Sensex closes in the green, Nifty above 9100; banks fall

3:30 Market at Close: Benchmark indices ended the day on a positive note, along with a rally in midcaps.

The Sensex was up 85.82 points at 29422.39, while the Nifty was up 32.90 points at 9136.40. The market breadth was positive, but narrow, as 1,813 shares advanced against a decline of 1,054 shares, while 174 shares were unchanged.

GAIL, Adani Ports, Grasim Industries and Bank of Baroda were top gainers on both the indices, while ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Yes Bank were the top losers.

The Bank Nifty closed lower by 0.30 percent at 21,491.

2:55 pm IMF View: India's growth has been "impressive" in the recent years which makes room for tax broadening efforts by the government, according to a top IMF official.

"India has recorded quite an impressive growth performance in recent years. Our view is that the elimination of fuel subsidies and the targeting of social benefits has delivered in terms of allowing the union budget target to be achieved at 3.5 percent of GDP," Vitor Gasper, Director of the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department told reporters at a news conference here yesterday.

"We have been collaborating with the Indian authorities in terms of looking at fiscal structural measures, including expenditure rationalisation while protecting infrastructure investment, tax broadening efforts," he said.

2:40 pm Patanjali close to its revenue target: Patanjali Ayurved Chief Executive Officer Acharya Balkrishna today said the company would 'surely be close' to its target of achieving Rs 10,000 crores in revenues for 2016-17.

He said the company would soon present its annual report on the numbers achieved in the year gone by.

The company, a household name because of its mascot Baba Ramdev, will set up four manufacturing plants across India this financial year, according to Balkrishna.

2:17 pm Market check: Equity benchmarks remained rangebound with a positive bias in afternoon, backed by HDFC Group and select auto stocks. However, the upside is restricted by private banks ICICI and Axis.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 65.42 points at 29,401.99 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 23.90 points at 9,127.40 while the broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks.

The Nifty Midcap index gained 0.7 percent and Smallcap rose 1 percent on strong breadth.

NLC India, Sun TV Network, Oberoi Realty, MRPL and Union Bank were top midcap gainers while Yes Bank, Container Corporation, Indian Hotels, Jindal Steel and Britannia were losers.

2:00 pm NPA resolution: To make the banking sector resilient to non-performing asset (NPA) shocks, the Reserve Bank of India has come out with stricter norms for banks.

RBI asked banks to provide more for standard loans which are stressed. It said boards must put in a policy to consider aspects like debt-equity ratio, interest coverage. The policy should also consider aspects like profit margins.

Prakash Agarwal Director-Financial Institutions at India Ratings & Research said the resolution of NPAs could be a long-drawn process and there cannot be a quick solution.

1:48 pm 155 stocks hit 52-week highs: The benchmark index might not offer much of an exciting trade on Thursday, but as much as 155 stocks on the BSE across groups hit a fresh 52-week high, data from BSE showed.

The S&P BSE Sensex pared early morning gains, but was still trading with a positive bias. The Nifty was trading comfortably above its crucial resistance level of 9,100.

1:32 pm HDFC Bank Q4: Country's second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank is expected to report profit growth below 20 percent for the second consecutive quarter in Q4FY17.

According to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18, profit during the quarter is seen rising 17.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,966.6 crore and net interest income may increase 16.5 percent to 8,684.4 crore compared with year-ago period.

1:10 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to trade steady in the afternoon session.

The Sensex was up 76.48 points at 29413.05, while the Nifty was up 23.45 points at 9126.95. The market breadth was positive but slightly narrow as 1,778 shares advanced against a decline of 900 shares, while and 161 shares were unchanged.

GAIL, HDFC and Grasim continued to gain, while ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Yes Bank fell the most.

12:38 pm Buzzing: Share prices of NBCC, GSFC, V-Guard, MRPL and Cholamandalam among others rallied 3-7 percent intraday Thursday after leading bourses BSE as well as National Stock Exchange decided to introduce futures & options contracts in these scrips from next week.

"....based on the stock selection criteria as prescribed by SEBI and approval received from SEBI, the futures and options contracts on 16 additional securities would be available for trading w.e.f. April 28, 2017," the exchange said in its filing.

Balkrishna Industries, Mahanagar Gas, Berger Paints, Can Fin Homes, MCX, Nestle India, Godfrey Phillips, Bajaj Finserv, Balrampur Chini, Raymond and Fortis Healthcare are other firms which will be included in the derivative segment.

12.16 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices as well as broader markets extended gains in noon, with the Nifty eyeing 9150 level, supported by HDFC Group, PSU oil & gas, technology and select auto stocks. However, the correction in ICICI Bank and Axis Bank capped gains.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 87.59 points at 29,424.16 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 37.60 points to 9,141.10 while the BSE Midcap index gained 0.8 percent and Smallcap rose 1 percent.

More than two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

11:41 am Cyient to report Q4 numbers today: Software firm Cyient's fourth quarter profit may fall 2 percent sequentially to Rs 92.3 crore but revenue may increase 2.6 percent to Rs 941.5 crore.

Revenue in dollar terms is likely to jump 4 percent to USD 141.2 million compared with USD 135.8 million in previous quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Overall analysts expect good quarter for the company, given seasonality in DLM (design led manufacturing - products business). Services business growth may be aided by acquisitions and cross currency tailwinds.

11:25 am Mutual Fund View: Harsha Upadhyaya of Kotak Mutual Fund believes that the market is in a consolidation mode and does not expect fireworks from the results as well.

"We are now looking for opportunities during the earnings season," Harsha Upadhyaya, CIO-Equity, Kotak Mutual Fund told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

He said investors must be cautious on midcaps due to higher valuations. There could be short term volatility in the space, but it may not be a bad idea from a 3-5 year perspective, he said.

