Sensex ends over 100 points higher, Nifty closes at almost record high

3:30 pm Market at Close: Equity benchmark indices ended the session on a positive note, but it trimmed some of its gains from the afternoon session. The Nifty ended above 9650-mark after clocking 9700 during the day's trade.

The Sensex closed up 123.78 points at 31369.34, while the Nifty ended 36.95 points higher at 9674.55. The market breadth was narrow as 1529 shares advanced against a decline of 1179 shares, while 133 shares were unchanged.

State Bank of India, ITC, and Bharti Infratel gained the most, while Baja Auto, Mahindra and Mahindra and Hindalco lost the most.

3:27 pm Buzzing: Shiva Cement shares continued to reel under selling pressure, falling 10 percent for the second consecutive session.

At 15:16 hours IST, the stock price was quoting at Rs 27.15, down Rs 3.00, or 9.95 percent and there were pending sell orders of 2,150,928 shares, with no buyers available.

However, in previous six consecutive sessions, it shot up nearly 62 percent, especially after the new promoter - JSW Cement raised its stake in the company to over 50 percent.

JSW Cement increased its total shareholding in Shiva Cement to 53.47 percent from 50.33 percent earlier.

In January, JSW Cement had bought 35.62 percent shareholding in Shiva Cement from its promoter, and then it has been gradually increasing stake.

3:15 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices were off day's highs in late trade, especially after reclaiming 9,700 level.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 105.03 points at 31,350.59 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 30.65 points at 9,668.25.

3:00 pm Merger: The IDFC group and Shriram group are exploring options to merge various businesses to create a financial powerhouse worth of over USD 10 billion, sources told CNBC-TV18.

An announcement is likely to be made on July 8.

2:45 pm Buzzing: Cyient shares gained nearly 2 percent intraday on signing a non-exclusive business alliance agreement with Kii Corporation to explore business opportunities around smart city deployments.

Through this agreement, the IT company and Kii have decided to jointly pursue business opportunities globally, by leveraging their complementing skills and strengths

"The partnership will combine Cyient's domain expertise and geospatial capabilities with Kii's internet of things platform to develop connected solutions through smart devices and applications. Under the terms of agreement, Cyient will also provide Kii with project delivery and implementation services," the software company said in its filing.

2:31 pm Market nears fresh record highs: Sensex is now less than 80 points away from record high levels, while the Nifty is less than 15 points away from this point. ITC, HDFC twins contributed nearly 23 points to the Nifty's lead.

2:25 pm HPCL-ONGC merger? According to reports by CNBC Awaaz, the Divestment Department has issued a Cabinet note on merger of HPCL with ONGC. An in-principle approval will be taken for 51 percent stake sale in HPCL to ONGC, the report added. The nod will be taken in order to hand over HPCL's management control to ONGC and this divestment could be done through a strategic sale. A core group of secretaries approved the divestment in HPCL on June 20.

Further, the report added that a group of ministers will be formed to frame share sale guidelines, price and time frame of the merger and it is believed that finance, road and oil minister will be a part of this group.

At 14:27 hrs Hindustan Petroleum Corporation was quoting at Rs 517.75, up Rs 1.65, or 0.32 percent. Meanwhile, At 14:27 hrs Oil and Natural Gas Corporation was quoting at Rs 162.40, down Rs 0.25, or 0.15 percent.

2:15 pm Market Check: Equity benchmark indices extended their gains from the morning session, with the Sensex gaining over 200 points, while the Nifty neared 9700-mark.

The Sensex was up 205.00 points at 31450.56, while the Nifty was up 59.25 points at 9696.85. The market breadth, however, was narrow as 1650 shares advanced against a decline of 950 shares, while 127 shares were unchanged.

State Bank of India, ITC and Indiabulls Housing were the top gainers on both indices, while Bajaj Auto and Sun Pharma lost the most.

Midcaps continued to gain, while among niche indices on the Nifty, PSU banks gained the most, followed by FMCG stocks.

2:00 pm Investment bankers for Reliance Nippon Life IPO: Investment banking firms CLSA and JM Financial have emerged as front runners for Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management's (RNAM) proposed initial public offering, according to industry sources.

The asset manager has so far shortlisted two names for its proposed IPO and two investment banking units have made attractive offers
to clinch the mandate for drawing a roadmap, according to sources.

