Reliance Ind, TCS, HDFC drive Nifty to record closing high

The market gained positive momentum for the second consecutive session on Tuesday, especially post Union Budget. The 50-share NSE Nifty surpassed another milestone, the 9000-mark led by Reliance Industries, TCS and HDFC.

The index climbed 39.50 points to end at record closing high of 8996.25 after hitting an intraday high of 9,008 while the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 134.59 points to 29593.73.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 1.2 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Experts believe the market may continue to see uptrend going ahead if the government be able to get passed crucial bills.

With the Budget behind, investors are now looking forward to the Budget session in Parliament, where the government is expected to push through four crucial legislations, including insurance, coal mining and land acquisition, Deutsche Bank MD and head of research Abhay Laijawala told CNBC-TV18

He says investors are cautiously optimistic on India, adding the market is not looking expensive at 17x forward P/E.

Meanwhile, the Mining and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Amendment Bill has been passed in Lok Sabha today. The bill will pave the way for all mineral mines in the country to be allotted via auctions. The government also tabled the Insurance Laws Amendment Bill in the lower house.

Metals stocks like Sesa Sterlite, Jindal Steel and Hindalco gained 1-2 percent while insurance stocks also gained in trade, close on the heels of operationalising the 49 percent FDI hike in insurance.

Reliance Industries topped the buying list on Sensex, up 4.4 percent after CLSA recommended buying the stock in current weakness as the stock is at a discount to own as well as peer valuations. In other news, a media report suggested that LIC increased its stake in the petrochemical major by 2.1 percent.

IT major TCS surged 4 percent followed by Wipro with over a percent gain. HDFC gained 2 percent.

Sun Pharma was up 2 percent as the company's subsidiary bought GSK's Opiates business in Australia. The transaction value is expected to be around USD 200 million. Analysts see the deal as a positive for Sun as margins are higher in controlled substances business. Rivals Cipla spiked 2 percent.

However, Coal India fell 3.9 percent due to adjustment for dividend (Rs 20.70 per share) announced last month. Axis Bank lost 2.3 percent on profit booking.

Mahindra & Mahindra disappointed the street with a 9.8 percent decline in February auto sales. Its tractor sales fell 35 percent. The stock declined 3.3 percent. TVS Motor bucked the trend, up 8 percent on reporting decent sales growth of 15 percent in a weak environment. Tata Motors was down 1.6 percent.

It was a mixed bag for global markets while Nasdaq conquered 5000 last night for the first time since year 2000. Asian markets like Shanghai (down 2.2 percent) and Hong Kong (down 0.7 percent) closed in the red while European markets were trading higher today as Spain announced a sharp drop in jobless claims adding to the cheer in Europe. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE gained 0.2 percent each (at 16 hours IST).

Disclosure: Reliance Industries has acquired management control of Network18, which owns TV18 Broadcast and moneycontrol.com.

03:30 pm Record closing high: The Nifty was up 39.50 points at 8996.25 while the Sensex gained 134.59 points at 29593.73. About 1667 shares advanced, 1188 shares declined and 221 shares were unchanged. TCS, Reliance were top contributors to Nifty gain today. Cipla, Bajaj Auto and HDFC were other gainers in the Sensex. Losers include Coal India, M&M, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and NTPC.

03:15 pm Connecting 4G: Top telecommunications carrier Bharti Airtel Ltd said it would collaborate with China Mobile Ltd on growing fourth-generation (4G) mobile data services.

The two companies will also work on a joint strategy for procurement of 4G devices including smartphones, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

Bharti Airtel operates 4G networks in some Indian cities. Operators in China and India are launching 4G on the TD-LTE technology standard, while most of the western world uses a different technology for 4G.

03:00 pm Market at record high: The market hits record high just few days after the Budget 2015 was presented by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The Nifty is up 43.35 points at 9000 while the Sensex is up 150.81 points at 29609.95. About 1625 shares have advanced, 1160 shares declined, and 210 shares are unchanged.

