Nifty ends flat on F&O expiry day, gains 4% in Nov series

Equity benchmarks gained marginal strength in late trade with the Nifty closing tad below the 8500-mark on Thursday, the expiry day for November series derivative contracts.

Overall the market remained quiet for the second consecutive session today. The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 18.45 points to 8494.20 and the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 52.72 points to close at 28438.91.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks throughout the session. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.5 percent each.

Experts believe the upmove may continue for next few months. According to them, the market can see 9000 level on the Nifty by second Union Budget of the Narendra Modi government.

Dipan Mehta, member, BSE & NSE says there seem to be no road blocks in sight to stall the market upmove although intuition says market needs to correct to stay healthy.

Neither does he see the Q2FY15 GDP number expected tomorrow to be a material event for the market even if it is a bit disappointing. In fact if the number comes in below expectations then it could make a case for RBI to cut interest rates and drive the government to revive growth, he thinks.

Meanwhile, Krishna Kumar Karwa, Managing Director, Emkay Global feels it is time for retail investors to increase exposure to equities as the economy is likely to see a structural improvement over the next 2-3 years.

For the November series, the Sensex and the Nifty rallied 4 percent each while the CNX Midcap Index was up 5 percent and BSE Small Cap Index climbed 4 percent. Bank Nifty surged 7.5 percent while BSE Auto, Capital Goods, FMCG, Pharma, IT and Realty were up 3-8.5 percent while Metals fell 2.8 percent.

The market clocked the second highest ever (total) turnover of Rs 10.1 lakh crore on expiry day.

BHEL topped the buying list, up 5.73 percent followed by Hindustan Unilever, Hindalco Industries, Punjab National Bank, TCS, M&M, Dr Reddy's Labs, Bajaj Auto and HCL Technologies with 1-3 percent gain.

Cipla was up 1.7 percent as the company and Strides Arcolab signed an agreement with Medicines for Malaria Venture for the development of rectal artesunate for pre-referral treatment of children with severe malaria.

Strides Arcolab shot up 7 percent as brokerage house Macquarie raised target price on the stock to Rs 1150 from Rs 1000 earlier. ''It's the top small cap pick in the pharma space and recommend aggressively buying at current level,'' says the brokerage.

However, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Larsen & Toubro, ONGC, Ambuja Cements and Grasim Industries fell 0.7-2 percent.

In the broader space, Crompton Greaves fell more than 6 percent as large deals of 5.3 crore shares or 8.48 percent equity traded on the exchanges at Rs 192.15-197 apiece in early trade. Avantha Holdings says this is a onetime transaction by the holding company to reduce debt.

Jaiprakash Associates was down 1.7 percent as the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against the company, accusing of over-production to the tune of Rs 420 crore from its Himachal Pradesh cement plant.

DLF lost 2.5 percent ahead of the SC hearing where the company is seeking exemption from paying the CCI penalty.

Gujarat State Petronet climbed 3 percent as Aptel ruled in favour of the company in the PNGRB tariff order. Nomura says after this verdict the uncertainty and overhang of tariff cuts by the regulator for gas network operators will likely subside.

Ashok Leyland was up 1 percent as Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised target price by 9 percent to Rs 58. The brokerage expects margin to rise to 10.3-10.8 percent over FY16-17 compared to 7.3 percent currently.

Kopran shot up 7 percent as the board of directors approved allotment of 20.5 equity shares and 21.5 lakh warrants at Rs 66 apiece to promoter group company. 8K Miles Software gained 10 percent as the company acquired SERJ Solutions which will enhance healthcare cloud offering.

SMS Pharmaceuticals rallied 3.8 percent and Natco Pharma was up 5.4 percent. The legal disputes between the company and Natco Pharma have been amicably settled, said SMS.

About 1585 shares advanced while 1364 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

On the global front, it was a mixed day for most Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed with losses of more than 0.5 percent while China's Shanghai continued to outperform, up 1 percent today. China has now risen 5.7 percent this week post the rate cut from PBOC. US markets are shut today on account of thanksgiving.

Brent crude sank for the fourth straight day to a fresh 4-year low of USD 76.4 a barrel as ministers of the OPEC are set to meet today. OPEC has increased signals that it would hold off any major production cuts today. The Saudi oil minister Ali Al -Naimi said he believes the oil market will stabilize itself eventually.

03:30pm Market Closing
The market closed with marginal gains on Thursday, the expiry day for November series derivative contracts. The 50-share NSE Nifty ended tad below the 8500-mark, up 18.45 points at 8494.20 while the Sensex rose 52.72 points to 28438.91.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks throughout the session. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.5 percent each. About 1585 shares advanced while 1364 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
 
BHEL topped the buying list, up 5.73 percent followed by HUL, Tata Power, Cipla, Hindalco Industries, Punjab National Bank and HCL Technologies with 1.8-3 percent gain.

However, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Larsen & Toubro, ONGC, DLF, Ambuja Cements and Grasim Industries fell 0.7-2.6 percent.

03:00pm SMS Pharma up 5%, Natco Pharma gains 7%
SMS Pharmaceuticals said the legal disputes between the company and Natco Pharma have been amicably settled.

"Out of the settlement, the company has received a sum of Rs 15.07 crore from Natco Pharma apart from the balance principal amount receivable from the respective courts.

02:45pm Cipla, Strides in News
Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) signed collaboration agreements with two Indian pharmaceutical companies, Cipla and Strides Arcolab for the development of rectal artesunate for pre-referral treatment of children with severe malaria.

The collaborations, established under the MMV-led "Improving Severe Malaria Outcomes" project funded by UNITAID1, aim to develop a rectal artesunate product for submission to WHO prequalification.

Cipla and Strides will each develop a product building on the clinical studies led by TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases led by the World Health Organization.

The goal is to achieve WHO-prequalification of a rectal artesunate product by 2016.

02:30pm Auto industry in focus
India may extend excise duty concessions for carmakers beyond December 31, a finance ministry source said today, as the industry continues to struggle with sluggish demand due to high interest rates.

"Car sales are down. The government could extend tax relief to the auto sector beyond December 31," the source said on condition of anonymity.

The excise duty concessions, which were granted in February this year, will lapse on Dec. 31, if not extended, reports Reuters.

02:00pm Market Check
The market continued to be rangebound with the Nifty moving in a 30 points trading range. Technology, healthcare and power stocks gained.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 17.24 points to 28368.95 and the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 2.80 points to 8472.95. About 1456 shares have advanced, 1327 shares declined, and 126 shares are unchanged.
 
However, it has been a strong November series with the Nifty rising 3.8 percent and Bank Nifty up 7.3 percent for the series.

Krishna Kumar Karwa of Emkay Global told CNBC-TV18 that investors should regularly invest now and not time the market. "We could see some consolidation towards the year-end. However, there is atleast 2-3 years of structural improvement in the economy," he said.

It's a mixed day for most Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed with losses of more than 0.5 percent while China's Shanghai continued to outperform, up 1 percent today. China has now risen 5.7 percent this week post the rate cut from PBOC. US markets are shut today on account of thanksgiving.

In commodities, Brent crude sank for the fourth straight day to a fresh 4-year low of USD 76.4 a barrel as ministers of the OPEC are set to meet today. OPEC has increased signals that it would hold off any major production cuts today. The Saudi oil minister Ali Al -Naimi said he believes the oil market will stabilize itself eventually.

The supreme court today observed Chennai Super Kings should be suspended from the IPL without further inquiry. The court sought to know the shareholding pattern in India Cements to find out who really controlled CSK. India Cements trimmed losses from 3 percent to 0.5 percent.

01:55pm Interview
Anant Goenka, MD, Ceat in an interview to CNBC-TV18 said the company has no further fund raising plans post the closing of qualified institutional placement (QIP) yesterday but would look at raising debt for their various projects going forward.

The debt for the company currently stands at Rs 700 crore and the debt-equity ratio is 0.5. However, post debt raising the debt to equity would rise to 1:1, said Goenka.

The company has raised Rs 400 crore via QIP and the promoter holding has been diluted from 57 percent to 51 percent now, he said and has no further plans of equity issuance.

Talking about their robust expansion plans, he said the company will invest Rs 420 crore in their new Nagpur plant that manufactures two and three wheeler tyres. It has already made investments of Rs 650 crore in brownfield expansions in its Halol plant, he added.

01:20pm Gold declines
Gold dipped for a second session today, holding below USD 1,200 an ounce, as outflows resumed from the top bullion exchange-traded fund and traders remained cautious before an upcoming Swiss referendum on central bank bullion assets.

A weaker dollar after lacklustre US data, however, checked losses in gold which is seen as a safe-haven asset.

Spot gold slipped 0.1 percent to USD 1,195.90 an ounce by 0253 GMT, but trading is expected to be thin with the US markets closed for Thanksgiving.

The metal dipped 0.3 percent on Wednesday as bearish market sentiment offset a drop in the US dollar, reports Reuters.

01:00pm Market Check
The 50-share NSE Nifty continued to hover around 8470 level, down 7.45 points to 8468.30 on the day of expiry of November derivative contracts. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 34.99 points to 28351.20.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. About 1416 shares advanced while 1276 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

It is time for retail investors to increase exposure to equities as the economy is likely to see a structural improvement over the next 2-3 years, feels Krishna Kumar Karwa, Managing Director, Emkay Global.

He says investors should invest regularly and not try to time the market.

Aluminium major Hindalco Industries topped the buying list, up 4 percent followed by Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma, Mahindra & Mahindra and BHEL with 1-2 percent gain.

