Nifty ends at 8434, Sensex up 322 points; bank, auto gain

03:30pm Market close: The market ended first day of June series with a bang. The Nifty ended up 114.65 points or 1.4 percent at 8433.65 while the Sensex was up 321.73 points or 1.1 percent at 27828.44. M&M, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, Maruti and ITC were top gainers while Hindalco, GAIL and Dr Reddy's Labs were major laggards.

02:55pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks extended rally in last hour of trade with the Sensex rising 379.18 points or 1.38 percent to 27885.89 and the Nifty gaining 124.75 points or 1.50 percent at 8443.75.

About 1405 shares have advanced, 1188 shares declined, and 161 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

02:40pm Earnings: Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC) fourth quarter net profit declined 33 percent year-on-year to Rs 6,285.35 crore but sequentially it turned black against loss of Rs 2,636.80 crore in December quarter.

Total income from operations dropped 30.4 percent to Rs 93,832 crore during January-March quarter from Rs 1,34,867.42 crore in the year-ago period.

The bottomline was ahead of expectations while the topline missed estimates. Profit was expected at Rs 4,576.6 crore on revenue of Rs 1,01,515.1 crore for the quarter.

02:20pm GDP forecast: Fiscal year 2014-15 gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, due at 5.30 pm this evening, may came in slightly lower than the government's advance estimate of 7.4 percent.

Sources have told CNBC-TV18 that economic output took a hit in the fourth quarter from the ongoing agriculture crisis. This may result in fourth quarter GDP coming in at 7.2-7.3 percent.

After clocking growth of 6.5 percent, 8.2 percent and 7.5 percent in the first three quarters, India needs to clock growth of 7.4 percent in the fourth, if it has meet its yearly growth target of 7.4 percent.

Government sources said they had witnessed a stark slowdown in rural consumption, which may reflect in agriculture output, which contributes about 15 percent to India's GDP.

02:00pm Market Check
The market continued to see buying interest in afternoon trade after seeing consolidation for last four sessions. The Sensex climbed 272.72 points to 27779.43 and the Nifty jumped 89.40 points to 8408.40.

About 1374 shares have advanced, 1189 shares declined, and 164 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Vinay Pandit, Senior VP - Institutional Equities, Centrum Broking is not expecting any major downside in the market from the current levels of around 8300. According to him, the earnings will shape up going forward and the current correction in the market is only short-term earnings disappointment.

Bharti Airtel topped the buying list on the Sensex, up 4.7 percent. Mahindra & Mahindra rallied 4 percent, reacting to Q4 earnings that matched street expectations.

1:50 pm Result: India Cements' fourth quarter net profit at Rs 36.6 crore against loss of Rs 157.1 crore in the year-ago period. The cement maker had an exceptional loss of Rs 126.6 crore in Q4FY14.

The bottomline was lower than expectations due to lower revenue and higher finance cost. Profit was expected at Rs 47 crore on revenue of Rs 1,168 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Total income from operations fell 7.3 percent to Rs 1,043 crore in March quarter compared to Rs 1,125 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal due to lower than expected volumes.

1:30 pm Buzzing: Shares of SpiceJet soared 13 percent intraday after it turned profitable in March quarter. The low-budget airline company has posted a net profit of Rs 22.5 crore in the quarter ended March 2015 from a loss of Rs 321.5 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Profit was boosted by exceptional gain of Rs 61.35 crore due to insurance claims received for one of its damaged Bombardier Q400 aircraft. However, the airline company's total income plunged 50 percent.

The airline ended the quarter with a load factor of 81 percent.

The market is holding up its gains supported by pharma, infra, bank and auto majorly. The Sensex is up 285.27 points or 1 percent at 27791.98 and the Nifty is up 90.70 points or 1 percent at 8409.70. About 1385 shares have advanced, 1023 shares declined, and 164 shares are unchanged.

Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, L&T, Maruti and Coal India are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are ONGC, Vedanta and BHEL.

The gross domestic product (GDP) data for the fourth quarter of FY15 will be released on Friday. According to a poll conducted by CNBC-TV18, growth is expected to slow down. What's worse, this could well be the second straight quarter of growth slow down. The GDP is expected to come at 7.2 percent which compares to 7.5 percent in Q3 FY15 and the range for the GDP for Q4 is anywhere between 6.5 to 7.4 percent.

Crude futures rose around 1 percent on Friday after American inventories fell for a fourth straight week although prices are set for a weekly drop on a stronger dollar.

