Sensex ends above 25000, up 214 points; Infosys, Sesa gain

03:50 pm Bonds
India-only funds saw a net USD 786 million in outflows last month, the highest since the global financial crisis, reflecting investors' preference for diversified funds rather than funds dedicated to one country, data from Thomson Reuters Lipper showed.

Aberdeen Global Indian Equity Fund , the world's biggest India-only fund run by Aberdeen Asset Management PLC , accounted for around 40 percent of the outflows, or a net USD 328.8 million, according to the data this week.

The waning interest in these funds come even as overall foreign interest in India remains high, especially over the election of Narendra Modi as the prime minister last month. Data has consistently shown fund investors prefer diversified emerging market funds that minimize single-country risk.

03:40 pm Market closing
All the Nifty, Sensex, CNX Midcap end at record closing highs. The Sensex closed above 25,000 for the first time ever. The Sensex is up 213.68 points at 25019.51 and the Nifty is up 71.85 points at 7474.10.  About 2130 shares have advanced, 883 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged.

Except Bank Nifty, all indices end trade in the green. Infosys, Sesa Sterlite are major contributors to Nifty gain. Reliance Infra, SAIL & Havells contribute most to the midcap rally. Hindalco, HUL, Tata Power and Tata Steel were major gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were HDFC Bank, M&M, Cipla, ICICI Bank and Dr Reddy's Labs.

03:30 pm  International markets
European shares held steady and the euro languished near four-month lows against the dollar on Thursday, with the common currency hostage to expectations the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy to support a fragile economic recovery.

In anticipation of lower interest rates, euro zone government bond yields fell. This helped push the premium that two-year U.S. government debt offers over euro zone benchmarks to its widest since 2007.

In one of its most keenly awaited decisions in years, the ECB is expected on Thursday to impose negative interest rates.

Economists in a Reuters poll expected the ECB to cut its main refinancing rate to 0.10 percent from 0.25 percent and cut its overnight deposit rate to -0.10 percent from zero. It may also launch a loan programme to banks to encourage lending.

03:20 pm Budget expectation
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet captains of Indian industry to elicit their views on the budget, which is likely to be presented in the first week of July.

As a part of the pre-budget consultation exercise, the Finance Minister has already met with agriculturists and will meet representatives of social sector later today. The industry wants the new government to take steps to boost the manufacturing sector, which has remained stagnant in the past two years.

It also wants clear and credible policies to attract investments, push mega projects and encourage growth. It has already made a case for non-adversarial, conducive and fair tax regulatory environment.

03:10 Deal
Piramal Enterprises has acquired 9.99 percent stake in Shriram City Union Finance for a total of Rs 790 crore. The Mumbai-based firm has acquired 65,79,840 equity shares of Shriram City Union Finance Ltd, the retail focused non-banking financial company (NBFC) of the Shriram Group, Piramal Enterprises said in a statement today.

The acquisition, by way of a preferential allotment of shares by Shriram City Union, was at a price of Rs 1,200 per equity share, taking the total capital paid at Rs 790 crore, it added.

"We are happy that the shareholders of Shriram City Union Finance have approved our investment in the company. Thiscapital infusion will support its present business model and help further its growth plans over the next few years," Piramal Enterprises Ajay Piramal said.

Shriram has a good team and the company is confident about creating long-term value for shareholders of both the companies, he added.

02:55pm J&K Bank up 1.4%
Jammu and Kashmir Bank will raise Rs 500-600 crore by selling 5 percent stake in PNB Metlife. The stake sale process will be completed by December, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting Reuters.

02:45pm IDFC weak
IDFC's provisions will increase over the next couple of quarters, the infrastructure financier's executive chairman Rajiv Lall said in an interview to CNBC-TV-18.

On the positive side, Lall said his firm was sitting on 21 percent Tier-I capital and had enough capital to ride out the worst storm.

He said the health of gas power plants would be the key to IDFC's asset quality.

