Nifty ends at 6200 ahead of Feb F&O expiry; Wipro soars 3%

Equity benchmarks gained for the third consecutive session on Tuesday with the support from technology, capital goods and HDFC group stocks.

Though it was a volatile session ahead of expiry of February derivative contracts on Wednesday, the 50-share NSE benchmark Nifty closed at 6200-mark, up 14 points.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 41.03 points to 20852.47.

The consistent upmove in the market was due to the fact that market is expecting a stable government at the Centre post the Lok Sabha elections and therefore, the flows are improving and overall sentiment is also looking up, Dipan Mehta, member, BSE and NSE said.

He believes the market is discounting a favourable opinion poll (which came out over a weekend) and is expecting Narendra Modi-led NDA to form the government.

Foreign institutional investors bought nearly Rs 3,000 crore worth of shares in the last eight consecutive sessions.

Shares of Wipro jumped 3 percent, touching 14-year high at Rs 595.15 per share as it bagged a 10-year IT and BPO contract from UK's Carillion. It was the top gainer. Its rivals TCS and Infosys gained 0.5 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

State-run capital goods major BHEL was up 2 percent on top of a 4 percent upmove in previous session while its rival Larsen & Toubro rose 0.6 percent.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel rebounded with 1.6 percent gains after falling more than 4 percent in previous two sessions on losing Nigerian court case.

Shares of Bajaj Auto, Cipla and Hindalco Industries gained 1-2 percent.

However, Tata Steel, Coal India, Tata Power and GAIL were down between 1.5-2 percent.

NTPC shares slipped another 1 percent in addition to 11 percent fall in previous session on Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) final regulations for FY15-19 which provide no respite for it. The norms will fix tariffs for the power sector for the next five years.

Sesa Sterlite dropped 2 percent after agencies report suggests that Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has conducted raids in company's office in Goa.

ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Dr Reddy's Labs and Sun Pharma were under pressure with marginal loss.

03:50 pm New kids on the block
The Bimal Jalan-headed committee, scrutinising the 25 bank license applications, submitted its recommendations to the Reserve Bank today amid speculations that Election Commission's Code of Conduct will have a bearing on the process of awarding new bank licenses.
Sources in the RBI say the Jalan panel has submitted its recommndations on eligibility of all applicants and a final call will be taken by the central bank. Finance ministry sources have indicated that prima facie Election Code of Conduct doesn't apply to RBI but a final decision will be taken after the EC's issuance.

03:40 pm Market closing
The market ended on a high note for third consecutive day. The Sensex is up 41.03 points at 20852.47, and the Nifty ended at 6200, up 13.95 points.  About 1303 shares have advanced, 1321 shares declined, and 159 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite, Coca Cola, Tata Steel, Tata Power and GAIL are top losers in the Sensex. Among the top gainers in the Sensex are Wipro, Bajaj Auto, BHEL, Cipla and Bharti Airtel.

03:30 pm Market outlook
Emerging markets (EMs) fund outflows on a year-to-date (YTD) basis are still seriously under the weather; however India has been a singular outperformer.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Rishav Dev, Quant Capital Institutional Equities said fund flow trend on the equity side is in skewed towards developed markets than EMs, with Europe being the major receipt.

On the other hand, outflows from EMs continue, like in 2013. ''In the last 17 weeks, outflow figure is close to USD 34 billion from emerging markets,'' he said. But the pace of outflows from EM equity funds has moderated significantly in last two weeks.

Meanwhile, bond markets have continued to attract inflows in the past six to seven weeks, a big deviation from heavy outflows seen last year, he added.

03:20 pm Big rally
Shares of Wipro jumped 3 percent, touching 14-year high at Rs 595 per share intraday on Tuesday as it bagged a 10-year IT, BPO contract from UK's Carillion. Carillion operates across multiple industry sectors in the UK, Middle East and Canada and provides solutions in finance, design, construction and support services.

As part of the ten year engagement, Wipro will deliver operational and cost efficiency to Carillion through its outsourcing and transformation services. The engagement covers Carillion's IT infrastructure and applications, HR (Human Resources) and F&A (Finance and Accounting) BPO services.

