Nifty ends at 8,273, Sensex flat; BHEL gains 2%, Infosys loses 2%

3:30 pm Market closing: It was a sluggish trading day with the Nifty failing to touch 8300. The 50-share index was up 6.60 points at 8273.05. The Sensex closed up 10.99 points at 27020.66. About 1548 shares have advanced, 1060 shares declined, and 170 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, L&T, ICICI Bank, Hero and ONGC were gainers while Infosys, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy's Labs and TCS were losers in the Sensex.

2:59 pm Buzzing: Uflex shares touched nearly 5-year high of Rs 224.40, up 4 percent intraday after signing partnership agreement with Italian company.

Under this agreement, Italian firm Comiflex SRL will manufacture gearless CI flexo printing machines at company's engineering plant in India.

"The memorandum of understanding has already been signed between Gianfranco Nespoli, owner of Comiflex SRL and Ajay Tandon, president & CEO of engineering business, Uflex," the flexible packaging company said.

Uflex will sell these machines across the world.

2:50 pm Rajan on rate cut: In an interview to CNBC Awaaz, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan says prices can decrease if there is good monsoon, adding high pay panel outgo and low monsoon are risks to prices.

"If we see inflation touching 5 percent in 2017, there may be room to cut rates," he says, adding he expects capacity utilisation to increase if there is good monsoon.

2:40 pm Interview: Citi has a marginal underweight on infrastructure sector because there is a slow revival in capital expenditure, particularly of power and metal, says the brokerage's infrastructure analyst Venkatesh Balasubramanian.

Concurring with Balasubramanian's view, Thermax MD MS Unnikrishnan said the industry may not see a full recovery in sectors like power, cement, steel, oil and gas and fertilisers.

He is of the view that these are the prime movers for the country in terms of the infrastructure related investment and capex in the country.

However, Unnikrishnan is hopeful of an investment cycle revival possibly in FY17-FY18 for the sectors.

2:20 pm ETFs asset base: In a sign of growing investor interest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), their asset base on National Stock Exchange's Nifty 50 jumped nearly 7-fold to Rs 8,533 crore at the end of March.

Assets Under Management (AUM) of ETFs based on Nifty 50 index has surged to Rs 8,533 crore as on March 31, 2016 from Rs 1,251 crore at the end of preceding financial year.

Besides, total assets base of ETFs benchmarked to Nifty indices commands 85 percent market share.

Total AUM of equity ETF industry stood at Rs 15,066 crore at the end of last fiscal, (2015-16).

2:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks continued to be in consolidation mode with the Sensex hovering around 26000 level as after pricing in RBI policy, investors are waiting for Federal Reserve monetary policy and Britain's referendum.

The Sensex fell 12.77 points to 26996.90 and the Nifty declined 8.75 points to 8257.70 while the broader markets continued to outperform with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.2-0.6 percent. About 1446 shares advanced against 1031 declining shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Infosys, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Adani Ports and Tata Steel fell 1-2 percent while ICICI Bank, L&T, Bharti Airtel, ONGC and Hero Motocorp gained 1 percent each.

Oil prices rose for a third day to their highest in about eight months today, helped by industry data showing a larger-than-expected drawdown in US crude inventories, worries about attacks on Nigeria's oil industry and strong Chinese demand. London Brent crude for August delivery was up 0.58 percent at USD 51.74 a barrel, after settling up 89 cents on Tuesday. NYMEX crude for July delivery was up 0.5 percent at USD 50.61 a barrel.

1:30 pm Monsoon: Turning true the monsoon forecast made by India Meteorological Department (IMD) a week ago, southwest monsoon has hit Kerala's coasts on Tuesday.

Following this, the monsoon is likely to hit coasts of Maharashtra in another 3-4 days, says DS Pai, Director-Long Range Forecast, IMD. He is of the view that there will be a slackening in monsoon's progress mid-June.

After almost a week's pause, the season will revive in the last 10 days of June even in the interiors of the country, he told CNCB-TV18.

The market is still unable to budge from the levels seen in early trade. The Sensex is up 43.36 points or 0.2 percent at 27053.03, and the Nifty is up 6.35 points or at 8272.80. About 1421 shares have advanced, 948 shares declined, and 143 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, BHEL, Bharti Airtel, ONGC and Hero MotoCorp are top gainers in the Sensex while Asian Paints, Infosys, HDFC Bank, TCS and Coal India are losers.

