Nifty ends at 8699, Sensex rises 145 points; banks, metals lead

3:30 pm Market closing: On a day of consolidation, the market has ended on a strong note. The Sensex was up 145.47 points or 0.5 percent at 28129.84, and the Nifty climbed 40.30 points or 0.5 percent at 8699.40. About 1587 shares have advanced, 1235 shares declined, and 226 shares are unchanged.

Adani Ports, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC and L&T were top gainers while HUL, Lupin, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and ITC were losers in the Sensex.

3:15 pm Result poll: Wipro is likely to see dollar revenue at USD 1923.5 million in July-September down 0.4 percent from USD 1930.8 million in last quarter. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, in rupee terms Q2 revenue may also slip 1.5 percent at Rs 12910 crore against Rs 13109 crore in quarter-ago period.

In constant currency terms, growth is seen at 0.5-0.7 percent, which is within company's guided band of 0-1 percent at USD 1931 million-USD 1950 million. Cross currency headwind may to be 100-120 basis points.

During the period, EBITDA may stand at Rs 2200 crore compared to Rs 2327 crore (QoQ). In percentage, EBITDA may come in at Rs 17.04 percent against 17.75 percent on sequential basis.  Margins may fall 70 bps due to two month impact of wage hikes while Q3 onwards may see margin improvement.

3:00 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices remained higher with the Sensex rising 143.72 points to 28128.09 and the Nifty advancing 40.70 points to 8699.80.

About 1598 shares advanced against 1174 declining shares on the BSE.

2:45 pm Earnings: LIC Housing Finance's July-September quarter earnings beat analysts' expectations, with net profit rising 20.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 494.7 crore.

Net interest income grew by 20.8 percent to Rs 865.7 crore in the quarter ended September 2016 compared with Rs 716.9 crore in year-ago period and net interest margin improved to 2.68 percent from 2.56 percent in same period.

Total income increased 12.8 percent to Rs 3,456.5 crore in same period.

A CNBC-TV18 poll estimated profit at Rs 482.6 crore and net interest income of Rs 857.1 crore for the quarter.

Provisions for bad loans were unchanged at Rs 30.3 crore against Rs 30 crore on yearly basis but sequentially dropped sharply by 74 percent to Rs 116.5 crore.

2:34 pm Boardroom: The second half of the current fiscal is going to be stronger for Hindustan Zinc, says its chief Executive Officer Sunil Duggal. The company's mined metal production is going to be more than FY16's figure of 8.9 lakh tonnes, he adds.

Duggal also says the costs for the company will remain flat or may be less than FY16 numbers.

Normally, the company spends USD 200-225 million on mining expansion every year. But according to Duggal, the spending may rise to USD 300-320 million.

2:20 pm Maggi market share: Global food and nutrition giant Nestle today said Maggi noodles in India has reported sustained recovery, regaining market share in the country almost a year after it was relaunched following a five-month ban in 2015.

"India grew strongly as the Maggi noodles business continued to gain back market share and comparatives turned favourable. The sustained recovery of Maggi noodles in India was also encouraging...Chocolates, driven by KitKat, also did well," Nestle said in a statement.

At present, Nestle enjoys 57 per cent market share in the instant noodles market in India as against 75 per cent before the crisis had hit the company. The instant noodles market in the country is estimated at Rs 2,000 crore with ITC's Yippee, Nepal-based Chaudhary group's Wai Wai and Patanjali Noodles among major players besides Maggi.

2:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks continued to trade marginally higher amid consolidation in afternoon trade with the Nifty hovering around 8700 level. Banking & financials, oil & gas and infra stocks supported the market whereas the selling in Infosys, HDFC Bank, ITC and Tata Motors limited gains.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 120.32 points at 28104.69 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 33.10 points to 8692.20. About 1585 shares advanced against 1131 declining shares on the BSE.

Bank Nifty gained 1 percent as ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, PNB, Canara Bank, Bank of India, SBI and Bank of Baroda rose 1-4 percent.

