Sensex ends over 250 points higher, Nifty closes above 9650

3:30 pm Market at Close: Benchmark indices began the week on an extremely strong note, driven by a rally in banks. The Bank Nifty ended over a percent higher, while the Nifty closed above 9650-mark.

The Sensex closed up 255.17 points at 31311.57, while the Nifty ended higher by 69.50 points at 9657.55. The market breadth was still negative as 1,198 shares advanced against a decline of 1,508 shares, while 158 shares were unchanged.

Auto, infrastructure, FMCG and PSU banks gained the most on the Nifty, while pharmaceuticals had a weak day.

Among stocks, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, and Hindalco gained the most on both indices, while Infosys, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, and Eicher Motors were the top losers.

2:55 pm Buzzing: Tata Steel shares rallied 3 percent intraday as JP Morgan has maintained its overweight rating on the stock after the company announced monetisation of stake in Tata Motors.

The Tata Group firm, on June 17, said it has proposed to sell 8,36,37,697 equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each of Tata Motors to Tata Sons Limited.

The transaction is expected to be executed on or after June 23, 2017 at or around the prevailing price on the date of proposed sale, subject to no material market movements in price since the date of this disclosure, it added.

At Friday's market close, the Tata Motors' stake would be worth Rs 3,800 crore or 7.7 percent of Tata Steel's market capitalisation.

According to the research house, this is another positive as the monetisation of the stake provides Tata Steel with additional balance sheet flexibility.

"While the company has over the past few years consistently monetised group stakes, in our view the timing for the current one is interesting and in our view likely signals progress on the UK pension issue for which a payout is required (550 million pound) and also potentially progress on the KPO Phase 2 expansion plan," JPMorgan said.

2:40 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks rallied further in afternoon trade, with the Sensex up 286.64 points or 0.92 percent at 31,343.04.

The 50-share NSE Nifty rose 78.95 points to 9,667.

Adani Ports and Tata Steel were top gainers among Sensex stocks, up 3 percent each, followed by HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ITC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC.

Infosys, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, ONGC and Dr Reddy's Labs were under pressure.

2:25 pm Interview: There were reports suggesting that the Maharashtra government has now removed the cap on taxi and auto rickshaw permits, which could be a big positive for Bajaj Auto.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, RC Maheshwari, President CV business of the company said, ''It is a good move by Maharashtra government, moreover, it will also remove a lot of corruption which will be there in transfer of permits etc."

These kind of things will help boost employment, he thinks.

If the permits open up in the next one month's time, we should be able to do at least about 15,000-20,000 units more in this year, said Maheshwari.

2:10 pm Record high: Bank Nifty hit a fresh record high as the index surpassed the previous high of 23708 intraday. PSU banks, FMCG and infrastructure stocks too were trading strong in the post lunch session.

1:46 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended gains in afternoon trade, with the Sensex rising more than 200 points and the Nifty trading near 9650 level on strong Europe opening.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 215.68 points at 31,272.08 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 56.05 points to 9,644.10.

About 1,348 shares declined against 1,196 advancing shares on the BSE.

Banking & financials, FMCG stocks and Reliance Industries continued to support the market whereas healthcare stocks were under pressure.

European bourses were higher, as investors shifted their attention to political events across Europe. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE gained nearly 1 percent.

1:32 pm Interview: VA Tech Wabag shares hit new 52-week high of Rs 746.10, up 4.6 percent intraday after company's ambitious plan with respect to Africa & Latin America businesses.

"The company is extending its reach to sub-Saharan Africa and strategy is to focus on key emerging markets such as Latin America that will contribute 10 percent to total revenue over next 2-3 years," Rajneesh Chopra, global head-business development of the water technology company said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

It has been successful in bagging first project in Latin America.

Domestic market has been sluggish over last 2 years but exports contributed to 35-40 percent revenue currently and that is expected to go up to 50 percent of total revenue, he said.

"We will look to grow overall revenue by over 20 percent over next 2-3 years. We expect margin to improve, given higher contribution from exports," Chopra said, adding the company will decide on fundraising plans in next 2 quarters.

