Nifty ends above 8550, Sensex steady; SBI, Tata Motors fall

03:30 pm Market close: The market ended with some stellar gains supported by auto, pharma and FMCG. The Sensex was up 151.15 points or 0.5 percent at 28223.08 and the Nifty was up 51.05 points or 0.6 percent at 8567.95. About 1769 shares have advanced, 1187 shares declined, and 144 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors, SBI, Coal India, ICICI Bank and Hindalco were among laggards in the Sensex. Bajaj Auto, Wipro, Infosys, Tata Steel and Lupin are top gainers in the Sensex.

03:00 pm Interview: Midcap IT company Hexaware reported a 29.1 percent jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 98.9 crore for Q1. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, R Srikrishna, executive director and chief executive officer, says the company has seen good growth in all verticals barring its enterprise services business. Srikrishna says the company's growth has been extremely broad-based and its top 10 customers have outgrown the company's average.

"Our margins have improved at every level. Our gross margins went up 30 basis points, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) went up 20 basis points and EBITDA actually went up 40 basis points. So, there has been expansion at every level," he explains.

02:40 pm Fund raising: Home services provider Doormint on said it has raised about USD 3 million (Rs 19.1 crore) from Helion Ventures and Kalaari Capital.

Doormint will use the Series A funding to expand its current service network in Mumbai and also establish its presence in Delhi, Gurgaon and Bengaluru in the next three months, it said in a statement.

Using Doormint's mobile app and online platform, customers can get services ranging from plumbing to laundry.

"The latest investment comes as a major shot in the arm, enabling us to expand and consolidate our service network in Mumbai while also proliferating in other metro cities," Doormint CEO Abhinav Aggarwal said.

02:30 pm Canara Bank disappoints: Public sector lender disappointed street on Wednesday with first quarter profit falling 40.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 478.84 crore on huge spike in provisions. Slowdown in net interest income and other income also hit profitability. Even the asset quality worsened.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, rose by 3.6 percent to Rs 2,517 crore in June quarter compared to Rs 2,429 crore in same quarter last fiscal. Profit was estimated at Rs 616 crore and net interest income at Rs 2,608 crore for the quarter.

Other income (non-interest income) increased by 8.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,113 crore and operating profit jumped 11.6 percent to Rs 2,003.6 crore during the quarter.

Provisions for bad loans shot up 72.5 percent (up 34.7 percent sequentially) to Rs 1,359.7 crore compared to Rs 788 crore in the year-ago period.

02:00 pm Market Check
The market maintained its northward journey in afternoon trade, supported by technology, oil, auto and select FMCG stocks. The Sensex gained 181.42 points at 28253.35 and the Nifty rose 54.70 points to 8571.60.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks. The BSE Midcap climbed 0.8 percent and Smallcap advanced 1.1 percent. About 1862 shares have advanced against 1019 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Infosys, Lupin, Wipro, Bajaj Auto and Tata Steel rallied 2-3 percent while Bank Nifty saw profit booking as ICICI Bank fell more than 1 percent and SBI declined 0.3 percent.

1:50 pm Rupee rate:  The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate of rupee at 63.8159 against the US dollar and 69.3104 for the euro as against 63.9315 and 70.0497 respectively, yesterday.

According to an RBI statement, the exchange rates for the pound and the yen against the rupee were quoted at 99.1508 and 51.29 per 100 yen, respectively, based on reference rates for the dollar and cross-currency quotes at noon.

The SDR-rupee rate will be based on this rate, the statement added.

1:30 pm Result: Emami's April-June quarter earnings have beaten street estimates on all counts. Its Q1 consolidated net profit rose 23 percent to Rs 87 crore from Rs 70.8 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Total income stood at Rs 590 crore, up 22.4 percent from Rs 481.7 crore in year-ago period.

According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, Emami was expected to report net profit at Rs 82 crore in April-June quarter and revenue was seen rising 16.6 percent to Rs 562 crore.

EBITDA, during the quarter, was up 31.6 percent at Rs 100 crore versus Rs 76 crore and EBITDA margins was at 16.9 percent against 15.8 percent year-on-year.

The market is surging ahead as the Sensex is up 214.39 points or 0.7 percent at 28286.32. The Nifty is up 61.45 points or 0.7 percent at 8578.35. About 1953 shares have advanced, 865 shares declined, and 135 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, Wipro, Bajaj Auto, Infosys and Lupin are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the top losers are ICICI Bank, Coal India, SBI, Axis Bank and GAIL.

Shares of Adani Enterprises surged over 9 percent, extending its rally for the second straight session, after Taiwan-based Foxconn, which makes iPhone, iPad and other Apple products, said it's in talks with the Adani group to set up manufacturing factories in India.

In the previous session too, the stock had rallied 11 percent. Foxconn is in talks with billionaire Gautam Adani's group and other Indian firms to set up manufacturing facilities in India.

