Sensex gains 440 points, Nifty ends at 8744; Bajaj Auto up

3:30 pm Market closing: The market ended with smart gains. The Sensex was up 440.35 points or 1.6 percent at 28343.01, and the Nifty closed up 136.90 points or 1.6 percent at 8744.35. About 1623 shares advanced, 1076 shares declined, and 228 shares were unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Maruti, GAIL and HDFC Bank were gainers were gainers while Bharti was down 3 percent.

3:10 pm Result: Crompton Greaves, the electrical energy solutions provider, turned profitable in the quarter ended June 2016 on account of strong revenue and operational growth. Profit stood at Rs 40 crore for the quarter against loss of Rs 63.7 crore in year-ago period.

"The loss from discontinued operations after tax stood at Rs 49.57 crore in Q1 against profit of Rs 1.47 crore in corresponding period of last fiscal and loss of Rs 223.8 crore in preceding period," the company said.

Revenue increased 38.6 percent to Rs 1,423.76 crore during the quarter compared with Rs 1,027.52 crore in same period last year.

Profit was estimated at Rs 51 crore on revenue of Rs 1,428 crore for the quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

3:00 pm Oil outlook: Global oil markets could see an increased risk of another major jolt if prices continue to remain at current levels, Tom Albanese, the chief executive of Vedanta Resources told CNBC.

Recent reports show that discoveries of new oil reserves have dropped to their lowest level for more than 60 years. The chief of one of the world's largest diversified natural resources companies implied that this could potentially cause supply shortages.
"People are saying there's no such thing as USD 100 oil coming again but the longer the prices stay low for this period of time you could see increased risk of a price shock coming in the future," Albanese said.

2:45 pm Nifty at over 16-month high: Equity benchmarks extended rally in late trade with the Sensex rising 425.16 points or 1.52 percent to fresh 52-week high of 28327.82 and the Nifty climbing 131.40 points or 1.53 percent to 8738.85.

Nifty Bank traded above 19500 for the first time since March 2015.

2:40 pm USFDA approval: Drug firm Cipla today said its US arm InvaGen Pharmaceuticals Inc has received final approval from the American health regulator to market generic Bupropion Hydrochloride extended release tablets used for treatment of major depressive disorder.

"InvaGen Pharmaceuticals Inc has received final approval for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Bupropion Hydrochloride extended release tablets (XL), 150 mg and 300 mg, from the United States Food and Drug Administration," Cipla said in a statement.

The product is available for shipping immediately, it added.

The company's tablets are generic versions of Valeant's Wellbutrin XL tablets in the same strengths, Cipla said.

"The tablets are indicated for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) and prevention of seasonal affective disorder (SAD)," it added.

2:20 pm Interview: Speaking to CNBC-TV18 Rohan Suryavanshi, Head of Strategy and Planning at Dilip Buildcon said the company has bagged a new government for four-laning between Lucknow and Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

The new project has been awarded by the National Highways Authority of India. He also said that it is a Rs 200-crore road hybrid annuity project with 127 kms of road. The EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) cost is Rs 1800 crore.

In a hybrid annuity project, the government commits up to 40 percent of the project cost over a period and hands the project to the developer to start road work.

Suryavanshi clarified that the project will be executed by Dilip Buildcon and there will be no joint venture partners as of now. ''We take into account an IRR (internal rate of returns) of 18 percent,'' he said.

2:00 pm Market Check
The market is still surging ahead as the Sensex is up 327.21 points or 1.2 percent at 28229.87. The Nifty is up 104.90 points or 1.2 percent at 8712.35.
About 1619 shares have advanced, 941 shares declined, and 198 shares are unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, Maruti, GAIL, ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma are top gainers while Bharti Airtel and BHEL are top losers in the Sensex.

Markets have been rallying owing to strong liquidity across global markets, says Swati Kulkarni, Executive Vice President and Fund Manager-Equities, UTI Mutual Fund. She feels markets have reached a peak at current levels and expects them to consolidate.

