Nifty ends above 8500; SBI falls 1%, Sun Pharma gains 3%

03:30 pm Market close
The bulls rested on Friday before ending for the weekend. The Sensex was up 46.34 points at 28121.89 and the Nifty was up 19.65 points at 8513.80. About 1383 shares have advanced, 1550 shares declined and 296 shares were unchanged.

Sun Pharma and Coal India were up 3 percent while HUL, M&M and BHEL were other gainers. Hindalco, Hero, Bharti, SBI and Tata Motors were laggards.

03:10 pm Oil prices
Oil prices may have further to fall and a rebound could take some time, despite increasing signs that the downtrend will end, possibly in the second half of this year as North American supply growth slows, the West's energy watchdog said.

Oil prices have fallen almost 60 percent over the last six months with both of the world's crude oil benchmarks now trading below USD 50 a barrel as supplies of high quality, light oil from the United States and Canada have overwhelmed demand at a time of lacklustre global economic growth.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly oil market report that inventories would continue to build throughout the first half of this year, but eventually lower oil prices would begin to curb supply and help boost demand.

02:57pm Media stocks in demand
Cabinet today cleared Phase III auction of FM Radio. Entertainment Network India, which owns Radio Mirchi, surged 17 percent while Jagran Prakash, which owns stake in Radio City, jumped 6 percent. DB Corp, which owns 94.3 My FM, gained 1 percent.

02:45pm DHFL in News
Dewan Housing Finance Corporation's third quarter profit jumped 15.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 159.6 crore driven by strong net interest income. Profit profit, however, was restricted by provisions for deferred tax liability on special IT reserve of Rs 13.33 crore (against Rs 11.62 crore Q3FY15).

Total income grew 17.3 percent on yearly basis to Rs 1,526.5 crore and net interest income surged 25.4 percent to Rs 392.6 crore in the quarter gone by.

DHFL said housing loans sanctioned during the quarter amounted to Rs 7,071.77 crore, up 19 percent compared to year-ago period while disbursements jumped 22 percent to Rs 4,923.2 crore Y-o-Y. It securitised/assigned pool of housing and property loans aggregating to Rs 497.97 crore in third quarter of FY15.

02:30pm Asia forex brokers hit hard on SNB decision
Some retail foreign exchange brokers and trading houses in Asia have been hit by massive losses from Swiss National Bank's (SNB) sudden move to abandon a cap on its currency that led to heavy volatility, with one even being forced to close.

Regulators in New Zealand and Hong Kong said on Friday they were looking into the situation of brokers and banks trading the Swiss franc, following reports of the volatility and losses.

The Swiss currency surged as much as 30 percent to a high of 0.8500 franc per euro after the SNB suddenly ditched its commitment to cap the franc at 1.20 per euro on Thursday.

The surprise move caused New Zealand foreign exchange dealer Global Brokers NZ Ltd to close due to hefty losses incurred from the volatility, reports Reuters.

02:00pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks extended gains amid volatility in afternoon trade supported by capital goods, FMCG and healthcare stocks. HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries (ahead of Q3 earnings) also led support.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 95.59 points to 28171.14 and the Nifty advanced 29.70 points to 8523.85. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.2-0.5 percent.

Sanjeev Prasad of Kotak Institutional Equities says the valuations of the market are expensive at this point and a lot of good news has been factored in. It is now hard to find quality ideas at reasonable valuations.

Global markets traded in the red today. Asian markets like Japan closed 250 points lower while European markets were trading in the red as the Swiss National Bank's unexpected decision to remove its currency cap unleashed volatility within the markets.

TCS recouped losses, trading flat after losing 2 percent in morning trade. Brokerages gave a thumbs down to earnings and reduced earnings per share targets. Management told CNBC-TV18 that they see revenue headwinds in Diligenta & energy but remained optimistic on their overall FT16 outlook. Axis Bank traded higher post good numbers.

The rupee strengthened to a fresh one month high of 61.87 level against a close of 62 yesterday. Dollar weakness against Asian currencies supported the rupee.

