Nifty ends above 8350, Sensex rises 241 points; ITC down 1%

3:30 pm Market closing: The market has ended on a higher note. The Sensex closed up 240.85 points or 0.9 percent at 27140.41 and the Nifty closed up 92.05 points or 1.1 percent at 8380.65. About 1704 shares advanced, 1089 shares declined, and 367 shares were unchanged.

Coal India, Tata Steel, Lupin, ICICI Bank and SBI were top gainers while Bajaj Auto, ITC, Reliance, Wipro and Infosys were losers in the Sensex.

3:10 pm US FDA approval: Drug major Lupin has received final approval from the US health regulator to market its Desoximetasone cream, used for treatment of skin disease, in the American market.

Lupin said in a BSE filing that it "has received final approval for its Desoximetasone cream USP, 0.05 percent and Desoximetasone cream USP, 0.25 percent from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)".

The products to be marketed are generic versions of Taro's Topicort LP Emollient cream, 0.05 percent and Topicort cream, 0.25 percent, it added.

2:58 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices remained strong with the Sensex rising 258.36 points or 0.96 percent to 27157.92 and the Nifty climbing 95.50 points or 1.15 percent to 8384.10.

About 1678 shares advanced against declining 1045 shares on the BSE.

2:45 pm Interview: Petronet LNG's 400 kilometers long pipeline connecting the Kochi LNG terminal will be ready in two years, managing director and chief executive officer Prabhat Singh told Reuters.

The Kochi terminal will run at 40 percent capacity by 2019 and is expected to make a profit of 2 billion rupees in the fiscal year to March 2019 versus an expected loss of Rs 3.5 billion in the current fiscal year, he said.

2:35 pm USFDA nod: Drug major Lupin has received final approval from the US health regulator to market its Desoximetasone cream, used for treatment of skin disease, in the American market.

Lupin said in a BSE filing that it "has received final approval for its Desoximetasone cream USP, 0.05 percent and Desoximetasone cream USP, 0.25 percent from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)".

The products to be marketed are generic versions of Taro's Topicort LP Emollient cream, 0.05 percent and Topicort cream, 0.25 percent, it added.ion, Lupin said.

2:20 pm World Bank on demonetisation: The World Bank today said that the "adverse effects" of demonetisation in India will disappear in the medium term, saying any reform has short-term costs.

"Any reform has short-term costs but ultimately reforms will bring long-term gains. In the case of India, we expect whatever the adverse effects of these changing of notes to basically disappear in the medium term," Ayhan Kose, Director of Development Prospects Group at the World Bank told reporters during a conference call.

In its latest report, the World Bank revised its estimates of India's growth rate in 2016-17 fiscal year from previous projection of 7.6 percent to seven percent.

2:00 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks rallied further in afternoon trade, with the Nifty inching towards 8400 as banks extended gains after stable earnings from South Indian Bank and IndusInd Bank.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 226.27 points or 0.84 percent at 27125.83 and the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 84.40 points or 1.02 percent to 8373. The broader markets also gained 1 percent.

South Indian Bank gained nearly 2 percent and IndusInd Bank surged 5.5 percent on stable earnings growth as well as asset quality despite currency demonetisation.

Nifty Bank rose 1 percent as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI were up 1.5-2 percent. Housing finance company HDFC was up 1 percent.

Metals stocks remained strong after China said it would be closing all of its medium frequency furnaces by June 2017. These furnaces contribute close to 9 percent to China's total steel capacity. Hindalco surged 6.4 percent and Tata Steel gained 4 percent.

TCS and Infosys were moderately under pressure ahead of US president-elect Donald Trump's first press conference and third quarter earnings later this week.

1:45 pm European markets: Markets in Europe opened slightly higher as investors wait for the first address of President-elect Donald Trump.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.09 percent higher with most sectors trading positive.

Investors will look for any concrete policy moves ahead from Trump who is expected to outline the future of his own businesses at the press conference on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the German carmaker Volkswagen has reached a $4.3 billion draft settlement deal with U.S. authorities over the emission scandal.

