Sensex ends above 26000, up 195 points; NTPC, Dr Reddy's rally

3:30 pm Market Closing: Equity benchmarks closed higher with the Sensex rising 195.42 points or 0.76 percent to 26034.13. The NSE Nifty ended above 7900-mark, up 64.10 points or 0.82 percent to 7925.15. About 1538 shares advanced against 1149 declining shares on the BSE.

NTPC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and ONGC topped buying list on Sensex and Nifty, up 2-4 percent while Tata Steel plunged 3.5 percent and Bharti Airtel was down over 2 percent. M&M, BHEL, GAIL, ACC and Idea Cellular declined 0.5-1 percent.

3:20 pm Fund raising plan: Lyka Labs says board of directors has decided to increase authorised capital from existing Rs 26 crore consisting of equity capital of Rs 24 crore and preference capital of Rs 2 crore to Rs 32 crore consisting of equity capital of Rs 30 crore and preference capital of Rs 2 crore.

The board has decided to raise funds upto Rs 100 crore by way of issue of shares on preferential basis/qualified institutional placement (QIP)/convertible debentures and any other securities in one or more combination.

3:05 pm Buzzing: Shares of Mirza International rallied nearly 7 percent intraday on getting court approval for amalgamation of Genesisfootwear.

"Honourable High Court of Judicature at Allahabad has approved scheme of amalgamation of Genesis Footwear Enterprises Private Limited with Mirza International," said the leather footwear manufacturer in its filing to exchange.

The scheme of amalgamation received approval from board of directors on March 11 with share exchange ratio of 92 equity shares of Rs 2 each to be issued by Mirza International for every 100 shares held by shareholders of Genesis Footwear Enterprises.

However, that exchange ratio modified by board members on June 12. The company said 52 equity shares of Rs 2 each to be issued by Mirza International for every 100 shares of Rs 2 each held by Shareholders of Genesis Footwear.

2:55 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks extended rally with the Sensex rising 219.11 points or 0.85 percent to 26057.82 and the Nifty up 69.95 points or 0.89 percent to 7931.

About 1554 shares have advanced, 1071 shares declined, and 239 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

2:40 pm Jaypee gets green nod: Jaypee Cement has received the green nod for expansion of limestone mining capacity from 3.47 million tonnes per annum to 6 MTPA in Andhra Pradesh, entailing an investment of Rs 95 crore.

It has commissioned a cement plant with 5 MTPA capacity and captive limestone mine of 3.47 MTPA to meet partial requirement of limestone of the cement plant at Budhawada village, in Krishna district.

The expansion of Budhawada mine capacity will meet the complete limestone requirement of its plant.

"Environment Ministry has examined the proposal and given the green clearance for expansion of mining capacity of Budhawada limestone mine by Jaypee Cement," a senior Environment Ministry official said.

2:20 pm Suzlon in news: Another Fed hike in March won't be good for mkts: Rabobank

2:00 pm Market Check
The market remained stable in trade today with the Nifty comfortably above 7900 while the Sensex cruised past 26000-mark. The market breadth was also positive as about 1556 shares advanced against 1019 declining shares on the BSE.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 160.16 points or 0.62 percent to 25998.87 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 49.70 points or 0.63 percent to 7910.75.

Tushar Pradhan of HSBC Asset Management says urban consumption is picking up. According to him, auto sector is expected to do well in 2016.

ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy's Labs, ONGC and NTPC rallied 2-3 percent while Tata Steel fell over 3 percent.

European equities were mixed on the first day of the final trading week of 2015 with trading volumes expected to be thin today. France's CAC 40 index was lower by around 0.46 percent with the German DAX flat. London's FTSE index was closed for a public holiday in the UK.

1:40 pm FII View: The year 2015 was a disappointment because of weak macroeconomic situation, coupled with delays in the reform process and uncertainty in global markets, says Tushar Pradhan, CIO, HSBC Global Asset Management (India).

However, he believes there are enough reasons to be optimistic about 2016.

Going ahead, Pradhan feels NBFCs are well positioned to benefit from economic growth and sees enough value across the sector. He also says the 7th pay commission will be positive for the auto sector. He also sees urban consumption picking up.

1:30 pm Export Outlook: Industry body Assocham has further lowered its outlook for India's exports to USD 255-260 billion for 2015-16, which stood at USD 310 billion in the previous fiscal, disagreeing with the government's claim that there is "no crisis" on the outward shipments front.

Assocham in September this year had forecast the country's exports to be around USD 265-268 billion. Cumulative value of exports during April-November 2015-16 stood at USD 174.30 billion as against USD 213.77 billion in the same period last year, down 18.46 percent.

Contraction in exports continued for the 12th month in a row in November as outward shipments shrank 24.43 percent to USD 20.01 billion amid a global demand slowdown.