02:45pm Market Update: The Sensex climbed 146.84 points to 29605.98 while the Nifty rose 24.70 points to 8981.45.

About 1576 shares have advanced, 1177 shares declined, and 219 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

02:42pm Nectar on buyers' radar: Investors lapped up more shares of Nectar Lifesciences on Tuesday after the hearlthcare firm has received approval from European cGMP for Cephalosporin APIs' manufacturing facility in Dera Bassi, Punjab. The stock rallied 15 percent intraday. cGMP is current good manufacturing practices.

This approval is valid for three years from calendar year 2015 to 2017. "Nectar has received the European cGMP compliance certification through successful inspection by the Portugal Authoriy - National Authority of Medicines and Health Products, INFARMED," said the company in its filing.

The facility is already approved by USFDA, MCC - South Africa, PMDA - Japan, OGYI - Hungary and KFDA - South Korea.

The European Union market for Cephalosporin's is currently valued at USD 1.5 billion between injectable and oral molecules.

02:25pm Airtel in News: Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel and world's largest telecom operator China Mobile today announced a partnership to work jointly on evolving high technologies like 5G and procuring telecom devices and equipment.

The agreement was signed by China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua and Bharti Airtel founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal. "We are delighted to announce this landmark agreement with China Mobile.

02:00pm Market check: The market continued to be volatile in afternoon trade as the Nifty has been moving in a tight range of 8950-8990 levels on the upside. Pharmaceutical, technology, capital goods, HDFC group stocks along with index heavyweight Reliance Industries supported the market. However, FMCG and banks remained under pressure.

The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 85.09 points to 29544.23 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 18.90 points to 8975.65. The BSE Midcap index gained 0.8 percent and Smallcap rallied 1.2 percent.

The market breadth remained in favour of gainers as advancing shares outnumbered declining ones on the Bombay Stock Exchange in the ratio of 1506 to 1163.

"There are two very strong forces in the market. One is the positive momentum and the tailwind coming from improving macros,'' said Ritu Arora of Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance. ''But the reality, which is a headwind, also remains that corporate earnings [are bad]," she added.

While in the near term, she said the market would be rangebound, over the long term, ''this building momentum should lead to double digit returns over three and five years.''

Reliance Industries extended gains, rising 4.5 percent. CLSA recommended buying the stock on weakness as the stock is at a discount to own as well as peer valuations. A media report indicated that LIC increased its stake in Reliance Industries by 2.1 percent.

Shares of TCS, HDFC, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Dr Reddy's Labs, Wipro and Bajaj Auto rallied 1-3 percent whereas Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and ITC fell 1-3 percent. Coal India remained under pressure, down 4.9 percent as it went ex- dividend today.

Tata Elxsi, Reliance Industries, ITC, Axis Bank, L&T, ICICI Bank and SBI were most active shares.

1:40 pm Gold update: Gold was steady above USD 1,200 an ounce on Tuesday after falling off a two-week peak the session before, struggling to push higher as the dollar hovered near an 11-year high.

The greenback, bolstered by expectations that the US Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates this year, shrugged off a batch of soft US data including weak consumer spending and factory activity.

Most analysts believe the Fed is on course to raise interest rates this year for the first time since 2006 amid a generally strengthening U.S. economy led by gains in its labour market.

1:30 pm RBI norms: Welcoming the government's move to selectively allocate capital to lenders, Reserve Bank deputy governor R Gandhi said PSBs will have to look at alternatives beyond the Centre's support for raising money going forward.

"Going forward, banks will definitely need more capital which we are emphasising, and banks will have to find other methods of capital as well, not just relying on the government," Gandhi told reporters, replying to a question on the budget proposal to decrease the recapitalisation amount at Rs 7,940 crore in FY16 from the Rs 11,200 crore in FY15.