Oil saw steep falls earlier this week as a resurgent dollar weighed on the market amid concerns US crude supplies may have started rising again after three weeks of draws.

12:40pm Earnings: NTPC's fourth quarter net profit declined 4.8 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,944 crore dented by higher finance cost and lower other income.

Total income from operations during the quarter was down 8.2 percent at Rs 19,315 crore during January-March quarter compared to Rs 21,039 crore in the same quarter last year due to decline in quarterly incentives under the new tariff norms and lower generation.

Numbers were ahead of expectations. The bottomline was estimated at Rs 2,437 crore on revenue of Rs 19,182 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

12:15pm Oil Update: Crude futures rose around 1 percent today after American inventories fell for a fourth straight week although prices are set for a weekly drop on a stronger dollar.

Oil saw steep falls earlier this week as a resurgent dollar weighed on the market amid concerns US crude supplies may have started rising again after three weeks of draws.

12:00pm Market Check
The market continued to be strong on last day of the week. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 299.60 points or 1.09 percent to 27806.31 and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 92.75 points or 1.11 percent to 8411.75. The broader markets too gained 1 percent.

About 1333 shares have advanced, 923 shares declined, and 139 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Index and new F&O entrants remained in focus. Bosch gained 0.9 percent after replacing IDFC in the Nifty today. Also a total of 14 scrips including Kaveri Seeds, Ceat, SRF and Page Industries have been added for trading in the derivatives market.

Among midcaps, HPCL gained nearly 5 percent after posting its highest ever profit (of Rs 2,162.4 crore) since inception 40 years ago. Praj Industries shot up 17 percent on the back of good margins in Q4. The management of Praj too remained optimistic, saying the carry-forward order book has grown by almost 30 percent.

Key earnings to watch out today, Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy Labs will report numbers as a consolidated entity for the first time. The consolidated revenue is seen up 16 percent at around Rs 7,560 crore year-on-year. Auto major, Mahindra & Mahindra is expected to report weak earnings. A CNBC-TV18 poll sees revenue down around 16 percent at Rs 9,200 crore year-on-year. Analysts expect a steep decline in tractor volumes as well.

Meanwhile, GDP for the fourth quarter of FY15 will be released later today. A CNBC-TV18 poll shows that growth may slow down to 7.2 percent against 7.5 percent on sequential basis. This could well be the second straight quarter of growth slowdown. Government's projection for FY15 stood at 7.4 percent.

11:50 am Infosys: Infosys will add 70,000 employees by 2020, Chief Executive Vishal Sikka said in a conference call with analysts.

As on March 31, 2015, the company had a little over 1.76 lakh employees on its roles. Sikka told analysts that the revenue and margin targets of USD 20 billion and 30 percent respectively by 2020 were achievable.

He said there was no unsual pressure on revenues in the current quarter.

Infosys is strengthening its presence in the US, Sikka said, adding that he expected robust growth in the healthcare division because of government policies.

11:30 am Brokerage view: Shares of ONGC slipped 4.5 percent intraday after it posted March quarter earnings. Its Q4 net profit falling 19.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,935 crore. Slow growth in revenue, and higher tax burden, statutory levies & other expenses impacted the bottomline but other income supported.

JP Morgan is underweight on the stock with a price target of Rs 300 per share. It says that though ONGC did not bear any subsidies during the quarter, crude realizations were subdued with a weak commodity price environment.

"While the results were lower than expected, and could lead to some near-term weakness, we see any potential government announcement (or lack thereof) on subsidy sharing for FY16-17 as being a key driver of stock performance," it says.

The market is surging ahead with the Sensex up 314.68 points or 1.1 percent at 27821.39. The Nifty is up 96.40 points or 1.1 percent at 8415.40. About 1295 shares have advanced, 779 shares declined, and 128 shares are unchanged.

Bharti is up over 3 percent while Coal India, Cipla, L&T and Sun Pharma are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are ONGC and BHEL.

Emerging markets including India could be volatile over the next few months in anticipation of the US Fed decision on interest rates, Abhay Laijawala, Managing Director and Head of Research, Deutsche Equities India told CNBC-TV18.

Deutsche Equities had estimated the Sensex at 33,000 by December end, and Laijawala said he was sticking to it. Laijawala's top picks are shares from the engineering, construction, cement, telecom, and oil refining sectors.

He said the economy was showing signs of recovery and that it would reflect in corporate earnings from the second half of this fiscal.He was confident that the government would soon increase public investment.