On June 8, Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (RNAM) had announced that it received approval from its board of directors for an initial public offer of AMC which would be subject to necessary regulatory and corporate approvals.

1:45 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets continued to gain in afternoon trade, backed by banking & financials stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 149.97 points at 31,395.53 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 44.30 points to 9,681.90 while the BSE Midcap index gained 0.5 percent.

SBI, BHEL, Coal India, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Indiabulls Housing and Bank of Baroda were top gainers, up 1-4 percent.

Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, ONGC, Axis Bank, TCS, IOC and GAIL were losers.

1:15 pm Sobha posts strong growth: Strong start to the FY18 and overweight rating by JP Morgan helped Sobha shares rally nearly 7 percent intraday Thursday, though analysts feel RERA and GST might impact the company in short term.

Good growth in Q1 pre-sales data not only boosted Shobha but also other realty stocks like Prestige Estates, Unitech, DLF, HDIL, Oberoi Realty that surged 2-5 percent.

The Bangalore-based real estate firm has begun the financial year 2017-18 on a positive note by reporting 12.7 percent growth in sales volume and 11.9 percent in total sales value in June quarter QoQ without any new project launches.

"We continue to perform well in our principal market, Bangalore. While the Gurgaon market continues to gain momentum, we believe that the performance of other markets such as Kochi will improve going forward," Sobha said in its statement.

The company achieved new sales volume of 8.15 lakh square feet total valued at Rs 623.4 crore with an average realisation of Rs 7,647 per square feet, compared with sales volume of 7.2 lakh square feet in previous quarter and 8.09 lakh square feet in corresponding period of last fiscal.

12:58 pm Oil recovers: Oil prices recovered some ground on strong demand in the United States, but analysts cautioned that oversupply would continue to drag on markets after a steep fall in the previous session.

Brent crude futures were trading up 1.13 percent, at USD 48.33 per barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 1.17 percent, at USD 45.66 per barrel.

12.41 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to hold morning gains, backed by banking & financials, auto, infra stocks and ITC.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 153.80 points at 31,399.36 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 42.45 points to 9,680.05.

The market breadth remained strong as about two shares gained for every share falling on the BSE.

Markets in Europe opened higher as investors digested minutes from key central banks and follow geopolitical events.

12:10 pm Drug approval: Drug firm Jubilant Life Sciences today said its subsidiary has received final approval from the US health regulator for Bupropion Hydrochloride extended- release tablets, used for the treatment of major depressive disorder and prevention of seasonal affective disorder.

"Jubilant Pharma Ltd...has received abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) final approval for Bupropion Hydrochloride extended-release tablets USP (XL), 150 mg and 300 mg," Jubilant Life Sciences said in a BSE filing.

The approved product is the generic version of Wellbutrin XL of Valeant, which is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder and prevention of seasonal affective disorder.

This is the fourth approval received by the company from the USFDA during the current financial year.

11:50 am Smallcap index at record high: The rally in the broader market continues as the S&P BSE Smallcap index hit a fresh record high 15,866.14. The index has already rallied over 30 percent so far in the year 2017 compared to near-18 percent rally seen in the S&P BSE Sensex.

The rally in the index was led by gains in Future Consumer, Mannapuram Finance, Cholamandalam Investment, Federal Bank, IDFC, Tube Investments, Prestige Estates, and Caplin Point.

11.30 am Market Check: Benchmark indices rallied further in late morning trade, with the Sensex rising more than 150 points on the back of strong rally in PSU banks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 163.61 points to 31,409.17 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 41.05 points at 9,678.65.

The broader markets continued to rally on strong breadth. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Nifty PSU Bank index rose nearly 3 percent after brokerage houses upgraded leading PSUs Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank as valuations turned reasonable after recent correction on NPA concerns.

11:15 am Auto sales: Tata Motors gained more than a percent intraday despite slow growth in Jaguar Land Rover sales.

JLR sales during June increased 7 percent to 9,161 units against 8,591 units sold in same month last year, driven by Land Rover.

Land Rover sales grew by 9 percent to 6,201 units while Jaguar sales increased 1 percent to 2,960 units compared with corresponding month last year.

10:55 am Market Outlook: With the market's current trajectory, the question arises on the participation of retail and HNI (high net worth) investors in the current scenario. Emkay Global believes that the market seems to be in a consolidation mode right now.