Apart from capital raising from other sources like the markets, there are various other options which the banks can follow for their capital management, including conserving capital by staying off risky assets, he said.

The market is extending gains. The Sensex is up 101.09 points at 29560.23 and the Nifty is up 22.95 points at 8979.70. About 1477 shares have advanced, 1100 shares declined, and 198 shares are unchanged.

Reliance, TCS, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs are top gainers in the Sensex. Among losers in the Sensex are Coal India, M&M, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and BHEL.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that Indian economy needs to grow at 9-10 percent and sustain that growth rate over the next decade and beyond to provide better infrastructure and bring down poverty rates.

Jaitley said India should aim to achieve 8 percent growth rate this year and grow it to 9-10 percent over the next 10 years and more. "I can sound very optimistic but I will be realistic," he said in response to a question about his vision for India over the next 5-10 years during a session at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs here yesterday.

Citing the example of China, Jaitley said the Asian country grew by about 9 percent on an average for over three decades and reached where it is today.

12:58am Market at day's high: The Sensex rose 103.74 points to 29562.88 and the Nifty climbed 24.50 points to 8981.25.

About 1468 shares have advanced, 1100 shares declined, and 196 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

12:40pm Market Expert: The way the market is positioned, it is clear that 9000 is just a milestone along the way, is the wording coming in from CK Narayan of Growth Avenues.

''We will be achieving higher milestones this year. I am extremely bullish on the prospects of the market,'' he told CNBC-TV18. He sees Nifty at 11500 by this year-end.

As far as this Budget goes, there is no cause for concern, he says. For a while, the Budget was being pointed to as a probable cause for a big drop in Nifty, it in fact has removed the probability of it happening, he adds.

Coming back to the market, he says there is continued traction in the midcap space, but large caps will have to carry the baton ahead. He believes in the shorter run, there may be some outperformance from Bank Nifty, but Nifty will lead the race this year.

12:20pm Tata Power in News: Private power producer Tata Power has commissioned the first unit of its Dagachhu hydro power plant having a capacity of 63 MW in Bhutan.

"The company has commissioned 63 MW sized unit of its 126 MW Dagachhu hydro power plant in Bhutan, " Tata Power said in a regulatory filing.

Dagachhu project is a joint venture between Tata Power and Druk Green Power Corporation, owned by Royal Government of Bhutan and National Pension and Provident Fund of Bhutan.

With the commissioning of the first unit of this plant, Tata Power's overall hydro power generation capacity now stands at 513 MW and the total at 8,684 MW.

Dagachhu Hydro Power Corporation has entered into a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement with Tata Power Trading Company Ltd (TPTCL, a company of Tata Power) for sale of power from the project. The power generated from the project shall be sold by TPTCL in the Indian power market.

12:00pm Market Check
The market remained rangebound in noon trade with the Nifty consolidating around 8950 level. Healthcare, oil, technology and metals stocks gained while capital goods, FMCG and select banks were under pressure.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 44.57 points to 29503.71 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 5.75 points at 8962.50. However, the broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 1 percent each.

Reliance Industries shot up 3.5 percent after a media report says LIC increased its stake in the petrochemical major by 2.1 percent. State-run oil major ONGC gained 1.7 percent.

Pharma stocks too were in the limelight after Sun Pharma bought GSK's Opiates in Australia. Opiates business portfolio included materials used in Analgesics and Sun says the transaction is expected to close by August 2015. The transaction value is expected to be around USD 200 million. Analysts see the deal as a positive for Sun Pharma as margins are higher in controlled substances business.

Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs jumped 3 percent each. TCS climbed 2.6 percent followed by HDFC, Wipro, Bajaj Auto and Wipro with 1 percent rise. However, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, M&M, Coal India and BHEL fell 1-4.5 percent.

Mahindra & Mahindra disappointed the street with a 9.8 percent decline in February auto sales. Tractor sales fell 35 percent. Hero Motocorp's sales declined 3.9 percent whereas TVS Motor bucked the trend, up 9 percent on reporting decent sales growth of 15 percent in a weak environment.

