Sensex gains 1%, Nifty ends tad below 7800 ahead of I-Day

03:30 pm Market closing
The market closed on a higher note ahead of PM Narendra Modi's Independce Day speech. The Sensex was up 184.28 points or 0.71 percent at 26103.23, and the Nifty was up 52.15 points or 0.67 percent at 7791.70.

GAIL was up 3 percent, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Motosr, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were Hero, HDFc, Wipro, Bharti and Tata Steel.

02:59pm RCF worried about gas prices and interest cost
Commenting on the company's increase in net profit for the first quarter ended June, 2014, RG Rajan CMD, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers said the Thal and Trombay plants performed at full 100 percent capacity and would perform well in second quarter as well. However, the concern on gas prices and interest costs for the company still remain, said Rajan.

According to him the Budget provisions of subsidy are not enough, and subsidy of around Rs 2000 crore is still pending from the government. However, the company is hopeful of better and timely subsidy from the government this fiscal, which will help reduce their interest costs.

RCF reported manifold increase in net profit to Rs 83.95 crore for the first quarter ended on June 30 on account of higher income.

02:40pm Interview
Kohinoor Foods, one of the largest basmati rice exporters from India, aims to clock turnover of Rs 1,475 crore in FY15. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 about the financial performance of the company in Q1FY15 and the road ahead, managing director Satnam Arora said the company expects 15 percent jump in overall basmati production for FY15.

He further added that its export markets continue to perform well and Kohinoor Foods has managed to make a good entry into Iran market. ''The order inflows are growing with steady momentum from Iran market,'' he said. However, its domestic growth continues to remain sluggish, Arora said.

02:20pm Hindalco Industries in News
World's largest aluminium rolling company Hindalco Industries missed street expectations with the first quarter net profit falling 30.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 327.5 crore dented by higher power and fuel, finance, and raw material costs. Profit in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal was Rs 474.1 crore.

Total income from operations jumped 37 percent to Rs 7,996 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 from Rs 5,838 crore in same quarter last year supported by both copper as well as aluminium businesses.

"Copper revenue grew by 37.3 percent on yearly basis to Rs 4,990.3 crore with earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rising 28.5 percent while aluminium business reported 36.2 percent growth at Rs 3,011.30 crore with EBIT increasing nearly 4 times," said the company in its filing.

02:00pm Equity benchmarks extended rally in afternoon trade with the Sensex gaining 166.81 points at 26085.76 and the Nifty rising 41.90 points to 7781.45 supported by private banks, oil & gas, auto (select), steel and healthcare stocks.

About 1495 shares have advanced, 1278 shares declined, and 127 shares are unchanged.
 
Shares of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, Sesa Sterlite, GAIL and Tata Power rallied 2-3 percent followed by Larsen and Toubro, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Tata Steel and NTPC with 1-1.7 percent.

Drug maker Cipla gained over a percent ahead of Q1 earnings. Net profit is expected to decline 28 percent year-on-year to Rs 347.8 crore while revenue may increase by 23 percent to Rs 2830.4 crore in the quarter ended June 2014.

However, Hero Motocorp dropped 2.5 percent after MSCI reduced stock's weightage to 0.62 percent from 1.24 percent in its India Equity Index. HDFC fell nearly 2 percent.

2:00 pm Market outlook: Girish Pai, Director, Claritas Research, said that from a short-term perspective, for the next 6 months, he is cautious on the markets, while on a medium term (2-3 years) he is bullish and expects a 15-20 percent returns.

On the policy side, he thinks the government is yet to deliver what the market was expecting in a run-up to the elections and beyond. ''I think probably we need to give this government some more time,'' Pai told CNBC-TV18.

On macro front, he expects GDP growth closer to 5 percent against the consensus of 6 percent for FY15. And thinks both monetary and fiscal policies will continue to be tight.

Pai is overweight on IT and pharma and is positive on domestic cyclicals on FY15-16E earnings expansion.

1:45 pm Interview: The state-owned insurance group and investment company, LIC, is aiming to grow by 10 percent this fiscal. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, SK Roy, chairman, LIC said the company is well in its path to achieve the target since it has already recorded 7 percent growth so far this year. He informed that new premium collections have touched Rs 10,000 crore and LIC has achieved the target set for Q1 from investments in equities. Although Roy desisted from sharing the numbers, he offered to reveal that income from investments in Q1 were 10-15 percent higher.

