Sensex gains 460 points, Nifty zooms 1.7%; Bajaj Auto, Axis jump

3:30 pm Market closing: The market ended with hefty gains. The Sensex closed up 460.36 points or 1.8 percent at 25688.86, and the Nifty was up 132.60 points or 1.7 percent at 7866.05. About 1665 shares have advanced, 972 shares declined, and 165 shares are unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ITC were top gainers while Dr Reddy's Labs, HUL, Cipla, Tata Steel and GAIL were major losers in the Sensex.

2:55 pm Akshaya Tritiya: Owing to the 10 percent hike in gold prices this year, RK Sharma, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, PC Jeweller, said the company may not see any rise in volumes this Akshaya Tritiya.

Jewellers were on a strike protesting the 1 percent excise duty on non-silver items. It has hurt company's sales, he said.

Also, the demand for gold has been generally low in the country. But he expects sales to bounce back in the upcoming wedding season.

2:45 pm Result: HUL has posted net profit at Rs 1090 crore in January-March quarter, up 7.1 percent from Rs 1018 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal. Total income in Q4 rose 3.5 percent at Rs 7946 crore against Rs 7675 crore in year-ago period.

However, volume growth of 4 percent in the quarter was disapointing.

2:23 pm Market check: The Sensex is up 426.08 points or 1.7 percent at 25654.58. The Nifty is up 123.05 points or 1.6 percent at 7856.50.
About 1611 shares have advanced, 930 shares declined, and 162 shares are unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank and L&T are top gainers in the Sensex. Among losers are Tata Steel and Dr Reddy's

The Nifty touched 7850 briefly while the Sensex continued to ride on firm global cues. The 50-share index is up 112.45 points or 1.4 percent at 7845.90 while the Sensex is up 388.31 points or 1.5 percent at 25616.81.

HDFC twins and ITC are top Nifty contributors. Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, HDFC, L&T and Axis Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among losers are Dr Reddy's Labs, Tata Steel and BHEL.

HUL is up 2 percent ahead of its January-March quarter. No firework is expected from HUL's Q4 quarter result but volume is likely to grow riding on price deflation. Margins are expected to remain stable on benign input cost environment and cost control.

According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, the FMCG major is seen reporting net profit at Rs 996 crore in Q4FY16, marginally down by 2 percent from Rs 1018 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal. During the period, revenue may rise 4 percent at Rs 7990 crore against Rs 7675 crore on annual basis.

1:50 pm Boardroom:  KEC International delivered a good set of fourth quarter numbers and going forward too, Rajeev Aggarwal, CFO of the company is confident of delivering a 10 percent growth in FY17 topline over FY16.

The engineering firm reported a 26.96 percent increase in net profit to Rs 79.85 crore for the quarter ended March 31. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 62.89 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

At the end of FY16, the total order books was around Rs 9450 crore and L1 orders of around Rs 4000 crore, which means an orderbook visibility of around Rs 13000 crore, said Aggarwal in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Out of the Rs 10,000 crore orderbook, around Rs 2900 crore from Power Grid in FY16, and around Rs 1000 crore from SEBs, said Aggarwal.

1:30 pm Vodafone tax woes: Delhi High Court today sought the Income Tax department's response on Vodafone's plea challenging an order directing special audit of its accounts for assessment year 2012-13.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vibhu Bakhru issued notice to the IT department and asked it to file its reply by July 28 on Vodafone's plea.

The telecom major has challenged the department's March 31 order directing special audit of its accounts for the assessment year 2012-13.

It alleged before the court that the order has been passed to "buy more time".

Bulls are here to stay on Dalal Street as auto, banks, capital goods and FMCG stocks boost market. The Sensex is up 328.24 points or 1.3 percent at 25556.74 and the Nifty is up 93.65 points or 1.2 percent at 7827.10. About 1580 shares have advanced, 894 shares declined, and 147 shares are unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, HDFC, L&T and ITC are gainers while Hindalco, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and BHEL are losers in the Sensex.

Amid a weakening global trend and profit-booking by speculators, gold futures traded lower by over 1 percent at Rs 30,036 per 10 gram today.

Globally, gold prices fell 0.12 percent to USD 1,282 an ounce in Singapore. Analysts said the fall in gold futures was mostly in tandem with a weak trend overseas and weakness in the precious metal at the domestic spot markets.