11:10 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended their gains from the morning session, with the Nifty trading above 9100-mark and the midcap indices performing well too.

The Sensex was up 86.22 points at 29422.79, while the Nifty was up 25.30 points at 9128.80. The market breadth was healthy as 1,682 shares advanced against a decline of 722 shares, while 126 shares were unchanged.

GAIL, HDFC and Grasim were top gainers on both indices, while ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Yes Bank lost the most.

Reliance Power fell over 3 percent intraday after the Supreme Court disposed a plea for compensatory tariff for Sasan project.

10:58 am NPA policy: New NPA policy has received in-principle nod as Prime Minister's Office, Finance Ministry and RBI reached a consensus, reports CNBC-Awaaz quoting unnamed sources.

NPA policy doesn't need cabinet nod, hence RBI and finance ministry will issue circular soon. Sources say oversight committee will have special powers to resolve non-performing assets (NPA).

Formula for haircut to be taken by banks has been approved and banks can be allowed to take haircut within a permissible limit.

10:50 am IPO: CNBC-TV18 reports quoting government official said HUDCO IPO is likely to launch by June 30 but there is no timeframe for ONGC, Coal India deals.

The government deferred Hindustan Aeronautics IPO to July-September 2017 as company is yet to adopt new accounting rules, official said.

10:40 am Interview: National Aluminium Company (NALCO) has seen a strong response to their offer for sale (OFS) with the non-retail segment seeing a subscription of 1.84 times and the government has decided to retain full over subscription under the greenshoe option.

TK Chand, CMD of NALCO expects aluminium price to move between USD 1870 and USD 1950 in FY18.

Speaking about recent price increases in the aluminium sector, he said, "In Q4 our margins have significantly improved, so volume and price benefits have come into the company".

"We are expecting very good margin from aluminium segment", he further added.

10:20 am Results Estimates: Hindustan Zinc, the subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, is expected to show a healthy 29 percent growth in profit at Rs 2,764 crore in January-March quarter compared with Rs 2,149 crore in year-ago period. Profit in Q4FY16 included a tax credit. Likely lower other income may restrict profit growth.

Revenue during the quarter is seen rising 88 percent to Rs 5,900 crore compared with same quarter last fiscal, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Analysts believe Hindustan Zinc should report its best-ever quarterly EBITDA on the back of higher commodity prices and higher volumes, and stable cost.

Operating profit is likely to surge 156 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,347 crore and margin may expand 1490 basis points to 56.7 percent in the quarter gone by.

10:04 am Market Check: Benchmark indices remained moderately higher amid consolidation in morning while the broader markets continued to outperform. Oil and HDFC Group stocks supported the market while infra and select banks stocks were under pressure.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 33.78 points at 29,370.35 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 11.30 points at 9,114.80 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained more than half a percent on positive breadth.

More than two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Investors remained cautious about earnings season after Yes Bank's bad asset quality performance and muted earnings by IT majors.

GAIL topped the buying list among largecaps, up 4 percent followed by HDFC, HDFC Bank and ONGC. Adani Ports extended gains by 2 percent.

9:59 am Buzzing: Petrochemical major Reliance Industries share price gained more than 1 percent intraday after the company successfully completed its Ethane Project in record time.

"...announces successful and flawless completion of its Ethane Project, including commissioning of its ethane receipt & handling facilities and ethane cracking, at its Dahej Manufacturing facility in Gujarat in a world record time of less than three years," the company said in its filing.

Reliance is the first company to globally conceptualize large-scale imports of ethane from North America as feedstock for its cracker portfolio in India.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries owns Network 18 that publishes Moneycontrol.com.

9:50 am Provisions by banks: Exposure to a single cement company made a Rs 350 crore dent in the net profits of IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank, private lenders otherwise known to have better control on asset quality.

IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank had to make provisions of Rs 122 crore and Rs 227.9 crore, respectively, towards their exposure to this account in compliance with a Reserve Bank notification.

Both the banks stressed the reverses are temporary in nature, underlining that the cement company in question is all set to be acquired by a better performing city-based company soon and once the deal fructifies, there will be a write back.

9:32 am FII View: Nigel Tupper of Bank of America Merrill Lynch says the global wave continues its steady march upward, having troughed in June 2016.

The combination of improving macro data and earnings expectations, coupled with undemanding valuations of cyclicals remains a positive driver of global equity markets and cyclical sector performance, he feels.

Since the global wave troughed in June 2016, the MSCI All County World Index has returned 12.4 percent, Tupper says.

9:15 am Market Check: Benchmark indices opened marginally higher amid consolidation on Thursday, with the Nifty eyeing 9150 level following positive Asian cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 31.90 points at 29,368.47 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 16.05 points at 9,119.55. About 649 shares advanced against 181 declining shares on the BSE.

ICICI Bank and Axis Bank fell 1-2 percent in early trade after Yes Bank showed bad asset quality performance. The stock lost nearly 3 percent post earnings.

However, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Reliance Industries, ITC and Infosys supported the market.

The Indian rupee slipped in the early trade today. It has opened lower by 8 paise at 64.66 per dollar versus previous day's closing value of 64.58.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank says the rupee is rangebound, consolidating after sharp gains in March. USD-INR trading range for the day is 64.50- 64.80/dollar, he adds.

The dollar rose, a day after dropping to a 3-week low, but gave up some gains after a report from the Federal Reserve suggested the outlook for the US economy isn't as rosy as it was earlier in the year.

Asian indexes were cautiously higher today, following key earnings on Wall Street and as oil prices came off two-week lows set earlier in the session.