Oil prices rose for a third day to their highest in about eight months, helped by industry data showing a larger-than-expected drawdown in US crude inventories, worries about attacks on Nigeria's oil industry and strong Chinese demand.

US commercial crude inventories fell by 3.6 million barrels last week, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday after the market settlement, compared with expectations for a 2.7 million barrel draw.

12:59 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained volatile. The Sensex rose 41.08 points to 27050.75 and the Nifty advanced 5.50 points to 8271.95.

The market breadth continued to be positive as about 1407 shares advanced against 958 declining shares on BSE.

12:40 pm Europe opens: European stocks opened lower as markets in Asia and US pare gains. The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.54 percent.

European shares followed the tone set in Asia's trading session where markets traded mostly lower, following a modest finish in US stocks. Data also showed that China's exports in May fell by a more-than-expected 4.1 percent from a year earlier, while imports slipped by 0.4 percent, much less than expected.

Elsewhere, oil prices stood steady near their highest levels in about eight months today, buoyed by industry data from the American Petroleum Institute that showed a higher-than-expected drawdown of US crude inventories, which fell by 3.6 million barrels last week.

12:25 pm US' major defence partner: The US has recognised India as a "major defence partner", a significant development which paves the way for the country to be treated on par with America's closest allies for defence related trade and technology transfer.

"Noting that the US-India defence relationship can be an anchor of stability and given the increasingly strengthened cooperation in defence, the United States hereby recognises India as a Major Defence Partner," said a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with US President Barack Obama yesterday.

According to the statement, under the 'Major Defence Partner' recognition, the US will continue to work toward facilitating technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners.

12:00 pm Market Check
The market continued to be sluggish in noon trade as investors digested outlook on monsoon that hit Kerala yesterday.

Met Department says there is no change in forecast, adding monsoon will cover Karnataka in two days and coast of Maharashtra in next 4 days.

Rainfall is expected to 107 percent above normal level.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 41.04 points to 27050.71 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 8.55 points at 8275 while the broader markets outperformed benchmarks.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.4-0.8 percent on positive market breadth. About 1393 shares advanced against 830 declining shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

11:55 am New roads: The Centre will build 2.40 lakh kilometer-long roads across the country by the end of 2019, Union Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said here today.

"2.40 lakh kilometer long roads would be constructed across the country by the end of 2019 and every homeless will be provided home by that time," the Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation told reporters here.

He said that deposits worth around Rs 36,000 crore have been received in accounts opened under the government's flagship financial inclusion programme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).

11:30 am Interview: NIIT Technologies ' management has reiterated a soft revenue growth for the first quarter in FY17 on account of exposure to its Geographical Info System (GIS) business, said Arvind Thakur, CEO & Joint MD of the company. This is just a seasonal weakness that the company faces every year, he added.

Thakur believes the company's margins to remain steady due to significant growth in its international and digital business.

Meanwhile, NIIT Tech's travel vertical, impacted due to client specific issues in previous quarters, is likely to recover under the re-organisation the company has undergone, he told CNBC-TV18.

The market is in green territory but weak banks are exerting pressure. The Sensex is up 19.99 points at 27029.66, and the Nifty up 0.20 points at 8266.65. About 1303 shares have advanced, 749 shares declined, and 134 shares are unchanged.

Capital Goods are lending support to the market. Bharti Airtel, BHEL, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank and ONGC are top gainers while Asian Paints, Coal India, Infosys, HDFC Bank and Lupin are losers in the Sensex.

Defence stocks like Walchandnagar, Nelco are gaining as PM Modi says the govt will explore simpler & more efficient project licensing approach for defence.

Oil prices rose for a third day to their highest in about eight months on Wednesday, helped by industry data showing a larger-than-expected drawdown in US crude inventories, worries about attacks on Nigeria's oil industry and strong Chinese demand.

10:40 am Interview:  Dr Lal PathLabs and Citi expect the pharma company to surpass industry growth of 16-17 percent in FY17.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Prashant Nair, Director and Deputy Head of Research at Citi, said that industry forecasts build in 20 percent growth in topline for the next 2-3 years for Dr Lal PathLabs.

"We have had a track record of 26-27 percent margins and the planned expansion of central lab network in Kolkata and Lucknow will help the company to sustain margins in FY17, with a possible dip in future," Om Manchanda, Chief Executive, Dr Lal PathLabs said.