1:30 pm Result poll: With results for Infosys and TCS out of the way, all eyes will be on the country's third-largest IT services exporter Wipro when it reports quarterly earnings Friday. A CNBC-TV18 poll of analysts forecasts the firm's dollar revenues to grow 0.76 percent to USD 1785 million while revenue in rupee terms may rise 1.35 percent to Rs 11,070 crore. Operating profits are seen at Rs 2,431 crore while EBIT margin is seen unchanged at 22 percent. Analysts will also likely watch out for guidance the company gives for the fourth quarter, likely to come in at 1-3 percent or 2-4 percent – crucial because weakness in Wipro's strongest vertical, energy (17 percent of revenues) may bog down revenue growth.

The market is still flat as the Sensex is up 48.25 points at 28123.80. The Nifty is up 13.90 points at 8508.05. About 1361 shares have advanced, 1341 shares declined, and 313 shares are unchanged.

Coal India, L&T, Sesa Sterlite, M&M and BHEL are top gainers in the Sensex while Bharti Airtel, SBI, Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp and TCS are among the laggards.

Brent futures edged higher holding above USD 48 a barrel on positive technical price momentum, although few analysts expect a strong rebound anytime soon as global output continues to outweigh demand.

Still, crude markets may be bottoming out, analysts said, as prices were receiving support around current levels.

Despite the slight price gains, oil opened up into a wobbly market after Switzerland jolted markets already roiled by plunging commodities prices by abandoning its currency cap on Thursday.

12:40pm Banks in focus
The Reserve Bank of India is considering allowing banks to buy infrastructure bonds, in a bid to jumpstart a market that has suffered from low trading volumes after launching last year, said a source with knowledge of the central bank's thinking.

Allowing banks to buy infrastructure bonds would mark a reversal for the central bank, which last year allowed lenders to only issue the debt, while limiting purchases to investors such as pension funds, provident funds, and insurers.

That limitation has backfired, according to bankers, severely crimping trading volumes in the market since lenders are the biggest buyers and traders in debt markets.

Reviving investment in infrastructure is a key priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has been looking to ease regulations and bottlenecks to spur the sluggish economy, reports Reuters.

12:30pm Rupee Update
The rupee gained past 62 a dollar in afternoon trade, up 23 paise to trade at 61.82 against dollar.

12:00pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks remained choppy in noon trade as the frontline indices took a breather after yesterday's stellar rally. The broader markets marginally outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.3 percent each.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 19.46 points to 28056.09 and the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 3.55 points to 8490.60. About 1305 shares have advanced, 1209 shares declined, and 303 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Asian markets except Shanghai lost today on the back of worries over global growth, and oil's continued price slump. Switzerland's unexpected decision to remove its currency cap also heightened volatility in global financial markets.

TCS is among the top losers on Nifty today as its dollar revenues for the third quarter missed muted expectations. Brokerages gave a thumbs down, reduced their earnings per share targets on the tech major. Management told CNBC-TV18 that they remain optimistic on their overall FY16 outlook.

Axis Bank came off the day's high after delivering an in-line set of earnings for the thrid quarter. Net profit grew by 18.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,900 crore and net interest income climbed 20.3 percent to Rs 3,589 crore. Asset quality remained stable.

In important earnings today, Reliance Industries' net profit is seen at Rs 5,000 crore against Rs 5,742 crore quarter-on-quarter. Gross refining margins may be seen between USD 7.5-7.8 per barrel. From IT, Wipro may see a muted dollar revenue growth at USD 1.8 billion and its Q4FY15 guidance is seen at 1-3 percent or 2-4 percent.

SpiceJet is the stock in focus, up 10 percent. Ajay Singh told CNBC-TV18 that he will make an open offer if SEBI asked him to and his revival plan includes cutting costs, improving revenue and margins. Sun TV too spiked up today as the SpiceJet deal removed an overhang from the company.

11:55 am Buzzing: Shares of SpiceJet jumped 10 percent while Sun TV rose 9 percent intraday. Investors are hurriedly buying shares of the low-cost carrier as Ajay Singh takes complete control of the company which has been struggling with financial problems. The airline company, after market hours on Thursday, announced its decision to transfer the ownership , management and control of the company to co-founder Ajay Singh from Sun Group chairman Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways.

Meanwhile, brokerages are positive on Sun TV Network as it removes a major overhang on the stock. Credit Suisse maintains outperform rating on Sun TV as the South India-based company is its top pick in the media space to play the digitisation theme. "With Sun TV's promoters now selling out of Spicejet, one key overhang gets removed as there were concerns promoters would use Sun to fund the airline," it says in a note.

