Sensex, Nifty close flat; TCS, Zee Ent rally; JSPL, L&T dip

03:30pm Market Closing
Equity benchmarks saw consolidation on Friday after seeing over a percent rally in previous session. The Sensex fell 21.79 points to 27090.42 while the Nifty gained 6.70 points at 8121.45.

About 1434 shares have advanced, 1616 shares declined, and 103 shares are unchanged.

TCS, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC, Wipro, Zee Entertainment, HCL Technologies, Grasim and Tech Mahindra were top gainers, up 1-3 percent whereas L&T, ONGC, SBI, HUL, Hero Motocorp, Jindal Steel and DLF declined 1.5-4.5 percent.

In the midcap space, Monsanto India, Jindal Saw, Schneider Electric, India Cements and JK Cement surged 8-17 percent. However, Suzlon Energy, Den Networks, Punj Lloyd, Trinity Trade and Responsive Industries lost 4.5-10 percent.

03:10pm Market Check
The volatility continued in equity benchmarks with the Sensex rising 6.28 points to 27118.49 and the Nifty adding 13.75 points to 8128.50. TCS, HDFC, Wipro, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's Labs, NTPC and Hindalco Industries rallied 1-3 percent.

However, Larsen and Toubro, ONGC, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Tata Motors, HUL, Mahindra and Mahindra, and Hero Motocorp declined 1-2.5 percent on profit booking.

03:00pm JSW Steel in News
JSW Steel looks at foraying into the European market by looking at acquiring other steel assets there, says Sajjan Jindal, company Chairman and MD adding that they are eyeing good opportunities that fit into their policies and systems.

The company awaits Italian government's reply on Lucchini after sending its final binding bid. ''We have given a final binding bid to the government of Italy so we are awaiting their response, they have to go to their committees and all and then it will conclude'', says Jindal in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Further, the steel player has applied for CCI's approval to acquire Welspun Maxsteel, he adds. JSW Steel was down 3.4 percent to Rs 1,290.40.

02:25pm Market Expert
On a one-year basis, the market is already up 36 percent. Sashi Krishnan, CIO, Birla Sun Life Insurance says the equity market has gone up on the back of two main reasons – improvement in macro-economic scenario and potential earnings growth in the next couple of years.

He believes the market at the moment is reflecting these fundamentals, while adding that the only thing that can derail the market from here is if the earnings expectation reverses.

02:00pm Equity benchmarks remained rangebound around its previous day's closing values but the broader markets maintained upward momentum from early trade.

The Sensex rose 25.73 points to 27137.94 and the Nifty advanced 18.75 points to 8133.50 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.2 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

About 1453 shares have advanced, 1452 shares declined, and 87 shares are unchanged.

Tata Group stocks saw buying interest today after Moody's Investors Service on Thursday upgraded ratings of half a dozen Tata Group firms, including TCS and Tata Motors, on account of Tata Sons' track record in providing timely support to these firms.

The agency upgraded corporate family ratings of Tata Motors to Ba2/Stable from Ba3/Stable, Tata Chemicals' to Ba1/Stable from Ba2/Stable, Tata Steel's to Ba2 from Ba3, Tata Steel UK Holdings' to B2 from B3, Tata Power's to Ba3/Stable from B1/Negative and affirmed Tata Consultancy Services' local currency issuer rating at A3/Stable.

TCS surged over 3 percent followed by Tata Steel and Tata Power with 0.8 percent gains. In the broader space, Tata Investment Corporation, Tata Sponge, Tata Elxsi, Tata Coffee, Tata Teleservices, Tata Chemicals, Tata Metaliks, CMC, Tata Global and Tata Communications gained 1-15 percent. However, only Tata Motors and Trent declined 0.4 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

01:55pm Moody's on Tata Group
Philipp Lotter, managing director-corporate finance from Moody's says rating upgrades of Tata Group companies were mainly on account of value creation done by Tata Group companies. He expects the group companies to continue benefiting from Tata brand.

Moody's Investors Service on September 18 had upgraded ratings of half a dozen Tata Group firms on account of Tata Sons' track record in providing timely support to these firms.

