Sensex ends up ahead of Q4 GDP data; Tata Motors, M&M lead

Equity benchmarks finished higher Thursday after trading in a narrow range for most part of the day. Dealers attributed the late spike to squaring of short positions in the derivatives segment, today being the settlement day for May series.

The BSE Sensex gained 68 points to close at 20215, and the Nifty ended the day at 6124, up 20 points over the previous close.

Action continued to be centered around earnings candidates in the absence of any other key trigger.

Tata Motors shares gained over 4 percent after the company's fourth quarter numbers announced post-market hours Wednesday, beat analyst estimates by a comfortable margin. Most brokerages retained their positive ratings on the stock, but warned of a volatile stock performance in the coming months because of a similar trend in profitability.

Mahindra & Mahindra was the other big gainer among frontline shares, climbing over 4 percent after reporting strong fourth quarter numbers . Net profit was boosted by an extraordinary income of Rs 90 crore from shares of sales of group company Mahindra Holidays.

State-owned steel major SAIL closed around 1 percent lower after its quarterly net profit plunged 72 percent on higher interest charges . Brokers said the weak performance was largely on expected lines.

Key gainers among Sensex stocks included BHEL , HDFC, HDFC Bank , NTPC and ITC , which rose between 1-3 percent.

Cipla , Tata Steel , Hindalco and ICICI Bank were the key laggards, down between 3-5 percent.

Mphasis was the star performer among mid-caps, shrugging off a sluggish second quarter performance, on reports that parent Hewlett Packard was looking to sell its entire 60 percent stake in the company.

The stock closed around 8 percent higher at Rs 484.70, after touching a 52-week high of Rs 513 intra-day.

At a broader level, fourth quarter earnings were not as weak as feared, but that alone may not be good enough to propel the market higher, feel some experts.

"It is going to be a slow (earnings) recovery process. Even the markets will move in line with that because today the markets are trading at fair valuations and so we cannot expect markets to rerate based on these earning numbers," Harsha Upadhyaya of Kotak Mutual Fund said in an interview to CNBC-TV18 .

Liquidity will be the key driver near term, amid speculation on whether or not the US Federal Reserve will start cutting back on its monetary stimulus.

3:45 pm Losers: Cipla , Tata Steel , Hindalco , ICICI Bank and Hero Motocorp are some top losers in the Sensex.

3:30 pm Market closing:  The Sensex ends up 42.17 points at 20189.81, and the Nifty closes at 6124.05, up 19.75 points (provisional). About 1057 shares have advanced, 1315 shares declined, and 145 shares are unchanged.

3:20 pm Yellow metal alert: Gold jumped more than a percent to a one-week high on Thursday as investors dumped equities, but the metal still risked losing its safe-haven appeal on worries the US Federal Reserve could scale back its bullion-friendly bond buying programme, reports Reuters.

3:18 pm Market update: The market has recovered a bit. The Sensex is up 95.26 points at 20242.90, and the Nifty gains 23.95 points to be at 6128.25.

3:07 pm Losing: Cipla, Tata Steel, Hindalco, ICICI Bank and Hero Motocorp are major losers in the Sensex.

Expert take: Mehraboon Irani, principal and head- Pvt Client Group, Nirmal Bang Securities sees no reason to be bearish on Indian equities . He sees the Nifty soaring to new highs if the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut rates in June and there is normal monsoon.

Continuing his upbeat tone, he added that even in the worst possible scenario, the Nifty is unlikely to fall below 5500. He further added that one should keep an eye on India's index of industrial production (IIP) as it now be of more significance than it has been in the past.

On stocks, Irani's top bets from the IT sector were TCS and HCL Technologies . He added that owing to performance and despite a dividend, NMDC was not a stock to be bought in hurry. He maintained a negative outlook on HDIL stocks.

The market seems to be refusing to budge ahead amid lacklustre trading session. The Nifty is stuck at 6100 and is currently at 6097.35, down 6.95 points while Sensex is down 17.32 points at 20130.32. About 982 shares have advanced, 1291 shares declined, and 151 shares are unchanged.

