Sensex gains 186 points, Nifty ends above 8750; ICICI, HDFC fall

3:30 pm Market closing: Equity benchmarks closed higher for third consecutive session but were off day's high due to some profit booking in afternoon trade.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 186.14 points at 28599.03 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 37.30 points at 8779.85 whereas the broader markets ended marginally lower on weak breadth.

About 1423 shares declined against 1310 advancing shares on the BSE.

ITC and Hero MotoCorp were top gainers in trade today while Reliance Industries hit 27-month high intraday, closing with a gain of 1 percent.

However, HDFC and ICICI Bank dragged the market from day's high while ITC, HDFC Bank and Infosys provided support.

3:20 pm FM on inflation: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today expressed hope that the Reserve Bank will keep in mind the decline in retail inflation while deciding on interest rates at its policy review meeting on October 4.

"I expect when the policy review takes place next month then RBI, and hopefully if MPC is constituted by then, they will collectively keep all these factors in mind," he said when asked if declining inflation leaves room for rate cut.

RBI is a responsible organisation, Jaitley said, adding, "we should wait for its judgement and we should trust its judgement".

In its monetary policy review last month, RBI maintained status quo on key rates citing upside risks to 5 percent inflation target for March 2017.

Retail inflation eased to a five-month low of 5.05 percent in August.

3:05 pm Market Update: The Sensex was up 194.63 points or 0.69 percent at 28607.52 and the Nifty up 43.25 points or 0.49 percent at 8785.80.

2:59 pm Buzzing: Healthcare company Themis Medicare shares touched a record high of Rs 650, up 16 percent intraday on pact with US company for injectable products.

"Themis and Nevakar LLC has signed an agreement to develop injectable products that will be further developed, manufactured and commercialised by Nevakar in the US & select global markets," the pharma company said in its filing.

The New Jersey-based pharmaceutical firm Nevakar has expertise in commercialising pharma products in the US as well as global markets for many years.

2:45 pm Oil falls: Oil prices fell on worries that US rig counts would continue to rise and that returning Libyan and Nigerian exports would stoke a global supply glut.

Brent crude futures were trading at USD 45.97 per barrel, down 1.33 percent, from their last settlement. US West Texas Intermediate futures were down 1.18 percent, at USD 43.39 a barrel.

2:35 pm Divestment: Heavy Industries Ministry is likely to seek Cabinet approval for "strategic disinvestment" of loss making automaker Scooters India, a top official said today.

Strategic disinvestment denotes sale of substantial portion of government shareholding in identified CPSEs up to 50 percent or more, along with transfer of management control.

"Scooters India (disinvestment) is in the process. It will be a strategic sale. Strategic disinvestment, I would say," Heavy Industries Secretary Girish Shankar told PTI.

There have been talks about disinvestment of Scooters India in the past but successive governments could not implement the plan due to divergent views among various stakeholders including employees.

2:20 pm Europe in red: European stocks were trading lower with banks taking a beating after news of a large fine for Deutsche Bank and as global markets look to next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve's policymaking committee.

France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 0.2-0.6 percent.

2:00 pm Market Check:
Equity benchmarks erased more than half of gains in afternoon trade on weak Europe cues and profit booking in banks stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 147.41 points at 28560.30 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 25.40 points at 8767.95 whereas the broader markets turned lower with marginal loss.

The market breadth also turned negative as about 1366 shares declined against 1293 advancing shares on the BSE.

Nifty Bank was flat after losing nearly 400 points from day's high. ICICI Bank, HDFC, Bank of Baroda and SBI were down 0.3-0.6 percent. Yes Bank lost 3 percent followed by IndusInd Bank with over a percent loss.

Tata Motors, Tata Steel and BHEL fell 1-2 percent whereas index heavyweights ITC (up 2.1 percent), Reliance Industries (up 1.75 percent), Infosys (up 0.97 percent) and HDFC Bank (up 0.69 percent) continued to support the market.

1:35 pm Market erases some gains: Equity benchmarks erased some gains due to fall in European peers. The Sensex gained 251.31 points or 0.88 percent at 28664.20 and the Nifty was up 62.80 points or 0.72 percent at 8805.35.

About 1513 shares advanced against 1062 declining shares on the BSE.

Asian Paints, Tata Motors, HDFC, Tata Steel, TCS and BHEL were losers while ITC, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and Maruti rallied over 2 percent.

1:20 pm FII View: India does not need a devaluation of rupee for now, says Rajeev Malik, senior economist at CLSA. At this point currency devaluation could be a costly affair. It may spook investors and may impact capital flows.

The government is considering a proposal for a weaker rupee in an attempt to make it more competitive. According to a Reserve Bank of India report, rupee has been over-valued by 10-12 percent.

This may be an attempt to make Indian goods more attractive to foreigners as they would become cheaper. This will boost export compeitiveness.

Instead, focus should be on productivity gains and enhancing structural competitveness, says Malik. This will increase export volumes and will help exchange rates.

1:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks continued to rally in afternoon trade despite weakness in European peers while the broader markets came off day's high on profit booking.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 295.35 points or 1.04 percent at 28708.24 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 78.65 points or 0.90 percent at 8821.20 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices trimmed gains to 0.6 percent from over a percent.

About 1584 shares advanced against 969 declining shares on the BSE.

Emerging markets were favourite at the JP Morgan India conference. Global head of EM research at JP Morgan, Luis Oganes expects EMs to see GDP growth of 3.6 percent versus 1.1 percent by developed markets in 2016. Sunil Garg expects the earnings growth in EMs to double to 13 percent.

United Breweries gained 2.5 percent on big volumes post a large block deal. About 18.5 lakh shares worth Rs 152 crore changed hands on BSE. Sources told CNBC-TV18 that a private bank sold pledged shares in today's large trade and Heineken is the likely buyer.

Wockhardt shares surged 10 percent after sources told CNBC-TV18 that health regulator US Food & Drug Administration has cleared company's Chikalthana plant that contributes 75 percent to total income.

12:45 pm Europe opens: European stocks opened lower with banks taking a beating after news of a large fine for Deutsche Bank and as global markets look to next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve's policymaking committee.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index opened 0.1 percent lower with the majority of sectors in negative territory.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve continues to dominate market sentiment. The central bank's policy makers are meeting on September 20, although the chances of a rate hike are slim following a deluge of disappointing US data on Thursday.

12:35 pm DBS on rupee: The rupee which is currently hovering around 67 per dollar level is expected to shift from a depreciation path to a consolidative trend over the next 12 months, says a DBS report.

According to the global financial services major, there is neither a need nor a macroeconomic rationale behind a deliberate attempt to devalue the currency.

There were media reports that the Commerce Ministry might propose devaluation of the domestic currency to give a fillip to the exports sector, despite officials' dismissing the report, USD/INR held above 67 yesterday.

"Such an attempt would run counter to recent efforts by the Reserve Bank of India and the government to establish macro-stability, transparency and policy predictability to attract and retain investors," DBS said in a research note.

12:15 pm Order win: Energy solution provider Suzlon Group today announced that it has won its maiden order from Oil India Ltd(OIL) for 52.50 MW project capacity.

The project is capable of providing power to over 28,000 households and offsetting 0.11 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum, it said.

Suzlon will provide a comprehensive range of services and dedicated life cycle asset management services for an initial period of 10 years. The projects will be located in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and are scheduled to be completed by June 2017.

The order comprises Suzlon's latest product offerings- the S111 90m tubular tower and S97 120m hybrid tower with a rated capacity of 2.1 MW each, the company said in a statement.

12:00 pm Market Check
The market continued to rally in noon trade with the benchmark indices rising over a percent, supported by banks, auto, oil and FMCG stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 351.50 points or 1.24 percent to 28764.39 and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 99.90 points or 1.14 percent to 8842.45.

Experts remained bullish on emerging markets, saying the FII inflow will continue on account of likely further delay in Fed rate hike.

Sunil Garg, Head of International Equity Research, JP Morgan, said he expects earnings growth for EMs to be at 13 percent from 7 percent next year. He said the market is on a much stronger footing at this point in time and even the Reserve Bank of India has been very accommodative in its stance.

The broader markets also climbed over a percent as about 1668 shares advanced against 794 declining shares on the BSE.

Reliance Industries was the biggest contributor to Sensex's rally, up more than 2 percent to trade at 27-month high. HDF Bank, ITC, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Maruti, L&T, SBI and Adani Ports gained 1-3 percent whereas HDFC and TCS were flat with a negative bias.

11:40 am FII View: Globally, there is confidence over the growth trajectory of emerging markets and India remains one of the fastest growing emerging markets (EMs), according to analysts at JPMorgan.

Sunil Garg, Head of International Equity Research, JP Morgan, said he expects earnings growth for EMs to be at 13 percent from 7 percent next year. He said the market is on a much stronger footing at this point in time and even the Reserve Bank of India has been very accommodative in its stance.

Meanwhile, Luis Oganes, Global Head of Emerging Markets Research, JP Morgan said that the Indian government has acknowledged and realised that it needs to propel private sector investments.

11:20 am Monsoon: The Meteorological Department (Met) on Thursday said that monsoon has started withdrawing from some parts of the country and it has already retreated from parts of western Rajasthan.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, PK Nandankar of Met said that overall rainfall deficit may come down to 3 percent from the current 5 percent in coming days.

In this monsoon season 36 Met sub divisions have received excess rainfall, 34 saw normal downpours whereas only 9 division were in deficient, Nandankar said.

He further said that the rainfall deficit is not very large, it is marginal and within the normal range.

11:00 am Market Check
Bulls kept complete control over Dalal Street as the benchmark indices rallied over a percent on short covering and value buying on after correction and consolidation in previous four sessions. Indication of delay in Fed rate hike from recent data points also lifted market sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 328.41 points or 1.16 percent at 28741.30 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 93.65 points or 1.07 percent at 8836.20.