03:10 pm Lanco Infratech CDR
Lanco Infratech which has gone for Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) said 25 lenders have been given an option to convert some of their loan amount into equity in future.

Lanco, in a BSE filing yesterday, said the lenders including Life Insurance Corporation and banks will be given an option to convert Rs. 3,024 crore out of Rs. 11,155 crore of total restructured loan into equity.

Lanco Infratech chief financial officer Adi Babu said the conversion of part debt into equity is a standard norm for a company that goes for CDR.

02:55pm Vesuvius India under pressure post earnings, down 8%
Vesuvius India's fourth quarter (October-December) net profit fell to Rs 13.6 crore from Rs 17.6 crore while total income rose to Rs 155.3 crore from Rs 153.5 crore year-on-year.

The board of directors of the company recommended payment of dividend Rs 4.75 per share for the year ended December 31, 2013.

The board also declared a 20th anniversary special dividend of Re 1 per share to shareholders. This is an interim dividend for the year ended December 31, 2014.

02:45pm Cadila Healthcare hits record high
Shares of Cadila Healthcare gained another 2.7 percent on Tuesday in addition to 4.7 percent upmove in previous session. Brokerage house Nomura reiterated its buy rating on the stock and raised target price to Rs 1,103 from Rs 1,055 apiece post management meet.

The stock surpassed the Rs 1000-mark for the first time in its history and touched a record high of Rs 1,022.

Nomura remains positive on the stock, as it expects US approvals accompanied by business consolidation (moving out of non profitable territories and lowering capex) should help improve margins and profitability of the company. There is increasing clarity on levers of margin expansion, the report added.

"Last week, Ahmedabad-based Cadila Healthcare won a favourable Appeals court decision on Prevacid ODT, which could be an interesting low-competition opportunity. The company expects to gain approval for Prevacid ODT over the next 12 months, and we believe the product could contribute up to Rs 18 per share annually in the initial period," the brokerage house elaborated.

Nomura further said the other low-competition launches that are possible over the next 12 months include Toprol XL, Asacol HD, Lialda (contingent on litigation outcome), nasal sprays (Azelastine, Desmopressin Acetate), transdermals (clonidine, estradiol weekly) and one Nesher product.

Management expects growth to revive in India formulation, consumer and JV businesses in FY15, it said in its report.

Cadila Healthcare was trading at Rs 1,000.10, up 0.50 percent.

02:35pm Ipca Labs talks to CNBC-TV18
Currently, out of 18 products the company is able to supply only 8 products to the US due to capacity constraints but now with expansion of capacity the Indore facility, all the products have been taken in for commercialization, and the full utilisation will take place over two years said AK Jain, ED, Ipca Labs .

The company is also looking at further expansion of capacity at Indore, he said.

The overall growth for FY14 would be around 18-20 percent and he expects similar growth for FY15 as well.

In the beginning of the year, the company had guided for margins around 24 percent but now their margins are around 25 percent, which are sustainable provided currency remains round 60/USD levels. The margins improvement was mainly on back of overall business mix, wherein higher margins businesses are doing much better and two, the currency too helped in improving the margins said Jain.

02:25pm Sugar stocks sweeten
Shares in sugar manufacturers gain today after raw sugar futures on ICE soared to three-month highs on Monday on worries about potential crop damage from dry weather in Brazil.

Rising global sugar prices would help local mills increase exports, helping offset the impact of falling production, traders say.

Indian sugar mills produced 14.37 million tonnes of the sweetener between October 1 and February 15, over 13 percent lower than a year earlier, according to industry body, Indian Sugar Mills Association.

Mills have sold only about 700,000 tonnes of raw sugar for export so far in the 2013/14 season, despite industry expectations of 4 million tonnes.

Shares in Balrampur Chini Mills , which gained as much as 5.7 percent, was trading 2.76 percent higher, while Bajaj Hindusthan was up 1.16 percent, reports Reuters.

