Sensex gains 330 points, Nifty fails to hold 10,600; pharma, cement stocks rally

3:30 pm Market Closing: Benchmark indices closed sharply higher, though were off day's highs.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 330.45 points or 0.97 percent at 34,413.16, and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 100.20 points or 0.96 percent at 10,576.90.

About 2,158 shares advanced against 639 declining shares on the BSE.

Banking & financials, technology stocks and Reliance Industries led the market higher while cement and pharma stocks were strong in trade.

3.28 pm Buzzing: Page Industries shares gained 8 percent as profit increased 32.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 83.4 crore and revenue grew by 17.6 percent to Rs 621 crore in Q3FY18.

Operating profit jumped 30 percent to Rs 128.9 crore and margin expanded by 220 basis points to 21 percent compared to year-ago.

3:25 pm Earnings: Muthoot Finance shares rallied 7 percent as net profit in Q3 grew by 59.3 percent to Rs 463.6 crore from Rs 291.1 crore YoY.

Revenue from operations during the quarter rose by 15.9 percent to Rs 1,554 crore from Rs 1,341 crore YoY.

The company's board of directors approved dividend of Rs 10 per share.

West Coast Paper gained nearly 10 percent as profit in Q3 increased 14.8 percent YoY to Rs Rs 43 crore, but revenue declined 7 percent to Rs 408.6 crore and operating income fell 16.2 percent to Rs 73 crore with margin contraction of 190 basis points at 17.9 percent.

3:22 pm Recall of drug bottles: Dr Reddy's Laboratories has initiated voluntary recall of over 80,000 bottles of its drug Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets 10mg, 20mg and 40mg from the US market due to quality concerns.

Atorvastatin is a drug that blocks the production of cholesterol and reduces its level in the blood.

According to a notification issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), multiple lots of Atorvastatin 10 mg, 90 count and 500 count bottles; 20 mg, 90 count and 500 count bottles and 40 mg, 90 count bottles, are being withdrawn from the market.

Dr Reddy's officials were not immediately available for comment.

3:16 pm Order Win: Avantha Group company CG Power and Industrial Solutions (CG) has bagged a Rs 107-crore order from state-run Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) for the supply of low-voltage motors.

The EESL had invited its first tender for energy efficient IE3 Motors from all the major motor manufacturers, a company statement said adding that the CG was the only manufacturer to receive more than 50 per cent of the tender quantity as a largest supplier.

Total supplies will be completed within next six months' time.

3:08 pm Cement Stocks Rally Post ACC Earnings:

3:04 pm  Buyback: Balrampur Chini Mills said the meeting of the board of directors will be held on February 21, 2018, to consider a proposal for buy back of equity shares. The stock rallied 4 percent.

2:55 pm Buzzing: ACC, one of the largest cement makers in India, showed healthy performance in October-December quarter as profit more than doubled to Rs 205.7 crore from Rs 90.9 crore in last quarter of 2016.

The growth, which was ahead of CNBC-TV18 poll of Rs 190 crore, was driven by strong operational as well as sales performance.

Revenue from operations in Q4 grew by 29.5 percent to Rs 3,494.2 crore, compared to Rs 2,697.3 crore in year-ago.

Sales volume for the quarter stood at 6.92 million tonnes, a 27 percent higher compared to 5.45 million tonnes sold in Q42016, the company said.

Strong operating profit growth of 54.2 percent year-on-year at Rs 443 crore and margin expansion of 200 basis points at 12.7 percent in Q4 were far better than analyst expectations of Rs 367 crore and 11.1 percent, respectively.

The stock price was quoting at Rs 1,668.00, up Rs 77.70, or 4.89 percent amid high volumes on the BSE.

2:45 pm Market Update: Markets are off day's high, with the Sensex rising more than 300 points and Nifty trading below 10,600 levels due to a bit of profit booking at higher levels.

ACC gained 4 percent after Q3 earnings beat analyst expectations. Profit more than doubled on strong revenue as well as operational performance
Page Industries also gained 3 percent after reporting better-than-expected numbers in Q3.

2:37 pm BHEL in focus: State-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals has reported strong growth of 64 percent year-on-year in profit at Rs 153.19 crore for quarter ended December 2017.

