Sensex ends at record high, Nifty above 9250; RIL, Adani Ports gain

3:30 pm Market at Close: Benchmarks have ended the day on a high note, driven by a rally in index heavyweights, ahead of the RBI's monetary policy meeting's outcome.

Benchmark indices hit record highs intraday and closed at key levels. The Sensex clocked the crucial benchmark of 30,000 intraday, while the Nifty too hit a record intraday high of 9274, before closing below that mark.

The Sensex was up 64.02 points at 29974.24, while the Nifty was up 27.30 points at 9265.15. The market breadth was healthy as well with 1,965 shares advancing against a decline of 956 shares, while 136 shares were unchanged.

Adani Ports, Reliance and Maruti Suzuki were among the top gainers on both indices, while HDFC, Coal India, Asian Paints and HCL Tech were a drag.

3:09 pm Buzzing: Jai Corp stock price rallied nearly 12 percent intraday after company completed liquidation of the wholly-owned subsidiary in USA, Assurene Products Corporation

"Assurene Products Corporation has now been duly dissolved by the concerned authority," the company says in its filing.

Incorporated in 1985, Jai Corp is engaged into manufacturing businesses like steel, plastic processing and spinning yarn. Apart from plastic processing business, it is also into infrastructure and real estate businesses.

2:57 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks gained further in last hour of trade, with the Nifty hitting fresh record high of 9,266.60, backed by Reliance Industries that crossed more than Rs 1,400-mark. However, the selling pressure in HDFC, Infosys and ITC capped upside.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 68.43 points at 29,978.65 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 29.10 points at 9,266.95.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap rising 0.75 percent and Smallcap up 1.25 percent.

2:36 pm APM Terminals to exit Gujarat Pipavav Port? CNBC-TV18 learns from sources that APM Terminals is looking to exit Gujarat Pipavav Port. Sources says that APM Terminals is in talks with interested party to sell their stake and likely contender could be Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ).

There is likely to be a bid process for strategic investors and competitors to pick this stake, say sources.

2:20 pm Duty-free import of raw sugar: The government today allowed duty free import of raw sugar upto 5,00,000 tonnes to boost domestic supplies and check price rise amid production fall.

The duty-free imports will be allowed until June 12 under the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ), according to a notification laid in Parliament.

As per the government estimate, the country's sugar production is projected to drop to 22.5 million tonnes in the ongoing 2016-17 marketing year from 25.1 million tonnes last year because of drought.

2:10 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices extended its gains after trading almost flat through the morning, with the Nifty advancing above 9250-mark.

The Sensex was up 53.86 points at 29964.08, while the Nifty was up 24.70 points at 9262.55. The market breadth continued to be healthy with 1,908 shares advancing against a decline of 875 shares. Around 143 shares were unchanged.

Maruti Suzuki and Adani Ports were the top gainers on both indices, while HDFC, Coal India and Infosys were the top losers.

1:55 pm Narayana to discontinue plan to build hospital in Odisha: Bengaluru-headquartered healthcare provider, Narayana Hrudayalaya, said on Wednesday that it had decided to discontinue plans to build a multispecialty hospital in Bhubaneswar citing concerns over financial viability.

The company said it will be surrendering the land allotted to it on lease by the Odisha government for the purpose of setting up hospital, subject to the refund of the consideration paid for leasing the land.

''Narayana was confident of setting up a hospital on allotted land in Bhubaneswar and was in initial stage of procuring the necessary approvals,'' the organisation said in a statement. ''But in 2012, a multi-specialty hospital by another operator was commissioned in close vicinity to the allotted land which adversely impacted the project's financial viability.''

1:41 pm Maharashtra to follow suit? Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said the state government will study the Uttar Pradesh model of farm loan waiver worth Rs 36,000 crore.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly here, where Shiv Sena and BJP members demanded that the state government announce a loan waiver for distressed farmers, Fadnavis said, "we will study how Uttar Pradesh will raise such a huge amount."

The CM said he has directed the State Finance Secretary to study how UP goes about with the promised debt waiver. Referring to the High Court directive in Tamil Nadu asking the state government to waive farm loans following a peasant protest, Fadnavis said, "decision of waiving farm loan is the prerogative of the government."

1:25 pm New plant commissioned: Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) today announced the commissioning of its 100 MW wind farm project in Nimbagallu, Andhra Pradesh.

The Tata Power arm had commissioned 36 MW wind capacity of the plant in December 2016.

Announcing the commissioning of the balance 64 MW today, Tata Power said with this, the operating renewable portfolio of TPREL has grown to 1,959 MW, comprising 907 MW wind, 932 MW solar and 120 MW waste heat recovery capacity.

