Sensex, Nifty close flat but Midcap outperforms; Reliance up 4%

3:30 pm Market closing: Equity benchmarks closed flat amid volatility and subdued global cues. The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 26.92 points at 29,620.50 and the 50-share NSE Nifty closed flat at 9,173.75.

In broader space, SCI, ICICI Prudential and Cairn gained more than 2 percent.

However, Infibeam Incorporation was down more than 15 percent after addition in F&O segment.

United Bank of India, Just Dial, Motherson Sumi and Dishman Pharma lost 2-5 percent.

3:28 pm Deal: The acquisition of Indian refiner Essar Oil by a consortium led by Russian oil company Rosneft is expected to be completed in the next few weeks, Essar said in written comments to Reuters on Friday.

"The parties are working towards obtaining the requisite approvals to complete the transaction. We are hopeful that the deal will be completed in the upcoming few weeks," Essar said.

All the parties, which include Rosneft and commodities trader Trafigura along with Russian private investment group United Capital Partners, have previously said that the deal was expected to be completed within the first quarter.

3:08 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks erased gains after hitting record closing highs, weighed by banking & financials, FMCG and technology stocks. However, Reliance with 4 percent rally continued to support the market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 27.42 points at 29,620 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 0.90 points at 9,174.65.

2:58 pm Gold imports: India has imported 560.32 tonnes of gold during April-January period of the current fiscal, Parliament was informed today.

Gold imports aggregated to 968.06 tonnes in the entire 2015-16 fiscal and 915.47 tonnes in 2014-15, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

As per rough estimates, he said, gold demand in the country is 800-900 tonnes per annum.

2:39 pm Buzzing: Reliance Defence, InterGlobe Aviation, Muthoot Finance and Capital First among others rallied 10-19 percent after the National Stock Exchange announced addition of these stocks in futures & options segment on March 22.

Equitas Holdings, Ujjivan Financial Services, Max Financial Services, Indian Bank, PVR, Dalmia Bharat, Suzlon Energy, Piramal Enterprises, Escorts and Shree Cements were other stocks, which added in F&O segment, gained 2-9 percent.

However, only Infibeam Corporation was loser, down nearly 16 percent. The stock also lost 20 percent intraday today.

All these stocks barring Infibeam gained 1-7 percent intraday Friday.

Addition of these stocks in F&O segment is effective from today, taking the total to 189 F&O stocks.

2:29 Sharp surge: Driven by a rally in index heavyweight Reliance Industries, equity benchmarks were trading in the green zone, with the Sensex clocking an all-time closing high of 29,681.77, while the Nifty was eyeing 9,200.

2:15 pm Reliance hits 52-week high: Shares of Reliance Industries witnessed a surge in the post noon session of trade as investors awaited for numbers on Jio Prime subscribers.

The scrip rose over 5 percent intraday on the BSE.

Out of 100 million-plus free subscribers, nearly 50 million have signed up for its 'Prime' membership by paying a one-time charge of Rs 99 and buying data packs, news agency PTI reported on Thursday.

The company has offered customers Prime membership on payment of one-time fee of Rs 99. Data packs for such members is available for as low as Rs 149 per month. Voice calls on Jio will remain free.

At 14:14 hrs, the stock was quoting at Rs 1,322.80, up Rs 53.45, or 4.21 percent. It touched a 52-week high of Rs 1,336.00.

2:05 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks staged a recovery from the day's lows and were almost trading flat.

The Sensex was down 4.39 points at 29643.03, while the Nifty was down 0.70 points at 9173.05. The market breadth, however, was narrow with 1,596 shares having advanced against a decline of 992 shares, while 206 shares were unchanged.

Larsen and Toubro, Reliance and Indian Oil were top gainers, while HDFC Bank, HDFC and Bharti Infratel were top losers on both the indices.

Shares of Reliance Industries hit a 52-week high ahead of the release of official numbers for the subscribers of Jio Prime.

(Reliance Jio is a part of Reliance Industries that owns Network 18 Media & moneycontrol.com)

1:23 pm Market Outlook: The Nifty is not far off from hitting fresh record highs and if everything falls in place, the index could well hit mount 10K in the next financial year which is nearly 10 percent from current levels, UR Bhat, Director, Dalton Capital Advisors said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Globalisation has played a crucial role in markets across the world and not just in India. ''If there is a question mark on globalisation on account of restrictions on global trade will have a dramatic impact on international markets including India,'' said Bhat.

