Nifty ends above 8100, Sensex ends over 100 points; TCS, HDFC drag

3:30 pm Market closing: The market has ended on a higher note as European market showed a comeback post initial weakness. The Sensex closes up 118.44 points or 0.4 percent at 26349.10 and the Nifty was up 41.95 points or 0.5 percent at 8128.75. About 1511 shares have advanced, 1114 shares declined, and 154 shares are unchanged.

M&M, Asian Paints, Lupin, Maruti and Bharti were gainers while TCS, HDFC, GAIL, Sun Pharma and Wipro were losers in the Sensex.

2:58 pm Market update: The Sensex was up 82.35 points at 26313.01 and the Nifty up 29.20 points at 8116.

About 1416 shares advanced against 1129 declining shares on the BSE.

2:55 pm Market Expert: Asserting that a delay in the rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a positive for Indian economy which is battling the impact of demonetisation, Rahul Singh of Ampersand Capital Investment said FII inflows may get hit if April 1, 2017 deadline is missed.

Demonetisation coupled with April 1 rollout will be hard for markets to absorb as it will take another one or two quarters for the economy to settle down, Singh said. He added that a delay would be a hurdle for FIIs observing the Indian market.

"I would think it (GST rollout delay) is a negative sentimentally from the point of view of foreign inflows, but for the economy it might just give a little bit of respite before we actually get into GST immediately after demonetisation,'' Singh said.

2:45 pm Buzzing: Crompton Greaves shares plunged more than 9 percent intraday after the company extended the date of the Pauwels Spaco deal for the second time, to December 6.

"...in view of ongoing discussions, parties have agreed to extend the long stop date of the share purchase agreement to December 6," the company said in its filing.

The company and its subsidiaries (CG International BV and CG International Holdings Singapore), on May 9, had signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) with Pauwels Spaco for acquisition of power businesses in Europe, North America and Indonesia for an enterprise value of euro 115 million.

Pauwels Spaco is a special purpose vehicle of First Reserve, the global private equity and infrastructure investor.

The company had fixed October 31 as the completion date for sale of international power transmission and distribution businesses but it could not completed by that date.

On November 1, it informed exchanges that pending the fulfilment of certain conditions precedent to the SPA, it extended the completion date to November 30.

2:32 pm Gold falls: Gold prices drifted lower by Rs 200 to Rs 29,050 per 10 gm at the bullion market today, tracking a weak trend overseas amid tepid demand in the domestic spot market on prevailing cash crunch following demonetisation of high value notes.

Silver strengthened however by Rs 200 to Rs 41,200 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Traders said that apart from a weak trend overseas, fall in demand from jewellers and retailers in view of scarcity of funds weighed on gold prices.

Government on November 8 had announced the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in a bid to flush out black money, leading to cash crunch in the financial system.

Globally, gold fell by 0.64 per cent to USD 1,169.60 an ounce in Singapore.

2:20 pm Expansion: MRPL is readying plans to invest Rs 11,000 crore to raise refining capacity to 25 mt instead of the previously planned 21 mt as part of its ambitious target of clocking Rs 5,000 crore profit by 2022.

The company is also looking at scaling up its petrochemical production capacity to clock larger margins, MRPL Managing Director H Kumar told PTI.

"We have asked Engineers India (EIL) to do a feasibility study for expansion of our refining capacity from the present 15 million tonnes (mt). Previously, we were targeting 21 mt, but now, we are exploring if 25 mt can be done," he said.

MRPL, a subsidiary of the state-owned ONGC, is ready to produce Euro-VI fuel and the planned expansion is part of its Vision 2022 with a target of Rs 5,000 crore net profit and local sales of 5 mt.

2:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks recouped losses in afternoon trade with the Nifty climbing above 8100 level, tracking recovery in European peers. FMCG, auto and telecom stocks led the market higher.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 112.28 points at 26342.94 and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 40.60 points to 8127.40. The market breadth was positive as about 1395 shares advanced against 1083 declining shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

European markets recovered after early losses. Germany's DAX, France's CAC and Britain's FTSE were up 1-2 percent after pricing in the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi that he intended to resign after a defeat in a key referendum.

Asian Paints, Lupin and Mahindra & Mahindra were the biggest gainers among Sensex 30 stocks, up more than 3 percent followed by ITC, Maruti, Tata Motors, HUL, Bharti Airtel, Hero Motocorp and ONGC with 1-2.7 percent upside.

HDFC also recovered from day's low, down 1.66 percent in afternoon trade against fall of more than 4 percent in early trade.

1:50 pm Relief! Adani Enterprises reached a milestone in its bid to build a controversial USD 16 billion coal project in northern Australia, winning approval for part of a rail link to service the planned mine.