When asked about his expectation from the market, Roy said he agreed with street that better days are yet to come. Talking about earnings growth in India, the chairman said good days are going to continue and he was bullish on banking and financial, metals, FMCG and IT sectors. Speaking about GDP growth, Roy said he does not want to spell out any figures, but he remains positive. FY14 GDP growth fell below 5 percent and the government is eyeing 6 percent growth this fiscal.

1:20 pm Buzzing: Shares of Whirlpool hit record high of Rs 412.55 per share and locked at 10 percent upper circuit intraday on Thursday. Investors are lapping up the stock as the consumer durables firm's net profit jumped  67.37 percent increase to Rs. 83 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, on robust operating margins.

The company had posted a standalone net profit of Rs. 49.59 crore during the same period of the previous fiscal.

Net sales went up by 19.18 percent to Rs. 1,020.10 crore during the April-June quarter as against Rs. 855.89 crore in the same period last fiscal, Whirlpool said in a statement.

The company is planning to introduce over 200 new models in 2014. It has already put into market a new range of air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines, the statement added.

The market gains for the fourth consecutive session with a healthy contribution from mid and small caps. Realty and metal stocks led key indices higher.

The Sensex is up 132.43 points at 26051.38 and the Nifty is up 32.05 points at 7771.60. About 1352 shares have advanced, 1281 shares declined, and 119 shares are unchanged. GAIL, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the laggards are Hero, HDFC, Wipro, Bharti and Tata Steel.

July WPI eases to a five-month low of 5.19 percent, helped mainly by a moderation in fuel prices. May WPI inflation revised to 6.18 percent from 6.01 percent previously.

The Reserve Bank in its monetary policy review last week had cautioned that continued uncertainty over monsoon could stoke food inflation, but expressed the hope that government policies will improve supplies in the coming months.

Retail inflation data for July, released earlier this week, showed a marginal inch up to 7.96 per cent.

12:55pm Voltas on fire
Shares of Voltas, the largest air conditioning company in India, spiked more than 8 percent after reporting strong earnings in April-June quarter driven by higher margins in the unitary cooling products (UCP) segment.

Profit after tax of the Tata Group company jumped 2.7 times year-on-year to Rs 110.3 crore on total income of Rs 1,757 crore (up 9.6 percent) while margin expanded by 370 basis points to 7.5 percent.

Deutsche Bank has a buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 231 and has upgraded FY15e/16e earnings per share by 13 percent/7 percent respectively.

"Voltas surprised us on the interim results driven by better-than-expected sales of air conditioners and management decision not to book any additional provisions (losses) for stalled project in Middle East," said the brokerage in its note.

He added that looking at the commentary made by peers (Hitachi Home and Life Solutions -unrated) as well as extended summers, industry volume growth for AC sales in FY15 is likely to be about 6 percent versus 2 percent estimated earlier.

12:40pm Interview
In an interview to CNBC-TV18 Ansuman Das, CMD, Nalco said the key contributor to the profits in the quarter gone by was the aluminium business, and the company's focus on reduction of caustic soda and coal overheads.

State-owned National Aluminium Company (NALCO) reported a massive 69.4 percent jump in first quarter (April-June) net profit at Rs 271 crore , higher-than-expected, driven by strong operational performance.

Operating profit (EBITDA) jumped 81 percent year-on-year to Rs 277 crore with 670 basis points surge in margin to 16.5 percent compared to same quarter last year, which were higher than analysts' forecast of Rs 255 crore and 15.2 percent, respectively.

12:20pm Market Expert
Girish Pai, Director, Claritas Research, says that from a short-term perspective, for the next 6 months, he is cautious on the markets, while on a medium term (2-3 years) he is bullish and expects a 15-20 percent returns.

On the policy side, he thinks the government is yet to deliver what the market was expecting in a run-up to the elections and beyond. ''I think probably we need to give this government some more time,'' Pai told CNBC-TV18.

On macro front, he expects GDP growth closer to 5 percent against the consensus of 6 percent for FY15. And thinks both monetary and fiscal policies will continue to be tight.

