Sensex ends up 104 points ahead of Fed meet; SBI & ITC tank

3:30 pm Market closing: The market ended with some gains ahead of crucial Federal Reserve meet and July F&O expiry tomorrow. The Sensex was up 104.20 points or 0.4 percent at 27563.43, and the Nifty ended up 38.05 points or 0.5 percent at 8375.05. About 1646 shares have advanced, 1197 shares declined, and 143 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors, Lupin, Infosys, BHEL and Maruti Suzuki were top gainers while ITC, SBI, GAIL and Reliance were major laggards in the Sensex.

03:00 pm Investment in India: Progress on India's divestment front has been slow in the first four months of this fiscal year, a Singapore-based bank said.  "With subdued growth prospects expected to keep a lid on tax collections, indirect taxes and divestment receipts will be important to fund public infrastructure spending plans," said DBS in its daily economic report.

The divestment target is pegged at an ambitious Rs 69500 crore (0.6 percent of the Gross Development Product) for this fiscal year, two-thirds of which will be through stake sales in public sector companies.

02:30 pm FII view on China: The last recession was led by US, but China is likely to usurp that not-so-coveted position, says Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets and global macro, Morgan Stanley Investment Management

Sharma is of the view that China is neither in control of its equity market, nor its overall economy and that poses a significant global economic risk.

Shanghai markets have in the recent past plunged 8.5 percent in a single day merely on the negative growth sentiment prevailing. The government is trying to shore up confidence and has infact entrusted a securities fund with USD 500 billion to keep buying shares with just one-point agenda in mind- to keep the market afloat. But the measure has hardly impressed analysts. owning to a widespread lack of confidence in the government.

"This time it (recession) could well be led by China just because the size of the Chinese economy is so big in the global economy and that's where the vulnerability lies given the debt build-up that china has seen over the last few years," argues Sharma.

02:00 pm Market Check
The market continued to see short covering in afternoon trade after a four-day loss. The Sensex gained 90.60 points at 27549.83 and the Nifty rose 27.25 points to 8364.25. About 1558 shares have advanced, 1152 shares declined, and 157 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Dr Reddy's Labs slipped 1.5 percent ahead of Q1 earnings and Dabur loses half a percent post earnings. A CNBC-TV18 poll expects pharma major Dr Reddy's to report a 4.1 percent growth in first quarter net profit while Dabur India posted 24 percent growth in profit but its volume growth subdued at 8.1 percent against 8.3 percent year-on-year.

Infosys, L&T, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, BHEL, Wipro, Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto gained 1-2 percent. However, ITC, Reliance Industries, SBI and GAIL fell 1-2.5 percent.

1:30 pm Acquisition: The US-based Purdue University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dr Reddy's Laboratories Limited (DRL) to strengthen pharmaceutical research and development.

According to a statement issued by the University, the intent of the MoU is to forge a strong strategic partnership in a range of research areas and novel technologies in the field of pharmaceutical processes and product development.

DRL offers more than 200 generic versions of medicines in 26 countries around the world.

Suresh Garimella, Purdue executive vice-president for research and partnerships, and his counterpart Amit Biswas, executive vice-president and global head of integrated product development, signed the MoU last month.

The market is going steady. The Sensex is up 134.50 points or 0.5 percent at 27593.73 and the Nifty is up 38.20 points or 0.5 percent at 8375.20. About 1584 shares have advanced, 1041 shares declined, and 136 shares are unchanged.

Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, BHEL, Wipro and HDFC are top gainers while ITC, Dr Reddy's Labs, GAIL, SBI and NTPC are among laggards.

The last recession was led by US, but China is likely to usurp that not-so-coveted position, says Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets and global macro, Morgan Stanley Investment Management

Sharma is of the view that China is neither in control of its equity market, nor its overall economy and that poses a significant global economic risk.

Shanghai markets have in the recent past plunged 8.5 percent in a single day merely on the negative growth sentiment prevailing. The government is trying to shore up confidence and has infact entrusted a securities fund with USD 500 billion to keep buying shares with just one-point agenda in mind- to keep the market afloat. But the measure has hardly impressed analysts. owning to a widespread lack of confidence in the government.

12:50 pm Earnings: Godrej Consumer Products surpassed street expectations on bottomline and operational front while topline met forecast in June quarter. Consolidated net profit of the personal care products manufacturer grew by 39 percent year-on-year to Rs 199.2 crore, driven by strong operational performance.

Total income from operations grew by 11 percent to Rs 2,098 crore from Rs 1,888.5 crore during the same period, supported by sales volume growth.