Profit for December quarter 2016 stood at Rs 93.54 crore, the company said.

Revenue from operations during the quarter increased 0.4 percent to Rs 6,626.35 crore compared to Rs 6,602.82 crore in same period last year.

2:35 pm Results Reaction: Heidelberg Cement has reported profit at Rs 31.8 crore for Q3FY18 against loss of Rs 3.6 crore in December quarter 2016.

Revenue grew by 23.9 percent to Rs 491.2 crore from Rs 396.5 crore in year-ago.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) shot up 72.7 percent to Rs 82.3 crore and margin expanded 480 basis points to 16.9 percent compared to year-ago.

2:27 pm Sugar turns bitter: Balrampur Chini shares declined 3 percent as profit in quarter ended December 2017 fell sharply by 65 percent to Rs 61.4 crore from Rs 175.2 crore in year-ago, impacted by disappointing operational performance.

Revenue from operations increased 6.9 percent to Rs 1,001.9 crore in Q3FY18, compared to Rs 937 crore in same period last year.

Operating profit during the quarter tanked 55.6 percent to Rs 109.2 crore and margin cracked sharply to 10.9 percent from 26.3 percent YoY.

2:20 pm Earnings: Chemical supplier Hikal said profit in Q3 grew by 68 percent to Rs 23.2 crore and revenue from operations increased 39.8 percent to Rs 350.6 crore compared to year-ago.

The stock was trading at Rs 231.90, up Rs 12.35, or 5.63 percent on the BSE.

Operating profit during the quarter jumped 38.6 percent to Rs 66.9 crore but margin slipped 10 basis points to 19.1 percent compared to same period last year.

2:14 pm Results Reaction: Sutlej Textiles shares lost more than 5 percent after its Q3 net profit fell sharply by 40.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 16.3 crore on weak operational performance.

Revenue from operations in Q3 increased 10 percent to Rs 594 crore, from Rs 540 crore in year-ago.

Operating income declined 20.1 percent to Rs 56.6 crore and margin contracted 360 basis points to 9.5 percent compared to same quarter last year.

2:10 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices continued to trade strong in afternoon, with the Sensex rising 444.48 points or 1.30 percent to 34,527.19, and the Nifty gaining 126.40 points or 1.21 percent at 10,603.10.

The broader markets outperformed equity benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap and BSE Smallcap rising around 2 percent each.

About four shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

2:07 pm Earnings: Ferro Alloys Corporation was locked at 5 percent upper circuit after posting healthy 65.5 percent growth year-on-year in profit at Rs 9.8 crore on strong operational performance.

Revenue from operations, however, fell 1.9 percent to Rs 140.9 crore from Rs 143.6 crore YoY.

Operating profit grew by 27.7 percent to Rs 15.5 crore and margin expanded by 260 basis points to 11 percent compared to year-ago.

1:55 pm Buzzing: Welspun Corp shares rallied 5 percent after the company reported consolidated net profit at Rs 69.1 crore in Q3 against loss of Rs 13 crore in year-ago, driven by tax reversal and revenue growth.

Revenue from operations more than doubled to Rs 2,304.2 crore from Rs 1,149.2 crore in previous year, but operational numbers were tepid.

Consolidated operating profit grew by 1.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 145 crore but margin contracted sharply to 6.3 percent from 12.4 percent YoY.

Tax reversal for the quarter stood at Rs 56.5 crore against Rs 3.3 crore in year-ago.

1:40 pm Market Update: It is a strong market show after 7 weak sessions.

The market gained more strength in afternoon as the Sensex rallied more than 500 points and Nifty is trading above 10,600 levels.

Nifty Midcap also extended gains to 2 percent while among sectors, Bank, Auto, IT, Metal, Pharma and Realty indices rallied up to 3 percent.

1:23 pm Market Update: The benchmark BSE Sensex gained momentum in afternoon trade, rallying over 450 points on continued buying by domestic funds and recovery in the rupee amid higher Asian markets.

On the other hand, Brent crude futures tumbled to a six-week low of USD 65.16 per barrel. A fall in crude prices is seen as positive for Indian economy, which imports most of its oil requirements.

The 30-share barometer stayed in the green through the the session on all-round buying. It was trading at 34,543.80 by surging 461.09 points, or 1.35 percent.