He said, "The company is waiting for Namami Gange project to take off meaningfully. We expect robust business due to Namami Gange project over next 12-18 months."

VA Tech has received 2 bids for Haridwar & Varanasi in this month, and also has bid for the initial two projects under Namami Gange project.

1:15 pm Buzzing Stock: Shares of Adani Ports rose nearly 3 percent intraday on Monday after a ratings upgrade from Moody's.

Moody's Investors Service revised to stable from negative the outlook on Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited's (APSEZ) Baa3 issuer and senior unsecured rating.

At the same time, the Baa3 issuer and senior unsecured ratings have been affirmed, the ratings agency said in a press release.

12.44 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained strong in afternoon trade and outperformed broader markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 157.62 points at 31,214.02 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 39.95 points to 9,628.

Dr Reddy's Labs fell a percent after the US Food and Drug Administration issued Form 483 issued with one observation to Srikakulam plant (SEZ) unit I.

VRL Logistics rose 3.5 percent on agreement for purchase of land or cost of Rs 83 crore for construction of trans-shipment yard in Gujarat.

12:10 pm Index change: Kotak Mahindra Bank shares touched a life-time high of Rs 993, up as much as 0.75 percent on addition in the BSE benchmark index.

The exchange, on May 19, had decided to add Kotak Bank (weight 3.5 percent) as well as Tata Motors DVR in the S&P BSE Sensex.

With this, weightage of banking sector in the benchmark index will increase significantly.

The exchange, however, excluded GAIL from the Sensex index.

12:00 pm L&T in action: Engineering conglomerate Larsen and Toubro's (L&T) arm has won contracts worth Rs 2,231 crore across various business segments.

"Larsen and Toubro Construction, the constriction arm of the company, has bagged Rs 1,324-crore turnkey order from the Andhra Pradesh Township Infrastructure Development Corporation for construction of residential buildings in the West Godavari district of the state," the firm said in a BSE filing today.

The project is part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) Scheme and consists of residential tenements for the economically weaker sections, it said, adding that the scope of work includes construction of around 22,000 residential units in first-track mode.

11:50 am IPOs: Aiming to tap the upbeat investor sentiment, two companies - CDSL and GTPL Hathway - will launch initial public offers (IPOs) this week to raise over Rs 1,000 crore.

The bidding in BSE-promoted CDSL's IPO started today and will close on June 21, while that of GTPL Hathway, part of Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd, will be open for public subscription from June 21-23.

The IPO of Central Depository Services (India) Ltd's involves its shareholders, including BSE, offloading over 3.5 crore shares through the offer-for-sale (OFS) route. It has fixed a price band of Rs 145-149.

At the higher end of the price band, the shares are estimated to fetch around Rs 524 crore.

GTPL Hathway plans to garner up to Rs 485 crore through its IPO which comprises fresh issue of shares worth Rs 240 crore and the remaining through OFS of up to 1.44 crore shares in the price band of Rs 167-170 a share.

11:30 am Buzzing: RPP Infra Projects shares gained 7 percent intraday on receiving construction order from Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation.

The Tamil Nadu-based infrastructure company has received order from Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation for construction of scientific storage godown of 40,000 MT capacity.

The scientific storage godown will be constructed in Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation campus at Edamanal village in Nagapattinam district worth Rs 51.2 crore.

11:12 am Market Check: Benchmark indices remained strong in late morning trade, with the Sensex holding 150 points gains on positive global cues after French President Emmanuel Macron's party won a parliamentary majority at the weekend.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 150.34 points at 31,206.74 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 35.90 points to 9,623.95.

Reliance Industries was the leading contributor to Sensex' gains, up 1.7 percent after its subsidiary Jio added 11.2 crore subscribers in May, which was far higher than its peers.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

ITC, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports and TCS gained 1-2 percent while Infosys, Tata Motors, Cipla, ONGC, Lupin and Coal India were losers.