Although the house does not have any rating for Tata Teleservices, he believes the company will surely benefit just by being part of the Tata brand name.

With regards to Tata Power, Lotter beleives the company has a strong standalone business and is coming out of its worst times.

Moreover, the house is also keenly watching the improvement in performance of Tata Motors' India business. Moody's has equalised the ratings for Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and believes that JLR's strong performance would lead to further upgrade in ratings for Tata Motors.

01:30pm HCL Tech at record high
Shares of HCL Technologies rallied 2.5 percent on its expansion plans. The IT major is pumping USD 9 million to expand its centre in North Carolina, creating up to 1,237 new jobs by the end of 2018.

HCL Technologies, which has over 8,000 people working across 15 states in the US, employs close to 1,000 people at the Cary Centre in North Carolina. Governor Pat McCrory and North Carolina Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker on Thursday made the announcement at the centre.

The hirings will be a mix of local as well as external professionals, he added.

HCL's business in America contributes more than 50 percent of the firm's global revenues. In 2013-14 fiscal, its revenue stood at Rs 16,497.37 crore.

01:00pm The market is flat with the Nifty struggling below 8150. The 50-share index is up 6.00 points at 8120.75. The Sensex is up 15.01 points at 27127.22. About 1393 shares have advanced, 1427 shares declined, and 97 shares are unchanged.

Defensive buying is seen in IT and pharma stocks. TCS, Cipla, Sun Pharma. Infosys and Wipro are top gainers in the Sensex while L&T, HUL, SBI and Axis Bank are major laggards.

JP Power is under pressure as reports suggest that the company's Khar-Cham Wangdoo project has breached rules on installed capacity. This could impact its deal with Reliance Power and hurt their debt reduction plans.

Saurabh Mukherjea of Ambit Capital says that the local investor appetite in the last couple of months has been very strong and that they are seeing investment pick up from mutual funds & retail investors.

The 307-old union with United Kingdom continues as Scotland votes a resounding 'no' to independence. The pound has been firm ,trading at a 2-week high against the dollar & 2-year high against the euro.

01:00pm Hero Motocorp in News
Shares of Hero MotoCorp slipped over a percent on reports that two private equity investors are offloading their stake in the company. According to CNBC-TV18 sources, private equity investors such as GIC and Aberdeen are planning to sell their stake in Hero MotoCorp worth over Rs 5600 crore. GIC is looking to sell its stake through secondary deal or open market.

It is learnt that both GIC and Aberdeen are in talks with other PE and financial investors to sell stake while Warburg Pincus, Carlyle and Blackstone have already expressed an interest. If the deal goes through via the secondary market, GIC and Aberdeen could be looking at a premium of 10 percent to current market price.

GIC holds 3.7 percent stake in Hero Motocorp, while Aberdeen holds 5.7 percent. If the talks with PE players do not materialise, then GIC and Aberdeen will be looking to sell their stake in tranches through open market transaction by this year-end.

12:40pm Interview
The Sensex advanced 54 points to 27167 while Titagarh Wagons declined 1.7 percent on profit booking.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) and an action plan were signed between the government of India and People's Republic of China in enhancing technical cooperation in railway sector.

The potential cooperation areas mentioned in the MoU are: training in heavy haul freight transportation, increasing speed of trains on existing routes, station redevelopment, high speed rail and setting up of Railway University.

Analysing the potential of this agreement, Umesh Choudhary, Vice Chairman, Titagarh Wagons expects this development to finally see light of the day as the railways project has been going on since several years in various forms and fashions.

Titagarh Wagons is not directly a part the project as of now but the company is getting into locomotives and expects to have some share in this pie, he says in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Further, he sees railway space getting a lot of traction hereon.

12:20pm European markets gain
France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE opened half a percent higher after Scots today rejected independence in a historic referendum and decided to remain in a 307-year-old union with the United Kingdom, in a relief to Prime Minister David Cameron.

With 30 out of Scotland's 32 council areas having declared, the "No" side has an unbeatable lead of 1,877,252 votes to 1,512,688, official results confirmed today.

