Sensex ends up over 200 points, Nifty gains 72 points; FMCG surges

3:30 pm Market closing: The market has ended higher. The Sensex ended up 216.68 points or 0.8 percent at 25735.90 and the Nifty was up 72.50 points or 0.9 percent at 7834.45. About 1776 shares have advanced, 929 shares declined, and 207 shares were unchanged.

ONGC, ICICI Bank, ITC, M&M, Vedanta were top gainers in the Sensex. Among losers were Sun Pharma, HUL, GAIL, HDFC Bank and Reliance.

3:00 pm India's energy: India's energy demands will be more than double by 2040 as the economy will grow over five times its current size, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Dharmendra Pradhan said in Lok Sabha the International Energy Agency has released India's energy outlook in the World Energy Outlook 2015 which said that for the entire period till 2040, Indian economy will grow at a faster rate than any other country in the world by an average of 6.5 percent per year.

"India's energy demand will be more than double by 2040 as economy will grow to more than five times its current size. A six million barrels per day rise in oil use is the largest projected for any country's oil demand as 260 million new passenger vehicles will be added.

2:50 pm Pharma deal: Drug firm Strides Shasun has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to produce a generic version of Gilead's 'Sovaldi' used for treatment of Hepatitis C.

The company has received approval for manufacturing a generic version of Sofosbuvir 400 mg, Strides Shasun today said in a filing to BSE. Last year, Strides had entered into a licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences to bring Hepatitis C cure to 91 developing countries.

"The product will continue to be marketed under the brand name Virso in India and overseas," Strides Shasun said. Sofosbuvir is the first-in-class polymerase inhibitor to be launched in India for Hepatitis C treatment and represents "a paradigm shift" in the existing Hepatitis C cure, it added.

2:30 pm Aviation market share: Budget carrier SpiceJet has, for the seventh consecutive month, reported a seat factor of above 90 percent in November while national carrier Air India saw seat occupancy going up by over seven percent during the period, according to DGCA traffic data.

Also, regional carrier Air Costa did not operate every fifth of its flight for various reasons in the previous month, according to data released by the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) last week.

Gurgaon-based SpiceJet recorded a seat factor of 90.7 percent in November, the highest among the 11 domestic airlines, according to data. As against this, rival IndiGo recorded a seat factor of 83.9 percent in November while Air India saw its seat factor increasing to 81.7 percent as compared with 74.6 percent in October.

The market has extended gains with support from FMCG and metals stocks. The Sensex is up 221.47 points or 0.9 percent at 25740.69 and the Nifty is up 70.55 points or 0.9 percent at 7832.50. About 1762 shares have advanced, 861 shares declined, and 184 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, ITC, M&M, ONGC and Vedanta aree top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Sun Pharma, HUL and GAIL.

Brent crude oil prices fell to levels last seen in 2004,  dropping below the lows hit during the 2008 financial crisis on renewed worries over a global oil glut, with production around the world remaining at or near record highs and new supplies looming from Iran and the United States.

Analysts said a strong dollar following last week's U.S. interest rate hike, which makes oil consumption more expensive for countries using different currencies, as well as a renewed increase in US oil rig counts were weighing on crude prices.

1:50 pm Royalty issue: Monsanto has taken 9 seed companies to court including Kaveri Seeds and is demanding Rs 425 crore as 'trait fee' on use of proprietary. The amount of Kaveri's unpaid royalty amounts to Rs 66 crore. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, C Mithun Chand, Wholetime Director at Kaveri Seeds says the dispute with respect to royalties is for FY16, where the company has paid it as per 2015 rules, he says. However, there is no threat to the Kaveri's business, Chand adds. He expects 20-25 percent growth and slightly better margins in FY17. Furthermore, he is confident that the company will regain its market share.

1:30 pm Interview: A reasonably good rabi sowing season is likely to bolster demand and consumption in the drought hit rural India, by the fourth quarter of the current financial year, says YM Deosthalee, Chairman and Managing Director at L&T Finance Holdings. ''Rural demand is cyclical and depends heavily on monsoon. Two consecutive years of bad monsoons had weakened the demand. But we expect the consumption to improve in Q4FY16'', Deosthalee says. Deosthalee says L&T Finance is currently focusing on lending only for renewable energy and operational projects within the infrastructure space, adding there is likely to be some improvements in the road sector over the next few months.

The market continues to rise as the Nifty comfortably holds 7800. The 50-share index is up 56.35 points or 0.7 percent at 7818.30. The Sensex is up 171.70 points or 0.7 percent at 25690.92. About 1708 shares have advanced, 814 shares declined, and 181 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, ONGC, ITC, M&M and Coal India are top gainers in the Sensex. Among losers are Sun Pharma, HUL and HDFC Bank.

Meanwhile, the government hopes that the Congress and other opposition parties would stand by their "promise" and help in passing of the pending bills as there is no possibility of extension of Parliament "as of now".

"There are around 16 bills which are pending. 12 of them have been passed in the Lok Sabha and they are all important bills concerning the welfare of the people," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said.

He hoped that all the parties will go by the spirit of the House. Naidu noted that Congress and others have given positive signal that they will pass some of the important bills.