02:15pm Market Expert
Dipan Mehta, member, BSE and NSE believes the market is discounting a favourable opinion poll and is expecting Narendra Modi-led NDA to form the government. According to him, the latest upmove is due to the fact that market is expecting a stable government at the Centre post the Lok Sabha elections and therefore, the flows are improving and overall sentiment is also looking up.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Mehta recommends investing in pharma, IT, consumer-oriented stocks and private sector banks until elections. He believes if the polls fail to give a stable government, rupee may fall further and pharma and IT will then support. However, if there is a positive outcome, government policies, economy or any interest rate reductions or inflation cooling will support banks and consumer related stocks, he adds.

Mehta also believes that foreign investors are getting a bit more positive on India after threats like current account deficit and fiscal deficit are gradually receding.

02:00pm The 50-share NSE benchmark continued to see volatility ahead of expiry of February derivative contracts, hovering around the 6,200 level.

Experts see expiry around 6150-6200 level on Wednesday (one-day before due to holiday on Thursday for Mahashivratri).

The Sensex rose 34.49 points to 20,845.93 and the Nifty climbed 14.10 points to 6,200.20. About 1149 shares have advanced, 1324 shares declined, and 158 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite extended losses to 2.7 percent in afternoon trade after agencies report suggests that Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence has conducted raids in company's office in Goa.

Tata Power and Coal India fell over 2 percent followed by GAIL and NTPC with more than 1.5 percent loss. Country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank are marginally in red.

2:00 pm Exclusive: Videocon is looking to exit its telecom business as part of its business consolidation plans. The promoters have appointed bankers to evaluate valuation of Videocon Telecom, erstwhile Videocon mobile services.

1:50 pm Market outlook: Dipan Mehta, member, BSE and NSE believes market is discounting a favourable opinion poll and is expecting Narendra Modi-led NDA to form the government. According to him, the latest upmove is due to the fact that market is expecting a stable government at the Centre post the Lok Sabha elections and therefore, the flows are improving and the overall sentiment is also looking up.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Mehta recommends investing in pharma, IT, consumer-oriented stocks and private sector banks until elections. He believes if the polls fail to give a stable government, rupee may fall further and pharma and IT will then support. However, if there is a positive outcome, government policies, economy or any interest rate reductions or inflation cooling will support banks and consumer related stocks, he adds.

1:40 pm Big buy: Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest oil firm, will buy Malaysian firm Petronas' 10 per cent stake in a shale-gas assets and liquefied- natural-gas (LNG) project in British Columbia for USD 900 million, reports PTI.

The acquisition of stake in Progress Energy Resources Corp for 1 billion Canadian dollars (USD 900 million) mark IOC's maiden entry into North America.

"I am pleased to announce that we have just finalised a further 25 percent equity participation from an Indian party and an established Asian LNG buyer," the Malaysian state firm's president and chief executive Shamsul Azhar Abbas said at the LNG Supplies for Asian Markets conference in Singapore.

1:30 pm  Buzzing: Shares of Cadila Healthcare gained another 2.7 percent in addition to 4.7 percent upmove in previous session. Brokerage house Nomura reiterated its buy rating on the stock and raised target price to Rs 1,103 from Rs 1,055 apiece post management meet. The stock surpassed the Rs 1000-mark for the first time in its history and touched a record high of Rs 1,022.

Nomura remains positive on the stock, as it expects US approvals accompanied by business consolidation (moving out of non profitable territories and lowering capex) should help improve margins and profitability of the company. There is increasing clarity on levers of margin expansion, the report added.

The Sensex is up 12.53 points at 20823.97, and the Nifty is up 4.90 points at 6191. About 1115 shares have advanced, 1226 shares declined, and 162 shares are unchanged.

All eyes are on the capital today as 11 major non-BJP, non-Congress parties are likely to meet to discuss the formation of the third front party. Sources say the party will come up with a common charter that will provide a firm alternative to the congress and the BJP.

The Nikkei average advanced to a four-week closing high on Tuesday after a rally in Wall Street shares to historic highs triggered short-covering in battered Japanese stocks, reports Reuters.