Foxconn Chairman and CEO Terry Gou, on his second visit to India in 45 days, said yesterday his company was "very keen to invest" in the country and is in talks to strike partnership with local companies.

12:55 pm Market Update: The Sensex gained 218.08 points or 0.78 percent at 28290.01 and the Nifty rose 63.45 points or 0.74 percent to 8580.35. About 1931 shares have advanced, 821 shares declined, and 134 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

12:40 pm Services PMI: India's dominant services industry bounced back to growth in July, a private survey showed on Wednesday, but the improvement was modest and unlikely to change expectations that the Reserve Bank could cut interest rates again before year-end.

For the first time in three months, the Nikkei Services Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by Markit, nudged above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction, coming in at 50.8 in July. It was 47.7 in June.

The Reserve Bank of India kept its policy rate on hold at 7.25 percent on Tuesday, while leaving the door open for further easing depending on the inflation outlook.

But as economic growth prospects have dimmed in Asia's third-largest economy due to delays in key reforms, the RBI is predicted to make its fourth cut to interest rates this year in the last few months of 2015.

12:20 pm FII View: India is seen as a source of stability and decent growth in a world that is ridden with problems, says Shane Oliver, Head-Investment Strategy & Chief Economist at Amp Capital Investors. In an interview, he said gradual easing of monetary policy by the Reserve Bank and a reasonable economic growth are key reason why Indian share market has performed and it is relatively safe to invest in Indian equities.

Rich valuations not withstanding, Oliver says earnings outlook appear stronger than most other emerging countries making it just to have PE mulitple higher than most emerging market economies.

Talking about Fed rate hike talks in September, Oliver says he believes it will get pushed to December.  "Any impact on financial markets might be short-lived because it is not going to be a 1994 when one rate hike followed another one in fairly quick succession."

Also read - Saw good growth across verticals; focus on revenue: Hexaware

12:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks continued to be strong in noon trade. The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 213.05 points or 0.76 percent to 28284.98 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 59.25 points or 0.70 percent to 8576.15, led by technology, metals, oil and auto stocks.

The broader markets also remained strong with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising more than 1 percent. The market breadth continued to be healthy with 1864 shares advancing against 734 shares declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Adani Entrerprises rallied nearly 8 percent as the group is in talks with Foxconn to form a manufacturing joint venture. However, Adani is also in focus as the company lost the environmental approval for its Carmichael coal mine in Australia.

Tata Steel gained nearly 4 percent on news that Tata Sons will buy 2.18 percent in Titan from the company while Bharti Airtel rose over a percent after posting a strong set of earnings in Q1.

Nestle saw some reprieve with the stock rising more than 5 percent after an FSSAI-approved lab said Maggi noodles are in compliance with India's food safety standards.

11:50 am Market outlook: From a three-five year horizon, all aspect of India story looks exciting, says Pramod Gubbi, Director-Institutional Sales at Ambit Capital. However, domestic economy is decelerating in short term with barely any growth in rural consumption. Gubbi also sees negative impact of weak earnings and suggests Pharma and IT sectors as short term investment ideas.

Talking about no-action monetary policy, Gubbi said a pick up in inflationary expectation have been bothering the Reserve Bank of India. Additionally, the RBI has taken cognizance of non-transmission of monetary policy by banks. Gubbi says recapitalisation of banks should prompt base rate cuts  which will then allow the RBI to ease rates.

11:30 am Interview: Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Amitabh Kant says Taiwan's Foxconn may set up about 10-12 manufacturing units across India, apart from the units it already has.

In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, Kant says manufacturing units will be for varied sectors like solar, mobile hand-held sets. Kant adds Foxconn has visited 6-7 states to finalise locations for manufacturing units.

Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises on Tuesday said it was in discussions with Foxconn, the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, for a joint venture. The company is the world's largest contract maker of electronic products and provides products to Apple, Blackberry, Xiaomi and Amazon.

The market is holding its strong gains supported by metals, IT, auto, pharma and FMCG stocks. The Sensex is up 189.62 points or 0.7 percent at 28261.55 and the Nifty is up 53.65 points or 0.6 percent at 8570.55. About 1762 shares have advanced, 652 shares declined, and 117 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Vedanta, Infosys and Wipro are top gainers while GAIL, M&M, SBI and ICICI Bank are among losers in the Sensex.

Amid a weak trend overseas, gold prices fell 0.28 percent to Rs 24,605 per 10 grams in futures trade on Wednesday as participants reduced their exposure.

Analysts said a weak trend in the overseas markets following a possible rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, lifting dollar to a four-month high, eroding demand for the precious metals as an alternative, weighed on gold prices at futures trade here.

Globally, gold traded 0.3 percent down at USD 1,084.70 an ounce in Singapore on Wednesday.