IOC " target="_blank" title="Indian Oil Corporation">Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) gains 2 percent just as the March quarter earnings are announced. IOC's net profit rose to Rs 14512 crore from Rs 3332 crore quarter-on-qaurter.  Its reveneue stood at Rs 1.28 lakh crore while gross refining margin was at USD 2.39 per barrel.

Debt-struck Kingfisher Airlines surges 4.9 percent ahead of its March quarter earnings expected in the evening.

02:59pm Welspun Corp rose 4 percent after fourth quarter earnings. Midcaps like Madras Cements , Bank of Maharashtra and Edelweiss Financial extended gains to Rs 4-5 percent in the last half an hour of trade.

More than 8.65 lakh equity shares of Madras Cements changed hands at Rs 240 via block deal.

02:50pm State-run oil retailer IOC rallied more than 2.6 percent, after it reported net profit at Rs 14,512 crore and revenues at Rs 1.28 lakh crore, which both are higher-than-expectations of Rs 13,600 crore and Rs 1.24 lakh crore, respectively.

The company received discounts of Rs 21,967 crore from upstream companies and government subsidy of Rs 53,278 crore in financial year 2012-13.

02:40pm Mahindra and Mahindra shares extended rally to 4.25 percent on better-than-expected earnings in January-March quarter. Net profit came in at Rs 889 crore as against analysts' expectations of Rs 722.7 crore for fourth quarter.

The company recorded an exceptional gain of Rs 90 crore on sale of 34 lakh equity shares of Mahindra Holidays.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew by 31 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,270 crore; analysts expected it at Rs 1,109 crore. Even operating profit margin jumped by 180 basis points Y-o-Y to 12.1 percent as against 11.1 percent expected by analysts.

Jet Airways is the most active stock on Bombay Stock Exchange. Finance ministry will take up the Jet-Etihad deal for approval on June 11.

02:30pm The BSE Sensex is down 13.53 points at 20134.11, and the Nifty falls 9.40 points to 6094.90. Market breadth remain in favour of declines; about 956 shares advanced while 1298 shares declined.

02:25pm Aanjaneya Lifecare shares crashed 7 percent as the company posted a loss of Rs 38.2 crore during January-March quarter as against profit of Rs 5.3 crore in a year ago period. Even net sales dropped to Rs 76 crore from Rs 101 crore year-on-year.

02:20pm SAIL shares declined one percent after its reported net profit at Rs 447 crore, which is far lower compared to analysts' expectations of Rs 910 crore.

Even its operational performance is quite bad during the March quarter as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation stood at Rs 924 crore as against a forecast of Rs 1,490 crore.

Net profit and EBITDA for the March quarter of previous financial year 2011-12 were Rs 1576.98 crore and Rs 1576.5 crore, respectively.

02:15pm European markets are mixed in early trade; France's CAC gained 0.4 percent and Britain's FTSE is up 0.2 percent whereas Germany's DAX declined 0.12 percent.

Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei underperformed its all global peers, losing 5.15 percent at close. Real estate stocks hit quite badly.

02:10pm Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank dropped more than 3 percent whereas its rival HDFC Bank gained 0.8 percent.

Metals stocks too are under pressure; Tata Steel and Hindalco lost 2-2.6 percent.

02:00pm Equity benchmarks are trading in a choppy water; the 50-share NSE Nifty continues to hover around 6100 level.

Market experts believe the index may expire around 6100 today.

The BSE Realty Index fell 3 percent as Peninsula Land , HDIL , Unitech and Sobha Developer shares dropped 4-6 percent.

However, FMCG and Auto indices gained more than one percent on the back of major buying in Tata Motors (up 4 percent), M&M (up 2.6 percent) and ITC (up 2.3 percent).

01:59pm Power Finance Corporation slipped 0.5 percent despite higher than expected fourth quarter profit. Net profit of the company rose to Rs 1294 crore from Rs 818 crore year-on-year and analysts had expected it at Rs 1144 crore.

PFC says it is looking to buy stake in a public sector bank.

Cox & Kings shares gained 4 percent ahead of fourth quarter earnings.

01:50pm Shares of Cadila Healthcare advanced 3 percent, as its fourth quarter net profit rose stronger-than-expected 53.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 262 crore and revenues grew by 15.3 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,612 crore.