11:00 am New contract: Indian Hume Pipe Company shares rallied as much as 4 percent in morning trade and hit a record high of Rs 498.70 on receiving work order from Tamil Nadu Water Board.

"The company has secured work order of Rs 183.46 crore from Tamilnadu Water Supply & Drainage Board, Coimbatore for providing improvements to water supply distribution to the added areas of Tiruppur Corporation in Tiruppur District including trial run, commissioning," the company said in its filing.

The project is to be completed within 24 months for construction from the date of issuance of the work order and paid maintenance for a period of one year.

10:45 am Buzzing: Cadila Healthcare shares gained as much as 2.4 percent in morning trade on approval from the US health regulator for anti-migraine drug.

Group company Zydus Cadila has received the final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market Eletriptan hydrobromide tablets, 20 mg and 40 mg.

"The drug, which is used in the treatment of migraine, will be produced at the group's formulations manufacturing facility at Pharma SEZ, Ahmedabad," the pharma company said in its filing.

With this, the group now has more than 120 approvals and has so far filed over 300 ANDAs since the commencement of filing process in FY04.

10:20 am Strategic sale: The government is planning an outright sale of Dredging Corporation of India (DCIL) through auction, which could fetch about Rs 1,400 crore to the exchequer.

Besides, there is a proposal to sell 100 percent government holding in four unlisted companies- Kamarajar Port, HLL Lifecare, Indian Medicines & Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd, and Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

According to sources, the core group of secretaries on disinvestment, headed by the cabinet secretary, has already approved the sale of these five companies.

The government think tank Niti Aayog too has favoured disinvestment.

The government currently holds 73.47 percent stake in Dredging Corporation of India (DCIL). At the current market prices, sale of this stake would fetch about Rs 1,400 crore to the exchequer.

10:00 am Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to trade strong on positive global cues, with the Nifty eyeing 9650 level but the broader markets underperformed despite positive market breadth.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 155.66 points at 31,212.06 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 40.45 points to 9,628.50. About 1173 shares advanced against 725 declining shares on the BSE.

Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Auto, TCS, Bharti Infratel and IndusInd Bank gained 1-2 percent while Cipla, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Yes Bank and Tata Motors were morning gainers.

9:45 am MS on Cadila: With retaining overweight rating on Cadila Healthcare and target price of Rs 619, Morgan Stanley said with the Moraiya resolution past, it expects the new product approval cycle for the US market to intensify.

200 ANDAs are pending approval, it said, adding it expects 40-plus approvals in the next 12-15 months. Several niche products and operating leverage give strong earnings visibility – FY18-19 EPS CAGR of 39.1 percent, Morgan Stanley feels.

9:30 am FII View: Federal Reserve hiked interest rate by 25 bps and announced balancesheet reduction on June 14.

Michael Hartnett of Bank of America Merrill Lynch said the new theme would be global synchronised monetary tightening with Federal Reserve, China, Canada, UK, ECB beginning a synchronised monetary tightening in second half of 2017.

While these won't spark immediate bear market as EPS, inflation, cash, credit positives remain but this inflection point in monetary policy will become negative in coming quarters, he feels.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks started off the week on a positive note after seeing consolidation in previous two weeks, backed by positive Asian cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 126.50 points at 31,182.90 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 33.70 points to 9,621.75 while the broader markets gained half a percent

The market breadth was strong as about three shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Dredging Corporation surged 4 percent on stake sale buzz while Hathway Cable gained 7 percent ahead of its subsidiary IPO launch.

Jayant Agro, Indian Hotels, Hume Pipe, Ujjivan Financial and Cadila Healthcare gained 2-4 percent while Amtek Auto, Videocon Industries and Lanco Infratech fell 4-6 percent.

The Indian rupee has opened flat at 64.42 per dollar against Friday's closing value.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity has a neutral stance on the USD-INR pair in absence of any directional cues and expects it to continue to trade in a range of 64.20-64.80/dollar.

Asian bourses traded in the green as markets geared up ahead of Brexit negotiations between the UK and the European Union, and as French President Emmanuel Macron's party won a parliamentary majority at the weekend.