12:45 pm Interview: Equitas Holding's net profit rose 28.2 percent at Rs 46.8 crore versus Rs 36.5 crore in the fourth quarter last foscal.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, PN Vasudevan, MD of the company, said he expects steady growth in FY17 to come across all segments.

He is of the view that Equitas is likely to get converted into a small bank in calendar year 2016 and expects healthy assets under management (AUM) growth in the current fiscal.

However, he believes the major challenge that remains is managing the risks involved in the business rather than its growth. The company, he added, has applied for final license recently and is working to get its infrastructure in place.

12:30 pm Brokerage views: Goldman Sachs has reiterated sell rating on Just Dial with a reduced target of Rs 500 per share. The brokerage firm sees a 37 percent potential downside after the stock rallied 10 percent in last month. Goldman Sachs warns of a weak earnings and significant consensus downgrades in 2016 led by inadequate Search Plus (SP)and JD Omni traction. This follows Credit Suisse's downgrade of the stock to neutral from outperform with a reduced target price of Rs Rs 950 from Rs 1000 (April, 2016). Credit Suisse said that maintaining pace of paid listing growth, particularly outside the top-ten cities, and competition from vertical players are key challenges for Just Dial.

The market continues its upmove with the Sensex up 344.41 points or 1.4 percent at 25572.91. The Nifty is up 99.85 points or 1.3 percent at 7833.30. About 1543 shares have advanced, 762 shares declined, and 134 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, L&T and NTPC are top gainers while Dr Reddy's, Cipla, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma are losers in the Sensex.

Crude prices extended gains in Asia as raging wildfires hit production in Canada, while traders digested news that Saudi Arabia had replaced its oil minister. Saudi Arabia, the biggest exporter in the OPEC producers' group, on Friday replaced Ali al-Naimi -- who had been in his post for two decades -- with a close ally of the deputy crown prince.

11:55 am  Fund Raising: UltraTech Cement today said it has received approval from the board of directors to hike the Registered Foreign Portfolio Investor (RFPI) limit to up to 30 percent, from existing 24 percent.

"The Board of Directors of the company have approved a proposal for increase in investment limits by RFPIs from the existing 24 percent of the paid-up equity share capital up to 30 percent of the paid-up equity share capital of the company," it said in a regulatory filing.

11:45 am IPO interview: Thyrocare Technologies' CEO A Velumani is eyeing a four-fold expansion in the country. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, he said the company targets setting up 25 laboratories in major Indian states, up from the present tally of 6. The company needs a capex of Rs 75 crore, which is already present in its balance sheet, he added. The diagnostics firm has had a 24 percent growth rate in the past couple of years and Velumani expects to build on it and envisages a compounded annual growth rate of 25-35 percent going ahead. He said that the company has clocked 40 percent margins in the past 10 years and will continue to do so for the next 5-10 years.

11:30 am Market outlook: Fourth quarter earnings that have come in so far look positive to in line, on average, though some negative surprises may lurk in the second half of the season, says Sanjeev Prasad, Senior Executive Director and Co-Head Strategy, Kotak Institutional Equities. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Prasad said he was positive on earnings this year -- forecasting growth of 17 percent -- partly due to the low base effect. The veteran analyst maintained that he was positive on private sector banks as well as autos (though, he said, some of it had got built into the price) but said he wouldn't hold out hopes for a quick turn in the capex cycle.

The market is in high spirits with the benchmark indices continuing to hold its early gains. The Sensex is up 374.56 points or 1.5 percent at 25603.06, and the Nifty is up 107.75 points or 1.4 percent at 7841.20. About 1507 shares have advanced, 652 shares declined, and 107 shares are unchanged.

Auto, banks, infra, FMCG and IT stocks are in buyers' radar. ICICI Bank, L&T, HDFC, Bajaj Auto and ITC are top gainers while Dr Reddy's and Cipla are losers in the Sensex.

Meanwhile, domestic passenger car sales increased 1.87 percent to 1,62,566 units in April as against 1,59,588 units in the year-ago period. Motorcycle sales last month rose by 16.24 percent to 10,24,926 units from 8,81,743 units a year earlier, according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Total two-wheeler sales in April rose 21.23 per cent to 15,60,339 units.

Sales of commercial vehicles rose 17.36 percent to 53,835 units in April, SIAM said. Vehicle sales across categories registered an increase of 20.04 percent to 19,00,879 units from 15,83,582 units in April last year.

