Nifty ends above 7900, Sensex in green; Tata Steel up 7%

3:30 pm Marlet closing: The market has ended in green after a lot of struggle intraday. The Sensex was up 27.82 points at 25844.18, and the Nifty was up 0.05 points at 7914.75. About 1470 shares have advanced, 1144 shares declined, and 146 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, Hindalco, Axis Bank, Wipro and GAIL were top gainers while TCS, Reliance, Maruti, Sun Pharma and M&M were losers in the Sensex.

2:59 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks continued to be volatile in last hour of trade. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 6.70 points to 25823.06 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 5.20 points to 7909.50.

About 1397 shares advanced against 1125 declining shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

2:40 pm Indraprastha Gas in News: Indraprastha Gas recorded highest CNG sale of 26.7 lakh kg a day this week after more vehicles switched to the cleaner fuel with the start of second round of 'odd-even' rule for plying of private cars.

IGL is setting up one CNG dispensing station every two days, a world record, to meet the increased demand for gas.

"We had an average compressed natural gas (CNG) sale of 23.5-24 lakh kg per day in 2015-16. On Monday, which was the first full working day of the odd-even restricted plying rule, we saw sale volumes jump to 26.7 lakh," IGL Managing Director Narendra Kumar told PTI here.

Previously peak sale volume was 26.4 lakh kg per day.

"This is the highest ever sale we have ever achieved," he said. "In 2015-16 we had a growth of 3-4 percent in CNG consumption. This year (April 2016 to March 2017), we expect a growth rate of 8-10 percent."

2:20 pm Earnings: TV18 Broadcast has reported consolidated profit of Rs 82.5 crore in January-March quarter against Rs 95.5 crore in same quarter last year.

Consolidated total income from operations grew by 6.6 percent to Rs 671.3 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 629.7 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal, the media company said in its filing.

Its operational performance was quite strong in last quarter of financial year 2015-16. Operating profit (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation - EBITDA) surged 20.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 99.3 crore and margin expanded by 170 basis points to 14.8 percent in Q4.

Other income for the quarter was at Rs 10.8 crore against Rs 28.7 crore in year-ago period.

2:00 pm Market Check
The market continued to consolidate in afternoon trade with the Nifty hovering around 7900. Private banks, metals and select pharma stocks gained while TCS and Reliance Industries were under pressure.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 24.91 points to 25841.27 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 2.20 points to 7912.50. The market breadth was positive as about 1340 shares advanced against 1121 declining shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Wipro rose 2.5 percent ahead of fourth quarter earnings. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, dollar revenue may increase 2.8 percent sequentially to USD 1,890 million in March quarter against company's guidance of USD 1,875-1,912 million (growth of 2-4 percent).

1:50 pm RBI: RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said he would not be "euphoric" if the country were to become the fastest growing large economy, while noting that it needs to ensure growth is fast enough to boost citizens' livelihoods.

"As a central banker who has to be pragmatic, I cannot get euphoric if India is the fastest growing large economy," Rajan said in a speech to banking and finance students at an institute in Pune.

"We have to repeat this performance for the next 20 years before we can give every Indian a decent livelihood."

Rajan added the implementation of several reforms would be key to ensuring India posts high growth.

1:30 pm Tata Steel: Managers at Tata's Port Talbot steelworks have been briefed about a potential management buyout plan, Sky News reported on Tuesday, citing sources. Details of the plan are expected to be announced as early as Wednesday, Sky News said. Senior managers at Tata's South Wales plant were said to be called for an emergency meeting chaired by the director of Tata Steel 's Strip Products UK business, Stuart Wilkie, Sky News added. Tata Steel said it was not publicly naming or confirming any potentially interested investors or bidders.

The market is in red with the Sensex down 41.31 points at 25775.05. The Nifty is down 21.95 points at 7892.75. About 1243 shares have advanced, 1151 shares declined, and 142 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, Hindalco, Axis Bank, GAIL and Adani Ports are top gainers while TCS, Reliance, M&M, Maruti and SBI are laggards in the Sensex.

Silver rallied to an 11-month high, lifting gold for a second session and sending platinum to a fresh six-month top, as a softer dollar and optimism about the Chinese economy buoyed the white metal.