The jump in profit is partially attributed to tax writeback of Rs 58.3 crore during the quarter as against tax paid of Rs 43.6 crore in a year ago period.

Analysts had expected the company to report profit after tax of Rs 137 crore on net sales of Rs 1,605 crore.

01:40pm Ipca Labs shares gained 3 percent after the pharmaceutical firm showed good operational performance. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose by 27 percent year-on-year to Rs 142.32 crore and operating profit margin grew by 120 basis points to 21.2 percent during January-March quarter.

Net sales increased 19 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 659 crore, but net profit declined marginally to Rs 75 crore from Rs 76.6 crore.

Visa Steel shares rose nearly 3 percent as the company turned profitable with March quarter net profit at Rs 78.3 crore as against loss of Rs 51.9 crore in a year ago quarter.

01:35pm The BSE Sensex is completely directionless, rising just 22.42 points to 20170.06, and the Nifty is up 0.45 points at 6104.75.

MCX India gained one percent after the company turned corner with fourth quarter net profit at Rs 15.7 crore as against loss of Rs 1.4 crore in a year ago period.

Torrent Power shares declined 2.6 percent as its January-March quarter net profit slipped drastically to Rs 24.5 crore from Rs 385.5 crore reported in March quarter of previous financial year.

01:25pm BEML shares spiked 8 percent after the company turned profitable with fourth quarter net at Rs 85.3 crore as against loss of Rs 14 crore reported in a year period. Even net sales grew by 42.8 percent to Rs 1,106.7 crore from Rs 775 crore Y-o-Y.

01:15pm MphasiS shares jumped more than 11 percent, after sources say Hewlett Pckard (HP), which holds 60.5 percent stake in the company via EDS, is likely to have invited bids for stake sale. It is learnt that HP's stake in MphasiS is valued at Rs 5,800 crore .

Cipla dropped more than 4 percent, after it reported poor numbers during the January-March quarter. Profit after tax of the company fell by 8 percent year-on-year to Rs 268 crore on higher tax rate and reduction in other income while its operating profit margin on quarter-on-quarter basis slipped 331 basis points.

01:10pm Sadbhav Engineering shares declined one percent after its fourth quarter net profit fell by 75 percent year-on-year to Rs 11.6 crore and total income dropped 22.5 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 701.5 crore.

01:00pm Indian equities remain lacklustre ahead of F&O expiry and amid ongoing offer for sale issues.

Index heavyweights ITC and HDFC gained 2 percent each while Tata Motors is the top gainer since early trade after better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings.

Meanwhile, Adani Enterprises' offer for sale issue has been fully subscribed amid eight issues that are open for subscription today.

Essar Ports received bids for 1.36 crore shares as against issue size of 2.26 crore shares and Essar Shipping got bids for 1.15 crore shares as against size of Rs 1.78 crore.

2:50pm Sterlite Industries in focus, down 1 percent

Sterlite Industries will be in focus as the company's case against TNPCB hearing has resumed in Green Tribunal. The hearing on Sterlite plea will be decided latest by June 1.

12:40pm DLF down over 3 percent ahead of its results today

Shares of DLF were down over 3 percent. The stock has lost close to 30 percent in last 3 months. Analysts on an average expect revenues to fall 14 percent in the fourth quarter at Rs 2243 crore. Net profit is expected to dip by 5.2 percent to Rs 200 crore.

12:30pm MphasiS up 14% on HP stake sale buzz

Sources told CNBC-TV18, HP has invited bids for MphasiS stake sale. The former holds 60.5 percent stake in the company via EDS. At current price the stake is valued at Rs 5800 crore. The stock has hit fresh year-high on heavy volumes.

12:25pm Earnings Impact: Shares of Madras Cements plunged 3 percent after the company reported close to 40 percent drop in its net profit from Rs 99.2 crore to Rs 64.1 crore. Sales were also down to Rs 927.2 crore from Rs 978.7 crore, a year ago.