The broader NSE Nifty also soared 134.70 points, or 1.29 percent, to quote at 10,611.40.

Brokers said buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and a mixed trend at other Asian bourses improved the market sentiment.

The broader markets also saw strong buying with BSE small-cap and mid-cap indices rising up to 2.33 percent.

The gains were broad-based with most of the sectoral indices on the BSE trading in the green. Realty, IT, Banking, Auto and pharma stocks led the gains up to 3 percent.

1:15 pm Bond Auction: Leading stock exchange BSE will auction investment limits, enabling foreign investors to purchase corporate bond securities worth over Rs 7,000 crore tomorrow.

The auction will be conducted on BSE's ebidxchange platform from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm, after the close of market hours, the exchange said in a circular issued today.

The debt auction quota gives overseas investors the right to invest in the debt up to the limit purchased.

1:05 pm Lawsuit: US unit filed patent lawsuits against Dr Reddy's Labs, Actavis, Par, Alvogen and Teva for infringement of United States Patent.

Patent is relating to their respective proposed generic versions of company's SUBOXONE (Buprenorphine and Naloxone) sublingual film product.

1:02 pm Refining Capacity: India's annual refining capacity would rise by 77 percent to 439 million tonnes, equivalent to about 8.8 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030, a government report said, listing expansion plans of various companies.

12:51 pm International Results: ABB reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings as the engineering group aimed to benefit from its overhaul in what it called improving markets this year.

The maker of power transmission equipment and industrial robots said net profit fell to USD 393 million during the three months ended December 31, missing the average estimate of USD 424 million of analysts in a Reuters poll.

The figures were hit by a fourth-quarter charge of USD 76 million from restructuring its business. Revenues rose 3 percent to USD 9.28 billion, short of the poll estimate of USD 9.5 billion, while orders rose to a weaker-than-expected USD 8.48 billion.

12:38 pm Market Update: Market is on a strong footing as broadbased buying pushed the Sensex 400 points higher.

The Nifty Midcap index extended gains to 1.5 percent on strong market breadth while the Nifty50 is hovering around 10,600 levels.

Rate sensitive like Banks, Realty and Auto, and defensives like technology and pharma stocks continued to rally.

12:25 pm Acquisition: Auto components exporter Bharat Forge announced strategic investment of up to Rs 30 crore for eventual stake of 45 percent in an electric vehicle startup, Tork Motorcycles.

"The investment in Tork is a part of its overall E-Mobility powertrain development and will enable Bharat Forge to develop components / sub systems to address the huge potential in the Indian personal mobility space driven by regulatory push through various initiatives and the increasing economic viability of electric vehicles," Amit Kalyani, Executive Director said.

12:15 pm Earnings: Cadila Healthcare has reported healthy growth of 67.7 percent year-on-year in consolidated net profit at Rs 543.3 crore despite significant rise in tax cost, driven by fantastic operational and revenue performance.

Profit for the year-ago period was at Rs 323.9 crore. The growth was also aided by other income which increased 148 percent YoY to Rs 41.1 crore in Q3.

Consolidated revenue from operations shot up 41 percent to Rs 3,259.6 crore for quarter ended December 2017, compared to Rs 2,311.1 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Operating profit during the quarter surged 99.9 percent to Rs 841.2 crore and margin expanded by 770 basis points to 25.8 percent compared to year-ago.

Earnings beat analyst expectations. Profit was estimated at Rs 510 crore and operating income at Rs 809 crore with margin at 25 percent for the quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

12:05 pm Oil at 1-month low: Oil prices were close to their lowest levels this year, with soaring US output undermining OPEC's efforts to tighten markets and prop up prices.

Brent crude futures were at USD 65.49 per barrel, down 3 cents, or 0.05 percent, from the previous close.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD 61.68 a barrel. That was down 11 cents, or 0.18 percent, from their last settlement.

The dips follow bigger falls on Wednesday, when crude touched one-month lows and erased most of 2018's early gains.

11:54 am Earnings: Bharat Forge has reported healthy earnings growth in quarter ended December 2017, driven by strong commercial vehicles business and continued momentum in exports.