"Given the further decline in the last few months, the chamber is revising its outlook downward, disagreeing with a pre-dominant government view as if there is no big problem in the sector," Assocham stated.

1:20 pm Oil recovery?: The weak oil market is poised for some recovery in 2016, offering potential upside to the currencies of oil-producing countries, an analyst said.

"The oil market is over supplied, doesn't look great in the short run, but there is still a recovery story for the second half," said Dominic Schnider, UBS Wealth Management's head of commodity and Asia-Pacific forex.

An uptick in oil prices will give some upside to oil currencies, particularly the Canadian dollar, which is also closely linked to a US economy that is showing signs of a pickup, he told CNBC's Squawk Box.

The Canadian dollar, known as the loonie, is down 20 percent this year against the US dollar amid a rout in energy prices that sent crude oil prices down about 40 percent so far this year.

1:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks continued to see positive momentum despite weak Asian cues. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 138.30 points or 0.54 percent to 25977.01 and the 50-share NSE Nifty advanced 42.65 points or 0.54 percent to 7903.70.

The market breadth remained positive as about 1551 shares advanced against 943 declining shares on the BSE.

Metals stocks lost shine with Tata Steel falling 3.5 percent. Hindalco and Vedanta were down 0.5-1 percent.

Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular were down 1-2 percent. Reliance Industries' subsidiary Reliance Jio rolled out its 4G service for its employees. Commercial launch of Reliance's 4G service is expected in early 2016 and financial year 2016-17 will be the first full year of commercial operations.

ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and NTPC were top gainers on Sensex, up 2 percent each.

Major Asian equities closed mostly lower on the first day of the final trading week for 2015, with the Japanese market advancing, while the South Korean Kospi fell 1 percent and the Shanghai Composite seeing declines of near 2.6 percent.

12:45 pm Buzzing: Shares of Tata Power gained 3.2 percent intraday on signing memorandum of understanding with Russian government for investment in energy sector.

"Tata Power, on December 24, signed a memorandum of understanding with ministry of development of Russian Far East, Government of Russian Federation, to explore and develop investment opportunities in energy sector," says the Tata Group company.

As per this MoU, Russian government will cooperate with and support Tata Power at all stages of investment projects, including assisting company's communications with federal and regional authorities, state-owned companies and private sector.

12:20 pm Asia Update: Asian equities closed mixed on the first day of the final trading week for 2015, with the Japanese market advancing, while the South Korean Kospi fell 1 percent.

Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital, said in a note last week that shares will likely see their "traditional Santa Claus rally over the Christmas/New Year period as investors take advantage of improved valuations, monetary conditions remain easy and new issuance dries up into year end."

However, Oliver warned about the Federal Reserve and a strong dollar "possibly weighing on commodity prices and emerging countries may mean that volatility will remain high."

12:00 pm Market Check
Bulls have retained their control over Dalal Street today as equity benchmarks continued to hold morning gains, aided by healthcare, technology, pharma, IT and select banks stocks.

The Sensex surged 144.29 points or 0.56 percent to 25983 and the Nifty rose 45.50 points or 0.58 percent to 7906.55. The broader markets also maintained uptrend with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.3-0.6 percent supported by positive market breadth.

About 1540 shares have advanced on the BSE against 859 declining shares.

Force Motors, Pipavav Defence, Dr Lal PathLabs, SpiceJet, TCS, Alkem Lab and Reliance Infrastructure were the most active shares on exchanges.

11:45 am Interview: Shares of IDBI Bank saw a significant surge after reports that the government was planning to sell 15 percent stake to International Finance Corporation (IFC), a unit of World Bank.

However, the managing director and chief executive officer Kishore Kharat, says the bank hasn't had any discussion with the government on the same.

Currently, the government holds a 76.5 percent stake in the IDBI Bank.

Furthermore, on the issue of stressed assets, Kharat says most of the stressed asset portfolio is from the infrastructure segment, adding that the bank has little room to sell loans to asset reconstruction company (ARC). Kharat opines most of the assets will start performing well once the economy picks up.

11:25 am Fund raising plan: Future Consumer Enterprise (FCEL) plans to raise USD 55 million (approximately Rs 368.5 crore) through equity linked instruments.

For this purpose, the board of directors has proposed to issue and allot equity linked securities to Black River Food 2 Pte Ltd and promoter and /or promoter group entities.

It intends to use these funds for various expansion plans & business initiatives of the company and improvement of costs & maturity profile of existing debt thereby further strengthening the balance sheet of FCEL. 