The monsoons, Seventh Pay Commission and government spending in road have been major triggers for the markets. She is bullish on domestic cyclicals namely construction, cement and auto sectors.

The growth in usage of data by mobile users has been muted for the last two quarters. Data growth is a long-term driver for telecom companies, she says, and will affect their revenues and profitability.

1:55 pm Market outlook: After seeming to have flattened out, equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty saw a sharp rally in today's trading session.

In the near term the market has a pretty strong base of 8500 (on Nifty). Even after several attempts those levels have not broken, says Vaibhav Sanghavi of Ambit Investment Advisory.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he outlined his view on the market and said that passive inflows (into exchange traded funds) are ruling the market and not just in India.

He said that this passive flows are more of an asset reallocation on the back of expectations of a fiscal push globally, which is making money flow in to commodities as well.

1:49 pm Buzzing: Wipro shares rose nearly 2 percent intraday on partnership agreement with Denmark-based company to offer Master Data Management (MDM) solutions.

"This partnership is aimed at building trust-worthy data foundations to help joint customers derive accurate insights as they embrace digital transformation," the IT services provider said.

Stibo Systems is a global leader in multi-domain Master Data Management (MDM) solutions.

As part of this partnership, Wipro and Stibo Systems will also set-up a state-of-the art MDM center of excellence (COE) in Bangalore that will showcase industry best practices, standards and guidelines that can be leveraged for customer projects.

1:30 pm Interview: Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is re-evaluating its loss-making two-wheeler strategy with more focus on premium products now. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, the company's Executive Director Pawan Goenka said that 100-110 CC motorcycles will not be the focus anymore. M&M has initiated an internal study on two-wheeler business and a concrete decision will be released in next 6-8 weeks. Goenka also believes that discount levels in the auto industry have increased significantly especially in competitive segments. However, this has not happened at the cost of profitability. Low commodity prices and price increases by companies have helped in maintaining profit margins, he says.

The market surged further in afternoon with the Nifty reclaiming 8700 level, tracking strong trade in Europe following Asia & US rally.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 291.17 points or 1.04 percent at 28193.83 and the Nifty gained 93.25 points or 1.08 percent at 8700.70.

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

Kolhapur-headquartered RBL Bank is going to list its equity shares on exchanges on August 31 after overwhelming response to the issue closed last week. It has fixed issue price at higher end of price band of Rs 224-225 per share.

12:40 pm Europe opens: European stocks saw a lackluster start to the trading day, bucking a positive trend seen in the US and Asia at the start of the week.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index opened 0.17 percent higher with most sectors in positive territory except for basic resources and oil and gas.

European markets started the trading day on a shakier footing than their global counterparts. Asia markets saw a rebound on Tuesday as Japanese shares reversed early losses following the release of data on household spending, unemployment and retail sales.

12:30 pm Buzzing: J Kumar Infraprojects shares fell nearly 4 percent intraday after sources told CNBC-Awaaz that Income Tax Department today conducted searches at the company's offices and residences in Mumbai.

The reason cited for the search is that the company recently bagged big Mumbai Metro project despite the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) blacklisting it for corruption in various projects earlier as well as several court matters against it, say sources.

CNBC-Awaaz has learnt that I-T Department's current search is on the basis of papers of various contracts received by the company from BMC earlier.

BMC in August itself had cancelled four road projects awarded to J Kumar Infra and RPS Infra.

Its corporate office is located at Andheri in Mumbai.

12:20 pm FII View: Market expert Laurence Balanco of CLSA is of the clear view that the Indian benchmark index Nifty would see an upside to 9300 levels by year-end or first quarter of 2017. However, it could face resistance around the 8750 mark and trade in a range of 8300-8750 in the short-term.

The house is long emerging market equities as against developed markets, said Balanco. India specific, he said although the long-term outperformance remains intact, near-term it could underperform China.

According to him, China has a weightage of around 20 percent by most funds and going forward that market would see major chunk of the inflows.

12:00 pm Market Check
Value buying and short covering continued in noon trade as the Sensex surged 269.84 points or 0.97 percent to 28172.50 and the Nifty jumped 84.95 points to 8692.40.