12:17pm MUST READ: Nikkei falls over 5% in steep afternoon sell-off

Japan's benchmark index skidded by more than five percent to a one-month low on Thursday after the yen strengthened against the greenback, bringing the benchmark's total losses to 14 percent since last Thursday's plunge.

12:12pm Gillette gets temporary relief from SAT, stock up 5 percent

Share of Gillette were up 5 percent after the company got temporary relief from SAT to meet minimum public shareholding guidelines.

12:07pm M&M up 2 percent ahead of Q4 results

Mahindra & Mahindra will report its Q4 results later on Thursday. Analysts expect net profit at Rs 723 crore, on revenue of Rs 9,990 crore, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll.

Key equity benchmarks were trading flat despite Japan's benchmark index tanked by more than 5 percent to hit one-month low on Thursday. Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar. The benchmark has lost 14 percent since last Thursday's plunge.

At 11.59 hrs IST, the Sensex was up 2 points at 20149, and the Nifty was down 3 points at 6100. About 795 shares advanced, 1141 shares declined, and 125 shares were unchanged.

Gainers included Tata Motors (Rs 313.00, 3.03%), Mahindra and Mahindra (Rs 982.70, 2.25%), PNB (Rs 814.45, 1.54%), NMDC (Rs 118.40, 1.46%) and ITC (Rs 347.45, 1.40%).

Key losers in the Nifty were Cipla (Rs 386.95, 3.67%), Jaiprakash Associates (Rs 66.80, 3.47%), DLF (Rs 203.70, 3.23%),
ICICI Bank (Rs 1,187.80, 2.23%) and Reliance Infra (Rs 378.95, 2.13%)

11:45 am Alert: Gillette gets temporary relief from SAT to meet Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) guidelines. The stock is currently at Rs 2,211.50, up Rs 94.70, or 4.47 percent on the BSE.

11:40 am Market update: The Nifty is down 10.35 points at 6093.95, while The Sensex is down 22.31 points at 20125.33. BSE Auto is up 1.1 percent while BSE Realty is down 2.9 percent.

11:30 am Indian equities are likely to enter a new bull market led by correction in commodity pieces (gold, oil), fall in interest rates and revival of economic growth, foresees Centrum Broking .

The potential upside for the market from the current levels is 29 percent. The Sensex is expected to touch a new high of 25,900 by December 2014, the broking firm said in its recent report.

11:25 am Buzzing: BEML is up 7.3 percent, reacting to a turnaround in March quarter numbers. The company posted a profit of Rs 85 crore against a loss of Rs 14 crore year-on-year. Higher other income of Rs 53 crore and a tax write back of Rs 43 crore boosted the bottomline. Margins rose to 3 percent.

Don't miss: Navratnas for your portfolio: 9 midcaps to buy

11:20 am Good news: Met Department has said that monsoon is round the corner and may hit Kerala anytime.

11:15 am Losing stocks: Cipla (down 3.62 percent), ICICI Bank (down 2.42 percent),  Tata Steel (down 1.83 percent), Maruti Suzuki (down 1.59 percent) and Hero Motocorp (down 1.5 percent) are major losers in the Sensex.

11:10 am Expert take: Fourth quarter earnings have broadly been in line with market expectations, said Harsha Upadhyaya, Head of Equities, Kotak Mutual Fund. His fund is not making any changes to their forecast of 11-12 percent growth in earnings for the current financial year.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18 , Upadhyaya said he did not expect the market to be re-rated on the basis of fourth quarter numbers. Among the key risks to sentiment at this stage is a depreciating rupee, he says.

Upadhyaya is bullish on IT stocks as he feels the valuations are reasonable compared to other sectors. He continues to be bearish on infrastructure and metal shares.

The market is extremely choppy on the day of May series expiry.  The Sensex is down 50.21 points at 20097.43 while the Nifty slipped 17.90 points to 6086.40. About 693 shares have advanced, 1017 shares declined, and 108 shares are unchanged.

Asian stocks are under pressure today with Japan's Nikkei  down 4.9 percent after US stocks dropped and the yen strengthened while caution over the recent volatility in Japanese market keeping investors on edge.