11:00 am Market Check
The market continued to see buying interest with the Sensex eyeing 26000-mark on short covering and some value buying in select stocks. The broader markets gained too with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 0.4-0.6 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 132.75 points or 0.51 percent to 25971.46 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 39.15 points or 0.50 percent to 7900.20. More than two shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular were down 1-1.5 percent. Reliance Industries' subsidiary Reliance Jio rolled out its 4G service for its employees. Commercial launch of Reliance's 4G service is expected in early 2016 and financial year 2016-17 will be the first full year of commercial operations.

Tata Steel was down 1.7 percent while ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Lupin, Dr Reddy's Labs and NTPC gained 1-2 percent.

10:40 am Outlook for 2016: Chris Wood, CLSA says with financial markets winding down for the extended holiday period, there is little sign for now of any relief from the familiar pattern of falling commodity prices and a rising US dollar.

According to him, investors need to remain hyper focused on the credit markets and in particular high-yield energy related bonds. Greed & Fear continues to believe that they will play the same role as a lead indicator of broader credit problems ahead as subprime mortgages did in 2007, he says.

10:25 am Coal India production: Government said coal output by state-owned CIL crossed 9 percent over last year's production adding that there is "still a very long way to go" amid the PSU eyeing one billion tonnes production target.

"Coal production by Coal India crosses 9 percent over last year's record production. Well done. Keep it going. Still a very long way to go," Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said in a tweet.

Coal India's production had jumped 8.8 percent to 321.38 million tonnes (MT) during April-November period of the current fiscal.

CIL produced 295.40 MT during the same period last year, a company official said. The government has set one billion tonnes production goal for the company by 2020. CIL accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production.

10:00 am Market Check
Equity benchmarks extended gains in morning trade with the Nifty reclaiming 7900 for the first time since December 3, aided by banks, auto, pharma, FMCG and technology stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 140.23 points or 0.54 percent to 25978.94 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 40.30 points or 0.51 percent to 7901.35. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was strong as about 1327 shares advanced against 489 declining shares on the BSE.

Tata Motors topped buying list on the Sensex, up 2 percent followed by ICICI Bank, NTPC, Reliance Industries and Lupin with 1 percent upside. Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel were losers.

9:55 am Market Update: The Sensex jumped 140.23 points or 0.54 percent to 25978.94 and the Nifty climbed 40.30 points or 0.51 percent to 7901.35.

About 1327 shares have advanced, 489 shares declined, and 118 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

9:45 am Buzzing: Shares of SMS Pharmaceuticals climbed 11.8 percent intraday on getting approval from the US health regulator for one its unit in Andhra Pradesh. 
"SMS has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for manufacturing facility (unit 7) located at Kandivalasa village, Pusapatirega Mandal, Vizianagaram distict, Andhra Pradesh," says the Telangana-based pharma company in its filing.

The US health regulator had conducted inspection of this plant in third week of April.

9:35 am: Reliance Jio's 4G launch: On Reliance Founder Chairman Dhirubhai Ambani's 83rd birth anniversary on December 28, Reliance Jio will roll out its 4G service for its employees, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced at a mega launch event in Navi Mumbai on Sunday night.

The employee launch of Jio precedes the commercial launch of the service that is expected in early 2016 and financial year 2016-17 will be the first full year of commercial operations.

9:30 am Oil weakens: Oil prices fell today after the long Christmas weekend, with US crudes defending a newly gained premium over internationally traded Brent contracts.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were trading at USD 37.91 per tonne, down 19 cents from their last settlement.

Brent was down 18 cents at USD 17.71 a barrel, meaning that US crude defended a premium it gained over the globally traded benchmark last week.

The US market tightened in December following reduced drilling activity, a dip away from record stockpiles and the prospect of crude exports following a 40-year export ban.

9:15 am Market Check
The market has opened higher after a long Christmas weekend, supported by oil & gas, auto, pharma, FMCG and select banks stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 99.48 points to 25938.19 and the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 23.90 points to 7884.95. About 1022 shares have advanced, 355 shares declined, and 90 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

ICICI Bank, BHEL, Vedanta, GAIL, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Sun Pharma and ONGC were early gainers. Bharti Airtel, TCS, Grasim, Tech Mahindra, Cipla and HDFC Bank declined.

The broader markets also gained with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.2 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

The Indian rupee opened higher in early trade today. It has gained 11 paise at 66.10 per dollar versus 66.21 Wednesday.

NS Venkatesh of IDBI Bank says the market is coming out of the extended holiday from last week and the rupee is expected to trade with thin volumes today.

He expects a month-end demand from oil importers which could put pressure on the rupee. According to him, trading range for today is 66.05-66.30/dollar.

In global markets, Asia traded mixed with the Nikkei trading steady despite some disappointing data.

Japan's factory output for the previous month fell 1 percent month-on-month, compared to market expectation of a 0.6 percent drop.

The dollar declined against a basket of currencies, putting it on track for its steepest monthly loss since April, as traders resumed booking profits on their bullish bets.