The broder markets also gained further with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.8-1 percent as about two shares advanced for every share falling on the exchange.

Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, GAIL, Tech Mahindra, Grasim Industries and Bosch topped the buying list, up 2-3 percent.

Reliance Industries, Kalpataru Power, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Tata Motors (DVR), Indiabulls Housing, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Yes Bank and Reliance Capital were the most active shares on exchanges.

11:45 am FII view: Market expert Laurence Balanco of CLSA is of the clear view that the Indian benchmark index Nifty would see an upside to 9300 levels by year-end or first quarter of 2017. However, it could face resistance around the 8750 mark and trade in a range of 8300-8750 in the short-term. The house is long emerging market equities as against developed markets, said Balanco. India specific, he said although the long-term outperformance remains intact, near-term it could underperform China. According to him, China has a weightage of around 20 percent by most funds and going forward that market would see major chunk of the inflows.

The market is still holding early gains as the Sensex is up 201.18 points or 0.7 percent at 28103.84. The Nifty is up 63.80 points or 0.7 percent at 8671.25. About 1534 shares have advanced, 672 shares declined, and 131 shares are unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, GAIL, ICICI Bank and HUL are top gainers while Bahrti Airtel, BHEL, Coal India, Dr Reddy's Labs and NTPC are losers in the Sensex.

A two-speed Indian market has seen slow-growth or leveraged companies tied to the global cycle witness cheap valuations while high-growth, domestic-focused firms have performed very well.

But instead of playing contrarian, investors should continue to stick to companies are doing well, says Hiren Ved of Alchemy Capital.

"50 percent of companies in the Nifty are linked to global growth. But people are bullish on the domestic economy. That is what is driving the market," he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. He added that he would continue to bet on auto and NBFC stocks.

10:55 am Market holds gains: Equity benchmarks remained strong with the Sensex rising 204.41 points to 28107.07 and the Nifty climbing 62.65 points to 8670.10.

The broader markets also traded in line with benchmarks. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.7-0.9 percent as about 1527 shares advanced against 604 declining shares on the exchange.

10:50 am Crude update: Oil futures edged up as the US dollar erased earlier gains, but doubts that producers would be able to agree to an output freeze continued to drag on prices.

International Brent crude oil futures were trading at USD 49.38 per barrel, up 0.24 percent from their previous close.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 0.38 percent at USD 47.15 a barrel.

10:40 am Interview:  Tata Motors , whose domestic sales have been muted for the past few years, expects a pick-up in overall sales on back of international and defence business, says Ravi Pisharody, Executive Director - Commercial Vehicles of the company adding that the plan is to de-risk the domestic business.

Currently, domestic sales contribute 85 percent to the total standalone revenue.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Pisharoday says that 20-25 percent growth is expected in international business in the current fiscal. Two to three large defence orders will double the turnover for the company.

Tata Motors is aiming to increase exports to 25 percent of overall business in next two years and grow this number to 45-50 percent in future, he says. Export volumes are expected to touch 1,00,000 units in 3 years.

10:20 am CLSA on Dr Lal: CLSA has maintained buy rating on Dr Lal PathLabs with a price target of Rs 1,140 per share as it believes company's strong positioning in North India and expansion in East should drive a 25 percent earnings CAGR over FY16-19.

Given the current outbreak of dengue and chikungunya in Delhi, Q2FY17 volumes may spring a positive surprise, it feels.

Dr Lal derives 70 percent of its revenue from North India. The key to Dr Lal's business model is its hub and spoke model approach along with a strong over 1,500 patient service centre (PSC) network largely operated by franchisees. Along with this, the company has some 5,000 pick-up points. Walk-in patients (own labs + franchisee) account for 60 percent of revenue.

Walk-in patients (own labs + franchisee) account for 60 percent of revenue which has enabled Dr Lal to create a customer-centric brand, says the brokerage house.

10:00 am Market Check
The market continued its uptrend that started in late trade yesterday. Broadbased buying helped the Sensex cross 28000 level and the Nifty move towards 8700-mark.