From the real estate space, DLF is under pressure. In its March quarter earnings, the realty major is expected to see a 14 percent drop in its revenues, while profit may slip 5 percent to Rs 200 crore, year-on-year. DLF will miss its FY13 debt guidance as proceeds from Aman Resorts have not yet come in.

Also Unitech is down around 4 percent ahead of its numbers today. In the commodities market, crude extends its fall. Nymex falls below USD 93/bbl and brent slips to USD 102.7/bbl.

11.00am Japan's Nikkei down 5 percent, down 15 percent from life-high.

10:55am 52-week high: Sun Pharma , MphasiS, HDFC , IPCA Labs, Greenply Industries and ING Vysya Bank have touched fresh year-highs today.

10:52am Major gainers in the NSE were Greenply Industries (Rs 500.25, 11.50%), Kabra Extrusion (Rs 32.00, 10.92%), BEML (Rs 183.30, 9.14%), Adhunik Metalik (Rs 27.25, 8.35%) and Vadilal Industries (Rs 232.65, 7.06%)

10:46am Tata Motors: What analysts make of Q4 performance

While Tata Motors quarterly numbers were better than what analysts had expected, the stock price is likely to be volatile in the coming months because of fluctuation in profitability across the local and international divisions.

Also read: Navratnas for your portfolio: 9 midcaps to buy

10:32 am Market outlook: Rupee weakness big worry, bearish on infra, metal says Kotak MF

Harsha Upadhyaya, Head of Equities, Kotak Mutual Fund is bullish on IT stocks as he feels the valuations are reasonable compared to other sectors. He continues to be bearish on infrastructure and metal shares.

10:26 am Key losers in the BSE Midcap were Bank of Maharashtra (Rs 55.50, 4.06%), Anant Raj Industries (Rs 66.95, 4.01%), Unitech (Rs 24.20, 3.2%), Jaypee Infra (Rs 34.65, 3.08%) and HDIL (Rs 46.60, 2.82%).

10:24am Will lower crude price, higher GRMS boost IOC's Q4 nos?

Indian Oil Corporation is expected to post 7% jump in Q4 net profit to Rs 13600 crore on improving refining margins. Revenues are expected to decline over 3 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 1.24 lakh crore. The stock was up 0.5 percent.

10:16am Apollo Tyres to sell South African arm, shares gain 2%

Apollo Tyres shares gained two percent Thursday, after the tyre manufacturer sold a part of its South African operations to Japan-based Sumitomo Rubber for USD 60 million.

10:13am Japan's Nikkei 225 index cracks 3.2 percent to 13,860.89

Concerns that the Federal Reserve might start scaling back its stimulus program due to a seeming improvement in the US economy sent Asian stock markets lower Thursday.

10:10am Tata Motors shares jump after Q4 earnings surprise

Tata Motors reported a lower-than-expected fall in its fourth quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 3,945 crore and revenue also beat street at Rs 56,002 crore, up 10 percent, sending the shares up 4 percent.

10:05am HDIL down 2% on Q4 loss, MIAL termination notice

HDIL lost another 2 percent on Thursday after Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) had sent a termination notice for its slum rehabilitation project.

Indian shares were consolidating in the morning trade. The volatility will pick up in the later half of the session on account of the future positions being rolled over to the next expiry, said dealers.

At 10.05 hrs IST, the Sensex was up 5.28 points or 0.03% at 20152.92, and the Nifty was down 2.75 points or 0.05% at 6101.55. About 563 shares advanced, 680 shares declined, and 84 shares were unchanged.

Key gainers in the Nifty were Tata Motors (Rs 314.80, 3.62%), Mahindra and Mahindra (Rs 984.00, 2.39%), NMDC (Rs 119.25, 2.19%), Ranbaxy Labs (Rs 389.65, 1.29%) and Sun Pharma (Rs 1,076.45, 1.00%).