10:58 am Market Update: The Sensex gained 219.61 points or 0.78 percent at 28291.54 and the Nifty rose 62.80 points or 0.74 percent to 8579.70. About 1756 shares have advanced, 638 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

10:40 am Oil prices rose in Asia as dealers predicted the latest US crude stockpiles and production data will point towards upbeat demand in the world's top crude consumer, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery gained 31 cents to USD 46.05 while Brent crude for September was up 31 cents to USD 50.30 in late-morning trade.

Prices had skidded for three consecutive sessions before rising modestly yesterday ahead of the US Energy Information Administration's release of the latest US stockpiles figures later on Wednesday.

Last week's data showed crude inventories slid to 459.7 million barrels in the week to July 24, the lowest level since March.

10:20 am Earnings estimates: Footwear company Bata India's first quarter earnings are expected to be steady with the net profit rising 7.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 64 crore and revenue increasing 8 percent to Rs 672 crore, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Operating profit (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) may grow 6.8 percent to Rs 104 crore but margin may fall 20 basis points to 15.5 percent in the quarter gone by.

Analysts see same-store sales growth at 5-8 percent in June quarter. They expect this quarter to see benefits of e-commerce and loyalty program and also expect to see resolution of supply chain issues.

Negative operating leverage may pressure margins and higher rent is also likely to bear down on operational gain. Analysts expect advertising expenditure to remain high in June quarter.

10:00 am Market Check
The market remained strong in morning trade with the Sensex rising 203.45 points to 28275.38 and the Nifty climbing 61.05 points to 8577.95. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices continued to outperform benchmarks, rising 1 percent each.

The market breadth remained in favour of advances. About 1582 shares have advanced against 487 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Tata Steel rallied more than 4 percent as Tata Sons will buy 2.18 percent stake in Titan Company from Tata Steel at Rs 352.10 per share. Vedanta and Hindalco Industries climbed over 2 percent.

Shares of Infosys, HDFC, TCS, Lupin, Wipro, ONGC, Bajaj Auto, Cipla and Hero Motocorp advanced more than a percent. Bharti Airtel jumped 2 percent on strong set of numbers in Q1. Profit grew by 24 percent on Africa tower assets sale and strong India business.

However, GAIL fell another 0.7 percent (in addition to 2.5 percent loss in previous session) on buzz of divestment by the government.

9:50 am FII view: Laurence Balanco, CLSA said against the already bearish profiles in commodities and emerging markets the brokerage has further evidence of global equity markets forming a distributive top with the MSCI World index featuring a head-and shoulders top above the March/February lows.

He feels global markets are still vulnerable to a clean out via lower levels before they are ready to resume the longer term uptrend in earnest.

According to him, there is little change to the Nifty's outlook as price action continues to stabilise with the rally off the June 12 bullish price/momentum divergence low, working its way towards next chart resistance at the 8,800-8,823 area.

9:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Nestle India jumped 10 percent intraday on Wednesday as the company has got a shoot in the arm for its popular noodles brand Maggi. FSSAI-approved laboratory of Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) has found Maggi noodles to be in compliance with the country's food safety standards.

CFTRI had tested five samples sent by Goa Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when Maggi was banned in June in the wake of findings in Uttar Pradesh and other states that the instant noodles brand had lead levels beyond permissible limits.

"CFTRI finding shows that samples are in compliance with the food safety standards as per the Food Safety and Standards Rules, 2011," Goa FDA director Salim A Veljee said.

After some cuts in yesterday's trade, the market has opened firm on Wednesday. The Sensex is up 161.36 points or 0.6 percent at 28233.29, and the Nifty is up 47.80 points or 0.6 percent at 8564.70. About 801 shares have advanced, 132 shares declined, and 62 shares are unchanged.

Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Infosys and Vedanta are top gainers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened lower in the early trade. The currency slipped by 15 paise to 63.90 per dollar versus 63.75 in Tuesday's session.

NS Venkatesh of IDBI Bank said, "The rupee gained around 29 paise yesterday and closed at 63.75/dollar on the back of export and custodial flows. Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) action of not cutting rates helped the rupee to strengthen versus the USD yesterday."

The dollar rose as a top US Federal Reserve official voiced support for an interest rate increase in September despite a batch of disappointing data on wages and manufacturing activity. Asian shares kicked off trade on back foot following yet another uninspiring lead from Wall Street.

Globally, the US stocks closed lower as investors eyed further declines in Apple's stock and slight recovery in oil prices, amid continued focus on the timing of a rate hike.

Europe equities too closed slightly lower as investors kept an eye on the newly reopened Greek stock market, earnings and oil prices.

Crude prices saw slight recovery, but high global production and concern over the economic outlook in China weighed in on the outlook. Brent crude, meanwhile, was trading above USD 50 per barrel.

Pressured by dollar strength, gold continued to struggle around the USD 1080 mark. Platinum dropped to the lowest in 6.5 years and Palladium to the lowest since late-2012 on oversupply and sluggish auto catalyst demand.