Sensex, Nifty end flat; bank, oil & pharma stocks drag

3:30 pm Market close: The market ended flat with oil & gas stocks dragging major indices. The Sensex was up 40.95 points at 29135.88 and the Nifty was up 3.85 points at 8809.35. About 1336 shares advanced, 1584 shares declined and 195 shares were unchanged.

ITC gained 3 percent while TCS, Bharti, HUL and HDFC were top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Hindalco, Hero and Axis Bank.

3:10 pm PSU capitalisation: PSU banks will have to raise funds from the capital market to meet capital requirement norms in absence of adequate financial support from the government in the forthcoming Budget, rating agency Moody's said today. For the current fiscal, the government has earmarked Rs 11,200 crore for capital infusion in state-owned banks. Of that the government has said it will soon infuse Rs 6,990 crore in nine banks including SBI, Bank of Baroda (BoB) and Punjab National Bank (PNB).

"Unless the government materially increases the capital allocation to state-owned banks in the next budget, the only way these banks can improve their capital ratios is by accessing equity capital markets," Moody's Investors Service said. The government in the current fiscal has adopted new criteria in which the banks which are more efficient would be rewarded with extra capital so that they can further strengthen their position. The capital infusion has been decided based on the performance of the bank.

3:00 pm Fund raising: Private sector lender Yes Bank today said it will be raising Rs 500 crore through issuance of "green infrastructure bonds", which will be deployed to fund renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

The bank claimed it is the first such issue in the country and the money will be used to fund solar power, wind power, biomass, and small hydel projects. The bond will have a tenor of ten years, it said in a statement, adding the issue has already been launched.

The city-headquartered lender said it had made a commitment to fund 5,000 MW of renewable energy projects during the recent summit organised by the Government and added the proceeds from the issue will be used to fund the same.

2:30 pm New patent: Pharmaceutical firm Suven Life Sciences has been granted one patent each by Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand for its drug used in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. "Secured patents in Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand to one of their New Chemical Entity (NCE) for CNS therapy through new mechanism of action H3 Inverse agonist," the company said in a BSE filing. These patents are valid until 2030, it added.

Neurodegenerative diseases include Alzheimer's disease, Schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. The granted claims of the patent include the class of selective H3 ligands discovered by Suven and are useful in treatment of cognitive impairment associated with neurodegenerative disorders, the statement said.

The Sensex is up 128.85 points at 29223.78 and the Nifty is up 31.55 points at 8837.05. About 1287 shares have advanced, 1477 shares declined and 212 shares are unchanged.

M&M, ITC, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and TCS are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Sun Pharma, Hero, Reliance, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

Oil stocks are down as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may look at re-imposing 5 percent customs duty on crude oil imports to shore up revenues by USD 3 billion and create a level-playing field for domestic producers.

Presently, the government does not levy any import or customs duty on crude oil imports. On the other hand, domestically produced crude oil attracts two percent central sales tax, something which imported oil is exempted from.

Gold extended gains to a third session, bolstered by safe-haven bids amid a softer dollar and jitters ahead of negotiations regarding Greece's future in the euro zone.

Traders were eyeing a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels later on Monday to find common ground with Greece's new government, elected on a pledge to scrap the austerity strictures of Greece's international bailouts.

If the meeting produces no results, there is a concern that Greece will be headed for a credit crunch that would force it out of the euro zone.

1:50 pm Buzzing: Shares of Suzlon Energy surged over 18 percent intraday despite increasing loss in December quarter. What is driving the stock is a deal with Sun Pharmaceutical founder Dilip Shanghvi. Shanghvi has agreed to buy a 23 percent stake in Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy for about USD 290 million.

The India's second-richest man will pay Rs 1800 crore through Dilip Shanghvi Family and Associates (DSA) for 1 billion new shares in Suzlon, issued by way of a preferential allotment. Shanghvi's investment firm and Suzlon will also form a wind farm joint venture for the development of 450 megawatt (MW) of wind farms, a company statement said.

1:30 pm Custom duty on crude oil imports? Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may look at reimposing 5 percent customs duty on crude oil imports to shore up revenues by USD 3 billion and create a level-playing field for domestic producers. Presently, the government does not levy any import or customs duty on crude oil imports. On the other hand, domestically produced crude oil attracts two per cent central sales tax, something which imported oil is exempted from.