The Nikkei rose 1.4 percent to 15,051.60, its highest close since January 29. It has recovered more than 40 percent of its losses since it fell from a six-year peak hit in late December.

Shares of Softbank Corp climbed to their highest in a month on a report that the company is seeking to buy a stake in Line Corp, a mobile-messaging service controlled by South Korea's Naver Corp.

12:55pm Federal Bank on buyers' radar
Shares of Federal Bank jumped 3 percent on Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) nod to increase foreign equity investment in the company. 
''CCEA have accorded their approval for foreign equity participation upto 74 percent of the paid up capital of the Bank, with sub-limit of 49 percent by FII's and 24 percent for NRI's,'' it said in a statement.

12:45pm Gujarat Gas surges 8%
Investors are lapping up shares of Gujarat Gas after the board members approved merger of company with four other companies. The stock surged as much as 14 percent intraday and now it is up 7.6 percent.

"The board of directors on February 24 has granted its in-principle approval to the proposed consolidation by way of amalgamation of the company with GSPC Distribution Networks, GSPC Gas, Gujarat Gas Financial Services and Gujarat Gas Trading Company," the company said in its filing to exchange.

Above four companies are involved in city gas distribution business.

KPMG (India) is the advisor for conceptualisation and implementation of the proposed scheme of amalgamation while SSPA & Company, Chartered Accountants is the independent valuer for determining the swap ratio.

12:35pm Nikkei rises to 4-week closing high
The Nikkei average advanced to a four-week closing high on Tuesday after a rally in Wall Street shares to historic highs triggered short-covering in battered Japanese stocks.

The Nikkei rose 1.4 percent to 15,051.60, its highest close since January 29. It has recovered more than 40 percent of its losses since it fell from a six-year peak hit in late December.

Shares of Softbank Corp climbed to their highest in a month on a report that the company is seeking to buy a stake in Line Corp, a mobile-messaging service controlled by South Korea's Naver Corp.

The broader Topix index rose 1.2 percent to 1,233.66.

The JPX-Nikkei Index 400, an index launched this year comprising firms with high return on equity and strong corporate governance, rose 1.2 percent to 11,159.39, reports Reuters.

12:25pm Kinetic Engineering locked at 5% upper circuit
Shares of Kinetic Engineering jumped 5 percent as it exited from Mahindra Two Wheelers. The auto company has sold its entire shareholding in Mahindra Two Wheelers Limited (MTWL) to Samena Capital for Rs 182 crore. Samena Capital is private equity investment group focused on Asia and Middle east.

After repayment of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and cost of financing, the Pune-based company will get Rs 109 crore.  ''KEL will utilise the net proceeds to meet various obligations of its business including working capital and substantially towards FCCB/debt repayment obligations to strengthen its balance sheet,'' it said in a statement.

Earlier in 2008, Kinetic group had originally acquired MTWL when Group firm Kinetic Motor Company sold its two-wheeler business assets to M&M in a cash and stock deal.

Subsequently, KMCL was merged with KEL in year 2012, and thus, the stake had been
transferred to KEL.

Kinetic will now focus on building its automotive systems business through various group companies and will invest in new electric three-wheelers to be launched later in the year.

12:15pm FII View
Chris Roberts of Asianomics feels he is better off not having any money in emerging markets because they have not made money for investors since 2010.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Roberts said emerging markets were in a sideway range right now and this is most likely to be followed by a break on the downside

Roberts sees signs of a cyclical downturn in the US stock markets. According to him, the US is going through a secular bear market and may fall over 20 percent. The consolation if any could be that this decline may be less vicious than the previous one. Yet, any downturn in the US will hurt emerging markets as well, he cautions.

In India, Roberts sees IT and pharma shares doing well.

12:00pm The market sees volatility in noon trade with the Nifty hovering around the 6200 level ahead of expiry of February derivative contracts on Wednesday.

The Sensex advanced 37.29 points to 20,848.73 and the Nifty rose 13.15 points to 6,199.25. About 1123 shares have advanced, 1059 shares declined, and 138 shares are unchanged.