1:30 pm FM on GST: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today reiterated that the Centre is still aiming to roll out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from April 1 if all pending issues are sorted out.

GST, which is to subsume most of central and state taxes like excise, service tax and VAT, needs to roll out by latest September 16, 2017, he said.

This because, under the Constitutional Amendment passed by Parliament for the GST implementation, some of the existing levies would expire after September 16.

The Sensex is up 199.70 points or 0.7 percent at 27099.26, and the Nifty up 76.15 points or 0.9 percent at 8364.75. About 1650 shares have advanced, 903 shares declined, and 367 shares are unchanged.

Coal India, Tata Steel, SBI, Lupin and ICICI Bank are top gainers while Bajaj Auto, Infosys, Cipla, TCS and Reliance are losers in the Sensex.

India's fuel demand growth is expected to slow by as much as 40 percent in 2017 from last year as a government-induced cash shortage hurts businesses, industry and car sales. The dent in demand growth in the world's third-largest oil consumer is expected to be temporary, though, with India still taking up the third-biggest portion - behind China and United States - of 2017's rise in fuel use on a barrel-per-day basis, according to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

India's fuel demand in 2016 grew at its fastest in at least 16 years as low oil prices boosted demand for gasoline and aviation fuels, but analysts say the nation's currency troubles will put the brakes on this year.

12:59 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks rallied further in afternoon trade with the Nifty reclaiming 8350 level.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 194.12 points or 0.72 percent at 27093.68 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 74.20 points or 0.90 percent to 8362.80.

About 1651 shares advanced against 899 declining shares on the BSE.

12:50 pm FM on GST: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today reiterated that the Centre is still aiming to roll out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from April 1 if all pending issues are sorted out.

GST, which is to subsume most of central and state taxes like excise, service tax and VAT, needs to roll out by latest September 16, 2017, he said.

This because, under the Constitutional Amendment passed by Parliament for the GST implementation, some of the existing levies would expire after September 16.

Jaitley said the government was aiming to implement the new sales tax from April this year.

12:40 pm Interview: On the recent deal with Shiva Cement, Anil Kumar Pillai, Director and CEO of JSW Cement, said that along with acquiring 35.6 percent of promoters' stake JSW will also take over the Rs 65 crore debt of the company.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18 he said that JSW will use a part of Shiva Cement's clinker for its Salboni unit and this acquisition will help in leveraging grinding operations in the eastern region.

Listing the company's future outlook, Pillai said that they will look to list JSW Cement in the next 2 years and plans to reach 30 metric tonne capacity by 2020.

12:20 pm FII View: Earnings growth is expected to remain muted in 2017, says Gautam Chhaochharia, Head of India Research at UBS Securities. A big reason for this, would be the government's move to demonetise high denominations, whose immediate impact is the cash crunch.

But he says the main impact would be felt in March as demand destruction continues. He feels the impact will last till the fourth quarter of FY17. The near-term worry due to demonetisation can still be felt, he adds.

He keeps a target of 8,800 points for Nifty by the end of 2017. The risk reward, he says, is not yet attractive in the near-term.

He expects two rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India in 2017.

12:00 pm Market Check
Benchmark indices maintained positive momentum in noon trade on hopes of stable or better-than-expected earnings for the quarter ended December 2016. IndusInd Bank started earnings season yesterday, showing higher-than-expected profit and NII growth with slight weakness in asset quality.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 156.52 points at 27056.08 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 57.85 points to 8346.45. The broader markets extended gains, rising nearly a percent each on positive breadth.

IndusInd Bank was biggest gainer on the Nifty, up nearly 5 percent after stable earnings. Hindalco Industries retained its upmove, gaining 4.5 percent on top of 4 percent upside in previous session after Motilal Oswal said it was the top pick in metals space on strong earnings visibility and reasonable valuations.

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, L&T, Lupin, Tata Steel and SBI were other gainers with 1-3 percent upside while TCS and Infosys were down 0.5-1 percent ahead of earnings later this week.

Asian shares were mostly positive as investors prepare for Donald Trump's first full press conference as president-elect.