12:55 pm Rising: Shares of IVRCL surged 11 percent intraday on its plans to split business into two separate companies. The debt-laden infrastructure firm will divide its Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) and assets business - land and Build Operate Transfer (BOT) into two separate companies.

''To carve the business of the company into 'EPC Company' and 'Assets Company' which includes Land/BOT and other assets, by way of Scheme of Arrangement subject to receipt of ''No objection letter'' (NOC) from the lenders/Joint Lenders Forum, approval of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and any other approvals as may be required,'' IVRCL said.

12:45 pm Parliament update: The government hopes that the Congress and other opposition parties would stand by their "promise" and help in passing of the pending bills as there is no possibility of extension of Parliament "as of now".

"There are around 16 bills which are pending. 12 of them have been passed in the Lok Sabha and they are all important bills concerning the welfare of the people," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said.

He hoped that all the parties will go by the spirit of the House. Naidu noted that Congress and others have given positive signal that they will pass some of the important bills. "I hope they will stand by their word and see to it that the bills are passed," he said speaking to reporters.

12:30 pm Buzzing: Shares of Jubilant Life Science jumped 4 percent intraday as Reserve Bank of India has approved for more foreign investment in the company. The central has given a nod to Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPIs) to hold upto 45 percent in the drug major.

''FIIs/ RFPIs can now invest up to 45 percent of the paid up capital of Jubilant Life Science  under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS),'' a RBI statement said.

As per September 2015, FIIs hold 17.56 percent, promoter has 54.02 percent and rest is publicly held in the company.

The market continues its upward momentum while mid and smallcap indices support. The Sensex is up 146.80 points or 0.6 percent at 25666.02 and the Nifty is up 47.95 points or 0.6 percebt at 7809.90. About 1677 shares have advanced, 682 shares declined, and 164 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, ONGC, M&M, Tata Steel and Coal India are top gainers while Sun Pharma, HUL, Reliance and HDFC Bank are laggards.

Ajay Srivastava of Dimensions Capital says the upcoming year will see midcap stocks outperforming indices yet again. He says the market is in the right place as there is complacency that 7500 will hold. While the current weakness in Information technology (IT) and pharmaceuticals is a big drag on the market, Srivastava says one must add to their pharma portfolios no matter what happens.

11:55 am Boosters: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced a package of Rs 80,000 crore for Madhya Pradesh for various infrastructure works in the state including conversion of state roads into national highways and laying of a railway line.

"Based on the demands made by Madhya Pradesh government, I announce here that different roads measuring 3,782 kms will be turned into national highways with an investment of Rs 30,000 crore," Gadkari told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the four-day long 76th session of Indian Road Congress here this morning.

The Union Road Transport and Highways Minister handed over to MP Road Development Corporation (MPRDC) the responsibility of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) of these proposed highways and acquire land for the purpose and said the work of turning the roads into highways will commence from next December.

11:45 am Competitive pricing: To speed up customer acquisition, state-owned telecom firm BSNL has slashed mobile rates by up to 80 percent for the first two months under a scheme for new customers.

"BSNL has revamped its infrastructure now. We have decided to cut mobile call rates by up to 80 percent for new customer so that they get experience of our revamped services," BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava told PTI.

The call rates have been reduced both per minute and per second billing plan, and will be valid only for the first two months of a customer's joining BSNL.

11:30 am Buzzing: Despite severe losses in today's trade, Phillip Capital remains positive and advises to buy on dips stating that the issue may have more sentimental impact. It also adds that content of the warning letter will be key to future action in Sun Pharma, else it does not expect any major sales or margin implication. The brokerage is pinning hopes on its anti-cancer drug Gleevec generic. It feels that timely Gleevec launch could surprise positively and except Gleevec there are no key injectable in near-term pipeline. "It has enough time to go for site transfer for other drugs," Philip Cap adds.

The market is surging ahead now with boosts from bank, metals and power stocks. The Sensex is up 125.96 points or 0.5 percent at 25645.18 and the Nifty is up 42.40 points or 0.5 percent at 7804.35. About 1572 shares have advanced, 599 shares declined, and 137 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, ONGC, Coal India, M&M, Axis Bank are top gainers while Sun Pharma, HUL, Wipro and Reliance are major laggards in the Sensex.

Gold edged up, adding to sharp gains from the previous trading session, as weakness in the dollar and equities helped the metal recoup some losses from a US interest rate hike last week. Concerns that demand for non-interest-paying bullion will take a hit from the rate hike continue to cast a shadow, and will likely limit any rally in gold.

The metal saw some safe-haven bids on Friday after global equity markets fell sharply as slumping oil prices raised concerns about slower growth, while the dollar slipped against the yen on views the Bank of Japan may not ease policy as much as expected.

10:55 am Business: Tata Motors has entered the top-50 league of the world's biggest companies in terms of their research & development (R&D) investments, topped by German automaker Volkswagen.

 On the annual Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard for 2015, prepared by European Commission, Volkswagen is followed by Samsung, Microsoft, Intel and Novartis in the top-five.