Shares of Bharti Airtel, Wipro, Bajaj Auto, Cipla and BHEL topped the buying list, rising around 1.5 percent.

Index majors Infosys, TCS, ITC, Reliance Industries and HDFC climbed 0.2-0.8 percent.

However, shares of NTPC fell another 1.9 percent. The stock had already been battered on Monday as it tanked 11.5 percent, hitting 7.7-year low on Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) final regulations for FY15-19 which provides no respite for it. The norms will fix tariffs for the power sector for the next five years.

GAIL is the top loser in the Sensex, falling 2 percent followed by Tata Motors, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel, Coal India, Dr Reddy's Labs and Tata Power with 0.5-1.2 percent loss.

11:50 am Interview: Ashish Guha, chief economic officer and managing director Heidelberg Cement says the company's volumes have gone up substantially in the current as well as previous quarter. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Guha says the recent price hikes that the company has undertaken, Rs 15-20, has been done over a period of time since January 2014.

However, these hikes will not aid the cement major's margins, adds Guha. ''The higher pet coke (used as a fuel in manufacturing cement) prices will be restricting our EBITDA gains despite the price hikes, he adds. Furthermore, Guha says he doesn't see any threat of Reliance Cements entering the market and add that the company will see 100 percent capacity utilization in CY15 .

11:40 am Buzzing: Shares of Kinetic Engineering jumped 5 percent intraday on Tuesday as it exited from Mahindra Two Wheelers. The auto company has sold its entire shareholding in Mahindra Two Wheelers Limited (MTWL) to Samena Capital for Rs 182 crore. Samena Capital is private equity investment group focused on Asia and Middle east.

After repayment of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and cost of financing, the Pune-based company will get Rs 109 crore.  ''KEL will utilise the net proceeds to meet various obligations of its business including working capital and substantially towards FCCB/debt repayment obligations to strengthen its balance sheet,'' it said in a statement.

11:30 am Market outlook: Emerging market has not been the favourite of international investors, but India has been spared the drought so far, says UR Bhat, MD, Dalton Capital Advisors. Calling the current optimism in the market as a hope rally, he cautioned investors to be watchful of fundamentals since the momentum is built around hopes that India will get a stable government.

He strongly believes any-time-safe public sector banking space does not deserve a look-in at present, particularly after the United Bank fiasco. He advised investors to stay off PSU banks for few more quarters but can dig in quality private banking names. Within the IT and Pharma sectors, he said one needs to build a portfolio which will be influenced by election outcome.

It seems to be another day of consolidation on Dalal Street as Nifty hold 6200. The Nifty is up 17.10 points at 6203.20 while the Sensex is up 54.44 points at 20865.88. About 1168 shares have advanced, 887 shares declined, and 113 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, Bharti, Wipro, Cipla and Bajaj Auto are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are NTPC, GAIL, Coal India, Sesa Sterlite and Tata Power.

Rupee trades higher against the dollar tracking strength in Asian currencies and overall positive market sentiment globally.  Gilts move with a weak bias as dealers avoid fresh purchases ahead of the state development loan auction today.

Asian markets are trading higher led by Nikkei above the 15000 mark. Commodities saw gold trade close to 4-month highs while Brent gave up some gains.

10:59am Petron Engineering up 6% on order from JBF Petrochemicals
Investors are active in shares of Petron Engineering Construction after the company received letter of intent for Rs 196 crore contract.
"... received letter of intent from JBF Petrochemicals for composite works for its JBF PTA OSBL project at Mangalore," the company said in its filing.

The composite works include civil, structural, underground piping, buildings, mechanical piping, insulation, painting, electrical and instrumentation works.

The approximate contract value of the project is Rs 196.00 crore plus service tax.

It was the second order for the company in February. Petron Engineering on February 3 received a contract from VISA Power for execution of civil job at VISA Raigarh Thermal Power Plant, Chhattisgarh for a contract value of Rs 99.76 crore.

10:50am Elecon Engineering spikes on order win
Shares of Elecon Engineering surged as much as 9.3 percent intraday after its subsidiary received order from NTPC, India's largest power generation company.