According to him, pure infrastructure loan growth for IDFC is likely to take place in the next fiscal because of their transition to bank . ''Even if there is an opportunity, pure market based to grow the balance sheet, we may not want to because our starting position as a bank becomes that much more complex,'' says Lall.

02:35pm Interview
Reports suggest that the RBI has rejected United Bank of India's plea to ease curbs on lending.

United Bank of India's Executive Director Deepak Narang says that they need to show RBI that all systems and procedures are in place and credit administration has been tightening.

The bank hopes to approach the Reserve Bank soon to enhance the limit for AAA and AA rate accounts. Narang believes RBI is willing to relax those accounts up to Rs 25 crore for normal lending. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he says they are focussing on recovery and not on credit expansion.

02:26pm Suzlon bags repeat order
Suzlon Group, the world's largest turbine maker has received a 100.8 MW order from ReNew Wind Power.

"As per the agreement, the group will not only supply 48 units of its robust S97-120 m WTG's but will also oversee operations, maintenance and service of the wind site over the contracted period," says Suzlon Group in its filing.

It further says, "ReNew Wind Power currently deploys Suzlon WTG's for 100+ MW at their wind farms in Gujarat and Maharashtra and this will be the third successful order placed with Suzlon Group. This repeat order demonstrates the confidence our customers have with Suzlon's products and service capabilities,"

02:22pm Market Update
The Sensex surged 202.92 points to 25008.75 and the Nifty rose 68.60 points to 7470.85. About 2086 shares have advanced, 835 shares declined, and 105 shares are unchanged.

02:18pm Oil marketing companies in focus
Sources told CNBC-TV18 that oil ministry will consult prime minister's office and finance ministry on hiking LPG and kerosene prices. It will consult on one-time LPG price hike, say sources.

The current under-recovery on LPG stands at Rs 432.71 per cylinder and in case of kerosene, it is at Rs 32.87 per litre.

It is learnt that PMO and finance ministry want more market-aligned prices and better targetted subsidies. Oil ministry says FY15 under-recovery bill is expected to be at Rs 98,000 crore, say sources.

BPCL touched a record high of Rs 605.55, up 5 percent now while IOC and HPCL gained 3-3.7 percent.

02:10pm Market Update
The Sensex inched towards the 25000-mark, up 178.01 points to 24983.84 and the Nifty rose 61.10 points to 7463.35. About 2056 shares have advanced, 829 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged.

02:05pm FII View
Sanjay Shah, Co-Country head and Co-head Indian Equity Business, Morgan Stanley, said the ''realms of a strong policy framework in the making'', has made India an attractive destination for foreign investors. He said the investor interest has returned after election results.

In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, on the sidelines of Morgan Stanley Annual India Summit 2014 which was attended by over 70 corporates and 370 investors, Shah said the investors here are not just India-dedicated or confined to emerging markets, but they are the large global funds from North America and Europe who are looking at emerging markets as an asset class and within that finding India much more interesting. However, international investors are closely monitoring the Budget, he added.

02:00pm Equity benchmarks gained strength post consolidation. The Sensex rose 129.36 points to 24935.19 while the Nifty touched 7450 level (for the first time since May 26), up 48.10 points to 7450.35. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices climbed 1.2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

About 2039 shares have advanced, 846 shares declined, and 87 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite remained top gainer in the Sensex, gaining over 6 percent followed by Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries with around 3 percent.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC and ITC recouped losses in afternoon trade, rising 0.5 percent, 1.2 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. Top lender State Bank of India and its rival Axis Bank advanced 0.9 percent each while ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank declined 0.6-1 percent.

2:00 pm Big boon!  The governmentcould allow global online retailers such as Amazon.com to sell their own products as early as next month, removing restrictions that have held back competition in one of the world's biggest, and most price-sensitive, retail markets.

The decision, which is likely to be announced in or alongside the budget, is one of the first tangible signs of economic reform by the business-friendly government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The move could allow the government to circumvent political opposition to opening up India's USD 500 billion retail sector to global retail giants such as Wal-Mart Stores.