Pai is overweight on IT and pharma and is positive on domestic cyclicals on FY15-16E earnings expansion.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets remained firm in noon trade after the WPI inflation eased to 5.19 percent in July from 5.43 percent in previous month.

The Sensex rose 115.90 points to 26034.85 and the Nifty advanced 25.45 points to 7765 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained around half a percent. About 1237 shares have advanced, 1289 shares declined, and 109 shares are unchanged.

Shares of Tata Motors, Sesa Sterlite and Gail India topped the buying list, up more than 2 percent followed by HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Larsen and Toubro, Sun Pharma and Maruti Suzuki with 1-1.8 percent.

Aluminium major Hindalco Industries gained over a percent ahead of earnings today. Net profit is expected to fall by 14 percent but operating profit may jump 80 percent year-on-year to Rs 861 crore.
 
However, HDFC, Hero Motocorp and Bharti Airtel dropped 1-3 percent. State Bank of India, Tata Steel, Wipro, Bajaj Auto and Cipla declined 0.4-0.7 percent.

11:45 am Trending: Shares of Tata Steel slipped 2 percent intraday Thursday on disappointment of weaker domestic and south East Asian operations. However, most brokerages are bullish on the stock as its European business saw a good run with EBITDA per tonne touching three-year high, up 26 percent on a yearly basis.

Citi suggests buying the stock with a target of Rs 600. It says that Europe's EBITDA per tonne at USD 52 is the result of better mix and cost management despite lower volumes. Tata Steel's self-help, likely better Europe spreads, strong India volumes, potentially better capital structure should continue to hold it in good stead, the brokerage adds.

Impressed by the European business, Deutsche Bank, too, reiterates to buy it with an increased target of Rs 665, implying 11 percent upside. According to it, the company's net debt position is improving driven by a combination of improving operating cash flows from Jamshedpur, reducing capex trajectory post completion of Kalinganagar capex and divestment of non-core assets.

Barclays maintains overweight rating on Tata Steel with a hope that European business recovery and India volume growth visibility will be key stock drivers. It has increased target price to Rs 618 per share.

The market is maintaining its uptrend with Nifty inches towards 7800. The 50-share index is up 30.75 points at 7770.30. The Sensex is up 115.91 points at 26034.86. About 1129 shares have advanced, 1073 shares declined, and 98 shares are unchanged.

GAIL, Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco, ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Hero Motocorp, HDFC, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel and Wipro.

Asian shares pushed higher after a flood of soft economic data led investors to wager on a ceaseless fountain of stimulus from major central banks, sending bond yields tumbling across the globe.

An economic contraction in Japan, a shock fall in Chinese loans, a surprisingly dovish turn by the Bank of England and a sluggish reading on US retail sales all combined to make any tightening in policy seem a very distant prospect. Indeed, investors suspect further easing is in the cards with data on euro zone growth and inflation later expected to pressure the European Central Bank for more action.

Yields on Germany's two-year debt actually went negative, meaning investors were paying for the privilege of lending Berlin money.

10:55am RCF on buyers' radar
Shares of state-run Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) rallied 9 percent after reporting 19-fold increase in net profit to Rs 83.95 crore for the quarter ended June 2014 due to higher income.

Total income from operations during April-June quarter of the current fiscal rose to Rs 1,504.62 crore from Rs 1,438.28 crore in the same quarter last fisal.

10:40am Hindalco in focus
Hindalco Industries, the world's largest aluminium rolling company, is expected to report a 14 percent decline in first quarter (April-June) profit after tax at Rs 410 crore compared to Rs 474 crore in the year-ago period, according to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates. The company will declare its earnings today.

In Q1FY14, profit included non-recurring income to the extent of Rs 203 crore.

Total income from operations is seen going up by 39 percent to Rs 8,100 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 from Rs 5,837.2 crore in same quarter last year. Operating profit may jump 80 percent year-on-year to Rs 861 crore and margin may expand 240 basis points to 10.6 percent in the quarter gone by.

10:20am Market Expert
The Nifty could be rangebound between 7400-7800 near-term, and climb to 8000 by December, feels Tirthankar Patnaik, India strategist and chief economist at Religare Capital Markets.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he says most retail investors have missed out on the rally, and are likely to enter around 7400 on the Nifty.