11:40 am Results: Axis Bank's profit after tax climbed by 18.45 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,900 crore for the quarter ended December 2014. That was boosted by other income, but the rise in provisions limited profit growth. Net in the year-ago period was Rs 1,604.1 crore.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 20.3 percent to Rs 3,589 crore in Q3FY15 compared to Rs 2,984 crore in same quarter last fiscal. Overall numbers matched street expectations while the asset quality of the bank was stable during the quarter.

Gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances increased marginally to 1.34 percent during the quarter compared to 1.25 percent in the year-ago period while net NPA rose to 0.44 percent from 0.42 percent during the same period. However, on sequential basis, both NPAs remained unchanged.

Other income (non-interest income) jumped 24 percent on yearly basis to Rs 2,039 crore in the quarter gone by.

11:30 am Macro outlook: The central bank's move to cut repo rates by 25 basis points was not a surprise, but its timing surely was, says Atsi Sheth, senior vice president -sovereign risk group, Moody's.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sheth says any hope of an Indian rating upgrade hinges on fiscal consolidation. Moody's currently has a Baa3 rating on India with a stable outlook.

''Among other aspects, it is important to see how investment momentum pick up, what supply side policy the government puts into place and how international events pan out,'' read a statement by the rating agency post the rate cut.

Sheth expects India to grow by 5 percent for FY15 and 5.5 percent for FY16 but adds that there is an upside risk to the FY16 data.

Bulls seem to be tired and taking rest after the strong rally yesterday. The Sensex is down 9.99 points at 28065.56 and the Nifty is down 1.85 points at 8492.30.  About 1308 shares have advanced, 966 shares declined, and 298 shares are unchanged.

HDFC Bank, HUL, Sesa Sterlite, Caol India and Cipla are top gainers while Bharti, TCS, Tata Motors, SBI and Hero are among laggards.

The rupee is weaker tracking global forex volatility after the Swiss National Bank moved to abandon the Swiss Franc's cap against the euro yesterday.

Globally, risk off is evident as the Japanese yen is trading at near 1-month high dragging the Nikkei lower. Shanghai, however, manages to buck the trend. Oil prices edge up on technical momentum while gold is looking to close the best week of gains in 10 months.

10:50am Market Update
The market recovered early losses. The Sensex fell 4.67 points to 28070.88 and the Nifty was flat at 8494.15. About 1320 shares have advanced, 932 shares declined, and 293 shares are unchanged.

HDFC Bank, L&T, HUL, M&M, Coal India, Cipla and Sesa Sterlite gained 1-2 percent.

10:30am Piramal Enterprises in News
Piramal Enterprises (PEL) gained 2 percent today as the Piramal Group company has been considering the acquisition of UK-based company.

"Piramal Enterprises is in final stages of discussion with the University of Kentucky for the potential acquisition of Coldstream Laboratories for a total consideration of USD 30.65 million," said the company in its filing to the exchange.

Of the total amount, USD 5.65 million would be towards the Coldstream facility on the Research Park Campus of the University, while the rest would be towards purchase of the company's shares, it added.

This potential transaction is subject to corporate approvals and is expected to be completed by the end of this week. However, the transaction is not subject to any regulatory approvals. No related party of PEL has any interest in Coldstream, said the Piramal Group company.

10:00am Market Check
Equity benchmarks entered into consolidation mode after the yesterday's rally priced in all events like surprise rate cut by RBI, fall in trade deficit etc. The frontline indices were marginally in red on profit booking.

The Sensex fell 42.23 points to 28033.32 and the Nifty declined 12.15 points to 8482. However, the broader markets outperformed benchmarks marginally with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.2-0.5 percent.

About 1073 shares have advanced, 786 shares declined, and 276 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

''With sharply lower commodity prices, favourable macro indicators like inflation, CAD & fiscal deficit and now rate cuts, we believe conditions are ripe for economic recovery to take shape,'' says Rakesh Arora, Macquarie.

According to him, the government sustaining its policy momentum and delivering on reforms would be key. ''Markets will closely watch the upcoming Budget session in late February.  In our view, any market weakness should be seen as an opportunity to buy,'' says Arora.