1:50 pm Interview: Executive chairman, Praj Industries, Pramod Chaudhari said the current ethanol blending stands at around 3 percent levels against the previous government's vision of 10 percent. He hopes the new government will help in bringing it to 5 percent level. He, however, doesn't see increasing the level to 10 percent as a major game changer, but feels that it can surely pave the way forward. The original intention of the previous government was to bring the ethanol blending to 20 percent by 2017. So if that goes from 3 percent to 10 percent, the move will give signal that growth in this business is possible, said Chaudhari, adding that it will give the related companies a lot of foreign exchange and self-reliance.

1:40 pm Macro outlook: India's new government may be the catalyst for the next global commodity supercycle, according to HSBC. Narendra Modi's landslide presidential election victory gave his nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party a strong mandate for reform, especially within India's poor infrastructure sector - a key source of hard commodities demand. India is already a large commodities producer but HSBC argues that if Modi increases infrastructure investment, demand for commodities such as steel and energy will outpace domestic supply, boosting global prices.

1:30 pm Buzzing: Shares of Max India tanked over 6 percent intraday. Credit Suisse has downgraded it to underperform with a target price of Rs 292 per share. The brokerage says that after the recent 50 percent run-up on expectations of an increase in insurance FDI limit to 49 percent, it will offer little upside hereon.

Credit Suisse says that the stock has very little to offer even after assigning previous deal multiples to its insurance business as it is now overshooting its fair value. The NDA government is exploring possibility of raising the FDI cap in the insurance sector to 49 percent but may cap voting rights of investors at 26 percent. Finance ministry is in discussion with the industry to work out the permutations and combinations of a conditional hike in the FDI cap.

The market is lying low ahead of the key global trigger this evening. Banks and power stocks drag while metal stocks gain.  Midcaps continue their outperformance.

The Sensex is up 28.63 points at 24834.46 and the Nifty is up 23.10 points at 7425.35. About 1950 shares have advanced, 837 shares declined, and 100 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Wipro are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are HDFC Bank, Cipla, ONGC, M&M and Dr Reddy's Labs.

Global markets are cautious ahead of ECB decision outcome. Expectations are high for ECB to announce stimulus measures. Traders are bracing for interest rate cuts and even a Federal Reserve-style asset purchase programme.

In the currency space, the rupee is a tad higher tracking dollar weakness against major currencies.

12:58pm State Bank of India's subsidiaries in focus
State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur rallied 7.6 percent to Rs 570.05 after hitting a 52-week high of Rs 582.90 while State Bank of Mysore jumped 9 percent to Rs 553.45 that touched a 52-week high of Rs 570.

State Bank of Travancore gained 9.12 percent to Rs 592. State Bank of India advanced 0.85 percent to Rs 2,705.

12:50pm Max India down 6%
Credit Suisse downgraded stock to underperform with a target price at Rs 292. The brokerage house says after the recent 50 percent run-up on expectations of an increase in insurance FDI limit to 49 percent, the stock now offers little upside.

12:40pm Interview
Praj Industries has been on focus post reports suggesting that enthnol blending with petrol could become a reality soon. Praj, which provides technology and machinery for ethanol production, is likely to benefit from the move.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, executive chairman Pramod Chaudhari said the current ethanol blending stands at around 3 percent levels against the previous government's vision of 10 percent. He hopes the new government will help in bringing it to 5 percent level.

He, however, doesn't see increasing the level to 10 percent as a major game changer, but feels that it can surely pave the way forward.

The original intention of the previous government was to bring the ethanol blending to 20 percent by 2017. So if that goes from 3 percent to 10 percent, the move will give signal that growth in this business is possible, said Chaudhari, adding that it will give the related companies a lot of foreign exchange and self-reliance.

12:30pm Nikkei at 3-month high
Japanese stocks ended at a near three-month high as the weak-yen trend supported the mood, but gains were limited as investors took a breather from recent sharp gains ahead of key events such as a US jobs report on Friday.