Given that there is no customs duty on imported crude oil, the CST levy places domestic producers at a significant disadvantage vis-'-vis imported crude, government sources said. Thus, 20 per cent of India's crude oil consumption that comes from domestic oil fields is taxed, whereas 80 per cent of imported oil goes untaxed. Jaitley, in his first full-year Budget on February 28, may seek to address the anomaly, they said.

The market has gone flat as the Sensex is up 89.42 points at 29184.35. The Nifty is up 23.10 points at 8828.60. About 1257 shares have advanced, 1386 shares declined, and 199 shares are unchanged.

M&M, Bharti Airtel, ITC, HUL and Tata Steel are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Sun Pharma, Hero Motocorp, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Infosys.

Wholesale prices declined an annual 0.39 percent in January, their second fall in three months, on the back of a sharp correction in oil prices, government data showed. The reading for November wholesale price inflation was revised to -0.17 percent from 0.0 percent earlier.
Oil prices steadied as Japan's economy emerged from recession and as strong demand for refined products translated into healthy orders for crude.

Japan's economy rebounded from recession in the final quarter of last year, supporting oil prices, even though the data was weaker than expected. Analysts said that healthy demand for refined products was also buoying crude markets.

12:50 pm Market outlook: With global situation under control -Ukraine and Greece - the environment is more conducive now than before, says Deven Choksey, managing director of KR Choksey Shares & Securities. On the domestic market front, fiscal deficit management and interest rate coming down going ahead will result in better prospects. This in turn will lead to higher allocation of funds into emerging markets, he says.

He believes global as well as domestic investors will be keenly watching the Budget for growth-related announcements. According to him, if Nifty crosses 9000, then there will be further upside.

Despite the tepid Bank Nifty at the moment, Choksey is positive on banks from a 2-3 year perspective. He says there is public sector banks' demand consideration at the top-end. He feels large PSBs will be beneficiaries of the economic growth projection with higher size books.

12:30 pm Buzzing: Shares of Sun Pharma slipped over 3 percent intraday on Monday after its December quarter profit declined.

The drug major reported a 6.92 percent fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1425.07 crore for the third quarter ended December 31 2014. Net sales of the company fell to Rs 4279.54 crore for the quarter under consideration, as against Rs 4286.59 crore during the same period of previous fiscal.

However, Credit Suisse maintains outperform rating on the stock but lowered FY15 EPS by 4 percent due to Q3FY15 miss.

The Nifty is struggling below 8850. The 50-share index is up 34.30 points at 8839.80. The Sensex is up 132.42 points at 29227.35. About 1191 shares have advanced, 1317 shares declined, and 195 shares are unchanged.

January wholesale price index inflation drops to negative 0.39 percent from 0.11 percent in December. Food articles index was down 0.6 percent (M-o-M) while Fuel & Power group index was down 2.5 percent (M-o-M).

HUL, Bharti, Tata Motors, ITC and Dr Reddy's Labs are top gainers while Sun Pharma, Hero, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank are losers.

Silver prices gained 0.20 percent to Rs 38,268 per kg in futures trading today as speculators enlarged positions amid positive cues from overseas markets. Analysts said a better trend in precious metals in global markets influenced silver prices at futures trade here. Meanwhile, silver traded 0.06 percent higher at USD 17.33 an ounce in Singapore.

11:55 am Interview: JP Chalasani, MD & Group CEO of Punj Lloyd said the numbers were quite encouraging since after three quarters of negative EBITDA, the company this time turned positive backed by significant improvement in operations. There was good traction seen from the existing projects and going forward too the new projects seem to be in line, said Chalasani.

The company has a target of ending the March quarter with positive EBITDA margins, he added. Going forward, the company has a key target of reducing debt via sale of non-core assets said Chalasani. The debt as on December 31, stood at Rs 6400 crore which has now come down to sub Rs 6000 crore and would see some more reduction by end of March and a significant reduction by May, he added.