10:20 FII View: Indian shares have priced in a lot of good news and have now started looking a bit expensive, says Devendra Joshi, Equity Strategist - Asia Pacific, HSBC.

HSBC upgraded India shares to neutral recently but at 27,000, the Sensex is already ahead of the brokerage's 2016 target of 26,000.

"Over the next few weeks, there may several events [that may be negative for equities]," Joshi said. "There is the Fed rate hike, developments in European politics, China slowdown. We may see global risk aversion going forward."

10:00 am Market Check: The market continued to be in tight range above 27000 level after pricing in RBI policy and Federal Reserve c hairperson Janet Yellen's comments in previous session.

The Sensex rose 35.48 points to 27045.15 and the Nifty advanced 3.20 points to 8269.65. The broader markets marginally outperformed benchmarks, rising 0.3 percent as about 1032 shares advanced against 632 declining shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Tata Motors was the most active stock on BSE after brokerages maintained overweight rating on the stock, saying Jaguar F-Pace, XF & XJ and Discovery Sport will drive further growth.

Astra Microwave, SpiceJet, SBI, Ujjivan Financial, Infosys and L&T were other most active shares.

Bharti Airtel rallied 2.5 percent after telecom commission stuck to a 3 percent spectrum usage charge (SUC) on future spectrum across all spectrum bands.

9:55 am World Bank worried: A worried World Bank slashed its growth forecast for the global economy, saying advanced economies are rebounding more slowly than expected and low commodity prices continue to hurt other countries.

The Bank said that the global economy should grow at just 2.4 percent this year, the same lethargic pace of 2015 and much slower than the 2.9 percent it predicted in January.

9:45 am  FII view: Bharat Iyer of JP Morgan says base case is for Indian equities to deliver 12-15 percent over the next 12 months, driven mainly by earnings growth forecast.

He believes key investment themes remain high quality financials with a strong capital and liability franchise; manufacturing sectors focusing on the government's early cycle investment priorities of highways, railways, power transmission and defense – cement, commercial vehicles, select capital goods; and urban consumption.

In previous one year, the Sensex gained 1.83 percent and Nifty 2.8 percent.

9:30 am Performing rupee: Rupee is the top outperformer among the Asian currencies, Japanese brokerage firm Nomura said.

Craig Chan, head of Asia FX research at Nomura, listed Rupee, Indonesia's Rupiah and Malaysia's Ringgit with scope to outperform among Asian currencies from now till end of this year, supported by strong macro fundamentals.

"From the macro side, these three currencies are supported by some of the strongest fundamentals," said Chan during a media briefing at the annual Nomura Investment Asia Forum 2016 being held here from June 7-9.

The market has opened on a firm note with the Nifty still above 8250. The 50-share index is up 19.05 points or 0.2 percent at 8285.50. The Sensex is up 91 points or 0.3 percent at 27100.67. About 305 shares have advanced, 114 shares declined, and 24 shares are unchanged.

Bharti Airtel, HDFC, L&T, Cipla and Adani Ports are gainers while GAIL, HUL, BHEL, Asian Paints and TCS are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 66.78 per dollar against previous close of 66.77. The dollar fell to a one-month low on speculation that the Federal Reserve isn't going to raise rates any time soon.

Bansi Madhvani of India Ratings said, "The rupee is likely to continue taking cues from the shifts in global risk preference and stay relatively stable ahead of the Fed policy outcome."

Monsoon, which will be an important deciding factor for the market will hit India a bit late. The metrological department say monsoon could be delayed by another 2 days, which is 10 days after the normal schedule. This delay over the southern peninsula means that the severe heat wave in northern India will continue for at least another 48 hours at least.

WTI crude has risen above USD 50 per barrel for the first time since July 2015 and Brent crude rises to USD 52/bbl. US oil prices continued their climb as expectations of U.S. crude draws underpinned a market already worried about potential supply shortages from attacks on Nigeria's oil industry.

US stocks closed mixed Tuesday, with health care leading decliners and energy leading as oil settled above USD 50 a barrel for the first time since July.

The S&P 500 still closed at its highest since July 22, although the major averages ended well off session highs. The Nasdaq composite closed mildly lower with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) falling 2.56 percent.

Asian markets wavered, following a modest finish in US stocks, but the energy sector got a boost on rising oil prices.

Gold inched lower, as investors turned cautious after the metal failed to sustain a recent rally, though it held near two-week high after the Federal Reserve further dampened speculation about an imminent US rate rise.