The Nikkei ended 0.1 percent higher at 15,079.37, the highest closing level since March 11, reports Reuters.

12:20pm FII View
Abhay Laijawala, Deutsche Equities says the brokerage house remains confident that India's new government will deliver on its economic agenda, which should in turn drive equity returns. Deutsche reiterates December 2014 Sensex target of 28,000, he adds.

According to him, MSCI India is trading at 1-year forward PE of 15.6x which is a 53 percent premium to MSCI EM (emerging market). ''While MSCI India is trading 4 percent above its long-term average, high premium is also attributable to below-average valuations of MSCI EM,'' he adds.

12:10pm Infosys in focus
While talking at Morgan Stanley Summit, Infosys says it will see 250-300 basis points margin pressure from wage hike in first quarter of current financial year 2014-15. It further says the company is looking externally for CEO as well but nothing has been finalised yet.

Meanwhile, its rival TCS in its annual report on Tuesday says it sees 59.7 percent jump in overall salary hike.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks recouped morning losses with the Nifty rising above 7400 level supported by metals stocks. The index rose 12.45 points to 7414.70 and the Sensex gained 13.78 points to 24819.61.

The broader markets have relentlessly been outperforming benchmarks. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rallied 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1884 to 794 on the BSE.

Metals continued to shine with the BSE Metal Index rising 2.6 percent. Sesa Sterlite surged 6 percent followed by Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries with 2-3 percent.

Shares of Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Hindustan Unilever, Wipro and Bharti Airtel gained 1-2 percent whereas HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, ITC, Reliance Industries, M&M, NTPC and Dr Reddy's Labs fell 0.3-1.7 percent.

12:00 pm Brokerage view: JP Morgan has downgraded Coal India to underweight from neutral, while cutting NMDC to neutral from overweight.

The investment bank says Coal India's downgrade was driven by its assessment of potential coal production and prices.

On NMDC, JP Morgan says it expected just "broadly stable" domestic iron ore prices, while noting "weak" global iron ore prices as another factor.

11:50 am Interview: IDFC's provisions will increase over the next couple of quarters, the infrastructure financier's executive chairman Rajiv Lall said in an interview to CNBC-TV-18.

On the positive side, Lall said his firm was sitting on 21 percent Tier-I capital and had enough capital to ride out the worst storm.

He said the health of gas power plants would be the key to IDFC's asset quality.

According to him pure infrastructure loan growth for IDFC is likely to take place in the next fiscal because of their transition to bank. ''Even if there is an opportunity, pure market based to grow the balance sheet, we may not want to because our starting position as a bank becomes that much more complex,'' says Lall.

11:40 am Buzzing: Shares of Suzlon Energy rallied as much as 5 percent intraday on to touch a 52-week high of Rs 29.85 after the world's largest turbine maker has received a 100.8 MW order from ReNew Wind Power.

"As per the agreement, the group will not only supply 48 units of its robust S97-120 m WTG's but will also oversee operations, maintenance and service of the wind site over the contracted period," says Suzlon Group in its filing.

It further says, "ReNew Wind Power currently deploys Suzlon WTG's for 100+ MW at their wind farms in Gujarat and Maharashtra and this will be the third successful order placed with Suzlon Group. This repeat order demonstrates the confidence our customers have with Suzlon's products and service capabilities,"

11:30 am Market outlook: Gautam Chaocharia of UBS expects the outperformance in midcaps to continue, as they offer a better value proposition compared to large caps at this point. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he said valuations of midcaps will soon catch up with those of large caps.

UBS is bullish on India and has a Nifty target of 8000 by the end of this calendar. Chaocharia said there was a noticeable pick up in global investor interest in India.

He is particularly bullish on stocks from the financial services and power sectors, and feels these still have steam left despite the run-up in the last couple of months.

Among large caps, UBS is bullish on BHEL, Coal India, L&T and NTPC.

