Record close high; Sensex soars 523 points, Nifty ends at 8696

03:30 pm Market close
Bulls rampaged Dalal Street as market closed at record high boosted by some heavyweights. The Sensex ended up 522.66 points or 1.8 percent at 28784.67. The Nifty shut at 8695.60, up 144.90 points or 1.7 percent. About 1568 shares have advanced, 1406 shares declined, and 291 shares were unchanged.

Heavyweights led the rally with some stellar performance by HDFC, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel, Axis Bank and Tata Motors. Among the losers were GAIL, Tata Power, Maruti, Dr Reddy's and TCS.

03:15 pm FII view
Brokerage house Morgan sees six Asian economies facing a '3D' challenge of worsening demographics, debt and deflation.

''The challenges imposed by weaker demographics, high debt and deflationary pressures are most keenly felt in China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand,'' said the Morgan Stanley report to clients.

''In contrast, India, the Philippines and Indonesia are not facing challenges on this front,'' the report said.

03:06 pm New high again!
The Sensex also hit record touching 28829, up 549.70 points, up 1.9 percent while the Nifty is up 150.15 points or 1.8 percent at 8700.85. About 1552 shares have advanced, 1375 shares declined, and 293 shares are unchanged.

HDFC is up 6 percent,  while Sesa Sterlite, Axis Bank, Tata Steel and Tata Motors are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are GAIL, Maruti, Hero, Tata Power and TCS.

03:03 Record high
The Nifty is up 149.20 points or 1.7 percent at 8701, while the Sensex is up 545.01 points or 1.9 percent at 28807.02. About 1534 shares have advanced, 1380 shares declined, and 299 shares are unchanged.

02:50pm Nifty races towards 8700
The 30-share BSE Sensex spiked 495.02 points or 1.75 percent to 28757.03 and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 139.85 points or 1.64 percent to 8690.55.

HDFC topped the buying list on the Sensex, up 6.5 percent followed by Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel with 4.6 percent gains. ITC, SBI, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Axis Bank and Hindalco rallied 2-3.6 percent.

About 1533 shares have advanced, 1366 shares declined, and 300 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

02:45pm Tata Teleservices shares in demand
Norway-based Telenor is doing a due diligence of Tata Teleservices to acquire a majority stake in the company, reports Kritika Saxena of CNBC-TV18, quoting unnamed sources.

The sources said Telenor, which is into communications, media and IT, may look to merge its Indian subsidiary with Tata Teleservices.

Telenor CEO Fredrik Baksaas is expected to come down to India for negotiations, the sources said.

Telenor was unavailable for comment, and a Tata Sons spokesperson said the company did not comment on such matters.

Last month, the RBI had allowed Tata Sons to buy out NTT Docomo's 26 percent in Tata Teleservices for USD 1.1 billion. The stock gained 7 percent.

02:30pm India looks promising?
A sharp plunge in oil prices is likely to transfer USD 1.5 trillion of wealth to consumers, bringing the US back as global growth engine while India is the most promising story among emerging markets, says a study. India may outsmart China in terms of growth rate in a few years, global analytics and information services major IHS said here on the first day of WEF annual meeting. Overall, the BRICS gap has widened as developed economies are taking the lead.

"With many of today's economic trends reminiscent of the 1980s and 1990s, we are looking at a 'Back to the Future' scenario for the global economy," IHS Chief Economist Nariman Behravesh said. "Once again the US is a locomotive of global growth, the dollar is resurgent and US oil production is set to be the highest in the world," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "Everyone right now is talking about the impact of the oil price plunge," Behravesh said, reports PTI.

02:00pm Market Check
It is a crackling day on Dalal Street today as the frontline indices gained more than a percent higher led by banking & financials and metals stocks. Reliance Industries, ITC and Infosys too played supportive role.

The Sensex rallied 401.14 points or 1.42 percent to 28663.15 and the Nifty scored a century, up 111.70 points or 1.31 percent at 8662.40 while the broader markets lagged frontline indices, up half a percent.

About 1542 shares have advanced, 1306 shares declined, and 290 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
 
It's a blue chip led rally today. HDFC contributed nearly 40 percent to the Nifty's gain, up 6 percent. Shares of ITC and Reliance Industries gained 2.7 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank climbed 1 percent each while rival Axis Bank jumped 3.4 percent. Tata Motors gained 1.7 percent.

Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries surged 3-4 percent whereas TCS, HUL, GAIL, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Hero Motocorp fell 0.5-2 percent.

Nandan Chakraborty of Axis Capital says all eyes are on the Budget. It's extremely important for the fiscal math to be credible in the Budget, capex plays like EPC companies will give maximum delta, he adds.