India business branded net sales increased by 13 percent, led by 13 percent volume growth and double-digit value growth across core categories," said Adi Godrej, chairman, Godrej Group.

International business rose by 13 percent on an organic constant currency basis despite the macro challenges and slowdown in a few of larger markets, he added.

Profit was estimated at Rs 192 crore on revenue of Rs 2,109 crore for the quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Operating profit (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) increased 30 percent year-on-year to Rs 315 crore and margin expanded by 220 basis points to 15 percent in the quarter against expected growth of 22.8 percent and 120 basis points, respectively.

12:25 pm Market Expert: The Federal Open Market Committee will end its two-day meeting tonight and is likely to release a statement that could indicate when the central bank could raise interest rates. While most markets will be watching out for the meet, Sandip Sabharwal of asksandipsabharwal.com, says the market is now fed up of the Fed fears.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sabharwal says the Fed meet will lead to volatility in the market, but that will create significant trading opportunities.

But that apart, Sabharwal is all gung-ho on the Indian equity market and expects a 12-15 percent uptick adding that the Nifty has everything working for itself right now, including lower inflation.

It is on this lower inflation view that he also expects Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan to cut interest rates in the policy meet on August 4.

12:00 pm Market Check
The market remained in a consolidation mode ahead of expiry of July derivative contracts on Thursday. Technology and auto stocks supported while banking stocks dragged.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 24.16 points to 27483.39 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 9.30 points at 8346.30. The BSE Midcap index advanced 0.3 percent and Smallcap went up 0.6 percent. About 1491 shares have advanced against 935 shares declined on the BSE.

Asian markets traded mixed as volatility in China offset the positive lead from Wall Street overnight. Investors globally are in wait-and-watch mood ahead of the Fed statement. Federal Reserve's two-day meeting outcome will be announced tonight.

Yes Bank gained 1.5 percent ahead of its Q1 numbers. A CNBC-TV18 poll sees profit growth of 21 percent year-on-year. Net interest margin could improve due to lower cost of funds. Vedanta declined 0.5 percent as its numbers are expected to be subdued led by fall in global commodity prices.

PNB, Union Bank and other PSU banks lost all of yesterday's gains as brokerages say fall in non-performing loans was optical. The bad loans rose if one counted the refinanced loans, said brokerages. PNB plunged 4 percent. Union Bank and Bank of India slipped almost 3 percent.

11:50 am ITC Q1 poll: Cigarette-hotel-to-FMCG major ITC's first quarter earnings are expected to be muted on decline in cigarette volumes (the major contributor to revenue) and subdued performances from other segments.

According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, consolidated net profit is seen rising 6 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,320 crore and revenue is likely to increase 0.6 percent to Rs 9,300 crore during the quarter. Operating profit (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) may rise 3 percent to Rs 3,381 crore and margin may expand 100 basis points to 36.4 percent.

The full impact of price hikes on cigarette volumes will be seen in June quarter. ITC hiked cigarette prices on blended basis amount to around 30 percent in July 2014 and March 2015.

11:30 am FII view: Not withstanding the improvement in the last few hours, the stock markets globally have been in the downtrend. Jan Dehn of Ashmore Investment Management finds two distinct factors causing this -one, growth issues in US and two, equity concerns in China. Speaking about the volatility in Chinese stock market, Dehn said he does not see Chinese equities as vulnerable as people think.

His favourite market remains China though he would not buy the index now. He likes Indian equity market index too despite the fall on the back of global issues. In next 12 months, volatility in Chinese equity will be firmly resolved and people will start focussing on that market again. So global backdrop will be considerably benign 12 months from now and there is a "liklihood of breaking higher than lower" in next one year.

The market is still holding up gains with good support from infra, oil & gas and auto stocks. The Sensex is up 84.21 points or 0.3 percent at 27543.44 and the Nifty is up 24.30 points or 0.3 percent at 8361.30. About 1519 shares have advanced, 736 shares declined, and 111 shares are unchanged.

ITC is down 3 percent while Dr Reddy's Labs, SBI, NTPC and Bharti Airtel are major losers while Infosys, HDFC, BHEL, Tata Motors and Wipro are among top gainers in the Sensex.

Aviation stocks SpiceJet and Jet Airways are up 6-11 percent after Ajay Singh-promoted low-budget airline posted best ever quarter in April-June.

Gold steadied at just below USD 1,100 an ounce, trading not far from a 5-5.5-year low, as investors awaited the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's meeting for more clues on the timing of this year's interest rate increase.

Gold has been stuck in narrow ranges this week ahead of the conclusion of the Fed's policy meeting later in the day. Policymakers are expected to send more signals to the market that a US interest rate increase is certain this year as the economy recovers.