The winning total needed was 1,852,828 and nationally, the margin of victory is about 55 percent to 45 percent. This margin of victory is some three points greater than that anticipated by the final opinion polls.

The vote is the culmination of a two-year campaign and talks will now begin on devolving more powers to Scotland, which had joined the United Kingdom in 1707, reports PTI.

12:00pm The market continued to be choppy in noon trade with the Sensex gaining 43.89 points at 27156.10 and the Nifty rising 17.60 points to 8132.35 but the BSE Midcap and Smallcap outperformed benchmarks, up 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

About 1371 shares have advanced, 1383 shares declined, and 88 shares are unchanged.

Manpreet Gill, senior investment strategist at Standard Chartered, expects equities to continue to perform well. He says the markets will be dominated by a conversation of when the Fed might actually hike rates, but overall the picture is positive for equities, with earnings growing in most parts of the world.

Standard Chartered is overweight on India on the back of positive sentiment and pluses on the policy front. Gill feels the markets have seen stage one of multiple-driven rally and would be looking for more optimistic earnings expectation.

Shares of TCS, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Wipro, Coal India and Tata Power topped the buying list, up 1-3 percent whereas L&T, Axis Bank, HUL and Hero Motocorp fell 1-1.6 percent.

11:55 am Market outlook: The local investor appetite has been quite strong in the last few months, believes Saurabh Mukherjea, CEO, Institutional Equities, Ambit Capital. According to him, investment is likely to pickup in mutual fund and retail industry and he expects multiple midcaps to see good run in the medium-term. He, however, cautions about the higher market volatility going ahead. Mukherjea advises investors to pick market leaders or companies that have well-run business.

He is bullish on V-Guard Industries and TTK Prestige for the same. Home improvement theme based stocks could see big upsides, says Mukherjea. He, therefore, expects paints, cement, electricals, plyboards, pipes, sanitaryware to show strong growth in future. He is bullish on Greenply , Century Plyboards and Havells India from the pack.

11:30 am No independence for Scotland: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Friday said he wanted the coalition government to deliver new powers to Scotland, saying Scots' rejection of independence was a signal for wider constitutional reform across all of Britain.

"I'm absolutely delighted the Scottish people have taken this momentous decision to safeguard our family of nations for future generations," Clegg said in a statement.

"We must now deliver on time and in full the radical package of newly devolved powers to Scotland. This referendum marks not only a new chapter for Scotland within the UK but also wider constitutional reform across the Union."

The market has maintained its uptrend with the Nifty holding 8150, up 38.00 points, at 8152.75. The Sensex is up 121.23 points at 27233.44. About 1571 shares have advanced, 892 shares declined, and 89 shares are unchanged.

TCS, Wipro, Cipla, Tata Power and Hindalco are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are HUL, Axis Bank, M&M, Hero and ITC.

The rupee trimmed its initial gains as it ruled higher for the fourth consecutive day today, moving up by another 2 paise to 60.82 against the US dollar on persistent selling of the greenback by banks and exporters in view of weak dollar overseas.

The rupee resumed higher at 60.78 per dollar as against the yesterday's closing level of 60.84 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market. It hovered in a range of 60.73 and 60.83 before quoting at 60.82 per dollar at 1030 hours.

The rupee has gained 31 paise or 0.51 per cent in the four days. It has appreciated by 10 paise in the early morning trade.

11:00am FII View
Timothy Moe, Goldman Sachs says regional equities have seen a positive but volatile Q3 so far, in-line with our expectations. ''As we look through the remaining months of the year, we believe the macro environment will remain favourable for Asian equities as US growth continues to recover in Q4,'' he adds.

''We continue to be overweight on India with a Nifty target of 9,000 by September 2015,'' says Moe.

The Sensex rose 104.33 points to 27216.54 and the Nifty climbed 37.75 points to 8152.50. About 1548 shares have advanced, 897 shares declined, and 81 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

10:30am Biocon in News
Investors lapped up more shares of Biocon on Friday after Silver Leaf Oak (Mauritius) agreed to acquire a minority 10 percent stake in Syngene International, the subsidiary of Biocon's Research Services. The stock gained 2 percent in addition to 2.7 percent in previous session.