Global markets are upbeat today. Asian markets like Japan close with 350-point gain while Shanghai rallied almost 2 percent after reporting Q4 GDP better-than-expected at 7.3 percent against forecast of 7.2 percent.

The rupee traded flat to marginally lower as the dollar strengthened overseas. The rupee slipped from a two-month high , currently at 61.77 against a close of 61.71 yesterday.

1:50 pm Rate cut? The Reserve Bank's move asking banks to notify the base rate, or the minimum lending rate, at least once in every three months based on cost of funds is seen as a nudge to lenders to pass on changes in policy rate to borrowers.The apex bank had cut repo rate by 25 bps last week when the world was least expecting it. Will state lenders bite the bullet and pass on the rate cut benefits to customers? In an interview to CNBC-TV18, P Pradeep Kumar, MD Corporate Banking, SBI and Ram Sangapure, Executive Director at Punjab National Bank clarify their positions.

1:40 pm Market outlook: With the Nifty hitting all time high of 8629, Ajay Srivastava of Dimensions Consulting says the market currently is in such a momentum that anything is possible - the Nifty scaling further highs cannot be ruled out.

The market currently is discovering new stories to take it up but banking will continue to be the driving force. "The stock market theory is rested on the banking sector and no other sector is likely to take it up,'' says Srivastava. UR Bhatt, MD of Dalton Capital says long-term investors need to stay invested because in case the Budget delivers on the reform front then the market is sure to have a good trajectory for the rest of the year. However, short-term investors may have to deal with a bit of volatility in the very short-term.

1:30 pm Result: Kotak Mahindra Bank's third quarter standalone profit after tax surged 36.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 464.5 crore, aided by strong other income and lower provisions. Standalone numbers include only banking operations.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew 16 percent to Rs 1,059.4 crore in the quarter ended December 2014 from Rs 912.7 crore in same quarter last year.

The bank, which is going to be the fifth largest private sector bank in India after merger of ING Vysya Bank, matched street expectations on Tuesday.

Net interest margin declined 10 basis points on yearly basis (down 30 bps sequentially) to 4.7 percent in the quarter gone by.

The market is rejoicing with some stellar gains as the Nifty hit all-time high 8629. The 50-share index is up 73.20 points or 0.9 percent at 8623.90 while the Sensex is up 254.75 points or 0.9 percent at 28516.76. About 1549 shares have advanced, 1195 shares declined, and 298 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel, Axis Bank and Hindalco are top gainers in the Sensex. GAIL, HUL, Maruti, Hero and BHEL are among the laggards.

The problem of a lack of confidence in the euro zone has been overcome, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said during a visit to India. "In financial issues we have overcome the lack of confidence we have suffered in the last couple of years," Schaeuble said in New Delhi, adding that stability had returned to financial markets.

12:50pm Nifty at new high
The Nifty touched record high at 8628 today, up 68.55 points or 0.80 percent at 8619.25 while the Sensex rose 249.88 points or 0.88 percent to 28511.89.

About 1557 shares have advanced, 1142 shares declined, and 300 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

12:45pm Indiabulls Housing shares in demand
Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance touched a record high at Rs 599.60 per share, up 5 percent. CLSA has maintained a buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 630 per share. It has also raised earnings forecasts by 1 percent and sees 22 percent CAGR profit growth over FY14-17.

The brokerage feels that Indiabulls will not only benefit from the fall in cost of funds in the near-term but also from potential upgrades to credit ratings over the medium-term.  ''Over the longer-term as well, we expect Indiabulls' funding costs to trend down with potential upgrades to its credit ratings (from AA+ to AAA) that will help to expand market share and deliver profitable growth,'' it says in a report.

CLSA, however, feels that the lending company may show growth volatility in Q4FY15 due to change in accounting policy on investment-income, large write-offs and low tax rate.

12:25pm Market Expert
The next year-2016- will be watershed year in terms of economy and markets, believes Nandan Chakraborty, managing director- institutional equity research, Axis Capital.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Chakraborty says 2014 was a sweet spot in terms of a new stable regime, falling crude prices, etc but 2015 is unlikely to see any growth in terms of capex or jobs.

However, the stability and the real effect of the new government's policies will be in full swing in 2016 and it will benefit from the positive sentiment surrounding the government's economic measures.

What is also likely to aid the economy is significant flows from US, Europe and Japan, he further adds.

''So long as the US and Europe continue to grow, they will keep pumping money. Similarly, I expect the Bank of Japan to continue spewing liquidity, so capital is not going to be a problem at all,'' he adds.