In the midcap space, UBS's top bets include Voltas, Blue Star, Bajaj Electricals, Coromandel International and Power Grid.

Weakness in the market continues as the Sensex is down 73.20 points at 24732.63 and the Nifty is down 11.20 points at 7391.05. About 1664 shares have advanced, 743 shares declined and 100 shares are unchanged.

Metal stocks are hogging limelight with Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco and Tata Steel gaining 2-7 percent each. HUL and Wipro are top gainers in the Sensex. HDFC Bank, M&M, ICICI Bank, NTPC and Dr Reddy's Labs are major losers.

Gilts trade higher as market sentiment remains positive. Expectation of strong FII demand supports prices. Rupee is tad higher tracking dollar weakness against major currencies post poor US data. Brent hits three-week lows as tensions in Ukraine cool. Gold close to 4-month low as ECB decision is awaited.

Asian stocks are mostly lower. The Chinese services PMI disappointed coming in at 50.7 versus April's 51.4.

10:59am Suzlon up 4%
Suzlon Group has received a 100.8 MW order from ReNew Wind Power. "As per the agreement, the group will not only supply 48 units of its robust S97-120 m WTG's but will also oversee operations, maintenance and service of the wind site over the contracted period," says the company in its filing.

10:50am IL&FS Transportation Networks ups stake in Srinagar Sonmarg Tunnel
IL&FS Transportation Networks has increased its equity stake from 14.5 percent to 49 percent in the capital of Srinagar Sonmarg Tunnel Way Limited, a company promoted by SOMA Enterprise (SOMA).

It will undertake the construction, operation and maintenance of Z-Morh Tunnel including approaches on national highway No. 1 (Srinagar - Sonmarg - Gumri Road) in Jammu & Kashmir on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) annuity basis awarded by the Border Road Organization, Government of India.

10:40am Interview
Vikas Rathee, Group COO, Prime Focus says the resurgence in demand for 3D to continue into FY15. He is hopeful of achieving robust revenue growth rates in FY15.

He expects interest cost to come down in the coming quarters on the back of closure of the backend and cheaper dollar financing.

10:30am JP Morgan downgrades Coal India, NMDC
JP Morgan downgrades Coal India to "underweight" from "neutral", while cutting NDMC to "neutral" from "overweight".

* The investment bank says Coal India's downgrade was driven by its assessment of potential coal production and prices.

* On NMDC, JP Morgan says it expected just "broadly stable" domestic iron ore prices, while noting "weak" global iron ore prices as another factor, reports Reuters.

10:20am Idea Cellular in focus
Mobile phone operator Idea Cellular plans to launch a share sale to raise as much as USD 500 million on June 5 to part fund its capital expenditure including a purchase of mobile radiowaves, three people involved in the deal said.

The Idea share offering is expected to be launched after the local market hours on June 5, said the people, reports Reuters.

10:10am FII View
Prabhat Awasthi, Nomura says the brokerage house maintains positive stance on the market. ''Our 27,200 December-end Sensex target is based on a conservative below-consensus 12 percent CAGR earnings growth for FY15 and FY16. However, we continue to expect the market to re-rate in the near-term on expectations of a pick-up in growth and further downside to interest rate expectations,'' he adds.

10:00am The market slipped marginally on further profit booking but the broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising over 0.3 percent.

The Sensex declined 101.63 points to 24704.20 and the Nifty fell 24.50 points to 7377.75. About 1277 shares have advanced, 703 shares declined, and 82 shares are unchanged.

India's largest private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank lost 1.8 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC and ITC fell close to 1 percent. ONGC, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, NTPC, Hero Motocorp and Tata Power declined too.

However, Sesa Sterlite and Hindalco Industries topped the buying list, rising 3.7 percent and 3 percent, respectively followed by Hindustan Unilever, Wipro and Maruti Suzuki with 1 percent.

9:52 am Market check: The market has slipped into red as the Sensex is down 146.70 points or at 24659.13. The Nifty is below 7400, at 7369.50, down 32.75 points. About 1157 shares have advanced, 736 shares declined, and 67 shares are unchanged.