11:50 am Macro economy:  Former RBI governor C Rangarajan feels inflation targeting is a good idea, and it enhances the autonomy of the RBI. Rangarajan said the inflation targeting arrangement gives RBI the flexibility to use any tool it deems fit to bring inflation under control.

JP Morgan's Jahangir Aziz says central banks in some countries have had to answer the governments if the inflation target was missed for three quarters in a row.

He said the arrangement gives a fair degree of independence to the RBI, and said this will also lead to greater scrutiny of the Monetary Policy Committee's decisions.

11:30 am FII view: With the Budget behind, investors are now looking forward to the Budget session in Parliament, where the government is expected to push through four crucial legislations, including on insurance, coal mining and land acquisition, Deutsche Bank MD and head of research Abhay Laijawala told CNBC-TV18 in an interaction from the sidelines of a conference the investment bank is holding in India.

''The mood at the conference is cautiously optimistic [with respect to the Budget session],'' Laijawala told Latha Venkatesh and Sonia Shenoy, but he added that post the Budget the mood had definitely shifted in favour of cyclical stocks. ''Some of the measures announced in the Budget – the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund or the plug-and-play model (for power projects – were brilliant,'' he said.

The market is consolidating after Budget day with the Nifty hovering around 8950. The 50-share index is up 1.20 points at 8957.95 and the Sensex is up 27.82 points at 29486.96. About 1393 shares have advanced, 838 shares declined, and 181 shares are unchanged.

TCS, Sun Pharma, Reliance, Dr Reddy's Labs and Wipro are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are M&M, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and BHEL.

Globally, Asian markets trade mixed. Shares in Australia tumbled on news of the Reserve Bank of Australia holding back on further easing.

Oil prices rose in Asia today but gains were capped as dealers sat on the sidelines eyeing negotiations aimed at ending a strike at some US crude refineries, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 32 cents to USD 49.91 while Brent crude gained 77 cents to USD 60.31 in mid-day trade. Talks to settle a strike by workers at three major US refineries operated by Royal Dutch Shell are set to restart tomorrow following a stalemate on February 20.

10:58am Buzzing Stocks: IL&FS Transportation has received letter of award for development of 8 rail overbridges in Gujarat. The company says total project cost for road overbridges at Rs 251 crore. Stock gained 2.8 percent.

Tata Power has commissioned unit 1 of 126 MW Dagachhu hydro project in Bhutan. Stock rose 0.4 percent.

10:45am Expert view on Sun Pharma deal: GlaxoSmithKline and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries announced that their respective wholly owned subsidiaries have reached an agreement related to GSK's Opiates business in Australia. The current GSK Opiates business including related manufacturing sites in Latrobe (Tasmania) and Port Fairy (Victoria) along with the inventories will be taken over by the Sun Pharma. The product portfolio consists of poppy-derived opiate raw materials that are primarily used in the manufacture of analgesics for the treatment of moderate to severe pain.
 
While commenting on this deal, Sarabjit Kour Nangra, VP Research - Pharma at Angel Broking says Sun Pharma has an established footprint in this market and believes it is well-placed to take the business forward.

"The global Opiates market holds good potential and the addition of GSK's Opiates business will strengthen its positioning further. The financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed. The transaction closure is subject to customary closing conditions and requisite regulatory and other approvals, and is expected to close by August 2015. Thus, the acquisition will fully reflect in FY2017. We remain neutral on the stock," she adds.

10:30am FII View: Jonathan Garner, managing director, Morgan Stanley is overweight on India and has a Sensex target of 32500. He expects India to outperform other Asian markets. He is overweight on China too.

He is bullish on industrial cyclicals, private sector financials and consumer discretionary. He is lukewarm on software names.

On the economic front, he says inflation targeting is a good measure, though he is a little disappointed with 3.9 percent fiscal deficit number.

