Nifty manages to close above 10,650, Sensex mildly higher

3:30 pm Market Closing: Benchmark indices closed higher after consolidation, with the Nifty holding 10,650 for the first time.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 70.42 points at 34,503.49 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 19 points at 10,651.20.

About 1,594 shares advanced against 1,326 declining shares on the BSE.

3:25 pm Budget Expectations: The government needs to increase the basic customs duty on medical devices in the range of 5-15 percent to promote domestic manufacturing, Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) said today.

The current slab is 0-7.5 percent, it said.

"The government has rightly revised custom duty on Electronics to up to 20 per cent recently to maintain the investment climate, and same is sought for Medical Electronics where import dependency is 90 per cent," AiMeD Forum Coordinator Rajiv Nath told PTI.

3:14 pm Buzzing: United Breweries shares rallied nearly 6 percent as CNBC-TV18 reports quoting Cogencis that the company hiked Kingfisher beer price by 7-8 percent in Mumbai.

3:03 pm Buzzing: IDFC Bank has been buzzing during the week, rising more than 8 percent today.

Media report indicated that the bank may be looking for merger with Capital First.

Capital First shares gained more than 5 percent.

2:56 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices gave up some gains in late trade as the Sensex was up 40.69 points at 34,473.76 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 6.60 points to 10,638.80.

The gap between advances and declines narrowed. About 1,511 shares advanced against 1,267 declining shares on the BSE.

2:50 pm Buzzing Stock: Shares of Cochin Shipyard rose 6.5 percent intraday Thursday as it signed MoU with Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT).

The MoU is for management and operation of the ship-repair facilities at Mumbai Port Trust.

As per the terms of the MOU, MbPT and CSL are to associate with each other for utilizing the Indira Dock facility at Mumbai Port to set up a professional ship repair Eco system, that would be beneficial for the commercial as well as defence ship repair industry in India.

2:21 pm Gold Update: Gold regained glitter today with the price rising by Rs 145 to Rs 30,620 per 10 grams, driven largely by a firm trend overseas as well as pick-up in buying by jewellers in the domestic spot market.

Silver also recovered by Rs 180 to Rs 39,680 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Bullion traders attributed the recovery in gold prices to a firm trend overseas as the weakness in dollar boosted demand for the precious metals as a safe-haven for investors.

2:10 pm NCLT case: Country's largest lender State Bank of India has initiated corporate insolvency resolution process against IVRCL in National Company Law Tribunal.

1:59 pm Earnings: Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has reported nearly 25 percent growth in profit at Rs 936.2 crore for quarter ended December 2017 YoY, which was largely in line with estimates, but asset quality weakened a bit sequentially.

Profit in year-ago quarter had reported at Rs 750.64 crore by the bank. Other income, operationg income and NII boosted profitability.

Net interest income grew by 20 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,895 crore, from Rs 1,578.4 crore in corresponding quarter.

Profit was estimated at Rs 931.5 crore and net interest income at Rs 1,926.1 crore for the quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

1:49 pm Bank of India fundraising: Public sector lender Bank of India today said its Board will meet on January 20 to consider raising funds.

The bank also said it has received capital infusion of Rs 2,257 crore from the government.

"A meeting of the Board of Directors has been scheduled for January 20, to consider capital raising plans by the bank," Bank of India (BOI) said in a BSE filing.

1:30 pm Budget expectations: HSBC Global Asset Management is holding its investment summit titled 'India Investment Marathon' in Mumbai.

Speaking from the sidelines of the summit, Tushar Pradhan, CIO, HSBC Global Asset Management (India) told CNBC-TV18 that the investor mood is cautious because of substantial rise in the markets both in India as well as global.

Investors now are apprehensive on what to expect next year because too much of good thing is also not good, said Pradhan.

1:10 pm Oil & gas results: Global research firm Nomura expects a good December quarter for oil and gas companies.

It believes that Q3 earnings could be good for upstream companies as well as Reliance Industries, while oil marketing companies may disappointment on core numbers.

For RIL, it believes there could be another quarter of strong refining and petchem results. In case of Reliance Jio, there could be a profit of Rs 250 crore, but it may surprise as well.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

12:55 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices extended gains after consolidation, with the Nifty hitting fresh record high.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 110.38 points at 34,543.45 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 28.10 points at 10,660.30.