Oil edged up, lifted by reports of Saudi supply cuts to Asia, but prices were prevented from rising further over a lack of detail of these reductions and because of signs of rising supplies from other producers. Prices for Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at USD 53.71 per barrel, up 0.13 percent from their last close.

11:55 am GST: Goods and Services Tax will usher in a very simple and less burdensome taxation regime as it will be a single rate indirect tax which can be paid by debit/credit cards, cheque and NEFT, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said today.

He said, GST will make it easier for traders and industry to access Input Tax Credit and also ease compliance burden as the entire country will become a single market.

"GST is a very very simple thing to follow, it is going to be very easy for all of you. There will not be any border restriction when you move goods from one state to another. And many of the small small taxes will go away. It will be one unified tax," Adhia said at the Vibrant Gujarat global Summit here.

11:45 am Market view: Neelkanth Mishra of Credit Suisse says MSCI India's P/E premium to MSCI World is now negative 1 percent and it has only been lower 6 percent of the time in the last decade. The premium to MSCI Emerging Market P/E is also down and it has been lower only 18 percent of the time in the last decade.

Rather than indicate an inflection, he believes a lower P/E implies that the market anticipates EPS cuts. He says Credit Suisse's bottom-up estimates for Nifty EPS are 2/4 percent below consensus for FY17/FY18, with estimates below consensus for nearly every sector, and particularly so for energy, pharmaceuticals and PSU banks. Further, Mishra believes even some below-consensus estimates by Credit Suisse analysts may have downside. On the whole, he believes the narrower indices like Nifty/BSE 100 may not do that badly, but some sectors like discretionary, cement, NBFCs may underperform.

11:30 am FII view: The worst is getting over, believes Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS who expects Nifty to touch 9000 levels in six months from now. He said a 17-18 percent increase in Nifty can be seen in the third quarter as banks and metal stocks will perform better. He believes that banks and consumption will have to take the lead as investment will take sometime to pick up. He is also bullish on metal space after Donald Trump's election and US market moving up. He says if US economy starts to grow at a better rate then it is not too late to invest in metals stocks. State elections are round the corner and Kapoor says that the polls are the most important cue in 2017 for the markets. As for the emerging markets, he says US will play a very important role.

The market is still surging ahead with the Sensex up 147.57 points or 0.5 percent at 27047.13. The Nifty is up 48.65 points or 0.6 percent at 8337.25. About 1504 shares have advanced, 730 shares declined, and 361 shares are unchanged.

Coal India, Tata Steel, Lupin, L&T and SBI are top gainers while Bajaj Auto, TCS, Cipla, Hero MotoCorp and Infosys are losers in the Sensex.

Continuing its rising streak for the third straight day, gold prices advanced by 0.13 percent to Rs 28,181 per 10 grams in futures trade today as traders engaged in enlarging in their positions, tracking a firming trend overseas.

Analysts said, widening of positions by speculators in line with a firming trend in the global markets, mainly keptgold prices higher at futures trade.

10:55 am Market Update: Benchmark indices maintained momentum with the Sensex rising 129.19 points to 27028.75 and the Nifty up 45.40 points at 8334.

About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

10:40 am Buzzing: Suzlon Energy shares rallied 5 percent intraday on winning order of 226.8 MW wind power project from a leading independent power producer (IPP) in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.

The order consists of 108 units of S111 90m tubular tower with rated capacity of 2.1 MW. The project is scheduled for completion by March 2017.

The renewable energy solutions provider in a BSE filing said it has entered into an exclusive supply and installation agreement and engineering & construction of the project.

The company will also be responsible for operation and maintenance services with dedicated life cycle asset management services for an initial period of 10 years.

The project has the potential to provide power to over 1,20,000 households and reduce 0.48 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum, Suzlon said.

10:20 am Market Outlook: The worst is getting over, believes Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS who expects Nifty to touch 9000 levels in March 2017.

He said a 17-18 percent increase in Nifty can be seen in the third quarter as banks and metal stocks will perform better.

State elections are round the corner and Kapoor says that the polls are the most important cue in 2017 for the markets. For the emerging markets, he says US will play a very important role.