That rate hike, the first in nearly a decade, could happen as early as September, analysts say, suggesting more downside risk for non-interest yielding gold.

10:45 am Interview: After having posted a significant improvement in its asset quality, PNB will be refinancing its stressed loans in Q2. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, executive director Ram Sangapure says the bank refinanced loans worth Rs 2500 crore in Q1 and will be refinancing more Rs 3000 crore worth loans in Q2.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sangpure says of the loans to be refinanced, 70 percent are from steel sector and 30 from power. Indian steel industry has faced a double whammy of weaker prices and higher imports dumped from China.

PNB, India's fourth-largest state lender by assets, could take control of some of the  most heavily indebted steel companies and sell them on as part of a restructuring. About a quarter of the bank's USD 4 billion portfolio of steel loans is stressed.

While Ananda Bhoumik, senior director, India Ratings believes rceoveries may not see a pick-up this year, Sangpure is optimistic that the incremental slippages will reduce as the downtrend has already begun.

10:20 am FII view on earnings: Bhuvnesh Singh, Barclays said with nearly a quarter of the companies in the BSE 100 having reported earnings thus far, 'beats' were less than 'misses'. Most 'beats' came from materials and consumer discretionary, he added.

"The FY16 EPS growth estimate for BSE 100 Index now stands at 18.8 percent and the FY16 sales growth estimate stands at 3.4 percent. All sectors barring energy and telecom have seen downgrades to FY16 earnings estimates since the start of the current quarter with materials and healthcare seeing the highest downgrades among the sectors," Singh said.

10:00 am Market Check
The market continued to see marginal buying interest after four-day fall. The Sensex gained 93.40 points at 27552.63 and the Nifty rose 27.25 points to 8364.25.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising more than 0.8 percent. About 1319 shares have advanced against 543 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

HDFC rebounded with 1.56 percent gain after falling more than 2.5 percent on Q1 earnings. Infosys, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, HUL, Wipro, Bajaj Auto, BHEL, Hindalco, Tata Steel and Vedanta gained 1-2 percent.

However, ITC slipped ahead of its Q1 earnings scheduled to be announced on Thursday. ONGC and NTPC declined 1 percent.

9:50 am Earnings poll: JSW Steel is expected to report consolidated net loss at Rs 80 crore in the quarter ended June against net profit of Rs 656 crore in the year-ago period, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. Weak operational performance and lower revenues may force the company to post loss.

Total income from operations is likely to decline 10 percent to Rs 11,928 crore from Rs 13,253.6 crore during the same period.

Sales volumes and realisations may hit due to weak domestic steel demand and higher steel imports. Sharp fall in global prices may also hit exports realisations.

9:30 am Buzzing: Shares of SpiceJet surged 6 percent intraday after it posted highest-ever net profit at Rs 71.8 crore in April-June. It had incurred a loss of Rs 124 crore in year-ago period.

The company under new management posted stellar quarter aided by low aircraft fuel expense and high load factor.

However, HSBC has reiterated reduce rating at an unchanged target price of Rs 10 per share, implying 60 percent downside . The brokerage feels earnings momentum is likely to weaken from here due to increased industry supply and a weak rupee. On a cautious note, it feels the performance is unlikely to be sustainable.

The market has started the day on a high note. The Sensex is up 66.46 points at 27525.69, and the Nifty is up 20.30 points at 8357.30. About 690 shares have advanced, 190 shares declined, and 67 shares are unchanged.

Vedanta, HDFC, Tata Steel, Hindalco and Tata Motors are top gainers while ITC, ONGC, NTPC, GAIL and Reliance are among laggards in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee has maintained it upward momentum as it gained 4 paise in the early trade.

The currency has opened at 63.87 per dollar against previous close of 63.91.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "Investors are likely to trade cautiously today as market is unsure of any upside movement in equity markets. Investors are expected to trade watchfully ahead of a series of data due for this week."

The dollar maintained its modest gains as traders look to any hints from the US Federal Reserve on the timing and the pace of its future rate hikes.

The Asian markets traded mixed despite a positive finish on Wall Street. US markets close with over 1 percent gains over encouragement from recovery in oil prices.

The US Federal Reserve's monetary decision is due tonight. A CNBC survey shows the market still expects a rate hike in September, but the majority is dwindling. European equities, meanwhile, ended in positive territory, as investors kept an eye on the slew of earnings and the start of the Federal Reserve meeting.

Crude prices fell as worries about global oversupply weighed in on sentiment. Precious gold continued to trade near the 5.5 year lows ahead of Fed meet.