10:00am Market Check
The market recouped early losses amid choppy trade. The Sensex rose 58.39 points to 29517.53 and the Nifty climbed 8.65 points to 8965.40.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.8 percent each. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1291 to 712 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Sakthi Siva, Credit Suisse says with MSCI Asia ex-Japan up 8 percent from the lows of December 17, the key question for investors is whether it is time to take profits.

"If we look at the last two years, the answer appears to be yes as the Index peaked with price-to-book at 1.58x in September 2014 & November 2013 and the current price-to-book is already 1.57x," she adds.

TCS and Reliance Industries topped the buying list on Sensex and were also the major contributors to Sensex' gains, rising 2 percent each. HDFC, Sun Pharma, Wipro, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sesa Sterlite and Bajaj Auto gained 1-1.7 percent.

9:55 am Market outlook: The way the market is positioned, it is clear that 9000 is just a milestone along the way, says CK Narayan of Growth Avenues.

''We will be achieving higher milestones this year. I am extremely bullish on the prospects of the market,'' he told CNBC-TV18. He sees Nifty at 11000 by this year-end. As far as this Budget goes, there is no cause for concern, he says. For a while, the Budget was being pointed to as a probable cause for a big drop in Nifty, it in fact has removed the probability of it happening, he adds.

In the private banking space, he says there is a clear shift of preference. The patronage has shifter from ICICI Bank to Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. He believes Jubilant Foodworks is a better buy than Just Dial.

9:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra slipped 3 percent intraday after its February sales number was disappointing. The auto manufacturer reported 10 percent decline in total sales at 38,033 units in February. It had sold 42,166 units in the same month last year, the company said in a statement.

In domestic market, M&M's sales declined by 11 percent to 34,918 units last month as against 39,338 units a year earlier.

However, exports were up 10 percent at 3,115 units from 2,828 units in the same period a year earlier. Sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV 500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito stood at 18,103 units compared with 19,308 units in February 2014, down 6 percent.

Four-wheeler commercial vehicle sales fell by 19 percent to 11,928 units last month against 14,701 units in year-ago period, M&M said.

The market has opened flat. The Sensex is down 34.04 points at 29425.10 and the Nifty is down 17.55 points at 8939.20. About 492 shares have advanced, 215 shares declined, and 100 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma, HDFC, TCS, Reliance and Cipla are top gainers in the Sensex. Coal India tanks 5 percent, while M&M, Tata Motors, Axis Bank and ITC are laggards.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 61.89 per dollar versus 61.87 Monday.

The dollar edges higher against a basket of major currencies, touching an 11-year high despite soft economic data. Euro slips to 1.11 levels.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "The dollar index is trading near a 11-year high and the markets will be keenly awaiting the US jobs report this week. Despite the strength seen in the dollar, the USD-INR has settled below 62/dollar and should continue trading in the 61.50-62.50/dollar range."

Meanwhile, on the macro front India formally joins the ranks of inflation targeting countries. President signs landmark monetary policy agreement with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordering central bank to keep inflation below 6 percent next year and around 4 percent for all subsequent years.

Among global markets, in the US, stocks closed higher yesterday, with the Nasdaq above the psychologically key level of 5,000 for the first time since March 2000 and the Dow and S&P 500 at records as investors cheered US economic data and an interest rate cut in China.

In Europe, equities closed lower as a fall in oil price once again hit investor sentiment. Asian stocks were modestly higher this morning but were not displaying the same exuberance that was seen on the Wall Street. Nikkei was at 15 year highs with dollar-yen trading near a two-and-a-half-week high of 120.1. Kospi index opened at a new five-month high.

Among commodities, Brent crude posted its biggest drop in a month yesterday, down 5 percent. Speculation that a nuclear deal could lift Iran's sanctions and boost its exports stoked supply concerns.

In precious metals space, gold prices slip marginally to USD 1207 per