However, Shares of ITC, HDFC, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and Sesa Sterlite saw selling pressure, down 1-2 percent. L&T, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries and State Bank of India fell marginally.

Among midcaps, Motilal Oswal, Kalpataru Power, Jet Airways, Gujarat State Petronet and Strides Arcolab rallied 4-12 percent while Crompton Greaves, Anant Raj, Sundaram-Clayton, HCC and Gujarat Pipavav slipped 2.5-5 percent.

12:30pm Asian markets update
Asian stocks hit a one-month high today as investors bet that more central bank stimulus in China and Europe would shore up the global economy, while oil prices tumbled to a four-year low as hopes for output cuts by OPEC faded.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.3 percent while Shanghai shares hit a three-year high, extending their rally after a surprise interest rate cut last week. They are up 8.2 percent so far this month.

Japan's Nikkei shed 0.8 percent as the yen rebounded mildly but has gained 5.1 percent so far this month to become the second best performing market in the region after China following a surprise easing by the Bank of Japan at the end of October, reports Reuters.

12:00pm Market Check
The market remained listless in noon trade on futures & options contracts expiry day. The Sensex slipped 23.58 points to 28362.61 and the Nifty fell 2.30 points to 8473.45 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.5 percent each.

The market breadth remained positive. About 1428 shares have advanced while 1119 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Dipan Mehta, member, BSE & NSE says there seem to be no road blocks in sight to stall the market upmove although intution says market needs to correct to stay healthy.

Liquidity flows from domestic, FIIs and HNIs have so far kept the momentum going for the market, he adds.

DLF is among the top losers on Nifty, down 2 percent. The Supreme Court will hear DLF's plea seeking exemption of the Rs 630 crore penalty on Friday. However, the company has offered to pay Rs 100 crore of the total penalty today itself.

Jaypee group stocks are also under pressure as the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against Jaiprakash Associates (down 1 percent).

Gujarat State Petronet gained for a second day, up nearly 5 percent today after the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity or Aptel ruled in favour of the company in the PNGRB case. PNGRB has now been asked to revise the tariff upward for GSPL's high pressure Gujarat gas grid.

Crompton Greaves slid nearly 5 percent, reacting to large block deals today where 8.48 percent equity changed hands. CNBC-TV18 learnt that Avantha Holdings was the seller in the transaction. Avantha says it was a one-time transaction to reduce debt.

Globally, crude futures declined for the fourth day ahead of the crucial Opec meet today. Crude prices hovered near 4-year lows on expectations that the Opec might hold off on making any major production cuts in this meet.

11:30am Oil output cut likely?
To hope for a decision to cut production at Opec's global summit at Vienna is farfetched, says Seth Kleinman of Citi. Reports suggest that biggest players participating in the meet have already decided not to propose an output cut. Hence the possibility to prop up prices, that have sunk since June, is dim, says Seth.

Oil prices have fallen to USD 78/bbl due to the US shale boom and slower economic growth in China and Europe. OPEC would further lose its market share to North American shale oil producers if it agrees to production cut. At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading at USD 77.60 a barrel.

Expecting a precipitous drop in crude prices after winter, Seth says crude price will nosedive to USD 50/bbl. In a bullish scenario, it can be near USD 80/bbl, but the more likely situation is quite the opposite. With expansion in crude inventories, he is wary of a damage to US shale production if WTI crude goes to USD 50/bbl.

11:00am Market Check
Equity benchmarks remained quiet in trade on expiry day while the broader markets maintained early gains with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising half a percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 24.13 points to 28362.06 and the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 3 points to 8472.75. About 1398 shares have advanced, 1056 shares declined, and 108 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Despite quiet trade today, it has been a strong November series with the Nifty having gained over 3.5 percent and Bank Nifty outperforming with a gain of around 7 percent at current reckoning. Foreign institutional investors have bought close to Rs 13,000 crore worth of shares this series.

Power and power related stocks such as GVK Power and Power Finance Corporation are in focus as the oil & power ministries are seeking aid for stranded gas based power plants. GVK Power told CNBC-TV18 that proposed relief package will address short term concerns and gas pooling if and when it comes will be big positive for the sector. Both stocks gained nearly a percent.

Jaypee group stocks are under pressure as the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against Jaiprakash Associates. ED claimed company was over producing cement to the tune of Rs 420 crore from its Himachal Pradesh cement plant. The stock declined 1 percent.

10:55am Ashok Leyland in focus
Shares of Ashok Leyland gained a percent after brokerage house Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) raised target price on the stock by 9 percent to Rs 58 apiece. It expects stock to trade at previous peaks.

The brokerage raised forecast on higher EBITDA margin assumptions. It expects margin to rise to 10.3-10.8 percent over FY16-17 compared to 7.3 percent currently.