The mine has now secured all major state and federal government approvals, said the Queensland state government, whose premier will meet with chairman and founder Gautam Adani in the northern city of Townsville on Tuesday.

Adani was also expected to meet with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Monday, amid local media speculation the federal government could contribute AUSD 1 billion (USD 740 million)in rail funding.

1:30 pm European market: Markets in Europe were down following the announcement of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi that he intends to resign after a defeat in a key referendum.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 began Monday 0.05 percentage lower with bank stocks leading the losses, falling more than 1.2 percent.

The Italian MIB was 2 percent lower, but political concerns were spreading to other bourses. The euro has fallen during Asia trading to a 20-month low.

Nearly 60 percent of Italian voters rejected the government's proposal on constitutional reform. Renzi had said he would resign if the reform wasn't approved by voters.

The market continues to struggle as the Sensex is down 29.11 points or 0.1 percent at 26201.55. The Nifty is down 8.15 points at 8078.65. About 1246 shares have advanced, 1164 shares declined, and 135 shares are unchanged.

Lupin, HUL, Asian Paints, M&M and Bharti Airtel are gainers while HDFC twins, TCS, Wipro and Coal India.

With oil cartel OPEC cutting production for the first time since 2008 leading to a surge in oil prices, India today said higher rates will risk the country's growth trajectory and pitched for striking a balance
between interests of producers and consumers.

Benchmark Brent oil has rallied to USD 54.56 a barrel, the biggest weekly gain since 2009, after OPEC approved its first supply cut in eight years.

12:57 pm Market volatile: Equity benchmarks remained volatile with a negative bias in afternoon trade with the Nifty moving in a range of 40 points.

The BSE Sensex was down 27.22 points at 26203.44 and the NSE Nifty fell 9 points to 8077.80.

12:45 pm Oil Update: Oil prices fell by one percent as a higher US rig count unsettled markets amid nagging concern that output cuts, planned as part of concerted action between producer club OPEC and Russia, might not be as big as initially anticipated.

Brent crude futures were trading at USD 54.06 per barrel, down 0.73 percent, from their last close.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD 51.23 a barrel, down 0.87 percent.

12:34 pm Rupee expert: Despite the resurgence of dollar strength globally and the developments in Europe such as Italian referendum, the dollar-rupee equation may stabilise in the short term, according to Ananth Narayan, Head-Financial Markets, Standard Chartered Bank.

The Reserve Bank of India will be sensitive to dollar-rupee movement and correction on account of November 8 US presidential elections, Narayan told CNBC-TV18. In the medium-term, however, there is a lot of reason to be cautious on the rupee, he added.

Beside global markets are looking extremely uncertain due to factors like ''Trumponomics'' and in times like these, investors should look to use the stability to buy insurance and reduce unhedged exposures.

Going ahead, the money market will focus on Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) policies, he said. RBI's MPC is slated to meet on December 7.

12:24 pm Drug launch in US: Dr Reddy's Labs today announced the launch of anti-fungal ointment nystatin and triamcinolone acetonide in the US market.

In a BSE filing, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd said, "It has launched nystatin and triamcinolone acetonide cream USP, in the United States market, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)."

 The product is the generic equivalent of nystatin and triamcinolone acetonide cream, USP 1,00,000 units/g-0.1 percent manufactured by Taro Pharmaceuticals USA Inc, it added.

Quoting IMS Health sales data, Dr Reddy's Laboratories said that for the 12-month period ending October 2016, the generic had US sales of around USD 119 million.

12:15 pm IPO: India Grid Trust, an infrastructure investment trust, has filed a draft offer document with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for the proposed public issue of its units for an amount up to Rs 2,650 crore.

IndiGrid is established to own inter-state power transmission assets in India.

Sterlite Power Grid Ventures and Sterlite Infraventures are the sponsor and investment manager, respectively of IndiGrid while Axis Trustee Services is the trustee.

The infrastructure investment trust has been given the corporate credit rating of AAA, by CRISIL, AAA with stable outlook by ICRA and AAA / Stable'' by India Ratings.

Lead managers to the issue are Morgan Stanley India Company, Citigroup Global Markets India and Edelweiss Financial Services.

12:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks continued to trade lower with the Nifty struggling below 8100, tracking weakness in Asia after resignation of Italian Prime Minister.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 73.16 points at 26157.50 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 21.65 points to 8065.15. About 1229 shares advanced against 1057 declining shares on the BSE.

The euro dropped to a 20-month low in Asia as investors assessed the implications of the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi after he suffered a humiliating defeat in a referendum over constitutional reforms.

Asian shares held in negative territory with Australia's ASX 200 closed down 0.8 percent, or 43.62 points at 5,400.4. Japan's Nikkei, China's Shanghai, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi were down 0.3-1.4 percent.