US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week to discuss various issues from the difference over North Korea, to job losses.

1:05 pm Market Check: Sluggishness continued on equity benchmarks after a rally during the week as investors may have booked profits.

The Sensex was down 64.70 points at 29582.72, while the Nifty was down 11.60 points at 9162.15. The market breadth was narrow as 1,544 shares advanced against a fall of 940 shares, while 194 shares were unchanged.

Reliance, Larsen & Toubro, Indian Oil and Hindalco were the top gainers, while HDFC Bank, Bharti Infratel and Bharti Airtel were the top losers.

12:57 pm Economy growth: The effect of demonetisation is fading and growth is likely to return to the pre-note ban stage, but a clearer picture of the economy will be available by June-end, S&P Global Ratings said today

. "India's effects from demonetisation are fading and a return to the growth path prevailing before the currency note swap looks to be increasingly likely.

This should be a two-quarter event, meaning things will become clear by mid-2017," S&P said. India had demonetised 500 and 1,000 rupee notes on November 8, 2016, and asked holders of such notes to deposit them in banks.

The Central Statistical Office (CSO) last month had projected GDP growth to be 7 percent in the October-December quarter, belying fears of slowdown post demonetisation.

12:47 pm Interview: Ekta Kapoor and Sameer Nair of Balaji Telefilms spoke about ALTBalaji's digital launch and how they plan to fight, survive and grow in the digital space.

Speaking about business, Nair said that they are looking at a breakeven of 4-5 million subscribers in three-four years.

He further said that in a year we will do 32 shows of up to 12-15 episodes each. However, we will be also creating content for children, added Nair.

12:35 pm Interest rates: The government has lowered interest rates on small saving schemes like PPF, Kisan Vikas Patra and Sukanya Samriddhi scheme by 0.1 per cent for the April-June quarter, a move that would prompt banks to cut their deposit rates.

For April-June, these have been lowered by 0.1 per cent across the board compared to January-March. However, interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 per cent annually.

Since April last year, interest rates of all small saving schemes have been recalibrated on a quarterly basis.

12:20 pm Buzzing: Ahead of a Cabinet meeting to discuss change in urea subsidy, shares of fertilizer companies witnessed a rally.

Shares of Zuari Agro, RCF, GSFC, and National Fertilisers, among others, were up between 4 and 14 percent intraday on Friday.

The Cabinet meeting will be held to discuss changes to urea subsidy for production in excess of reassessed capacity.

12:05 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained under pressure in noon but broader markets outperformed due to rally in metals and fertiliser stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 72.81 points at 29,574.61 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 14.65 points to 9,159.10.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.6 percent each as about three shares advanced for every two shares falling on the exchange.

Index heavyweights HDFC Bank, ITC and HDFC dragged the market lower whereas Reliance Industries and L&T continued to support the market.

11:52 am SBI's new look: From April 1, the associate banks which will be merging with State Bank of India will sport the lender's signage and logo, with its iconic keyhole set against the background of navy blue.

The move is part of the bank's larger goal to project a unified image, which will see all the five associate banks speaking the same language.

The SBI logo symbolises its role of a custodian that will keep customers' money safe.

11:44 am SpiceJet readies for regional connectivity scheme: SpiceJet has added three Bombardier Q400 planes to its fleet to fly on routes under the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme, an official from the listed airline told Moneycontrol.

With the latest induction, SpiceJet now has 33 Boeing B737 next generation planes and 20 Bombardier Q-400s.

The low-cost carrier, promoted by Ajay Singh, will fly on 11 routes covering four unserved and two underserved airports under the first phase of the government's Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme.

11:24 am Management Speak: Satya Narayanan R, Chairman & Executive Director, CL Educate said we are building on the foundation and getting ready for the next phase of growth in the education sector.

The education company operates across segments in the learning industry and in present over 150 locations. ''Our execution model is built on entrepreneurial energy,'' said Narayanan.

He said, ''We have geographical entrepreneurs in terms of business partners, who run with as much ownership and commitment as an entrepreneur can do, in 150 locations.''

11:10 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks saw a downtrend on the first day of April series as investors may have booked profits from the rally seen over the past few sessions.