1:10 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices were trading almost flat with a positive bias as investors sat on the fence ahead of Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy meeting on Thursday.

The Sensex was up 16.67 points at 29926.89, while the Nifty was up 12.20 points at 9250.05. The market breadth remained healthy with 1,902 shares advancing against a decline of 809 shares, while 134 shares were unchanged.

Shares of index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose over 2.5 percent intraday, driven by buying interest among investors due to the positive response to Jio Prime membership offer.

The shares were off to a flier on the first day of FY18 as well and drove up the indices higher.

Buying momentum spilled over on Wednesday and that saw the stock touching Rs 1,400 mark. With this upmove, the company's market capitalisation clocked Rs 4.5 lakh crore.

Shankara Building Products share price opened sharply higher at Rs 573 on Wednesday, a whopping 24.56 percent premium over its issue price of Rs 460.

After smart opening, it touched an intraday high of Rs 608.80, up 32.3 percent over issue price. In pre-opening trade, the stock price settled at Rs 555.05.

The listing was on expected lines as the issue had seen overwhelming response from investors, oversubscribing 41.60 times.

12:50 pm Expansion: Premier Explosives is looking at expanding its operations in Andhra Pradesh in Chittoor district. It is looking to set up a unit and get the land allotment.

Throwing more light on the above development, AN Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director of Premier Explosives told CNBC-TV18 once the land is in their hand it will take up about 18 months to set up the facility. The outgoing for this could be around Rs 40 crore.

The company is looking for strategic investors by divesting equity. They are looking at raising money through qualified institutional placement (QIP) and use the money for expansion, said Gupta.

12:35 pm Interview: Talking about the financials of the company, Sukumar Srinivas, MD of Shankara Building Products said, "The company should close the year, FY17, with a topline of around Rs 2,300 crore, up about 15 percent from last year's Rs 2,000 crore".

"We have done pretty well on the EBITDA margins and profit after tax (PAT) is as per our target", he said.

12:20 pm Reliance above Rs 1400: Reliance Industries crossed another milestone today and reached Rs 1,400 level, up more 2.5 percent intraday on consistent value buying as the company started charging customers and extended its deadline for prime membership.

The stock also crossed market capitalisation of Rs 4.5 lakh crore.

12:00 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks gained strength amid consolidation in noon trade, with the Nifty climbing above 9250 level ahead of outcome of Monetary Policy Committee meeting tomorrow, backed by Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 27.17 points at 29,937.39, and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 15.30 points at 9,253.15 while the broader markets continued to outperform.

The Nifty Midcap was up 0.8 percent and Smallcap gained 1.2 percent. About five shares advanced for every two shares falling on the BSE.

Reliance Industries gained 2.4 percent and Adani Ports rallied 3.5 percent followed by Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, L&T and HUL while HDFC, ITC, Infosys and ICICI Bank were losers.

11:49 am 600 stocks double wealth: The S&P BSE Sensex might not have gone anywhere but a lot has changed since then. The political climate, as well as economic positioning, is very different than what it was back in the year 2015 which makes this rally more authentic.

As much as 66 stocks more than doubled investors' wealth in the S&P BSE 500 index since then which include names like Jubilant Life, which rose 420 percent, followed by Nilkamal which gained 381 percent, and SpiceJet which zoomed 370 percent in the same period. Read the full report here.

11:35 am Titan shines: Shares of Titan glittered on Dalal Street as investors cheered the company's positive comments on its performance in the fourth quarter.

Consumer sentiment as well as demand scenario have recovered "quite significantly" in the January-March quarter, the Tata group firm said. The company witnessed sales traction during the period across all divisions, including jewellery, watches and eyewear, and is expecting a good year ahead.

"Consumer sentiment as well as demand scenario recovered quite significantly (post demonetisation) by the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2016-17 and sales were good for all divisions by varying degrees," the company said in a filing to the exchanges.

11:08 am Market Check: Benchmark indices were seen consolidating ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Thursday.

The Sensex was down 12.08 points at 29898.14, while the Nifty was up 2.50 points at 9240.35. The market breadth remained healthy as 1,747 shares advanced against a decline of 689 shares, while 106 shares were unchanged.

Adani Ports, Tata Steel and Bharti Infratel were among the top gainers, while HDFC and Mahindra & Mahindra lost the most on both indices.

Shares of Artson Engineering and Nila Infrastructures rose more than 4 percent and 7 percent intraday Wednesday on order win.

Artson Engineering received a contract of approximately Rs 12.50 crore from Tata Projects for the piping and mechanical works in the state of Maharashtra, India.

Nila Infrastructures has received work order from AMC towards construction of D.K. Patel hall at Ahmedabad.