The broader markets also climbed over a percent on strong breadth. About three shares advanced for every share falling on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

HDFC Bank and Maruti Suzuki touched record highs of Rs 1,305 (up 1.8 percent) and Rs 5,585 (up 2.5 percent), respectively.

10:55 am Buzzing: Share price of Suzlon Energy rose 3 percent intraday as it has received maiden 52.50 MW order from Oil India.

The order comprises of Suzlon's latest product offering - the S111 90m tabular tower and S97 120m Hybrid tower with a rated capacity of 2.1 MW each.

The said project is located at Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and will be completed by June 2017.

JP Chalasani, Group CEO of Suzlon Group said, "This order win is a testament of Oil India's confidence in company's technology and execution capabilities."

10:45 am Rally extends: The Sensex was up 346.45 points or 1.22 percent at 28759.34 and the Nifty up 99 points or 1.13 percent at 8841.55.

About 1641 shares advanced against 554 declining shares on the BSE.

10:25 am Gold imports: Gold imports fell by 77.45 percent to USD 1.11 billion in August due to sliding prices of the metal in both global and domestic markets.

According to the data of the commerce ministry, gold imports had stood at USD 4.95 billion in August last year.

The imports of the metal have been declining since February this year. Dip in the imports help contain the current account deficit (CAD).

The contraction helped narrowing the trade deficit to USD 7.67 billion in August this year as against USD 12.4 billion in the same month of 2015.

The imports mainly take care of demand of jewellery industry.

10:00 am Market Check
Equity benchmarks extended rally in morning trade with the Sensex rising over a percent, driven by banks, FMCG and auto stocks and following positive lead from the Wall Street.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 297.09 points or 1.05 percent at 28709.98 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 85.50 points or 0.98 percent at 8828.05.

Mark Mobius of Franklin Templeton Investment says he sees brighter prospects for investors in emerging markets compared with last year, and the long-term performance of emerging-market equities compares favourably to that of developed markets.

Emerging markets have received strong inflows this summer as investors continued to search for higher yields. A rebound in commodity prices this year led by oil has further shifted investor sentiment in favour of emerging market equities, he says.

The broader markets also traded in line with benchmarks on strong breadth. About 1474 shares advanced against 393 declining shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Maruti Suzuki touched a record high of Rs 5,572.30, up more than 2 percent and hit market capitalisation of Rs 1.7 lakh crore.

9:50 am FII View: The US economic indicator released on Thursday is not strong enough for the Fed to hike rates, believes Geoff Lewis of Manulife Asset Management. "World trade growth is very depressed now; however, yields may be 20-30 basis points higher by the year-end," he told CNBC-TV18.

According to Lewis, risk-reward ratio is in favour of emerging markets (EMs) against developed markets. Among the developing nations, he prefers manufacturing-based markets over commodity producers of Latin America and US equities over European, in the developed markets, he added.

On a long-term perspective, Lewis is bullish on India over China while on tactical basis, he prefers markets the other way round due to high valuations.

9:35 am CLSA on TCS: Credit Suisse has maintained neutral call on the stock and reduced target price by 2-3 percent to Rs 2,500.

"Medium-term growth can accelerate from current levels, although we remain circumspect on margins. Due to low expectations, even a small acceleration can be a decent stock trigger. But given the low visibility, so far, of this happening, we remain on the sidelines for now, We cut estimates and target price by 2-3 percent to factor in recent cautious comments on Q2 growth," the brokerage house reasons.

Given that TCS has made significant investments in the past few years in platforms, new geographies and localisation, it believes 26-28 percent medium-term operating profit margin is feasible. Consistent dividend payout and even a higher payout are under the board's consideration.

9:15 am Market Check
Equity benchmarks rallied sharply with the Nifty reclaiming 8800 level in early trade after two-day consolidation.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 207.37 points or 0.73 percent at 28620.26 and the 50-share NSE Nifty up 60.80 points or 0.70 percent at 8803.35.

The market breadth remained strong as about five shares advanced for every share falling on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

HDFC Bank, ITC, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, SBI and Maruti gained more than 1 percent whereas HDFC was the only loser on Sensex.

The Indian rupee gained in the early trade. It has opened higher by 16 paise at 66.86 per dollar versus 67.02 Thursday.

Rumoured comments from Commerce Ministry was the main mover in the currency market yesterday, Bhaskar Panda of HDFC Bank said, adding latest US data has been on the weaker side.

Given this background, the rupee is expected to trade within a range of 66.90-67.10/dollar, he feels.

The US dollar reversed earlier gains against the yen as traders doubted that the Bank of Japan will be able to weaken the yen with more policy stimulus, while profit-taking and gains in commodity currencies also weighed on the greenback.

Asian markets were mixed as investors waited for Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan meetings.

Wall Street rallied 1 percent on Thursday, buoyed by Apple's best four-day run since 2014, higher oil prices and ho-hum economic data that further dimmed expectations for an interest rate hike next week.