise over Rs 136.47 crore.

"... raising of capital by way of creating, offering, issuing and allotting 2,88,53,210 equity shares for cash at Rs 47.30 per share on preferential basis to Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)", the bank said in a BSE filing.

The decision was taken at the Extra-Ordinary General Meeting of shareholders of the bank held.

9:45 am Bullisj Maruti: Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest carmaker, said it expects sales to grow in double digits in 2016-17, with new models likely to drive growth.

"In the next fiscal we expect our sales to grow in double digits. As for industry it could be 5-10 percent," Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa told reporters here on the sidelines of JD Power awards.

When asked what will be primary growth drivers, he said: "The new models like Baleno and Vitara Brezza will play a major role. The Vitara Brezza is effectively going on sales in the next fiscal only."

In the April-February this fiscal, the company has sold 12,99,903 units as against 11,808,60 units in the year-ago period, up 10.1 percent. In 2014-15, the company had sold 12,92,415 units.

9:35 am Macro economy: India's current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to 1.3 percent of GDP in third quarter of the fiscal as against 1.5 percent in the same period last year, mainly on account of lower trade deficit.

"India's CAD at USD 7.1 billion (1.3 percent of GDP) in Q3 of 2015-16 was lower than USD 7.7 billion (1.5 percent of GDP) in Q3 of 2014-15 and USD 8.7 billion (1.7 percent of GDP) in the preceding quarter," Reserve Bank of India said.

While releasing the Balance of Payments data during the October-December quarter of 2015-16, it said the contraction in CAD was primarily on account of a lower trade deficit (USD 34 billion) as against in Q3 of last year (USD 38.6 billion) and USD 37.4 billion in the preceding quarter.

9:25 am Market slips:  The market has slipped quickly as the Sensex is down 73.55 points or 0.3 percent at 25211.82. The Nifty is down 26.55 points or 0.3 percent at 7677.70. About 668 shares have advanced, 475 shares declined, and 67 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel and M&M are top gainers while Adani Ports, HDFC, Infosys, Wipro and Hero MotoCorp.

After a spectacular rally, the market has opened flat on Tuesday. The Sensex is up 1.14 points at 25286.51, and the Nifty is down 1.85 points at 7702.40. About 348 shares have advanced, 115 shares declined, and 32 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, Axis Bank, L&T, Cipla and NTPC are top gainers while Hero, Adani Ports, HDFC, ITC and Infosys are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened marginally lower at 66.58 per dollar against previous close of 66.53.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "The improved risk sentiment and pick up in portfolio flows has helped the USD-INR pair to settle near 66.50/dollar level, and lot of support has been seen around this level."

"We expect the pair to appreciate gradually from this level and trade near 66-66.70/dollar level in near term with next big supports at 66.20/dollar and 65.80/dollar," he added.

The dollar gained, as investors shook off dovish statements from the Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks wobbled as hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials stoked uncertainty about policy makers' intentions less than a week after Fed Chair Janet Yellen had set out a more cautious path to rate increases this year.
The dollar got a mild boost from the suggestion that US monetary policy could be tightened sooner rather than later.