11:55 am Drug update: Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd today announced the launch of anti-fungal ointment nystatin and triamcinolone acetonide in the US market.

In a BSE filing, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd said, "It has launched nystatin and triamcinolone acetonide cream USP, in the United States market, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)."

 The product is the generic equivalent of nystatin and triamcinolone acetonide cream, USP 1,00,000 units/g-0.1 percent manufactured by Taro Pharmaceuticals USA Inc, it added.

11:45 am Interview: Despite 50 percent of its revenues coming from Europe, Motherson Sumi's Chairman Vivek Chaand Sehgal is confident that there is not going to be any impact on the company's P/L (profit and loss statement) due to euro depreciation. The euro plummeted following the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's defeat in the Italian referendum. Sehgal says the company both buys raw materials and sells the finished goods in euro and may not be affected by a weaker euro. He adds that Motherson Sumi may instead benefit when cars are exported out of Europe. The demonetisation pain may last in the economy for a few weeks, says Sehgal. The company only deals in OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) products and has no cash business, so Sehgal feels the cash ban effect will be minimum on the company.

11:30 am PMI data: Indian services activity dived into contraction in November after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise move to withdraw high denomination banknotes led to a sharp decline in demand, a survey showed on Monday. The latest data, coupled with another last week that showed factory activity slumped as well, offers the first glimpse of the massive hit the economy is likely to take from Modi's demonetization drive. The Nikkei/Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index sank to 46.7 in November from October's 54.5, the first time since June 2015 that the index has gone below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

The market continues to be under pressure as investors are on sidelines ahead of major events lined up this week and next. The Sensex is down 29.84 points or 0.1 percent at 26200.82 and the Nifty is down 1.95 points at 8084.85. About 1261 shares have advanced, 868 shares declined, and 97 shares are unchanged.

Lupin, Bharti Airtel, HUL, M&M and ONGC are gainers while HDFC twins, TCS and Wipro are losers in the Sensex.

Gold prices dipped giving up early gains as the US dollar rose on expectations that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its policymaking meeting next week.

The losses, however, remained modest amid jitters over the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi after he lost a referendum on constitutional reform.

Investors and Europe's politicians fear victory for Italy's opposition 'No' camp could cause political instability and renewed turmoil for Italy's banks, pushing the euro zone towards a fresh crisis.

10:59 am Market Update: Benchmark indices remained lower amid listless trade. The Sensex was down 30.49 points at 26200.17 and the Nifty fell 2.75 points to 8084.05.

About 1237 shares advanced against 865 declining shares on the BSE.

10:55 am Buzzing: Alembic Pharmaceuticals shares climbed over 2 percent intraday on approval from the US health regulator for anti-migraine drug.

"....has received approval from the US Food & Drug Administration for its abbreviated new drug application for Zolmitriptan orally disintegrating tablets, 2.5 mg and 5 mg," the Gujarat-based healthcare company in its filing.

This ANDA is therapeutically equivalent to the drug product, Zomig-ZMT orally disintegrated tablets of AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Company.

Zolmitriptan tablets are used for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults.

10:47 am dividend : FMCG major Nestle India today declared an interim dividend of Rs 16 per share for 2016.

"The board of directors of the company at its meeting held on December 5, 2016, has declared third interim dividend of Rs 16 per share for 2016 on the entire issued, subscribed and paid-up share capital of the company," Nestle said in a BSE filing.

The third interim dividend will be paid on and from December 22, 2016.

10:35 am Services PMI drops: Nikkei IHS Markit says the performance of India's service sector weakened in November as a result of cash shortages. New business declined for the first time since June 2015, leading to a solid reduction in activity. Correspondingly, backlogs of work rose, while employment increased only marginally. In spite of the falls in output and new orders, optimism regarding future activity improved. Input costs were broadly unchanged, whereas prices charged decreased slightly.

Dropping from 54.5 to 46.7 in November, the seasonally adjusted headline Business Activity Index registered in contraction territory for the first time since June 2015 and pointed to the sharpest reduction in output for almost three years. Anecdotal evidence highlighted a lack of cash in the economy. Activity decreased in three of the six monitored sectors, namely financial intermediation, hotels & restaurants and renting & business activities.

10:29 am UK plant deal: Tata Steel is edging closer to a deal with UK steel workers' unions to keep its troubled Port Talbot plant, the country's largest in south Wales, open until at least 2020, a media report said.

Union leaders will put a new rescue plan to its members this week, which could see investments into the UK's largest steel plant in return for concessions on staff terms and conditions, according to 'The Sunday Times'.

Central to the plan is retention of Port Talbot's two blast furnaces, which turn iron ore and coke into molten iron.

One is due to stop production in 2018 but unions have been fighting to keep it open.