Consolidated profit growth of 77.4 percent at Rs 228 crore year-on-year was slightly ahead of CNBC-TV18 poll of Rs 221 crore.

Revenue from operations grew by 47.4 percent to Rs 1,391 crore compared to Rs 944 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) growth of 59.8 percent YoY at Rs 416.3 crore and margin expansion of 230 basis points at 29.9 percent in Q3 were largely in line with analyst estimates of Rs 394 crore and 30 percent, respectively.

11:40 am Market Check: Bulls took complete control at Dalal Street as the Sensex rallied 404.77 points or 1.19 percent to 34,487.48 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 116.70 points or 1.11 percent at 10,593.40.

The rally was driven by HDFC (up 2.16 percent), Infosys (2.9 percent), HDFC Bank (0.96 percent), Reliance Industries (0.92 percent) and TCS (up 1.7 percent).

The Nifty Midcap index was up 1.5 percent. About five shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

11:25 am BoAML on RBI policy: Bank of America Merrill Lynch continues to think that market fears of a rate hike are overdone.

"As we expected, the RBI MPC appears to be looking through the spike in inflation to 5.4 percent in the June quarter that is driven by the base effects of June 2017 quarter's 2.2 percent. We are tracking January CPI inflation at 4.9 percent down from 5.2 percent in December," it said.

It continued to expect the RBI to cut rates by 25bp in August if we see normal rains.

11:10 am Buzzing: Share price of SRF added 6 percent as company is setting up of a BOPET film line in Europe.

The company had approved a capex for setting up of a BOPET film line in a new entity to be incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of the company in Europe at a cost of Euro 58 million to be financed by loan and/or internal accruals.

The new capacity is being set up to serve customers in Europe, Russia and other markets.

10:58 am Management Interview: IRB Infra posted a mixed bag earnings in the third quarter, margins disappointed but the traffic growth was very good. In the press release the company had said the fourth quarter would be stupendous for them.

Anil Yadav, Group CFO, IRB Infra said the margins were lower in Q3 because in the toll business they had transferred seven assets of build-operate-transfer (BOT) to InvIT. Margins for BOT projects is around 85-88 percent, while in construction business the margins are about 27-29 percent. So when BOT business is transferred, margins get impacted.

He said, the revenues dipped in Q3 compared to same quarter last year but quarter on quarter there was jump in BOT revenues due to new BOT projects that were started in Rajasthan and Haryana. As more and more projects become operational, the margins will come back, he said.

He said the traffic growth has been very robust and the revenues from Rajasthan, Haryana BOT projects have started. From Rajashtan they have been good at around Rs 62 lakh per day.

10:45 am Market Update: Benchmark indices extended gains despite mixed Asian cues. The Sensex surged more than 400 points and the Nifty reclaimed 10,600 levels.

All sectoral indices traded in the green. Nifty Bank, Auto, IT, Pharma and Realty indices gained 1-3 percent.

Midcaps also participated in the rally, with the Nifty Midcap rising over a percent as about five shares advanced for every share falling.

10:30 am Rupee Trade: The rupee depreciated 1 paise to 64.29 against the US dollar in morning due to increased demand for the US currency from importers amid fresh foreign funds outflow.

However, a weak dollar in global markets helped the rupee limit its losses, dealers said.

The rupee opened weak at 64.38 at the interbank forex market against its previous close of 64.28.

The recovery in the rupee was largely due to strong equity markets.

10:20 am Market Update: Benchmark indices rallied further in morning, with the Sensex rising 311.55 points or 0.91 percent to 34,394.26, driven by Infosys (up 3 percent) and HDFC (up 1.7 percent).

The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 88.50 points or 0.84 percent at 10,565.20 while Nifty Midcap rose over a percent.

About 1,810 shares advanced against 394 declining shares on the BSE.

10:16 am Buzzing: Shares of Nila Infrastructures gained more than 11 percent in morning on the back of demerger of its real estate undertaking.

"The Hon'ble NCLT Ahmedabad bench has on February 06, issued directions including direction to hold meeting of equity shareholders, secured creditors and unsecured creditors of the company to approve the scheme of arrangement among Nila Infrastructures and Nila Spaces (formerly known as Parmanariday Superstructure) and their respective shareholders and creditors.