''We have seen reasonable amount of profit taking and sector/stock rotation is the order of the day,'' Krishna Kumar Karwa, Managing Director, Emkay Global Financial Services told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

He added that direct retail participation was muted and was largely through mutual funds or portfolio management services (PMS) or specialised advisory. Meanwhile, he said that HNIs continued to remain positive.

10:46 am Buzzing: Bharat Forge shares gained as much as 2.5 percent in morning trade after solid growth in orders for North America class 8 trucks.

Orders for class 8 trucks increased 38 percent in June to 17,764 units, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting FTR.

Orders for the June month were also far better than 16,300 units in May.

North America truck orders contributed nearly 20 percent of revenue on standalone basis in FY17.

10.19 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended gains in morning trade, with the Sensex rising more than 100 points after two-day consolidation and despite correction in Asian peers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 106.93 points to 31,352.49 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 24.50 points 9,662.10 while the BSE Midcap index was up 0.5 percent and Smallcap rallied 0.7 percent on strong breadth.

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

9:59 am Financial closure: IRB Infrastructure Developers shares rose as much as 3.6 percent in morning trade after its special purpose vehicle Udaipur Tollway Private Limited has successfully achieved financial closure for Udaipur-Gujarat border 6 laning BOT (build-operate-transfer) project.

"The SPV, in terms of the concession agreement executed with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), has tied up with the consortium of lenders for project finance to the tune of Rs 1,461 crore," the largest highways infrastructure developer said in its filing.

Project is financed by consortium of lenders led by Canara Bank. Other members include Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Overseas Bank, Andhra Bank and Aditya Birla Finance.

The concession period for the project is 21 years including construction period of 910 days.

"Total cost of the project Rs 2,088 crore will be funded by equity contribution of Rs 627 crore by the Company and the remaining amount will be funded by project finance of Rs 1,461 crore with average cost of approximately 10.65 percent per annum," IRB said.

9:40 am Buzzing: Shares of Punjab National Bank rose over 3 percent intraday as investors cheered an upgrade call on the stock.

Nomura, in its report, upgraded the stock to buy with a target price of Rs 180.

The brokerage house said that the incremental risk reward was favourable after 24 percent correction in two months. Further, it said that asset quality risks were largely discounted while pre-provisioning operating profit (PPOP) remains a pain point.

Having said that, it revised downwards its FY18 profit forecast by 56 percent, while FY19 forecast was unchanged.

9:30 am Earnings Estimates: Sanjeev Prasad of Kotak Institutional Equities said the brokerage house expects the Sensex net income to be flat YoY.

However, it foresees 8 percent YoY decline in net income for its coverage universe including automobiles (inventory clearing due to GST), downstream energy (lower refining margins and adventitious losses due to recent correction in crude prices), pharmaceuticals (disruption in domestic formulation businesses again due to GST) and telecom (continuation of hyper-competitive sector activity).

Kotak estimates Sensex EPS for FY2018 at Rs 1,470 and Rs 1,833 for FY2019. "Our Nifty EPS estimate for FY2018 and FY2019 are Rs 478 and Rs 586," Prasad said.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened moderately higher on Thursday, with the Nifty reclaiming 9650 level despite weakness in Asian peers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 46.88 points at 31,292.44 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 8.95 points to 9,646.55.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.5 percent each. About 863 shares advanced against 260 declining shares on the BSE.

Lupin, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Ambuja Cements, Aurobindo Pharma, ITC, L&T, Bharti Infratel and ICICI Bank were early gainers while Bajaj Auto, NTPC, Axis Bank and Yes Bank were under pressure.

ABC Bearings surged 10 percent. Sobha surged 5 percent on strong pre-sales data for Q1FY18.

PNB was up 2.5 percent on Nomura upgrade while Bharat Forge gained 2 percent on North America truck sales order. Shriram EPC surged 10 percent and Venky's was up 8 percent.

InterGlobe Aviation, Texmaco Infra, Kolte Patil, DB Realty, Jaypee Infratech, Caplin Point, Minda Corporation and Redington gained 1-10 percent but Shiva Cement continued to fall 10 percent.

Asian markets traded weak despite the mostly stronger close on Wall Street, as oil prices recouped some losses after falling around 4 percent overnight.