Meanwhile, Titan witnessed a surge of over 5 percent intraday after the company indicated at a strong performance in Q4. The rally in the stock also spilled over to other jewellery stocks as PC Jewellers rose over 4 percent, while Gitanjali Gems was up 3 percent.

10:35 am Market Outlook: Birla Sun Life AMC was not too aggressive at the current market levels. It saw a gradual recovery in economy as well as earnings. Companies with good earnings visibility will be key to the market, Mahesh Patil, Co-Chief Investment Officer at Birla Sun Life AMC told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

''Domestic-focussed companies will see a pick-up in earnings growth,'' Patil told the channel.

10:15 am Fund raising: Two of PTC India's subsidiaries - the listed energy sector lender PTC India Financial Services and the unlisted renewable power generator PTC Energy – may raise equity from outside sources in the current financial year, according to an official familiar with the development.

''We have so far invested Rs 650 crore equity in PTC Energy and Rs 750 crores in PTC Financial as equity," the official with the parent company told Moneycontrol. "Now it is up to the two to raise equity to fund their growth plans. It's not that we don't want to invest more equity and won't invest in the two, but we feel the two companies should now also look at outside sources.''

While PTC India wholly owns PTC Energy, it has a 64.99 percent stake in PTC India Financial, having increased its stake during the last concluded quarter from 60 percent at a cost of Rs. 308.77 crore.

10:00 am Market Check: Benchmark indices remained rangebound in morning ahead outcome of two-day Monetary Policy Committee meeting due tomorrow.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 38.43 points at 29,871.79 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 4.50 points to 9,233.35.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks, with the BSE Midcap index rising 0.4 percent and Smallcap gaining 0.7 percent on positive market breadth. About five shares advanced for every two shares declining on the exchange.

Shankara Building Products share price opened sharply higher at Rs 573 on Wednesday, a whopping 24.66 percent premium over its issue price of Rs 460.

9:58 am Fund raising: IL&FS Transportation said it will raise Rs 750 crore through non-convertible debentures.

The committee of directors has given nod for allotment of 7,500 debentures aggregating to Rs 750 crore, it said in a BSE filing.

9:51 am IPO pre-opening: Shankara Building Products share price settled at Rs 555.05 in pre-opening trade, up 20.66 percent over issue price of Rs 460.

The listing was on expected lines as its issue had seen overwhelming response from investors, oversubscribing 41.60 times.

9:43 am Buzzing: Shares of KEC International touched 52-week high of Rs 220.85, rises 4.4 percent intraday as it has won orders worth Rs 1781 crore.

The company's transmission and distribution business has won orders worth Rs 1702 crore, which includes orders worth Rs 1270 crore from international markets.

The transmission business of the company got an order worth Rs 432 crore in domestic market from PGCIL of 800 kV HVDC transmission line and construction & extension of 765/400 kV GIS/AIS substations.

The cable and solar businesses of the company have secured various orders for cable supply/ EHV cabling/roof top solar project worth Rs 79 crore.

9:30 am What's on RBI radar: HSBC expects the RBI to keep policy rates on hold on April 6. On commentary, it could well choose to tread a middle path - acknowledge that global pressures have abated, but in the same breath stress that domestic uncertainties remain, it says.

According to investment firm, the RBI could use the policy day to outline a mix of measures to absorb excess liquidity. It is also likely to discuss details around the introduction of the Standing Deposit Facility, the much anticipated window, which promises to give the RBI unlimited capability to remove excess liquidity in periods of surplus.

9:15 am Market Check: After a holiday, equity benchmarks opened higher on Wednesday, with the Sensex crossing 30,000-mark but failed to sustain that level as investors turned cautious ahead of Monetary Policy Committee meet later today.

Majority of economists expect unchanged in rates from the Reserve Bank of India but the commentary will be closely watched, especially after the RBI, in last meet, changed its stance from accommodative to neutral.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 79.75 points at 29,830.47 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 15.15 points to 9,222.70, dragged by HDFC, ITC, Infosys and ICICI Bank.

However, Reliance Industries continued to support the market, up nearly 2 percent on value buying.

The Indian rupee opened marginally lower at 65.07 per dollar against Monday's closing value of 65.02.

Bhaskar Panda of HDFC Bank feels the rupee is likely to remain rangebound today and stay between 64.90-65.10/dollar.

The dollar was flat but traded lower against the yen which rose to a one-week high. Caution prevails ahead of the US china meeting. Investors will be watching for any discussion on trade or currency manipulation.

Asian shares were in positive territory, amid concerns over North Korea's latest ballistic missile test which landed in the Sea of Japan.