Silver and platinum group metals, which generate more demand from industry than gold, are rising on recent upbeat data from key consumer China, where a surge of new debt appeared to be fueling a recovery in factory activity, investment and household spending. Copper and steel have also rallied in recent days.

12:50 pm Solar plans: Brushing aside worries over any spillover effect of SunEdison's debt woes on India's solar power plans, Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal today set the record straight, saying some firms not doing well will not impact the programme's success.

"There are always certain cases of firms failing all over the world in every industry. There was a point of time where very large airline companies failed in different parts of the world. You have a failed steel sector in the UK. It doesn't mean that the whole sector collapses," he said when asked about the debt problems being faced by SunEdison.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by industry body CII here late yesterday, Goyal said there are one or two instances of companies which don't do well or may have some problems.

12:30 pm Market outlook: The current rally in Indian markets will have to be seen in the larger context of how their global counterparts are doing, says Pramod Gubbi, Director-Institutional Sales, Ambit Singapore. And the news is though India has had a good show these last few weeks, it has largely underperformed other markets, he said. ''I doubt much of what is happening in India is related to Indian fundamentals,'' he said. As for the global rally, it is more technical in nature than fundamental, with a helping hand from China which has decided to go slow on devaluing its currency. In the current rally, it is best for investors book profits, he says.

The market remains under pressure as the Nifty is stil below 7900. The 50-share index is down 17.85 points or 0.2 percent at 7896.85. The Sensex is down 35.21 point at 25781.15. About 1194 shares have advanced, 1125 shares declined, and 134 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, Hindalco, Axis Bank, GAIL and Coal India are gainers while M&M, Reliance, TCS, Maruti and Sun Pharma are losers in the Sensex. Auto, IT, FMCG and oil stocks are under selling pressure.

The Indian equity market is in the midst of a bull run, said Dipan Mehta, Member BSE & NSE. Mehta adds the Nifty may touch 8000 levels going forward.

With good earnings from companies in sectors like information technology, cement, auto, pharma and FMCG, investors have a huge trading opportunity.

11:55 am Macro economy: The Reserve Bank is expected to go for another 50 bps rate cut in the current financial year as there is room for further easing in monetary conditions, a Morgan Stanley report says. According to the global financial services firm, food inflation is likely to stay benign given that the India Met Department has recently released a forecast of above normal monsoon for 2016.

"We revise lower our March 2017 inflation forecast to 4.5 percent from 4.75 percent earlier," Morgan Stanley said in a research note, adding that "based on our inflation forecast and RBI's real rate target of 1.5 percent to 2 percent, we expect another 50 bps of rate cuts in fiscal year 2016-17".

11:30 am Buzzing: Credit rating agency CRISIL shares gained more than 13 percent intraday Wednesday after reporting strong earnings growth in January-March quarter. Consolidated net profit grew sharply by 40 percent year-on-year to Rs 78.6 crore and revenue increased by 16.6 percent to Rs 358.7 crore in last quarter of financial year 2015-16. "The quarter saw a strong growth in risk and analytics and financial research businesses under global research and analytics vertical while performance of India focussed businesses remained subdued because of weak investment demand & credit growth," Ashu Suyash, MD & CEO said.

The market is slipping fast as the Sensex is down 85.17 points or 0.3 percent at 25731.19. The Nifty is down 33.30 points or 0.4 percent at 7881.40. About 1089 shares have advanced, 1020 shares declined, and 133 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, Hindalco, Axis Bank, Coal India and ONGC are top gainers while M&M, TCS, Reliance, Maruti and Sun Pharma are major losers in the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the centre has decided to direct Maharashtra government to impose stock limit on sugarcane, reports Manisha Gupta of CNBC-TV18, quoting government sources.

Oil prices resumed their fall in Asia after petroleum workers called off a strike in key OPEC producer Kuwait, quashing hopes the disruption could help ease a persistent supply glut.

Curtailed production resulting from the three-day strike in OPEC's fourth biggest member led prices to rise Tuesday, ending a four-day losing streak. But prices resumed their decline after the Kuwait Oil Workers Union today ended their mass action and decided to return to work, hours after a fresh appeal by the acting oil minister

10:45 am Market check: The marlet is slipping into red. The Sensex is down 22.23 points at 25794.13 and the Nifty is down 17.00 points or 0.2 percent at 7897.70.  About 1213 shares have advanced, 845 shares declined, and 106 shares are unchanged. Tata Steel is up 4 percent while Axis Bank, Hindalco, adani Ports and Coal India are top gainers while M&M, TCS, Reliance, Sun Pharma and Maruti are losers in the Sensex.