"Subsidiary company Elecon EPC Projects has been awarded a prestigious order from NTPC for ex-works (India) supply for coal handling plant package of Gadarwara Super Thermal Power Projects, stage - I (2x800MW)," the company said in its release available on exchange.

The order is worth Rs 246.78 crore.

Now the stock is up over 6 percent.

10:40am Market Expert
Emerging market has not been the favourite of international investors, but India has been spared the drought so far, says UR Bhat, MD, Dalton Capital Advisors. Calling the current optimism in the market as a hope rally, he cautioned investors to be watchful of fundamentals since the momentum is built around hopes that India will get a stable government.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Bhat says domestic investors have not been supporting the optimism shown by foreign investors for couple of years, but must be very cautious if they want to participate in this aspiration rally since it is still not clear if Centre will see a stable government post elections. He predicts a lot of uncertainty and volatility in market after the elections are concluded.

In the ongoing debate of choosing between cyclical and defensive stocks, Bhat says the former will be the best delta in the run up to elections. He strongly believes any-time-safe public sector banking space does not deserve a look-in at present, particularly after the United Bank fiasco. He advised investors to stay off PSU banks for few more quarters but can dig in quality private banking names. Within the IT and Pharma sectors, he said one needs to build a portfolio which will be influenced by election outcome.

10:30am Mastek in focus
Mastek stock touched a 40-month high of Rs 225.10 today after the shareholders approved buyback of up to 32 lakh shares. It rallied as much as 3.5 percent in early trade and now it is up 2 percent.

"The shareholders have approved the buyback of the company's fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 5 each from open market, for an amount not exceeding Rs 54.50 crore in cash, subject to a maximum of 32 lakh shares and minimum of 9.5 lakh shares," the company said in its filing.

It will buyback shares at a price of up to Rs 250 per share.

The software services provider will utilise minimum of Rs 27.25 crore (for buyback), which is 50 percent of the buyback size.

10:20am FII View
Viktor Shvets, Macquarie expects more outflows from emerging markets as investors are contemplating a circular structural change for emerging markets. He believes India is still overbought and expects some outflows from markets like India.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Shvets says that India needs to invite a lot more direct capital into the country and is likely to be vulnerable until capital flows increase.

10:10am Gujarat Gas on buyers' radar
Investors are lapping up shares of Gujarat Gas after the board members approved merger of company with four other companies. The stock surged as much as 14 percent intraday and now it is up 9 percent.

"The board of directors on February 24 has granted its in-principle approval to the proposed consolidation by way of amalgamation of the company with GSPC Distribution Networks, GSPC Gas, Gujarat Gas Financial Services and Gujarat Gas Trading Company," the company said in its filing to exchange.

Above four companies are involved in city gas distribution business.

10:00am Equity benchmarks maintained upmove with the Nifty holding the 6200 level supported by banks, technology and FMCG stocks. The rupee is gyrating around the 62 per dollar.

The Sensex climbed 80 points to 20,891.44 and the Nifty rose 25.70 points to 6,211.80. The broader markets showed positive momentum too; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices advanced 0.66 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1009 to 476 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Gautam Shah of JM Financial said only on a close above 6190 do the bulls have some of the control taking the Nifty towards 6270-6300.

BHEL extended its upmove, rising 2 percent on top of a 4 percent rally in previous session while its rival L&T gained 0.3 percent. The buying in capital goods stocks may be in anticipation of good order growth post general elections.

Shares of Infosys, ICICI Bank, TCS, ITC, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Wipro, Sun Pharma and Tata Steel gained 0.5-1.4 percent.

However, NTPC fell another 1.5 percent following more than 11 percent loss in previous session on tariff norms. GAIL and Coal India declined 1.5 percent each.

10:00 am Market news: Market regulator SEBI, in its new corporate governance guidelines, has imposed a new safeguard for those companies looking to sell non-core businesses held via subsidiaries. SEBI has announced a new clause 49 that contains new corporate governance requirement that companies will have to adhere to starting October this year.

SEBI says in case of a divestment of shares in a 'material subsidiary', the company will have to seek shareholder approval by a special resolution.