Yes Bank shares climbed 1 percent after its second quarter earnings surpassed analysts' expectations, with the profit rising 31.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 801.5 crore despite higher provisions. Net interest income grew by 30.5 percent to Rs 1,446.2 crore year-on-year on the back of robust growth in advances and CASA.

1:55 pm ECB meet: The European Central Bank is set to keep policy unchanged on Thursday but will likely lay the groundwork for more easing in December as it tries to sustain a long-awaited rebound in consumer prices.

Keeping interest rates and an 80-billion-euro per month bond buying programme unchanged, ECB President Mario Draghi will likely emphasize the continued need for monetary stimulus, reinforcing expectations for an extension of the ECB's asset buys beyond its scheduled end next March.

The ECB has provided unprecedented stimulus for years with sub-zero rates, free loans to banks and over a trillion euros in bond purchases, all in the hope of reviving growth and lifting inflation back to its target of just below 2 percent after more than three years of misses.

1:45 pm Buzzing: DLF shares climbed over 3 percent intraday Thursday ahead of board meeting to review the progress of the stake sale in Cyber City Developers. "The Audit Committee in a meeting, on October 21, will review the progress of the sale of cumulative compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) of DLF Cyber City Developers - DCCDL," the real estate developer said in its filing. The board of directors, in October 2015, had approved the proposal for promoter group companies - Rajdhani Investments & Agencies, Buland Consultants & Investments, Sidhant Housing & Development (CCPS holders) - to sell 15.96 crore cumulative compulsorily convertible preference shares of DLF Cyber City Developers to unrelated third party institutional investor(s).

1:30 pm Result: Private sector lender Yes Bank's second quarter earnings surpassed analysts' expectations on Thursday, with the profit rising 31.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 801.5 crore despite higher provisions. Sequential growth was 9.5 percent. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, during the quarter grew by 30.5 percent to Rs 1,446.2 crore year-on-year on the back of robust growth in advances and CASA.

Net interest margin inched up 10 basis points to 3.4 percent on yearly basis but on sequential basis, it was unchanged. Yes Bank said advances in Q2 registered a 37.7 percent growth year-on-year and 4 percent quarter-on-quarter while deposits grew by 28.9 percent and 4.4 percent in same periods.

The market continues to consolidate with the Nifty hovering around 8700. The 50-share index is up 36.40 points or 0.4 percent at 8695.50 and the Sensex is up 131.68 points or 0. 5 percent at 28116.05.

ICICI Bank, Adani Ports, SBI, HDFC and Tata Steel are top gainers while ITC, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Lupin and Sun Pharma are losers in the Sensex.

European markets opened flat on Thursday despite the positive momentum set by Wall Street and Asia as traders eye a slew of earnings and a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting.

The ECB will be in focus today although the central bank is not expected to make any changes to its monetary policy. However, investors will be listening carefully to see if ECB President Mario Draghi will give clues about the direction of the quantitative easing program which is set to end in March 2017. Some reports suggest that the ECB could taper QE, but there is also the possibility that the asset purchase program could be extended.

12:40 pm Europe opens: European markets opened flat despite the positive momentum set by Wall Street and Asia as traders eye a slew of earnings and a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was hovering around the flatline.

12:35 pm Earnings: Yes Bank's second quarter earnings surpassed analysts' expectations with the profit rising 31.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 801.5 crore on robust business growth despite higher provisions.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 30.5 percent to Rs 1,446.2 crore in July-September quarter compared with Rs 1,108.47 crore in year-ago period.

Profit was estimated at Rs 770.1 crore and net interest income at Rs 1,379 crore for the quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

12:20 pm Nestle cuts outlook: Nestle became the latest company to be hit by the global slowdown affecting food manufacturers after posting its weakest underlying sales growth in more than a decade.

The Swiss food giant on Thursday cut its outlook for the year, saying it now expected its full-year sales to rise by 3.5 percent after posting an increase of 3.3 percent for the first nine months. It previously said it expected full-year organic sales to rise by around 4.2 percent.