According to BoAML, stronger than anticipated sales mix has been favouring medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs). "M&HCV recovery and market share gains will sustain," the brokerage said.

Meanwhile, in October, its M&HCV sales grew by 43 percent to 5838 units compared to 4093 units in the year-ago period while light commercial vehicle sales declined 6 percent to 2537 units.

10:40am Crompton Greaves falls
Shares in Crompton Greaves fell about 5 percent, after a large block deal, amounting to 5.3 crore shares worth about Rs 900 crore was executed on the exchanges.

The deal, which amounted to 8.48 percent of the company's outstanding shares, was reportedly executed by promoter Avantha Holdings, according to newspaper reports that had pre-empted the deal. Goldman Sachs was the banker to the deal, according to the reports.

Avantha, which holds a nearly 41 percent stake in Crompton, has been looking to pare its debt, and following the deal, its stake would come down to about 32 percent.

The promoter's stake would fall to its 25 percent target, following an impending stock split.

10:20am Oil Update
Oil prices fell to four-year lows today as it appeared unlikely producer club OPEC would decide to cut output in support of prices at a meeting this week, and as increasing Chinese and US stocks boosted available supplies.

The Gulf producers within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - said on Wednesday that they will not propose an output cut during the offical meeting on Thursday, reducing the likelihood of joint action by OPEC to prop up prices that have sunk by a third since June.

Benchmark Brent futures dropped over USD 1 in Asian morning trading today to a low of USD 76.28 a barrel, their lowest level since September 2010, and US crude was also down over USD 1 to a session low of USD 72.61 a barrel, reports Reuters.

10:00am Market Check
The market continued to consolidate on the expiry day of November derivative contracts. The Sensex rose 9.69 points to 28395.88 and the Nifty climbed 1.65 points to 8477.40.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 0.4 percent and 0.55 percent, respectively. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1176 to 732 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Hindustan Unilever topped the buying list, rising 2 percent followed by Hindalco Industries, Infosys, Cipla, M&M, Punjab National Bank, Asian Paints and Power Grid Corporation with a percent gain.

However, Bharti Airtel, Zee Entertainment, ITC, Sesa Sterlite, DLF, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors lost 0.5-1 percent.

Among midcaps, Gujarat State Petronet, Strides Arcolab, Jet Airways, Kalpataru Power and Gruh Finance rallied 3.5-5 percent while Crompton Greaves, Anant Raj, Jaypee Infratech, SRF and Trinity Trade lost 2-5 percent.

09:59am 8K Miles Software Services in focus
8K Miles Software Services, a leading global secure cloud solutions company through its US subsidiary, today announced the acquisition of SERJ Solutions, a provider of innovative Epic EHR consulting, custom application development, and support solutions for the healthcare market.

This move solidifies 8K Miles' goal to offer a unique and differentiated cloud-managed solution to the Healthcare sector. By leveraging its expertise in cloud solutions, 8K Miles hopes to help hospitals and healthcare providers by providing the industry's first truly end to end Software as a Service (SaaS) technology platform.

09:40am Market Expert
Sandip Sabharwal of asksandipsabharwal.com expects the market do perform well in December since it has been a good month for equities historically. ''December is never a bad month seasonally. From 1980s, the average return that market has given is 4.5 percent. And out of 35 Decembers, in only six, market has fallen.''

However, he foresees a correction in January next year.

On sectors, he is positive on defensives like largecap pharma and FMCG stocks.

09:15am Market Check
Equity benchmarks opened flat on Thursday, the expiry day for November series derivative contracts. The Sensex fell 13.62 points to 28372.57 and the Nifty declined 3.55 points to 8472.20.

About 491 shares have advanced, 215 shares declined, and 24 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
 
Tata Power, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Gail India, M&M, Asian Paints, BPCL and ACC gained 0.6-1 percent while ITC, ONGC, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy's Labs and DLF lost 0.7-1.7 percent.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 61.80 per dollar today compared to 61.84 a dollar on Wednesday.

Dollar fell against a basket of currencies as a batch of disappointing US data on consumers, housing and manufacturing raised concern that the world's biggest economy is losing momentum in the final months of 2014.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "With the financial year-end approaching, range for the rupee has become narrow and subdued. The USD-INR is expected to trade today in a range of 61.60-61.90/dollar."

In the US, stocks gained, with the Dow and S&P 500 finishing at records, as investors considered reports on manufacturing and housing.

In commodities, crude prices were lower after Saudi Arabia's oil minister said he expects OPEC members to reach a unified decision, but he would not disclose details on the decision, according to Dow Jones reported.

With all eyes on the crucial OPEC meet today, there are still expectations that OPEC nations may announce a cut in oil production to arrest the slide in prices, there is now some speculation that the multi-nation body may hold off on any such action.