10:00 am Market Check
Benchmark indices remained higher in morning with the Nifty inching towards 8350 and the Sensex trading above 27000 level, driven by banking & financials, infra and auto stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 149.24 points at 27048.80 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 53.90 points at 8342.50 while the broader markets moderately outperformed, rising more than 0.6 percent on positive breadth.

About three shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Tata Steel topped the buying list, up 3.4 percent followed by HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC and L&T. TCS was down 0.7 percent followed by Infosys, especially ahead of December quarter earnings later this week.

IndusInd Bank surged more than 5 percent as majority of brokerage houses retained buy call on the stock post December quarter earnings.

9:55 am World Bank report: The World Bank today decelerated India's growth for 2016-17 fiscal to a "still robust" 7 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 due to demonetisation, but asserted that the country would regain momentum in the following years with 7.6 and 7.8 percent growth.

"The immediate withdrawal of a large volume of currency in circulation and subsequent replacement with new notes announced by the government in November contributed to slowing growth in 2016," the World Bank said in its latest report.

In its first report after November's demonetisation, the World Bank said, "Indian growth is estimated to have decelerated to a still robust 7 percent (in fiscal 2017 ending on March 31, 2017), with continued tailwinds from low oil prices and solid agricultural output partly offset by challenges associated with the withdrawal of a large volume of currency in circulation and subsequent replacement with new notes."

9:45 am Exclusive: Global private firm TPG is likely to buy stake in Fortis Healthcare.

According to sources, the quantum of stake to be acquired may be around 20 percent in Gurgaon-based healthcare company for Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,300 crore.

TPG is also likely to get 1 or 2 board seats in Fortis post deal. Promoters of Fortis are expected to retain around 40 percent stake in the company.

News on proposal for the stake sale in the hospital chain has been doing the rounds for a long time. PE giants like Bain Capital and KKR, apart from TPG, were in the race for equity in Fortis.

9:30 am FII view: Ajay Kapur of Bank of America Merrill Lynch says Global Equity Risk-Love indicator is in euphoria. Survey data are boisterously bullish, economic surprises are elevated, and market volatility is suppressed, despite rising economic uncertainty.

Meanwhile, in emerging markets, while the panic of early November is behind, animal spirits remain subdued, he says.

According to him, the divergence between developed markets and emerging markets is exploitable.

The market has opened on a higher note with the Nifty reclaiming 8300. The market will also take cues as investors looked to President-elect Donald Trump's news conference later in the day for any clues to his policies on tax, fiscal spending, international trade and currencies. The 50-share index is up 42.20 points or 0.5 percent at 8330.80. The Sensex is up 131.59 points or 0.5 percent at 27031.15.

Tata Steel, Dr Reddy's Labs, HDFC Bank, Infosys and ICICI Bank are top gainers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened lower by 5 paise at 68.23 per dollar on Wednesday versus previous close 68.18.

NS Venkatesh of Lakshmi Vilas Bank said, "The rupee is expected to trade steadily in a narrow range of 68.15-68.35/dollar."

US dollar held steady ahead of US president-elect Donald Trump's first news conference set for today, while the Mexican peso hit a record low. Investors fretted that trump, who takes office on January 20, could shake markets by taking an aggressive line on issues such as trade policy.

Asian shares stood near two-month highs. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early Wednesday trade.

It stood at its two-month highs, essentially coming back to where it was just before the US election after recovering from their losses of over five percent. Japan's Nikkei ticked up 0.2 percent.

The S&P 500 ended the day unchanged on Tuesday as lower oil prices hurt energy stocks, offsetting advances in healthcare and financial sectors, while the Nasdaq ended at another record high.

Traders were holding fire ahead of the upcoming corporate earnings season and the January 20 inauguration after which they expect a better sense as to whether President-elect Donald Trump will fulfil campaign promises of fiscal stimulus, lower tax and lighter regulation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 31.85 points, or 0.16 percent, at 19,855.53, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 2,268.9 and the Nasdaq Composite added 20.00 points, or 0.36 percent, to 5,551.82.