12:00pm Market Check
The market inched towards all-time highs. The Sensex surged 224.02 points to 28486.03 and the Nifty jumped 66.80 points to 8617.50. About 1574 shares have advanced, 1090 shares declined, and 302 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Asian markets gained today, buoyed by China's Q4 GDP that beat expectations to come in at 7.3 percent against estimate of 7.2 percent. Oil prices, however, remained subdued with the brent trading below USD 50 a barrel.

The International Monetary Fund cut global growth forecast for 2015 to 3.5 percent from 3.8 percent and also cut its India and China growth forecast marginally. IMF says boost from lower crude oil prices would be offset by dimmer economic prospects for China, Russia, eurozone, Japan and oil producers.

Metal stocks such as Tata Steel and JSW Steel gained today after CNBC-TV18 learnt from government sources that the steel ministry has written to the finance ministry seeking revision of import duty on steel products. The steel ministry is asking for raising import duties to safeguard the domestic industry from dumping.

HUL saw additional pressure, down 1 percent after the 5 percent cut seen yesterday. Bank of America Merrill Lynch reiterated its neutral stance, saying Q3 results were below estimates led by revenue miss. CLSA maintains sell on the stock with a target of Rs 650 per share.

In key earnings today, Kotak Mahindra Bank came off day's high to trade flat after it's third quarter earnings matched street estimates. Profitability jumped 21 percent in Q3 and the net interest income rose 13 percent to Rs 1,580 crore on consolidated basis Y-o-Y.

HDFC, Sesa Sterlite and Axis Bank gained 3-4 percent while GAIL fell 2 percent.

11:55 pm Result: Kotak Mahindra Bank's third quarter standalone profit after tax surged 36.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 464.5 crore, aided by strong other income and lower provisions. Standalone numbers include only banking operations. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew 16 percent to Rs 1,059.4 crore in the quarter ended December 2014 from Rs 912.7 crore in same quarter last year.

11:40 pm Buzzing: Shares of Hindustan Zinc jumped 3.5 percent intraday on Tuesday after it posted December quarter earnings.  Its third quarter profit jumped 38.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,379 crore driven by other income. The bottomline and operational performance was ahead of expectations but revenue lagged estimates.

Macquarie maintains outperform rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 202 per share, stating the company has taken measures to offset the slower ramp up of production from underground mines which augurs well for FY16.

"It needs 30 percent Y-o-Y growth in Q4FY15 to meet guidance target. The recent corrective action taken by HZL on extending the life of itsopen pit makes us more comfortable with FY16 volumes," the brokerage says in a note.

11:30 am Downgrade: India is expected to grow at 6.3 percent this year and 6.5 percent in 2016 by when it is likely to cross China's projected growth rate, the IMF said today while terming the new government's reforms as "promising" but insisted that their implementation is key. In 2014, India's growth rate was 5.8 per cent against China's 7.4 percent, said the World Economic Report update released by the International Monetary Fund. India's growth rate in 2013 was five per cent as against China's 7.8 percent.

India is projected to grow at 6.3 percent in 2015 and 6.5 percent in 2016, when it is likely to cross China's projected growth rate of 6.3 per cent, the IMF said. "I think the reform plans of the new Prime Minister are promising. We are going to have to see the speed of the implementation," said Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, Deputy Director in IMF's Research Department.

The market is holding on its gains as the Sensex is up 166.29 points or 0.6 percent at 28428.30 and the Nifty is up 51.35 points or 0.6 percent at 8602.05. About 1509 shares have advanced, 844 shares declined, and 286 shares are unchanged.Midcaps are outperforming with a firm advance decline ratio.

HDFC, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite and Axis Bank are top gainers while GAIL, HUL, M&M, Bajaj Auto and Hero are among the laggards.

Metal stocks gain. According to a CNBC-TV18 exclusive government sources indicate that the steel ministry has written to the finance ministry seeking revision of import duty on steel products. The steel ministry is asking for raising import duties to safeguard the domestic industry from dumping. Additionally the ministry has suggested waiving import duty on coking coal from 2.5 percent.

Globally, Asian stocks gain buoyed by China's Q4 GDP that beat expectations to come in at 7.3 percent versus expectations of 7.2 percent. Gold continues to trade at 4-month highs with Brent at sub USD 50 per barrel.

10:40am Punj Lloyd shares in demand
Engineering major Punj Lloyd said it sold its entire 17.74 percent stake in Global Health Pvt Ltd, which owns Gurgaon-based Medanta Medicity hospital among others, to an arm of Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings.

No financial details of the deal were, however, disclosed. "The company has sold it's entire shareholding of 8,601,979 equity shares in Global Health Pvt Ltd (GHPL), amounting to 17.74 percent of the issued equity share capital of GHPL, to Dunearn Investments (Mauritius) Pte Limited, (Dunearn) on Monday," Punj Lloyd said in a filing to BSE. The stock gained 1.5 percent.