Like other food manufacturers, the maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe soluble coffee has been struggling with price deflation for its products in Europe amid fierce competition among supermarkets and weak commodity prices.

Tough conditions have also persisted in key markets like China and Brazil.

12:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets came off day's high due to selling pressure in FMCG and pharma stocks. HDFC Bank also turned lower whereas ICICI Bank retained its top position in the buying list, up 4 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 123.60 points at 28107.97 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 31.40 points to 8690.50. The market breadth continued to be positive as about 1531 shares advanced against 939 declining shares on the BSE.

Endurance Technologies, RBL Bank, Force Motors, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI were the most active shares on exchanges.

HDFC, SBI, Adani Ports, Maruti Suzuki and Adani Ports gained 1-3 percent.

11:45 am OFS: The government's 15 percent stake sale in construction company NBCC on bourses took off today, with over 50 percent of the shares reserved for institutional investors getting subscribed in the first hour of trade.

As much as 9 crore shares will be sold over two days, with institutional investors getting to bid on the first day and retail ones getting a chance tomorrow.

The floor price has been fixed at Rs 246.50, which is at a discount to the prevailing market price of Rs 251 per share.

As on 1035 hours, as against 7.20 crore shares offered to institutional buyers today, bids came in for over 3.88 crore, or 54 percent of the shares on offer, as per data available on NSE. The share sale for today will continue till close of the market.

11:30 am Nestle India to get hurt? Nestle became the latest company to be hit by the global slowdown affecting food manufacturers after posting its weakest underlying sales growth in more than a decade.

The Swiss food giant on Thursday cut its outlook for the year, saying it now expected its full-year sales to rise by 3.5 percent after posting an increase of 3.3 percent for the first nine months. It previously said it expected full-year organic sales to rise by around 4.2 percent.

Like other food manufacturers, the maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe soluble coffee has been struggling with price deflation for its products in Europe amid fierce competition among supermarkets and weak commodity prices.

The market is continuing its uptrend with support from banks and metals. The Sensex is up 174.96 points or 0.6 percent at 28159.33 and the Nifty is up 50.60 points or 0.6 percent at 8709.70. About 1591 shares have advanced, 822 shares declined, and 178 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Adani Ports, SBI, HDFC and Axis Bank are gainers while ITC, HUL, TCS, HDFC Bank and Dr Reddy's Labs are losers in the Sensex.

Oil prices dipped on profit taking after markets rallied the previous day due to a draw in US stocks and an expectation of an OPEC-led cut in production. Traders said that the price dips were a result of profit taking following a rally the previous day, which saw WTI settle at a 15 month high, fueled by a reduction in US crude stocks by 5.2 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 14 to 468.7 million barrels.

10:40 am Buzzing: Hindustan Construction Company shares gained more than 5 percent intraday after its subsidiary HCC Concessions commenced commercial operations of its Rs 1,720 crore Farakka Raiganj Highways (FRHL) in West Bengal.

The project forms an integral part of HCC's Rs 4,300 crore development of NH-34 across three contiguous stretches over 256 km between Baharampore and Dalkhola, the company said.

The first leg between Baharampore to Farakka has been operational since May 2014 with a current daily collection of approximately Rs 40 lakh.

HCC said the development of FRHL is supported by a consortium of 9 lenders and the project has a concession period of 30 years.

10:20 am Outlook: The only possible headwinds for the market can come from global cues, says Mihir Vora, Director And Chief Investment Officer at Max Life Insurance. Global factors such as the possibility December Federal Reserve hike could cause volatility in the market. He does not see any local negative triggers.

He expects a 10-15 percent compounded growth from the market over the next two years. He says the market has delivered a little more than the economy till now. It is high time the economy delivers, too.

He is positive on the local macros for the next 3-6 months.

10:00 am Market Check
Benchmark indices gained momentum after yesterday's consolidation, with the Nifty reclaiming 8700 level on banking & financials support.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 196.03 points or 0.70 percent at 28180.40 and the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 58.05 points or 0.67 percent to 8717.15.