Laggards included Cipla (Rs 393.25, 2.1%), ONGC (Rs 328.25, 2%), Jaiprakash Associates (Rs 67.90, 1.88%), ICICI Bank (Rs 1,192.95, 1.81%) and Bharti Airtel (Rs 309.90, 1.62%)

9:50 am Boardroom: Anjan Chatterjee, CEO, Speciality Restaurants says same store sales growth have been flat this quarter
Happy with growth achieved in jan-march quarter
Have not undertaken any price hikes until now
Expect to take price hikes of 5-7% post July 2013
Opened 14 new stores last year
Have reduced manpower costs to manage input cost pressures

9:42 am Infotech Ent Block Deal: 49.9 lakh shares (6.6% equity) change hands on BSE at Rs 165 per share. The stock is up 0.8 percent.

9:40 am Movers: Among the midcaps, AstraZeneca (up 7.1 percent) and Hathway Cable (up 4.5 percent) are biggest gainers.

Don't miss: Navratnas for your portfolio: 9 midcaps to buy

9:35 am Buzzing: Boosted by Tata Motors and M&M, BSE Auto index is up 1.4 percent from its previous close. Meanwhile, BSE Realty index is down 1.5 percent.

Expert comments

India among key Asian mkts to be hurt by Fed QE reversal

9:30 am Big losers: ONGC , ICICI Bank , Bharti Airtel , Tata Steel and Infosys are top losers in the Sensex.

What Udayan says May series to expire around 6100; rupee to get some respite

The market opened slightly lower on the expiry day. The Sensex is down 23.67 points or at 20123.97, and the Nifty fell 32.15 points to 6072.15. US equity markets were off their worst levels on Wednesday, but still closed in the red on concerns that Fed will start winding down its stimulus programme. European markets too ended with nearly 2 percent cuts.

On the home turf, Tata Motors is biggest Sensex gainer, surging around 3.7 percent. Tata Motors delivered better-than-expected earnings with a strong performance by JLR. JLR margins were at 17 percent and for the standalone business, losses narrowed sequentially to Rs 312 crore.

From oil & gas space, ONGC's profits were below expectations , impacted by higher writeoff and revenues came in at Rs 21,830 crore. The stock is up 2.2 percent.

BPCL earnings were largely in-line with estimates . Revenues came in at Rs 66,310 crore and PAT was at Rs 4,797 crore year on year. The stock is up 1 percent.

Cipla disappointed with its fourth quarter earnings . Profits come down due to higher tax rate and reduction in other income.

NMDC posted results inline with expectations. Topline exceeded estimates due to higher sales volumes. Revenue was up 23 percent at Rs 3202 crore versus  Rs 2593.7 crore. The profits however came in lower by 10 percent. The margins miss was due to higher other expenses.

In key earnings to watch today, one can expect a steady quarter from M&M. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, the Q4 revenue is seen up 6.5% at Rs 9990 crore led by 7.2 percent growth in volumes.

The adjusted PAT was up 17 percent at 722.7 crore.  The operating margins are seen higher year on year at 11.1%, but there could be a dip sequentially on weak tractor volumes.

From the real estate space- DLF will release its numbers today. A CNBC-TV18 poll indicates that revenue will decline 14 percent while profits may come down by 5 percent. No major uptick in operational metrics is likely due to lower sales volumes and muted leasing activity.

The company is also likely to miss the FY13 debt guidance of Rs 18,500-19,000 crore as Rs 1600 crore proceeds from Aman Resorts are yet to be received.

Some companies which are expected to announce March quarter earnings are Tata Power , SAIL , MMTC , Suzlon, United Breweries , Unitech , Fortis Healthcare , Cadila Health , Central Bank, GMR Infra , IVRCL , IPCA Labs,Auro Pharma, Berger Paints , Cox & Kings, Deepak Fert , EIH , Financial Tech , GSPL , Indian Hotel, IPCA Labs, JM Financial , Madras Cement, MMTC, MTNL , Natco Pharma , Omaxe , Opto Circuit, Nitesh Est, Pipavav Defense, Sadbhav Eng , Simplex Infra , Siti Cable, Core Projects, DQ Ent, Educomp, Eros, Everonn, Heritage Foods , Kalindee Rail , KFA, Lyka Labs, MC Dowell Holdings, Uflex and Tulip Telecom among others.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee opened flat at 56.14 per dollar versus 56.16 Wednesday. The euro rose back to 1.29 to the dollar. The dollar index slipped below the 84 mark as US treasury yields eased from more than one-year highs.