10:55 am Buzzing: Share prices of Tasty Bite Eatables rose 18.5 percent intraday post robust fourth quarter numbers announced by the company. The company's (Dec-Mar) Q4 net profit jumped 87 percent to Rs 5.8 crore against Rs 3.1 crore, in the same quarter last fiscal. The total income of the company increased by 38 percent at Rs 62.9 crore versus Rs 45.5 crore. The EBITDA was up 71 percent at Rs 12 crore versus Rs 7 crore and EBITDA margin rose 360 bps at 19.2 percent versus 15.6 percent.

10:30 am Boardroom: Bolstered by uptick in systematic investment plans (SIP), Sam Ghosh, ED & Group CEO of Reliance Capital expects nearly 15-20 percent growth in the company's mutual fund business' assets under management (AUM) during FY17.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Ghosh says the 3.1 percent gross non-performing assets posted in the commerical finance business is largely due to stress in commercial vehicle financing business. However, it has almost peaked and things will likely improve from here.

Ghosh says the company is plans to unlock value in the commercial finance business and looking for a strategic partner, accordingly.

The market has extended its rally with the Nifty comfortable above 7800. The 50-share is up 96.50 points or 1.2 percent at 7829.95. The Sensex is up 324.89 points or 1.3 percent at 25553.39. About 1343 shares have advanced, 498 shares declined, and 74 shares are unchanged.

NTPC, Bajaj Auto, HDFC twins and ITC are top gainers in the Sensex.

Thyrocare Technologies debuted at Rs 665 per share on the NSE, 49 percent premium to its issue price at Rs 446.

The initial public offering (IPO) of Thyrocare was oversubscribed 73.55 times in a price band of Rs 420-446. The issue was open for bidding from April 27-29.

Thyrocare competes with diagnostics chains such as Dr Lal PathLabs, SRL Diagnostics, Metropolis Healthcare and Apollo Clinic.

Spot gold edged lower, but remained supported in the face of a firm dollar as investors bet a weaker US payroll report would push out the timing of any rate hike.

The US economy added the fewest number of jobs in seven months in April and Americans dropped out of the labour force, leaving some economists anticipating only one interest rate hike this year. But encouraging annual wage growth data helped the dollar to revive.

9:55 am New listing: Diagnostics company Thyrocare Technologies, which recently concluded its IPO, will list its shares on the bourses today.

"Effective from Monday, May 9, 2016, the equity shares of Thyrocare Technologies shall be listed and admitted to dealings on the exchange," BSE had said in a notice earlier this week.

The initial public offering (IPO) of Thyrocare was oversubscribed 73.55 times in a price band of Rs 420-446.

The issue was open for bidding from April 27-29.

9:45 am International market outlook: According to Hartmut Issel, Head Equity & Credit APAC, CIO WM, UBS  feel the weak US payroll numbers is likely to push the Fed rate hike decision from June to September. China, he thinks is seeing some normalisation after a strong first quarter number, which was due to dose of credit from the central bank but that is unlikely to continue, and so similar growth rate would also not be possible. However, China will still see reasonable growth, says Issel.

India, according to him will standout and outperform other emerging markets purely on back of good pick up seen in earnings this quarter.

9:35 Market extends gains: The Sensex is up 298.80 points or 1.2 percemt at 25527.30, and the Nifty is up 84 points or 1 percent at 7817.45.
About 1128 shares have advanced, 335 shares declined, and 62 shares are unchanged.

The market has kickstarted the week on a strong note supported by index heavyweights. The Sensex is up 187.26 points or 0.7 percent at 25415.76, and the Nifty up 50.75 points or 0.7 percent at 7784.20. About 554 shares have advanced, 193 shares declined, and 45 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco, ITC, NTPC, HDFC and Tata Steel are top gainers while Dr Reddy's Labs fell over 1 percent.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 66.52 per dollar on Monday versus 66.55 Friday.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "The rupee is expected to trade sideways with a positive bias. We see a narrow range without any strong cues from domestic or global markets."

The dollar index rose against a basket of currencies after the head of the New York Federal Reserve, William Dudley, told the New York Times the US Central Bank may raise interest rates twice in 2016 following weaker-than-expected April data on hiring.

Asian stocks open mixed, as oil prices rallied on supply outages in Canada and amid surprise over the exit of Saudi Arabia's veteran oil minister Ali al-Naimi.

Oil prices surged more than 2 percent at the start of session, as wildfires in Canada shut half of the country's vast oil sands capacity over the weekend, Reuters reported.