The company's board meeting is scheduled to be held on February 13, to consider and approve the unaudited financial results for the quarter ended on December 31, 2017.

10:02 am Listing: On the BSE, Galaxy Surfactants listed at Rs 1,520, a 2.7 percent higher compared to offer price. It was trading at Rs 1,643.50, up 11.05 percent over issue price and 8.13 percent compared to opening price.

It touched day's high of Rs 1,673.65 on the BSE.

10:00 am Buzzing: Shares of Prestige Estates Projects rose 4.3 percent in morning on partnership with HDFC Capital Advisors.

The company entered into strategic partnership with HDFC Capital Advisors for furthering its business in the mid-income / affordable housing sector.

This dedicated real estate platform shall have a capital to the tune of Rs 2500 crore, which shall be a blend of equity and debt.

Irfan Razack, CMD of Prestige group said, ''With this partnership, we are poised to grow manifold, and it will help us continue to build on the legacy of trust and efficacy that we are known for.''

9:55 am Pre-opening: Galaxy Surfactants shares settled at Rs 1,525 on the NSE, a 3 percent higher compared to issue price of Rs 1,480.

9:44 am Market Update: Benchmark indices extended gains in morning driven by index heavyweights like Infosys, HDFC twins and Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 253.58 points or 0.74 percent at 34,336.29 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 71.60 points to 10,548.30.

The broader markets also participated in the rally, with the Nifty Midcap rising 0.77 percent. About four shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

9:32 am Technical Outlook: Rohit Singre of Bonanza Portfolio said, "If Nifty manages to hold 10,270 levels, we may expect the index to consolidate. The immediate and strong hurdle for Nifty is placed around 10620, and any close above the same will lead to strong short covering in the index."

On the options front, highest open interest is placed at 10000 PE followed by at 10500 PE so 10,000 will act as a strong support in the month of February and on the higher side 11500 CE has highest open interest followed by 11000 CE.

He expects volatility to extend further and one need to trade with strict stop losses as it is a buy on the dip and sell on rising market for near term.

Currently, the index has strong resistance at 10620. Traders can initiate shorts on every rise with keeping a stop loss above 10620 and immediate support formed near 10270 so these level can be used as buying stop loss on the downside.

9:26 am Buzzing: Gati fell 3 percent after net profit in Q3 slipped 26.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 4.8 crore and operating profit declined 21 percent to Rs 24.08 crore.

Operating profit margin contracted to 5.4 percent from 7.2 percent while revenue grew by 5.6 percent to Rs 448.5 crore versus Rs 424.8 crore YoY.

9:20 am Earnings: Aurobindo Pharma said its fiscal third-quarter profit rose 2.8 percent to Rs 595 crore, helped by higher sales of generic drugs in US and Europe markets.

The company posted a net profit of Rs 579 crore in the same period previous year. Total revenue rose 11.2 percent to Rs 4369.2 crore.

The company took a one-time charge of Rs 66.4 crore for the quarter  due to US deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the new tax law which has resulted in reduction in federal corporate tax from 35 percent to 21 percent.

The EBITDA margin stood at 23.7 percent.

The net profit came in below the estimate of CNBC-TV18 analyst poll estimate of Rs 682 crore, while the revenues stood higher than Rs 4328.4 crore projection.

9:15 am Market Check: Benchmark indices rebounded with mild gains on Thursday after shedding more than 2,000 points in previous seven consecutive sessions.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 94.37 points at 34,177.08 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 23.30 points at 10,500.

Cipla rallies 5 percent. Sun Pharma lost 2.6 percent post Taro earnings and Aurobindo Pharma was down 1 percent post Q3 earnings.

IOC shed nearly 4 percent as stock goes ex-dividend.

Nifty Midcap was up 0.3 percent on positive breadth.

Torrent Power, Prestige Estates, ICRA and SRF gained 1-4 percent. Gati, Hexaware and Dixon Technologies were down 1-4 percent.

Most Asian indexes climbed after last session's rally stalled late in the trading day, with the Nikkei rising 0.6 percent and South Korea's Kospi up 0.5 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite was down 1.5 percent.

Gains in the region followed the slightly lower close seen on Wall Street as U.S. bond yields rose.