If an agreement is reached with staff, the Indian steel giant will look into partial relining of the blast furnace as an upgrade that would extend its life by several years.

10:20 am FII View: Alexander Redman of Credit Suisse says given his current strong preference for value investing in emerging markets and the short-term negative implications of ultimately beneficial reform measures, he does not believe it is time yet to re-engage in the market and remains 15 percent underweight on India within a global emerging markets portfolio.

10:00 am Market Check: The NSE Nifty continued to struggle below 8100 amid consolidation, weighed by banking & financials and technology stocks. However, the buying in auto and FMCG stocks capped downside.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 39.97 points at 26190.69 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 7.20 points to 8079.60 while the broader markets outperformed benchmarks.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.2 percent each on positive breadth. About 1126 shares advanced against 720 declining shares on the exchange.

Italy citizens' "No" in referendum on Sunday already priced in by global markets. It meant they want to be a part of European Union.

Lupin, HUL, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC and Cipla gained 1-2 percent whereas HDFC was the biggest loser among Sensex 30 stocks, down 3 percent followed by TCS with 1.5 percent loss.

9:55 am Deal seal? Tata Steel is edging closer to a deal with UK steel workers' unions to keep its troubled Port Talbot plant, the country's largest in south Wales, open until at least 2020, a media report said.

Union leaders will put a new rescue plan to its members this week, which could see investments into the UK's largest steel plant in return for concessions on staff terms and conditions, according to 'The Sunday Times'.

Central to the plan is retention of Port Talbot's two blast furnaces, which turn iron ore and coke into molten iron.

One is due to stop production in 2018 but unions have been fighting to keep it open.

9:45 am Expert take on Italy Referendum: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned after suffering a heavy defeat in a referendum over his plan to reform the constitution. The defeat has raised questions about market stability, but analysts at UBS and JP Morgan feel that the markets will take the jitters in their stride. Italian referendum is unlikely to have as big an impact as that from Brexit or Donald Trump's victory in the recently-concluded US Presidential elections, Geoffrey Dennis of UBS Investment Bank told CNBC-TV18. Strong US jobs data only adds to the view that the US Federal Reserve will raise rates now, he said, adding that global markets have already priced in a rate hike by the US Fed mid-December. He further said that UBS expects two rate hikes by the US Fed next year. James Glassman of JPMorgan told CNBC-TV18 that Italian vote count and Renzi's resignation was on expected lines and hence market reaction to the outcome of the referendum will be limited.

9:30 am FII view: Christopher Wood of CLSA says the issue for financial markets is whether a further bond riot would start to prove negative for equities.

He says Greed & fear's guess is that, at some point between 2.5 percent and 3 percent percent on the 10-year Treasury, equity investors would start to view the scale of the bond sell-off as negative.

That in turn could pose trouble for widely followed 'risk parity' strategies which would not do well in an environment where bonds and stocks went down together, a double whammy that has not happened in America on a quarterly basis since Q109, he feels.

9:18 am Market check: The Sensex is down 72.54 points or 0.3 percent at 26158.12 and the Nifty is down 9.20 points or 0.1 percent at 8077.60. About 545 shares have advanced, 380 shares declined, and 61 shares are unchanged.

HDFC is down 4 percent while Dr Reddy's Labs, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank and Wipro are losers in the Sensex while Lupin, M&M, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp are gainers.

The market has opened flat as global markets start the week on a cautious note post Italian vote referendum. The Sensex is up 8.80 points at 26239.46 and the Nifty is up 0.90 points at 8087.70. About 243 shares have advanced, 139 shares declined, and 42 shares are unchanged.

GAIL, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, M&M and Sun Pharma are top gainers while ONGC, Axis Bank, TCS, Reliance and BHEL are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 68.18 per dollar on Monday versus 68.19 Friday.

The euro sunk to 20-months lows after Italian PM resigned in the wake of a defeat on constitutional reform. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank will meet on Thursday amid much speculation it will announce a six month extension of its asset buying program and widen the type of bonds it can purchase.

Asian shares started Monday on the back foot with Australia's ASX 200 fell 0.61 percent in early Asian trade, weighed by its energy sub-index, which was down 1.17 percent and its financials sub-index, down 1.15 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened down 0.58 percent, as South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.18 percent. Elsewhere, the NZX 50 fell slightly as Prime Minister John Key said he would resign, citing it as "the right time" as he would not seek a fourth term. Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi resigned after suffering a heavy defeat in a referendum over his plan to reform the constitution.

Renzi said Italian voters had shown a clear rejection of legislative reform and that he would meet with his cabinet on Monday and then hand in his resignation to the President Sergio Mattarella, taking full responsibility for the defeat.

The referendum result was more or less what had been expected, but markets were responding to uncertainty about the next steps for Italy's government, Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, said to CNBC.