10: 50 am FII view: Emerging markets including India could be volatile over the next few months in anticipation of the US Fed decision on interest rates, Abhay Laijawala, Managing Director and Head of Research, Deutsche Equities India told CNBC-TV18. Deutsche Equities had estimated the Sensex at 33,000 by December end, and Laijawala said he was sticking to it. Laijawala's top picks are shares from the engineering, construction, cement, telecom, and oil refining sectors. He said the economy was showing signs of recovery and that it would reflect in corporate earnings from the second half of this fiscal.He was confident that the government would soon increase public investment.

10:30 am Business: British telecom company Vodafone said it has exited from Bharti Airtel by selling its 4.2 percent stake in the Indian telecom major to an arm of Bharti Group.

"Vodafone confirms that it has sold, through a wholly- owned subsidiary, its shareholding in Bharti Infotel Private Limited, representing an approximate 4.2 percent interest in Bharti Airtel Ltd, to Bharti Enterprises (Holding) Private Limited for USD 200 m (million)," the company said in a statement.

Vodafone has to sell its entire stake in Bharti Airtel following new norms issued by government that bars a telecom operator from holding any kind of stake in competition under unified licences.

The market is gaining as it kicks off June F&O series. The Nifty is up 29.95 points or at 8348.95. The Sensex is up 117.30 points or 0.4 percent at 27624.01. About 1069 shares have advanced, 628 shares declined, and 109 shares are unchanged.

About 1032 shares have advanced, 601 shares declined, and 117 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Coal India and SBI are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are ONGC, BHEL, GAIL, Dr Reddy's Labs and Tata Motors.

The Indian rupee was flat in early trade. The currency has opened at 63.81 a dollar against previous day's closing value of 63.80 a dollar. Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity said reduction in FII inflows coupled with profit booking in local equities may pressurise rupee to depreciate.

Chinese share markets extended a bruising selloff after the previous day's plunge, while the dollar took a breather from a sharp run up this week.

The slide in China forced Asian markets off earlier gains, with the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan flat. It shed more than 1 percent on Thursday. South Korean share gained 0.4 percent and Australian stocks rose 1.2 percent. Japan's Nikkei was flat.

09:55am Earnings central: State-controlled mineral producer NMDC's fourth quarter net profit fell 31.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,347 crore, impacted by lower sales growth. Total income from operations dropped 27.2 percent to Rs 2,828.6 crore during January-March quarter compared to Rs 3,884.5 crore in the year-ago period.

Topline and bottomline came in higher than estimates while operational performance missed estimates. Profit was expected at Rs 1,318 crore on revenue of Rs 2,640 crore for the quarter.

09:35am Market Update: The Sensex rose 79.41 points to 27586.12 and the Nifty climbed 27.85 points to 8346.85. About 849 shares have advanced, 453 shares declined, and 91 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

09:25am FII View: Neelkanth Mishra, Credit Suisse said while few doubt the medium-term potential of India, the stagnation year to date has been driven by investors worrying about acceleration in earnings cuts, slowing economic momentum in India, rebound in oil price & fears among some investors that rising yields in EU & US could create a 2013-like situation in India.

These seem to be turning, he feels. The pace of earnings cuts has already bottomed and to improve further as the low oil/metal prices are now in the base, he added.

09:15am Market Check

The market started its June series on a flat note on Friday. The Sensex gained 13.43 points at 27520.14 and the Nifty rose 1.65 points to 8320.65. About 429 shares have advanced, 206 shares declined, and 74 shares are unchanged on the BSE.
 
Sun Pharma was up 0.8 percent while Mahindra & Mahindra fell 0.9 percent ahead of March quarter earnings today. ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, BPCL, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra and Grasim gained 0.6-2 percent.

However, ONGC tanked 4 percent and NMDC lost 3 percent post Q4 earnings. BHEL, Hindalco, NTPC, HCL Tech and PNB fell 0.5-1.5 percent.

The Indian rupee was flat in early trade today. The currency has opened at 63.81 a dollar against previous day's closing value of 63.80 a dollar.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity said reduction in FII inflows coupled with profit booking in local equities may pressurise rupee to depreciate.

However, gains in Asian equities and some exporters selling may limit losses in the local unit, he added. According to him, range for the day is seen between 63.50-64.20/USD.

In India, analysts will look forward to the release of fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2014-15 gross domestic product (GDP) growth data. Growth in economic output is slated to come in around 7.4 percent for the full year, according to the new methodoly.

Overnight, stocks on Wall Street closed marginally lower, with mixed economic data. Asian markets were mixed too.

In other asset classes, the US dollar was slightly lower, crude edged up while gold was flat-to-lower.