9:50 am FII view: Viktor Shvets, Macquarie expects more outflows from emerging markets as investors are contemplating a circular structural change for emerging markets. He believes India is still overbought and expects some outflows from markets like India.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Shvets says that India needs to invite a lot more direct capital into the country and is likely to be vulnerable until capital flows increase.

"Within equities, emerging markets as an asset class will just disintegrate, it will not be there. But that doesn't mean that countries won't be there, it doesn't mean that individual markets will not be there. Emerging market was just an artificial construct over the last 20-30 years. Those emerging markets have nothing in common," he said.

 9:40 am Big gain: Mastek stock touched a 40-month high of Rs 225.10 on Tuesday after the shareholders approved buyback of up to 32 lakh shares. It rallied as much as 3.5 percent in early trade.

"The shareholders have approved the buyback of the company's fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 5 each from open market, for an amount not exceeding Rs 54.50 crore in cash, subject to a maximum of 32 lakh shares and minimum of 9.5 lakh shares," the company said in its filing.

It will buyback shares at a price of up to Rs 250 per share.

The software services provider will utilise minimum of Rs 27.25 crore (for buyback), which is 50 percent of the buyback size.

9:30 am Market outlook: Gautam Shah, JM Financial feels the market is looking quite directionless and lifeless on the charts. "On the face of it the bulls have a slight advantage given the strong closing last week. There is immediate resistance around 6190. Only on a close above 6190 do the bulls have some of the control taking the index towards 6270-6300," he said.

Jitendra Sriram, HSBC is underweight on India for now. He prefers sectors such as energy, power, non-ferrous metals and telecoms. "Elections will be a watershed event, but expect a slow recovery afterwards. Earnings expectations remain lofty, while mutual funds already have high exposure to India," he said.

9:20 am Buzzing: Shares of Ranbaxy falls over 2 percent as it has temporarily suspended shipment of pharmaceutical ingredients produced at its Toansa and Dewas plants.

''The company is currently examining processes and controls at all company's Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) manufacturing and quality units. This action has led to temporarily putting on hold shipments from company's API facilities of the Toansa and Dewas Plants,'' it said in a statement to the BSE.

The drug major said that it is a voluntary decision as a precautionary measure to better to assess and review the processes and controls.  It has also formed 'quality & integrity committee" to help and assure good governance to all Ranbaxy stakeholders.

The market has opened on a strong note. The Sensex is up 88.75 points at 20900.19, and the Nifty is up 23.10 points at 6209.20. About 274 shares have advanced, 70 shares declined, and 5 shares are unchanged.

Banks are lending support to the indices. HDFC, Tata Power, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and Sesa Sterlite are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the laggards are Bajaj Auto, Hindalco and Dr Reddy's Labs.

The Indian rupee opened with a marginal gain of 8 paise at 61.98 per dollar on Tuesday as against previous day's closing value of 62.06 a dollar.

The dollar steadies against its rivals as traders seek more clarity on the pace of the US economic recovery after a series of soft data releases in the past few weeks.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "The markets have been by and large fairly rangebound in recent past. We saw a knee jerk reaction after the Fed minutes but markets across asset classes have rallied after that. The Sensex and rupee have been no exceptions."

"Dollar-rupee is back in the 61.50-62.50/USD range. The near-term range for the rupee is seen between 61.50-62.50/USD," he added.

In the other asset classes, the dollar steadies against its rivals as traders seek more clarity on the pace of the US economic recovery after a series of soft data releases in the past few weeks.

Crude, meanwhile, continues to gain support by upbeat economic data that fueled hopes for demand growth and from precious metals space, gold slipped but held near its strongest level in four months on concerns over economic growth in China and political uncertainty over Ukraine.

The Nikkei average advanced to a 3.5-week peak after a rally in Wall Street shares to historic highs triggered short-covering in battered Japanese stocks. Shares of Softbank Corp climbed to their highest in a month on a report that the company is seeking to buy a stake in Line Corp, a mobile-messaging service controlled by South Korea's Naver Corp.