The Nifty Midcap index gained over half a percent and BSE Smallcap rose nearly a percent. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Infosys was the biggest gainer among Sensex 30 stocks, rising 2.5 percent ahead of earnings tomorrow.

12:45 pm Earnings Estimates: IndusInd Bank is the second private sector lender to announce third quarter earnings today. Profit is expected to increase 24.1 percent to Rs 931.5 crore for the quarter ended December 2017.

The bank had reported net income at Rs 750.6 crore in year-ago quarter.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, is seen growing 22 percent to Rs 1,926.1 crore from Rs 1,578.4 crore year-on-year, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

12:30 pm Fundraising: Bank of India, on December 29, had received infusion of Rs 2,257 crore from Government of India, in form of Common Equity Tier-1 Capital, which is being kept as share application money.

A meeting of board of directors has been scheduled on January 20, 2018 to consider capital raising plans by the bank, it said.

12:20 pm Earnings Estimates: Shree Cements is likely to post a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 265 crore in Q3, a rise of 13 percent against Rs 235.4 crore year on year, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll of analysts.

The revenue from operations may grow over 24 percent at Rs 2,290 crore against Rs 1,843 crore in the third quarter of FY17.

At the operating level, operating profit may grow to Rs 545 crore, a rise of 16 percent from Rs 469 crore, while the operating margin is seen lower at 23.8 percent against 25.4 percent.

12:10 pm Japan's stimulus:  The Bank of Japan maintained the amount of its bond purchases today, helping to soothe a market rattled earlier this week by a cut in its buying of longer-dated debt that fanned worries the central bank may be moving to turn off its stimulus.

The BOJ maintained the size of its buying in one- to three-, three- to five-, and five- to ten-year Japanese government bonds at 250 billion yen (USD 2.24 billion), 300 billion yen and 410 billion yen respectively.

11:46 am CPI Inflation Poll: India's retail inflation likely rose to a 17-month high in December, a Reuters poll showed, and that could push the central bank to tighten monetary policy.

After November's 15-month high of 4.88 percent, consumer price inflation likely climbed to 5.10 percent, which would the highest since July 2016, according to the median in the poll of nearly 40 economists over the past week.

The December inflation data is due to be released on Friday, January 12 at 17:30 hours IST.

11:39 am Rupee Trade: The rupee slid further by 22 paise to hit a low of 63.82 against the greenback in late morning deals on continued bouts of dollar demand from importers and banks amid flat equities.

The rupee opened lower at 63.65 per dollar from yesterday's closing level of 63.60 at the inter-bank foreign exchange market today.

The Indian unit witnessed volatility and fell further to 63.82 on heavy dollar demand.

11:20 am Buzzing: Sun Pharma shares extended gains, rising more than 1 percent after CNBC-TV18 reports quoting Cogencis that company's Halol unit in Gujarat has received Good Manufacturing Certificate from Dutch Agency.

Dutch's health regulator had audited Sun Pharma's Halol unit on August 25, 2017.

11:08 am Mobile Users Addition: Bharti Airtel has added 43 lakh users in November while Reliance Jio, the part of Reliance Industries, added 61.2 lakh users in same month.

Idea Cellular and Vodafone, which are going to merge in current year, added 32 lakh and 27 lakh users in November.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

11:05 am Buzzing: Share price of India Nippon Electricals advanced 10 percent intraday as board going to consider sub-division of equity shares of the company.

The company has been decided to convene a meeting of the board of directors on January 29 to consider the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended December 31, 2017.

The board will also consider the proposal of sub-division of equity shares of the company. The board will consider payment of an interim dividend for the year ending March 31, 2018. The rate, quantum, date of payment of interim dividend and the record date, if declared, will be intimated soon after the meeting.

10:58 am Lupin outlook: Lupin is aiming for a bigger thrust on the USD 54-billion complex generics market as it tries to insulate itself from increasing competition and consolidation of distribution channel in US in plain vanilla copycat drugs.

Out of USD 98-billion products under development 55 percent will come from complex categories like biosimilars, inhalation, depot injectables, opthalmic and topical dermatological drugs, the company said in its presentation at JP Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco, US.

Lupin-India's number two company by sales-is banking on the inhalation pipeline worth USD 17 billion in the next three years. It said it is in discussions with the US FDA to explore opportunities to accelerate development timeline for inhalation programs.

10:45 am Results Date: Car maker Maruti Suzuki said the meeting of the board of directors is scheduled to be held on Thursday, January 25 to consider and approve the unaudited financial results for the quarter ended on December 31, 2017.

