Sensex ends on a flat note, Nifty below 10,450; DRL down 2%

3:30 pm Market at Close: The market gave up most of its gains through the day and ended on a flat note, with the Nifty closing below 10,450.

The Sensex closed up 1.13 points at 33813.39, while the Nifty was up 3.00 points at 10445.20. The market breadth was positive as 1,876 shares advanced against a decline of 978 shares, while 500 shares were unchanged.

Adani Ports, L&T and ICICI Bank were the top gainers, while DRL, Wipro and Bajaj Auto were the index losers.

3:15 pm Deutsche Bank on consumer sector: Deutsche Bank has come out its report on consumer sector, stating that its bull thesis for discretionary space (including durables) is based on share gains from unorganised sector.

And for staples segment, the bull thesis is based on GST rate reduction & return of price growth, it added.

However, 'trumpflation' & ongoing anti-profiteering measures are only key risks to the sector, it said.

Deutsche expects an avalanche of launches in home & personal care going ahead.

3:05 pm Market Check: The benchmark indices gave up all its morning gain as Nifty has slipped below 40,450.

The Sensex was down 19.15 points at 33793.11, and the Nifty was down 1.20 points at 10441. About 1782 shares have advanced, 954 shares declined, and 524 shares are unchanged.

Dr Reddy's Labs, Wipro, ONGC, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors are the top loser on the indices.

2.50 pm Project approval from Cabinet: Cabinet has approved Rs 5,400 crore project for National Waterway-1 and also approved Rs 6,800 crore Zojila pass tunnel on Srinagar-Leh road.

2:25 pm IDFC Sec on IT services: IDFC Securities is overweight on Indian IT services as cyclical slowdown is bottoming, expectations remain modest and valuations turn attractive.

The research house expects growth to improve led by improving US economy.

"We play Infosys and TCS on cyclical recovery, and Mindtree on micro growth," IDFC said.

The research house has initiated coverage with Outperformer call on TCS and Infosys, and set a target price at Rs 2,950 per share and Rs 1,250, respectively.

2:00 pm Tata Steel view: Goldman Sachs has initiated Neutral call on Tata Steel as it feels positives have been fairly priced in.

The global research house has set a target price of Rs 780 for the stock, implying a 7 percent potential upside from Tuesday's closing price.

According to the research house, Tata Steel's Phase 1 of Kalinganagar plant is expected to drive near-term volume growth.

Its India profitability is expected to be impacted by narrowing spreads, but European profitability is expected to remain stable over medium term, Goldman feels.

1:37 pm Capital infusion: Public sector lender UCO Bank today said its Board has approved a proposal to issue equity shares on preferential basis to the government for capital infusion of Rs 1,375 crore.

"We have received the approval of Board of Directors...for the proposal to issue equity shares on preferential basis to Government of India against capital contribution of Rs 1,375 crore subject to necessary approvals," UCO Bank said in a BSE filing.

The government had on October 24 unveiled a Rs 2.11 lakh crore two-year road map for strengthening NPA-hit public sector banks, which includes re-capitalisation bonds, budgetary support and equity dilution.

1:10 pm Market Check: Indices have trimmed a huge chunk of their morning gains, with the Sensex trading just around 50 points higher, but the Nifty has continued to hold 10,450-mark.

12:50 pm Sagar Cement gains: Ventura Securities has re-initiated coverage with Buy call on Sagar Cement and set a target price at Rs 1,715, implying a potential upside of 89 percent over 24 months. The stock price rallied 14.8 percent intraday to hit a fresh record high of Rs 1,048 on Wednesday.

The research house enthused by the cement maker's astute understanding of the cement cycle.

It is a favorite way to play the cement growth story in south India, Ventura feels.

12:30 pm Buzzing Stock: Shares of Hindustan Zinc gained 2 percent intraday Wednesday as foreign broking firm Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoFAML) has initiated buy rating with a target price of Rs 345 per share.

According to the broking house the elevated prices will coincide with revival in volume growth. It expect high dividend payout given the significant cash needs of the parent.

Zinc is our favored exposure with strong fundamentals and captive access to 100 percent of its requirements allows to capture the benefit of positive pricing outlook for zinc, it added.

12:15 pm Stock view: Global investment firm Goldman Sachs has initiated coverage with Buy rating on JSW Steel as it is best placed to benefit from shift in macro-economic landscape. The stock price rallied nearly 3 percent intraday Wednesday.

The research house has set a target price at Rs 315 per share as it expects company's capex to drive growth and realisations.

Goldman expects strong free cash flow generation and deleveraging going ahead and also expects net debt to EBITDA to reduce to 2.6x by FY20 versus 4.2x in FY17.

12:00 pm NTPC power generation: State-owned power giant and Maharatna Company NTPC which is in the business of power generation has logged highest ever quarterly generation for the three months period ended December 31, showing signs of revival in electricity demand, according to a report published in Mint.

A company executive told the newspaper, 'there was an uptick in demand due to the cold weather and this is also an indicator that the economic pace is picking up'.

The company which is the largest power producer in the country with an installed capacity of 51,383 MW (megawatt) consisting of thermal, gas, hydel, solar and wind power produced 10.39 percent more electricity at 67,781 MUs (million units) in Q3 of FY2017-18. It produced 61,400 MUs in Q3FY17.

11:35 am Buzzing: Shares of Dixon Technologies gained 4 percent intraday as it has started manufacturing of CCTVs and DVRs.

AIL Dixon Technologies, a joint venture company of Dixon Technologies (India) commenced manufacturing of CCTVs and DVRs on January 2, 2018.

The products will be manufactured at company's manufacturing facility situated at Tirupati, India.

Dixon Technologies (India) is the largest home grown design-focused and solutions company engaged in manufacturing products in the consumer durables, lighting and mobile phones markets in India.