10:20 am Buzzing: Credit rating agency CRISIL shares gained more than 13 percent intraday after reporting strong earnings growth in January-March quarter.

Consolidated net profit grew sharply by 40 percent year-on-year to Rs 78.6 crore and revenue increased by 16.6 percent to Rs 358.7 crore in last quarter of financial year 2015-16.

"The quarter saw a strong growth in risk and analytics and financial research businesses under global research and analytics vertical while performance of India focussed businesses remained subdued because of weak investment demand & credit growth," Ashu Suyash, MD & CEO said.

Operating profit in Q4 jumped 30 percent to Rs 112 crore and margin expanded 320 basis points to 31.3 percent compared to year-ago period.

10:00 am The market continues to rise as the Sensex is up 116.72 points or 0.4 percent at 25933.08. The Nifty is up 24.50 points or 0.3 percent at 7939.20. About 1210 shares have advanced, 514 shares declined, and 86 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, Hindalco, HDFC, Axis Bank and Coal India are top gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are TCS, M&M, Maruti, Sun Pharma and Bharti.

Crude futures fell in early Asian trade after Kuwaiti oil workers ended a three-day strike that had cut production from the Middle Eastern country and data showed US stockpiles rose last week.

Kuwaiti oil and gas workers ended a three-day strike that had temporarily cut the OPEC member's crude production by nearly half.

9:40 an 50 bps rate cut likely?: The Reserve Bank is expected to go for another 50 bps rate cut in the current financial year as there is room for further easing in monetary conditions, a Morgan Stanley report says.

According to the global financial services firm, food inflation is likely to stay benign given that the India Met Department has recently released a forecast of above normal monsoon for 2016.

"We revise lower our March 2017 inflation forecast to 4.5 percent from 4.75 percent earlier," Morgan Stanley said in a research note, adding that "based on our inflation forecast and RBI's real rate target of 1.5 percent to 2 percent, we expect another 50 bps of rate cuts in fiscal year 2016-17".

Earlier this month, RBI reduced its policy rate by 0.25 percent to 6.5 percent -- lowest level in more than 5 years.

While this was the first rate cut after a gap of six months, RBI has lowered its rate by 1.5 percent cumulatively since January 2015.

9:35 am FII View: Neelkanth Mishra of Credit Suisse says commodity prices have rebounded from 25-year lows hit in January 2016 and prices are up for most large commodities.

In some prior years, the rebound fizzled in April/May with seasonal demand weakness but that seems unlikely this year, he feels.

According to him, concerns on metals may soften long enough to necessitate a tactical portfolio change.

9:15 am Market Check
Equity benchmarks turned volatile after strong opening on Wednesday. The 30-share BSE Sensex opened more than 100 points higher but could not sustain entire gains.

The index rose 53.10 points to 25869.46 and the 50-share NSE Nifty advanced 7.15 points to 7921.85.

HDFC gained 2.4 percent after the company's board approved 10 percent stake sale in its insurance arm HDFC Life Insurance through public offer.

TCS fell 1.6 percent after missed analysts' expectations on Q4 margin front, though profit beat forecast.

The Indian rupee gained in the early trade today. It has opened higher by 28 paise at 66.27 per dollar versus 66.55 Monday.

Bansi Madhavani of India Ratings feels weaker dollar is likely to aid EM currencies.

According to him, the 66.30/dollar mark could be tested in today's session.

Globally, Asian markets remained mixed with Shanghai falling 2.5 percent and Hang Seng down 1 percent while Nikkei rose 0.3 percent.

US stocks closed mixed, amid a rise in oil prices, as declines in tech and consumer discretionary stocks weighed after mixed earnings reports.

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones closed at their highest levels of the year so far. The S&P 500 closed above the psychologically key 2,100 level for the first time since December 1, 2015.

The US dollar hit 10-month lows against some commodity currencies on a growing appetite for risky assets and lost further ground to the euro after weak US economic data reinforced views that Federal Reserve monetary policy would remain dovish.