The Sensex was down 78.18 points at 29569.24, while the Nifty was down 18.55 points at 9155.20. The market breadth was narrow as 1,339 shares advanced against a decline of 856 shares, while 152 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, Reliance, Indian Oil and Hindalco were top gainers on both the indices, while HDFC Bank, ITC and Bharti Infratel were top losers.

CL Educate saw a tepid listing on Friday. The stock price opened at Rs 402, down sharply by 20 percent from its issue price of Rs 502 per share.

The stock recovered from day's low and locked at 5 percent upper circuit at Rs 422.10 on the NSE, but still far below its issue price.

10:40 am Small savings scheme: The government has decided to cut interest rates on most small savings schemes. Interest rate on public provident fund (PPF) has been cut by 10 basis points (bps) to 7.9 percent for April to June.

10:31 am Market Outlook: Sundaram Mutual Fund believes that the party on the market will continue.

The Indian economy seems to be well on track, GST is going through smoothly and liquidity and interest rate environment is good, S Krishna Kumar, CIO- Equity at Sundaram Mutual Fund, told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. He expects the current positive environment continue and the markets will also build on that.

Going forward, Kumar sees huge mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity and that should be used as an opportunity. The deals could be spread across sectors, particularly on the financial side.

10:05 am New Listing: Education company CL Educate saw a tepid listing on Friday. The stock price opened at Rs 402, down sharply by 20 percent from its issue price of Rs 502 per share.

The stock recovered from day's low and locked at 5 percent upper circuit at Rs 422.10 on the NSE, but still far below its issue price.

CL Educate operates across segments in the education industry, including test preparation and vocational training.

10:00 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained volatile in morning due to lack of global as well as domestic cues. Investors awaited fourth quarter earnings due next month.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 32.71 points at 29,614.71 and the Nifty down 6.80 points at 9,166.95. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, NTPC, SBI, IOC, BPCL and Hindalco were gainers while HDFC Bank, Wipro, HDFC, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Bharti Infratel and Grasim were under pressure.

9:55 am Listing: CL Educate settled at Rs 402 in pre-opening session, down a whopping 20 percent from its issue price of Rs 502 per share.

9:50 am FII View: Timothy Moe of Goldman Sachs says the brokerage house stayed overweight on India as the medium-term reform story remains promising.

The research firm expects the Nifty to reach 9,500 in 12 months and 10,200 by 2018-end as earnings recovery gathers pace driven by 12 percent and 15 percent profit growth this year and next, he says.

9:39 am Market Update: Benchmark indices turned positive as the Sensex was up 6.03 points at 29,653.45.

The Nifty started trading above its record closing high, up 4.60 points at 9,178.35.

The market breadth was also positive as about 1154 shares advanced against 464 declining shares on the BSE.

9:30 am UDAN: SpiceJet has added three Bombardier Q400 planes to its fleet to fly on routes under the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme, an official from the listed airline told Moneycontrol.

With the latest induction, SpiceJet now has 33 Boeing B737 next generation planes and 20 Bombardier Q-400s.

The low-cost carrier, promoted by Ajay Singh, will fly on 11 routes covering four unserved and two underserved airports under the first phase of the government's Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme.

On Thursday, SpiceJet and four other airlines won the bids to operate under the first phase of the scheme with funding assistance from the Centre and state governments. The five airlines have been awarded 128 routes (most of them exclusive) connecting 43 airports. The companies will have a three-year exclusivity on the routes.

9:15 am Market Check: The NSE Nifty started off April series on a lower note amid consolidation and mixed Asian cues Friday, weighed by banking & financials stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 67 points at 29,580.42 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 17.15 points to 9,156.60. About 584 shares advanced against 258 declining shares on the BSE.

The Indian rupee has opened on a flat note at 64.92 against the US dollar.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank says the continued year-end portfolio flows getting absorbed by the intervention bids, continue in the USD-INR pair, with the pair trading close to crucial 64.80-64.85 per dollar technical level.

He expects the pair to trade in the 64.75-65.15 per dollar range for the day.

The dollar rose as a combination of technical trading and a theme of strong US economic data and potential weakness in the euro zone weighed down the continental currency.

Asia traded mixed on the last day of March, as investors digested a mixed set of economic data out of east Asia and President Trump's tense tweets about his meeting with China's Xi Jinping next week.