Silver Leaf will acquire the stake from Biocon Research (BRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Biocon at a valuation of Rs 3800 crore, said the company in its filing to BSE, adding the transaction is subject to standard condition precedents including regulatory approvals.

Silver Leaf Oak (Mauritius) is an investment vehicle advised by India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA).

Post the completion of this transaction, Biocon and BRL will jointly hold 85.54 percent stake in Syngene.

"This transaction is part of the overall strategic plan for Syngene and sets a new benchmark as we prepare the company for listing," said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon's chairman and managing director.

Before this transaction, BRL (on September 9) bought entire 7.69 percent stake from GE Equity International Mauritius (a subsidiary of GE Capital Corporation) in Syngene International for an agreed consideration of Rs 215.38 crore.

10:00am Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate in morning trade after seeing more than a percent rally in previous session. The market is waiting for new triggers like Q2 earnings (will start in October) and Modi's US visit (on September 30) after Japan and China meets.

The Sensex rose 27.06 points to 27139.27 and the Nifty climbed 13.55 points to 8128.30 while the broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.8 percent each.

The market breadth was positive. About 1361 shares have advanced, 748 shares declined, and 62 shares are unchanged.

India's largest IT services exporter TCS topped the buying list, up 2.5 percent followed by Cipla and Tata Power with over a percent gain. Sun Pharma, HDFC, Bajaj Auto, Wipro, ONGC, Hindalco, Tata Steel and NTPC gained 0.4-0.9 percent.

However, ITC, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, L&T, HUL, M&M, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs and Hero Motocorp fell 0.4-1 percent.

NBCC, JK Tyre, RS Software, Cyient, Tata Elxsi, TCS and HDFC were most active shares on exchanges.

9:55 am Market outlook: Arvind Sanger, managing partner at Geosphere Capital Management, feels the market have come a long way very quickly, and remains bullish on medium-to-long term. He says announcements post recent diplomatic visits and various investment commitments made by Japan and China are definite positives, but at the end of the day market lives on ''not just big picture announcements but actual numbers''.

''The September quarter earnings are around the corner. And they are going to be moderately better than the June quarter but not hugely so. And therefore I think the markets need to digest how much they have moved,'' Sanger said.

9:35 am Maruti's voting issue: Maruti Suzuki India said voting by minority shareholders over its move to let parent Suzuki Motor Corp own and invest in Gujarat plant will likely happen in November instead of October as earlier envisaged.

"It is a long procedure and we have not been able to put all the things in place. So we won't be able to do it in October. It is highly probable that the voting will be in November," Maruti Suzuki India Chairman RC Bhargava said.

The company needs 3/4th of the minority shareholders, who hold 44 percent stake, to approve the proposal through a special resolution.

After a massive rally, the market has opened on a flat note. The Sensex is up 35.80 points at 27148.01 and the Nifty is up 14.65 points at 8129.40. About 563 shares have advanced, 112 shares declined, and 27 shares are unchanged.

Tata Power, BHEL, ONGC, Tata Steel and Hero Moto are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the laggards are HDFC, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Infosys and NTPC. Suzlon is down 10 percent.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 60.77 per dollar on Friday against yesterday's close of 60.83 a dollar.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "Reduction in FIIs inflows coupled with profit booking in local equities may pressurise the currency.However, gains in Asian equities and some exporters selling may limit further losses. Expect rupee to be ranged between 60.60-61.40/dollar.''

Global markets ended higher with the Dow and S&P 500 closing at record peaks in a Fed fueled rally. All eyes will be on the Alibaba issue that lists tonight on NYSE. Meanwhile, Asian markets opened in the green with Japan's Nikkei at fresh 2014 high.

Voters in Scotland have made their choice on the independence of the country. The crucial result of the referendum will be known only after the counting gets over. Two out of 32 counties have voted no and bookmakers are predicting a win for the "No" campaign.

Brent crude prices slipped to USD 97 per barrel pressured by ample supply, concerns about demand growth and a stronger dollar. And precious metal gold traded below USD 1230 an ounce, at its lowest level in more than eight months as the dollar index jumped.