Banking stocks are dragging the indices. ONGC, Tata Power, ICICI Bank, NTPC and HDFC Bank are top losers in the Sensex. Among the gainers are Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco, HUL, Maruti and Wipro.

9:45 am Views on market: Abhay Laijawala, Deutsche Equities is confident that India's new government will deliver on its economic agenda, which should in turn drive equity returns. Deutsche reiterates December 2014 Sensex target of 28,000, he adds.

According to him, MSCI India is trading at 1-year forward PE of 15.6x which is a 53 percent premium to MSCI EM (emerging market). ''While MSCI India is trading 4 percent above its long-term average, high premium is also attributable to below-average valuations of MSCI EM,'' he adds.

He further says, within sectors, Deutsche has seen a sharp re-rating in industrials, materials while defensives, IT and healthcare have de-rated. ''Consumer staples and telecoms, however, continue above long-term average relative PE to MSCI India,'' he adds.

9:40 am Buzzing: Shares of cement stocks are rallying as producers have announced price hikes ranging from 3-30 percent across most regions. According to Citi, monsoon, losses burden in South and production discipline may have been the reasons for the price hike.

Stocks like Andhra Cement, JK Cement, India Cements, Heidelberg Cements and Ambuja Cements are gaining most in the sector.

''At the moment these are announcements; dealers are adopting a wait and watch stance to see if the hikes go through while discounts continue to prevail. General indications point to a likely correction during the monsoon,'' it said in a note.

Citi maintains sell rating on UltraTech Cement but prefers Grasim on relative valuations.

9:30 am FII view: Prabhat Awasthi, Nomura says the brokerage house maintains positive stance on the market. ''Our 27,200 December-end Sensex target is based on a conservative below-consensus 12 percent CAGR earnings growth for FY15 and FY16. However, we continue to expect the market to re-rate in the near-term on expectations of a pick-up in growth and further downside to interest rate expectations,'' he adds.

He further says, Nomura remains overweight on IT services and would be buyers on dips. ''Our top stock picks remain Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, YES Bank, Reliance Industries, BPCL, GAIL, Coal India, Container Corporation and Adani Ports & SEZ,'' he adds.

The market has opened on a flat note as most investors are cautious ahead of the crucial European Central Bank's meeting. The Sensex is up 22.93 points at 24828.7 and the Nifty is down 2.50 points at 7399.75.

About 611 shares have advanced, 94 shares declined, and 24 shares are unchanged.Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's Labs, Coal India, NTPC and Wipro are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are ICICI Bank, HDFC twins, ONGC, M&M.

The rupee gained marginally in early trade. It opened higher by 7 paise at 59.26 per dollar versus previous day's closing value of 59.33 a dollar.

Mohan Shenoy of Kotak Mahindra Bank says, "Global currency markets are focused on ECB rate setting meeting today where some form of monetary easing is expected. This could weaken euro and trigger flows into emerging markets. However, sterilisation of custodial flows by RBI is keeping USD-INR in a tight range. USD-INR is expected to trade today in a range of 59.20-59.50.

Market participants across the world are awaiting the ECB's rate decision, expected today. With the eurozone CPI dropping further away from the ECB's 2 percent target, expectations of a stimulus package to stave off low inflation are high. The package, experts say could include the introduction of a negative interest rate on deposits placed with the central bank. Refinancing rate reduction by 15 basis points is also likely.

Asian markets are a mixed bag this morning. Nikkei is sitting at a new two-month peak and is gaining for a fourth straight session. Meanwhile, the Kospi resumed trade lower following Wednesday's public holiday as traders awaited revised first-quarter gross domestic product data

US markets rise lifting the S&P 500 into fresh record highs.

Brent crude turned lower on news that Ukraine's president-elect was working on a peace plan and that a meeting with Russian leaders this week in France was not being ruled out. Gold is flat ahead of the crucial ECB decision.