The broader markets too traded in line with benchmarks on positive breadth. About 1476 shares advanced against 542 declining shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

ICICI Bank rebounded sharply after yesterday's profit booking, up 3.4 percent followed by HDFC, SBI and ICICI Bank with over a percent gains. Adani Ports topped the buying list, up 3.8 percent after losing 6 percent in previous session.

9:55 am FII view: Sanjay Mookim of Bank of America Merrill Lynch says the GST Council meeting has concluded without a final decision on rates and on assessment of tax payers. These will now be taken up in the Council meeting scheduled for November 3-4.

He further says reports suggest four rate slabs are being considered with additional tax on sin/luxury goods such as cigarettes, alcohol, aerated drinks and luxury cars.

According to him, the increased complication of the rate structure can dent the efficiency benefits that were expected. Compliance costs can go up. This can disappoint the market in the near term especially for stocks that have benefitted on GST hopes.

9:45 am Peso gains: Sanjay Mookim of Bank of America Merrill Lynch says the GST Council meeting has concluded without a final decision on rates and on assessment of tax payers. These will now be taken up in the Council meeting scheduled for November 3-4.

He further says reports suggest four rate slabs are being considered with additional tax on sin/luxury goods such as cigarettes, alcohol, aerated drinks and luxury cars.

According to him, the increased complication of the rate structure can dent the efficiency benefits that were expected. Compliance costs can go up. This can disappoint the market in the near term especially for stocks that have benefitted on GST hopes.

9:30 am Spectrum buy: Telecom operator Vodafone, which emerged as the most aggressive bidder in the recently concluded spectrum auction, today made a payment of over Rs 10,100 crore to the Department of Telecom towards the purchase of the airwaves.

The company has paid over Rs 10,100 crore through deferred payment and also submitted a financial bank guarantee of Rs 1,900 crore, sources said.

The country's second-largest telecom operator had made bids worth Rs 20,280 crore to acquire spectrum in all its key telecom circles across 1800, 2100 and 2500 MHz bands.

Of the total, Rs 10,140 crore was to be paid upfront.

9:22 am Market rises: The Sensex is up 128.24 points or 0.5 percent at 28112.61, and the Nifty is up 37.70 points or 0.4 percent at 8696.80.
About 972 shares have advanced, 188 shares declined, and 51 shares are unchanged.

ICICI, ONGC, GAIL, HDFC and Reliance are top gainers.

The market has opened higher fuelled by firm global markets. The Sensex is up 94.26 points or 0.3 percent at 28078.63, and the Nifty up 33.95 points or 0.4 percent at 8693.05. About 421 shares have advanced, 94 shares declined, and 29 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Reliance, L&T and Adani Ports are top gainers while Bharti Airtel is down.

Reliance Industries will announce its Q2 results today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, gross refining margin (GRMs) is expected at USD 9.5 per barrel. Yes Bank, Biocon, Syngene International, LIC Housing Finance, Intellect Design Arena, Praj Industries and DB Corp are expected to declare Q2 results today.

The Indian rupee has opened lower at 66.68 a dollar compared with previous day's closing of 66.67 per dollar.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank says crude prices have drifted higher and are now likely to trade in a new range of USD 50-57 a barrel. He says currency markets are rangebound with a slight bias towards dollar strength. The rupee is resilient and likely to remain in a narrow range, he feels.

Asian stocks advanced, propelled by strong US earnings and oil prices near a 15-month high, as the third and final US presidential debate before the November 8 election got underway.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.25 percent. Japan's Nikkei extended gains to 0.9 percent. China's CSI 300 increased 0.2 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 0.6 percent.

Overnight, the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.2 percent, after Morgan Stanley posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit to round out a string of solid results from big US banks.

Among other asset classes, oil prices dipped on profit taking after markets rallied the previous day due to a draw in U.S. stocks and an expectation of an OPEC-led cut in production.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $51.44 per barrel at 0122 GMT, down 16 cents from their last close. International Brent crude futures were trading at USD 52.64 per barrel, down 3 cents.