"Sideways range has formed support at 8,547-8,565 and resistance at 8,747.8,760," Laurence Balanco of CLSA says, adding a break below the lower boundary of the cited range would open the door for a move down to the 50-day moving average and lower boundary of the cited uptrend channel, currently at 8,238-8,460.

"Once this corrective period runs its course, the Nifty should be set-up for gains towards next chart resistance at 8,667-8,723 provided by the July/October 2015 highs and then the all-time highs at 9,191," he says.

The BSE Sensex gained 211.15 points at 28113.81 and the NSE Nifty rose 64.60 points to 8672.05. About 1424 shares advanced against 471 declining shares on the BSE.

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, SBI, Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto gained 1-2.5 percent while Bharti Airtel fell further.

9:55 am Commodities: The huge global oil oversupply that has weighed on prices for the past two years may not clear until the second half of 2017, Shell's chief energy adviser Wim Thomas told Reuters.

The potential return to the market of some 1.5 million barrels per day of supply from Libya and Nigeria and uncertainty about Iranian and Iraqi production levels could push a rebalancing further away than many in the oil industry are hoping.

"All these things when they come back on the market can again postpone the true balancing," Thomas said in an interview on the sidelines of the ONS oil conference in Stavanger, Norway.

9:45 am Interview: Tata Motors, whose domestic sales have been muted for the past few years, expects a pick-up in overall sales on back of international and defence business, says Ravi Pisharody, Executive Director - Commercial Vehicles of the company adding that the plan is to de-risk the domestic business.

Currently, domestic sales contribute 85 percent to the total standalone revenue.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Pisharoday says that 20-25 percent growth is expected in international business in the current fiscal. Two to three large defence orders will double the turnover for the company.

Tata Motors is aiming to increase exports to 25 percent of overall business in next two years and grow this number to 45-50 percent in future, he says. Export volumes are expected to touch 1,00,000 units in 3 years.

9:30 am FII view: Abhay Laijawala of Deutsche Bank says he believes that consumer discretionary and retail financiers stand out as the key first order beneficiaries of a jump in disposable income as consumers satiate their demand for discretionary consumption items such as white goods, electronics, 2-wheelers and other highly-priced consumption products.

Potential stock beneficiaries include Bajaj Finserv, GSK Consumer, Hero Motocorp, LIC Housing Finance, Titan Company and Whirlpool India, he feels.

The market has opened on a strong note Tuesday. The Sensex is up 168.00 points or 0.6 percent at28070.66 and the Nifty is up 46.10 points or 0.5 percent at 8653.55. About 602 shares have advanced, 160 shares declined, and 33 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, GAIL and Tata Motors are gainers while Bharti is loser.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 67.13 per dollar versus previous close 67.17.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "The probability of a US rate hike this year has increased substantially, after the recent hawkish commentary from Fed Chief, Yellen and other senior Fed officials. The USD has gained broadly against most of the major and EM currencies."

The dollar held steady after hitting a three-week high against the yen yesterday post Federal Reserve officials' hawkish comments. The next major data will be Friday's non-farm payrolls report for August.

In global markets, Asian shares bounced as doubts the Federal Reserve really would hike rates as soon as September undermined the dollar, while investors continued to count on more policy stimulus elsewhere in the world.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.4 percent, recouping around half of Monday's loss. Stocks in South Korea .KS11 and Australia both rose around 0.6 percent. Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.1 percent as the yen turned around and starting nudging higher once more.

Among the US markets, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 107.59 points, or 0.58 percent, to 18,502.99, the S&P 500 gained 11.34 points, or 0.52 percent, to 2,180.38 and the Nasdaq Composite added 13.41 points, or 0.26 percent, to 5,232.33.

The S&P closed 0.45 percent below its record high set earlier this month. Data last week showed speculators are the most net long S&P e-mini futures contracts ESc1 in three years.

Gold prices hold steady around 1320 dollars an ounce.

Crude prices were flat after slipping over 1 percent overnight as doubts emerged that producers won't be able to forge a deal to stabilise the market at a meeting next month.