10:35 am Market Outlook: "We expect strong momentum to continue for equity market over FY19 due to revival in earnings after teething problems of GST, low base of demonetisation, increasing focus of government on infrastructure development even at the cost of fiscal slippage and favourable global headwinds with favourable commodity prices," Abhinav Gupta - President, Capital Markets - Share India Securities said in an interview to Moneycontrol.

Increasing government spend will lead to higher purchasing power and we expect earnings to grow at around 17-18 percent over next year, he added.

The research house has maintained its year-end Nifty target at 12,500 in line with current multiples and pricing in the earning growth over the course of year. Indian markets currently in pre-budget rally might see a small correction which we believe would be a buying opportunity.

10:15 am Crude Oil Update: Oil prices held near three-year highs, supported by a surprise drop in US production and lower crude inventories, although analysts increasingly warned of signs that fuel markets have overheated.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD 63.49 a barrel, 0.13 percent below their last settlement but still close to a December 2014 high of USD 63.67 per barrel reached the previous day.

Brent crude futures were at USD 69.09 a barrel, 0.16 percent below their last finish. That was also close to the previous day's high of USD 69.37 a barrel, which was the highest level since an intraday spike in May 2015 and, before that, in December 2014.

10:05 am Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to be rangebound in morning but the broader markets outperformed, with the Nifty Midcap rising 0.24 percent. Investors focussed on corporate earnings.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 3.41 points at 34,436.48 and the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 7.30 points to 10,624.90.

About 1,268 shares advanced against 959 declining shares on the BSE.

9:55 am Buzzing: Share price of Som Distilleries and Breweries touched 52-week high of Rs 262.90, gaining nearly 12 percent in morning as investor Porinju  Veliyath bought stake in the company.

On January 10, 2018 Porinju V Veliyath bought 1,50,000 shares of the company at Rs 197.95.

EQ India Fund also bought 5,00,000 shares of the company at Rs 197 on the NSE.

9:45 am Rupee Trade: The rupee weakened 12 paise to trade at 63.71 against the US dollar in morning session at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased demand for the American currency from banks and importers.

Foreign fund outflows and rising crude oil prices also weighed on the rupee sentiment.

Crude oil prices were ruling at around three-year high levels, putting pressure on the rupee as India is a major oil importer.

Yesterday, the rupee had bounced back to end higher by 11 paise at 63.60 against the US currency on bouts of dollar selling by exporters and corporates.

9:33 am Satyam Case: Finding Price Waterhouse guilty in the multi-crore Satyam scam, Sebi today barred its network entities from issuing audit certificates to any listed company in India for two years and ordered disgorgement of over Rs 13 crore wrongful gains from the audit major and its two erstwhile partners who worked on the IT major's accounts.

The market regulator's order comes after nine years post the scam at Satyam Computer Services came to light and after two failed attempts by auditor major Price Waterhouse to settle the case through consent mechanism.

This is also one of the most stringent orders passed by any regulator against a Big Four audit major.

9:29 am Buzzing: Shares of GE Power India rose 5.6 percent in the early trade on contract win worth Rs 818.3 crore.

The company has been awarded a contract worth approximately Rs 818.3 crore by Navayuga Engineering Company.

The contract includes design, engineering, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of 12 Nos., 80 MW capacity vertical full kaplan turbine generator units along with all associated auxiliary and ancillary equipment.

9:21 am IPO Subscription: The initial public offer (IPO) of Apollo Micro Systems, which caters primarily to the defence and aerospace sectors, was subscribed 2.14 times on the first day of bidding on Wednesday.

The IPO, to raise Rs 156 crore, received bids for 88,60,500 shares against the total issue size of 41,44,955 shares, data available with the NSE showed.

The portion reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 32 peipocent, non institutional investors 51 per cent and retail investors 3.78 times.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks were flat in opening on Thursday as investors await third quarter earnings of Infosys, TCS and IndusInd Bank.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 2.74 points at 34,430.33 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 7.20 points to 10,625.

About 780 shares advanced against 536 declining shares on the BSE.

Infosys, Hindalco and HCL Technologies were early gainers.

Wipro, Yes Bank, Bajaj Finance, Cipla, HPCL, L&T, Eicher Motors, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank were early losers.

Jai Corp, Prism Cement, GVK Power, Welspun India, Indiabulls Real, JSW Energy and NMDC gained 1-8 percent.