10:20am FII View
Bhuvnesh Singh, Barclays says the Q3FY15 earnings season is off to a positive start with 6 out of 11 BSE-100 companies reporting 'beats' on earnings consensus estimates. ''However, the FY15 EPS growth rate estimate for BSE-100 declined to 13.1 percent, down 300 basis points since the end of the last earnings season,'' he adds.

The ex-energy earnings growth estimate stands at 17.1 percent. Among sectors, energy and materials have witnessed downgrades of 292 bps and 161 bps respectively since the start of the current earnings season. Other sectors have seen modest changes.

10:00am Market Check
Equity benchmarks climbed further in morning trade today with the Nifty racing towards 8600 level supported by banking & financial and metals stocks. The broader markets too participated in an uptrend as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.8 percent each.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 160.87 points to 28422.88 and the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 48.65 points to 8599.35. Nearly three shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Shares of Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries rallied more than 2 percent after better than expected China GDP data. The world's second largest economy grew 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year against forecasts of 7.2 percent. Sesa Sterlite advanced 1.6 percent.

Major banks like State Bank of India and Axis Bank surged 1.8 percent each after RBI issued revised guidelines on banks' base rates yesterday. ICICI Bank was up 0.8 percent and HDFC Bank gained 0.4 percent.

Shares of ITC, Infosys, Reliance Industries and ONGC gained 0.5-1 percent whereas HUL shed 1.5 percent after reporting 3 percent volume growth in Q3FY15. GAIL lost 2 percent on profit booking. L&T, M&M, Hero Motocorp, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto and BHEL were marginally in the red.

9:55 am Market outlook: The December quarter may not have been very positive for companies, but the next financial year is likely to be much better, says Anup Maheshwari, executive vice president and head of equities, DSP Blackrock. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Maheshwari says FY16 will be the year of superior earnings to the tune of 15-20 percent buoyed by increasing operating margins.

Furthermore, Maheshwari is confident that FY16 will see the return of retail investors into the equity market and expects 15 percent annualized returns in the same. On sectoral preferences, Maheshwari is bullish on financials, consumer discretionary, autos and pharmaceuticals.

9:45 am Pie of the sky: IndiGo, the low-cost carrier, continues its domination of Indian skies with a 31.8-percent market share for 2014 having flown 214,25 lakh passengers during the year, according to official figures released on Monday.

Jet Airways together with its subsidiary JetLite was at the second spot with a 21.7-percent market share carrying 146.65 lakh passengers. Government-owned Air India (AI) stood third with a market share of 18.4 percent.

SpiceJet managed to get a 17.4-percent share of the total domestic passenger traffic in 2014 on the back of heavy discounts during the year.

9:30 am Downgrade: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) trimmed its global growth forecast for 2015-16, cautioning that the boost from lower crude oil prices would be offset by dimmer economic prospects for China, Russia, the euro area, Japan and oil producers. In its World Economic Outlook (WEO) update, the IMF projected the world economy would expand by 3.5 percent this year and 3.7 percent next year, picking up from 3.3 percent in 2014 but lower than its previous estimates. In October, it predicted global growth for this year and next at 3.8 and 4 percent, respectively.

The downgrade comes days after the World Bank lowered its growth forecast for global growth to 3 percent from the 3.4 percent forecast made in June, warning that the world economy is overly dependent on the single engine of the U.S. recovery.

The market opened higher as the Sensex is up 109.31 points at 28371.32. The Nifty is up 28.50 points at 8579.20. About 485 shares have advanced, 112 shares declined, and 222 shares are unchanged.

Coal India, Hindalco, TCS, Axis Bank and Tata Steel are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are HUL, Tata Motors, GAIL, Maruti and Bajaj Auto.

The Indian rupee opened lower by 11 paise at 61.82 per dollar against previous day's closing value of 61.71 a dollar.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "The earlier than expected rate cut by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week has spurred the Indian markets; with currency, equity and bond markets rallying. The USD / INR currency pair is back in 61-62 range with appreciating bias."

Global cues, meanwhile are positive with the Asian market treading mixed in early morning trade as investors await data from China for further trading cues. China's Q4 GDP was expected to grow by 7.2 percent but came in at 7.3 percent.

European equities closed largely higher on Monday, as investors look ahead to Thursday's European Central Bank (ECB) meeting.

In other asset classes, the euro struggled around 11-year lows as investors braced for a crucial meeting later in the week which could see the European Central Bank take its boldest steps to revive the euro zone's economy. In commodities, Nymex Crude prices hold below USD 48 dollars per barrel and gold prices were steady above USD 1270 an ounce as prices supported by wider market volatility that boosted the metal's appeal as a haven from risk.