 Tata Motors has moved up from 104th position last year to 49th now and has also shown the largest increase in R&D investments on the list. However, most of this R&D is at its UK subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover.

10:45 am Interview: The decline in crude prices reduces the working inventory and this will prove to be profitable for HPCL , says BK Namdeo, the company's Director - Refineries. Namdeo says production margin of refinery is currently good but continued volatility in crude or US dollar prices might impact the performance in coming quarter. ''Our refining margins totally depend on the price differential at the point of dispatch from the supplier to our refinery and then to the final retail outlet. Typically, the price is the monthly average plus either a premium or discount depending on crude and dollar prices'', Namdeo says.

10:30 am Market outlook: While the current weakness in Information technology (IT) and pharmaceuticals is a big drag on the market, Ajay Srivastava of Dimensions Capital says one must add to their pharma portfolios no matter what happens.

He believes the sector will give good returns from a 3-5 year perspective. On Sun Pharma, that is currently in the news due to the USFDA warning on its Halol facility, Srivastava has a target of Rs 550-600 per share.

Furthermore, he says the market is in the right place as there is complacency that 7500 will hold. However, he says the upcoming year will see midcap stocks outperforming indices yet again.

After initial weakness, the market has managed to go in green but is completely flat. The Sensex is up 22.14 points at 25541.36 and the Nifty is up 11.70 points at 7773.65. About 1258 shares have advanced, 552 shares declined, and 106 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Hindalco, Tata Steel, M&M and ONGC are top gainers while Sun Pharma, HUL, Wipro, Infosys and Bharti Airtel.

Gold edged up, adding to sharp gains from the previous trading session, as weakness in the dollar and equities helped the metal recoup some losses from a US interest rate hike last week. Concerns that demand for non-interest-paying bullion will take a hit from the rate hike continue to cast a shadow, and will likely limit any rally in gold.

The metal saw some safe-haven bids after global equity markets fell sharply as slumping oil prices raised concerns about slower growth, while the dollar slipped against the yen on views the Bank of Japan may not ease policy as much as expected.

9:55 am Outlook on banks: The new base rate calculation method based on banks' marginal cost of funds put in place by the RBI will not shave much off their net interest margins, Jefferies said.

The base rate calculation method to be effective April 1 will usher in international  best practices in loan pricing to the country as it moves away from a one-rate system, to a multi-rate one, with greater flexibility to price tenor, asset liability mismatch.

The new method will be based on the marginal cost determined by cost of their  deposits.

9:45 am FII view: The new year-2016- will see modest equity returns, says Xavier Denis, Global Strategist at Societe Generale.

Denis says India is a compelling play among the emerging markets (EMs), adding that the receding inflation and potential rate cuts will bode well for the markets.

"I am not so worried about the exposure of banks to the energy sector. I think that most of the liquidity and financial provision has been made on short-term basis. I think so far things can be mitigated from the banking perspective. I am a bit more worried about the spill over impact from the US high yield sector or the energy sector to the rest of the US market and in turn to other high yield market as well,"  he says.

9:30 am Break-away: Debt-laden infrastructure firm IVRCL has decided to split its Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) and assets business - land and Build Operate Transfer (BOT) - to float two separate companies.

According to a filing with the bourses, the company said the board has decided to convene a shareholders' meeting to approve the conversion of part of the debt into equity shares of the company pursuant to invocation of strategic debt restructuring by joint lenders forum.

''To carve the business of the company into 'EPC Company' and 'Assets Company' which includes Land/BOT and other assets, by way of Scheme of Arrangement subject to receipt of ''No objection letter'' (NOC) from the lenders/Joint Lenders Forum, approval of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and any other approvals as may be required,'' IVRCL said.

The market has kick-started the truncated week in red. The Sensex is down 94.31 points or 0.4 percent at 25424.91 and the Nifty is down 16.30 points or 0.2 percebt at 7745.65. About 356 shares have advanced, 183 shares declined, and 54 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma is down 6 percent followed by Infosys, Wipro, HUL and Reliance are major losers in the Sensex. Among top gainers are Hindalco, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp and Lupin.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher by 5 paise at 66.35 per dollar versus 66.40 Friday.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "The Fed hike was well received with all markets rallying initially. However, the continued weakness in energy and oil prices has started to put pressure back on the market."

"We expect the USD-INR pair to trade in the 66-67/dollar range in near future," he added.

Dollar fell after the Bank of Japan merely tweaked its monthly asset-purchase program, suggesting to traders that the central bank may not ease policy as much as expected.

Asia's markets traded in the red, after Wall Street's sharp losses on Friday.

The BOJ kept monetary policy unchanged as expected, but the central bank announced a new program to purchase ETFs at annual pace of 300 billion yen (USD 2.45 billion). This is in addition to the bank's existing ETF purchase program which increases ETF holdings at an annual pace of about 3 trillion yen.

That pushed up the yen against the dollar, likely weighing on shares of exporters. The greenback was fetching 121.23 yen early Monday, compared with around 122.40 yen before the decision Friday.

Brent crude prices fell to their lowest since 2004 on renewed worries over a global oil glut, with production around the world remaining at or near record highs and new supplies looming from Iran and the United States.