Patnaik feels a further reduction in monetary stimulus in the US will trigger a knee jerk reaction in emerging markets. He sees inflation receding over the next three to four months, and does not see a rate hike this year.

He is cautious on financial services in general because of asset quality concerns, but bullish on select private banks.

10:00am Equity benchmarks extended early gains with the Sensex hitting 26000 level, up 119.35 points to 26038.30 supported by private banks, technology, FMCG and healthcare stocks. The Nifty rose 27.85 points to 7767.40 while the broader markets remained flat.

About 958 shares have advanced, 932 shares declined, and 72 shares are unchanged.

Shares of HDFC Bank, ITC, ICICI Bank, TCS, Larsen and Toubro, Sun Pharma, Mahindra and Mahindra, Hindalco Industries, Sesa Sterlite and Gail India gained 1-1.7 percent followed by Infosys, Reliance Industries and Tata Motors with marginal gains.

However, Hero Motocorp lost more than 3 percent and Bajaj Auto slipped over a percent. ONGC, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and BHEL declined 0.3-0.9 percent.

9:50 am Big deal: Adani Power will acquire Lanco Infratech 's 1,200 MW Udupi thermal plant in a deal worth over Rs 6,000 crore. The big ticket deal comes less than three weeks after Reliance Power agreed to acquire three hydel projects of Jaypee Group. Adani Power, which is part of diversified Adani Group, was also in the race for those hydro plants. Adani Power would acquire Lanco Infratech's 1,200 MW imported coal-fired Udupi thermal power plant in Karnataka.

Making the announcement, Lanco Infratech said the deal is "is valued at more than Rs 6,000 crore". It includes Rs 4,000 crore debt component. "This transaction will support the company in reducing its debt and will enable Lanco to receive about Rs 2,000 crore as cash and additionally, Adani Power will take Udupi plant's long-time debt of around Rs. 4,000 crore," it said in a statement.

9:30 am Result: Tata Steel, one of the world's largest steel producers, disappointed street by reporting a whopping 70.4 percent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 337.3 crore for the April-June quarter, impacted by provision for impairment of non-current assets, higher tax expenses and interest cost. Profit in the year-ago period was Rs 1,139 crore. Analysts had expected the Tata Group company to report net profit of Rs 906 crore on revenue of Rs 35,300 crore for the quarter, according to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates.

Consolidated total income from operations grew by 11 percent, higher-than-expected, to Rs 36,427 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 from Rs 32,805 crore in same quarter last year. Tata Steel said it has reported an exceptional loss of Rs 262 crore during the quarter after provision for impairment of non-current assets at Rs 1,577 crore and profit from sale of non-core investments worth Rs 1,314.2 crore.

The market has opened marginally higher. The Sensex is up 72.53 points at 25991.48 and the Nifty is up 16.45 points at 7756.00. About 375 shares have advanced, 164 shares declined, and 22 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma, L&T, Tata Power, HDFC and ICICI Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are ONGC, Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Bharti and ITC.

The Indian rupee gained 11 paise at opening trade at 61.10 per dollar versus 61.21 Wednesday. Dollar slipped against most currencies after data showed US retail sales were flat in July after gains the previous month. The report, which suggested the Federal Reserve would not be hard-pressed to raise interest rates any time soon, pushed the dollar to one-week lows against a struggling euro.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, ''Currency markets are likely to see muted activity today in view of bunched up holidays. In the absence of global cues, the rupee has now settled in a new range of 60.80-61.70/dollar. Today, the rupee is expected to trade in a tight range of 61.10-61.35/dollar.''

In US, markets closed higher for the third time in four days as a rally in tech, airlines and biotech firms helped lead gains. Weak US retail sales fuelled speculation that the Fed is unlikely to be aggressive in tightening its policy stance in the near-term.

In commodities, Brent crude prices rose above USD 103 as turmoil in Iraq and Libya kept concerns about potential supply disruptions in focus.

On the macro front, July WPI will be released today. A CNBC-TV18 poll expects July WPI softening to 5.16 percent on lower fuel inflation with less impact from rising vegetable prices. Core WPI could be ranging in current levels of 3.8 to 3.9 percent.