TCS fell nearly 2 percent on reporting lackluster results. Dollar revenue growth was flat and constant currency growth at 2.5 percent was lower than that of Infosys. CLSA lowered FY16/17 earnings per share by 2/3 percent due to deeper cross-currencies and lower than expected revenue acceleration and cut target price to Rs 3100/share.

Bharti Airtel dropped nearly 3 percent. Media report suggested that Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications and Vodafone may collectively bid Rs 74,000 crore as per HSBC report.

Shares of ICICI Bank, SBI, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp and GAIL fell 0.6-1.3 percent while HDFC Bank, HUL, Cipla, Coal India and Sesa Sterlite bucked the trend, up 1.5-2 percent.

Shares of SpiceJet jumped 10 percent as investors queued up for buying shares of the low-cost carrier after Ajay Singh decided to take complete control of the company which has been struggling with financial problems. Sun TV Network gained 9 percent as brokerages believe the SpiceJet deal removed a major overhang on the stock.

9:50 am Result poll: Axis Bank's third quarter (October-December) profit is expected to increase 16 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,860 crore led by treasury income, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. Profit in the year-ago period was Rs 1,604 crore.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, may jump 20.1 percent (similar to previous quarter growth) to Rs 3,584 crore in the quarter ended December 2014 from Rs 2,984 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

Analysts do not see any change in FY15E stressed asset addition guidance (restructuring and slippages). The private sector lender gave guidance of Rs 6,500 crore stressed loan addition for the current financial year 2014-15.

9:40 am Market outlook: Rakesh Arora, Macquarie says while the Indian market is not isolated from the ongoing global volatility, the current weak global backdrop does project India as a relatively attractive asset class.

''With sharply lower commodity prices, favourable macro indicators like inflation, CAD & fiscal deficit and now rate cuts, we believe conditions are ripe for economic recovery to take shape,'' he adds.

According to him, the government sustaining its policy momentum and delivering on reforms would be key. ''Markets will closely watch the upcoming Budget session in late February.  In our view, any market weakness should be seen as an opportunity to buy,'' says Arora.

9:30 am Buzzing: Shares of SpiceJet jumped 10 percent while Sun TV rose 9 percent intraday. Investors are hurriedly buying shares of the low-cost carrier as Ajay Singh takes complete control of the company which has been struggling with financial problems. The airline company, after market hours on Thursday, announced its decision to transfer the ownership, management and control of the company to co-founder Ajay Singh from Sun Group chairman Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways.

Credit Suisse maintains outperform rating on Sun TV as the South India-based company is its top pick in the media space to play the digitisation theme.  "With Sun TV's promoters now selling out of Spicejet, one key overhang gets removed as there were concerns promoters would use Sun to fund the airline," it says in a note.

After the stellar rally on  Thursday, the market has opened flat today. The Sensex is down 18.94 points at 28056.61 and the Nifty is up 9.90 points at 8504.05. About 287 shares have advanced, 182 shares declined, and 235 shares are unchanged.

HDFC Bank, HUL, Axis Bank, Sesa and Cipla are top gainers in the Sensex while GAIL, Maruti, Tata Steel, BHEL and HDFC are losers.

TCS is down 2 percent post its December quarter results.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 62.08 per dollar against previous close of 62.06. The euro hovered above 11-year low as investors bet the Swiss move to abandon its currency cap meant it was almost certain the European Central Bank would launch large-scale bond buying next week.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "The rupee is expected to gain and take cues from positive equities. However, strength in dollar may keep the rupee under pressure. We expect rupee to trade in a range of 61.50-62.50/dollar today."

Globally, US markets fell for the fifth day with the S&P 500 closing below 2,000 for the first time in a month. Asian markets too are trading in the red tracking Wall Street losses with the Japanese Nikkei down almost 2 percent.

In other asset classes, Nymex Crude reversed early gains to drop over 4 percent to USD 46 dollars per barrel. Euro hovered above 11-year low as investors bet the Swiss move to abandon its currency cap meant it was almost certain the European Central Bank would launch large-scale bond buying next week.Gold prices, however, jumped to a four-month high.

In other corporate action, Kalanithi Maran ended his tumultuous journey with SpiceJet with the airline's co-founder Ajay Singh makeing a comeback to steer the company. Maran will transfer ownership, management and control of SpiceJet to Singh, subject to approvals.