11:25 am Management Speak: NMDC has taken a steep increase in prices of fines and lumps, taking prices to nearly three year highs. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, TRK Rao, Director-Commercial at NMDC spoke at length about the same.

Rao said we have hiked prices owing to strong demand from steel industry. We saw 16 percent growth in steel production this year.

He further said that prices of all end used products have gone up substantially in domestic industry.

Globally also there has been upsurge in hot rolled (HR) coil prices, he added.

11:05 am Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to trade higher, with the Sensex holding 100-pt gain, while the Nifty was hovering around 10500.

At 11:01 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 117.96 points or 0.35% at 33930.22, and the Nifty up 46.30 points or 0.44% at 10488.50. The market breadth was positive as 1846 shares have advanced, against a decline of 598 shares, while 536 shares were unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco and Vedanta are the top gainers, while Dr Reddy's and Tata Motors lost the most.

10:50 am Buzzing Stock: Dr Reddy's Laboratories fell over 4.5 percent intraday as investors reacted to the receipt of establishment inspection report (EIR).

According to a report on CNBC-TV18, an EIR has been issued to the company's Duvvada facility. The report further states that Duvvada facility status continues to be classified as official action initiated (OAI).

In pharmaceuticals parlance, OAI means a regulatory and / or admin sanctions by the drug regulator are initiated.

The channel also reported that 13 US FDA observation details were given to the unit in February-March 2017.

10:31 am North Korean update: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has given an order to open a long-closed border hotline with South Korea at 0630 GMT on Wednesday for talks, an unidentified North Korean official announced in a televised statement.

The talks would aim to establish formal dialogue about sending a North Korean delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea next month, the official said.

The statement came a day after South Korea proposed high-level discussions with North Korea following Kim's earlier New Year's address, in which he said he was open to speaking with Seoul.

10:14 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks have extended their gains, with the Sensex trading around 150 points higher, while the Nifty is up about half a percent.

At 10:10 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 145.43 points or 0.43% at 33957.69, and the Nifty up 50.10 points or 0.48% at 10492.30. The market breadth is positive as 1735 shares have advanced, against a decline of 484 shares, while 545 shares are unchanged.

Adani Ports, ICICI Bank and Vedanta are the top index gainers, while Dr Reddy's Labs and ONGC were the top losers.

10:05 am Orient Green gains: Shares of Orient Green Power Company touched 52-week high of Rs 12.21, gaining more than 11 percent in the early trade on Wednesday on the divestment of subsidiaries.

The company has disinvested 8 biomass subsidiaries to Janati Bio Power with effect from December 31, 2017.

From the sale consideration, the company has received Rs 49 crore.

9:45 am Buzzing Stock: Share price of Aarti Drugs touched 52-week high of Rs 685, surging 7.4 percent intraday Tuesday on the back of buyback proposal.

A meeting of board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on January 8, 2018, to consider proposal of buyback of the fully paid-up equity shares of the company including matters related/incidental thereto.

The trading window for dealing in the securities of the company is closed from today i.e. January 3, 2018 and shall remain closed till January 10, 2018.

9:33 am RIL gains: Investors in shares of Reliance Industries cheered the commissioning of the world's largest refinery off-gas cracker complex at Jamnagar. The stock was higher by around 2 percent intraday

The company on Tuesday said that the complex will use refinery process residue to produce feedstock used to make petrochemicals.

The ROGC is part of the USD 11 billion capital expenditure RIL had announced in one of the largest brownfield expansion of energy and petrochemical projects globally.

In a press statement, RIL said it has "successfully commissioned and achieved design throughput of the world's first ever and largest ROGC complex of 1.5 million tonnes per annum capacity along with downstream plants and utilities."

9:15 am Market Opens: Equity benchmarks have witnessed a positive start on Wednesday, with the Sensex rising over 100 points, while the Nifty was above 10,450-mark.

At 09:16 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 135.66 points or 0.40% at 33947.92, and the Nifty up 40.30 points or 0.39% at 10482.50. The market breadth is healthy as 601 shares have advanced against a decline of 172 shares, while 504 shares are unchanged.

Midcaps were trading in the positive zone after it fell around one percent on Tuesday.

Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank are the top gainers, while Dr Reddy's Labs, ONGC and Aurobindo Pharma have lost the most.

The Indian rupee slipped in the early trade on Wednesday. It has opened lower by 7 paise at 63.55 per dollar versus 63.48 yesterday.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "Rupee will continue its northward journey on the back of sudden FII inflow. Thus trading range for the spot USD-INR will be 63.30-63.60."

The dollar near 3-month low, weighed down by expectations of a slower pace of interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve amid a tepid US Inflation picture.

On the global markets, Asian stocks struck a fresh decade high on Wednesday as risk appetites were whetted by a bevy of upbeat manufacturing surveys that confirmed a synchronised upturn in world growth was well under way.

Activity was especially strong in Europe, lifting bond yields there and driving the euro to within a whisker of its highest in three years against a beleaguered US dollar.

Investors also piled into emerging market trades. MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up another 0.1 percent, having jumped 1.4 percent on Tuesday in its best performance since last March.

Meanwhile, US stocks rose in the first session of the new year and the Nasdaq closed above 7,000 for the first time on Tuesday as investors were optimistic that 2018 will bring more gains for the market.

The Nasdaq, driven by gains in Apple , Facebook , Amazon and Alphabet , breached 6,000 in April of last year and closed above 5,000 in 2015 for the first time in 15 years. The technology index added 1.4 percent on Tuesday, following a 37-percent surge in 2017 that made it the best-performing S&P 500 sector.

The S&P 500 also hit a record high close. Besides technology, S&P consumer discretionary, healthcare, energy and materials indexes all were up more than 1 percent on the day.