11:45 am IPL 8 auction: Flamboyant all-rounder Yuvraj Singh today emerged as the costliest cricketer in the IPL 8 players' auction, bought for a record Rs 16 crore (USD 2.57 million approx) by Delhi Daredevils here. Yuvraj, who carried a base price of Rs 2 crore, was sold for the highest ever price in IPL history after a fierce tug of war for his services between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who bought him last year for Rs 14 crore, at a glitzy auction at a city hotel here. However, it was quite a surprise to see Yuvraj going past his last year's price as he has been out of the Indian team for some time.

Initially, there was a four-way bidding among Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers, Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils to buy India's 2011 World Cup hero in the auction conducted by Richard Madley. But once the bidding reached Rs 7 crore, RR and KXIP quit, leaving DD and RCB in the fray. Delhi Daredevils, who have the largest purse of Rs 39.75 crore among all the eight franchises taking part in the auction, also bought Sri Lankan captain and all-rounder Angelo Mathews for Rs 7.5 crore, the third highest price in the first two rounds of auction.

11:30 am: Shares of Hindalco jumped 3 percent intraday as it bagged Kathautia coal mine in Jharkhand. Coal Secretary Anil Swarup confirmed the development saying that "Kathautia mine goes to Hindalco at Rs 2,860 (per tonne)." "Kathautia closed at Rs 2,860 which means Rs 228 crore per annum and Rs 6,800 crore for 30 years.

After the Supreme Court cancelled allocation of 204 mines in September, the government decided to auction the blocks. It is putting up 19 blocks on sale in the first tranche. After clearing the technical bidding stage, entities from Reliance, Adani, Essar, GMR, Vedanta and Aditya Birla groups became eligible to bid or two blocks -- one in Odisha and the other one in Madhya Pradesh.

The Nifty and Sensex extend gains as select FMG, auto nd banking stocks lend support. The Sensex is up 152.78 points at 29247.71 and the Nifty is up 45.05 points at 8850.55.
About 1265 shares have advanced, 1022 shares declined, and 172 shares are unchanged.

HUL, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Sesa Sterlite and Dr Reddy's Labs are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Sun Pharma, BHEL, Hero Motocorp, L&T and GAIL.

Asian markets trade higher, with Japanese shares rallying to an 8-year high, shrugging off weaker-than-expected GDP data. Oil prices too extend gains. Brent hit an 8-week high, trades above 60 dollars per barrel.

China drew USD 13.9 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in January, up 29.4 percent from a year earlier, the highest in nearly four years, the Commerce Ministry said on Monday.

But analysts cautioned about reading too much into economic indicators for January alone, given the strong seasonal distortions caused by the timing of the Lunar New Year holidays, which began on Jan. 31 last year but start on February 19 this year. January FDI rose 4.5 percent from December.

10:55 am Market outlook:  Jyotivardhan Jaipuria of BofAML said, ''We think the Budget is unlikely to change our view that we are in a consolidation phase in the market with a flat to slightly negative return over next few months.''

''We however, remain positive overall and would be buyers of any dip with our year-end Sensex target of 33,000 giving a 13 percent return, ''he said.

10:45 am Interview: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ( ONGC ) reported a 50 percent decline in net profit for the December quarter, weighed down by decrease in income, exploration costs write-off and other income. The company paid Rs 9,458 crore in fuel subsidy during the quarter when its average crude oil price realisation fell to USD 76 per barrel from USD 108.19 in October-December 2013.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Alok Banerjee, director-finance, ONGC says the company is aiming to have better realisations in the next quarter. Furthermore, Banerjee says the government has not yet give any clear idea on the subsidy sharing formula and the company is awaiting the same.

10:30 am Market check: The Sensex is up 214.10 points or 0.7 percent at 29309.03, and the Nifty is up 58.75 points or 0.7 percent at 8864.25. About 1290 shares have advanced, 877 shares declined, and 174 shares are unchanged.

HUL is up 3 percent, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, M&M and Tata Steel are up around 2 percent each.

The market continues to remain firm. The Sensex is up 165.44 points at 29260.37 and the Nifty is up 42.95 points at 8848.45. About 1144 shares have advanced, 739 shares declined, and 158 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Sesa Sterlite, HUL and Coal India are top gainers in the Senssex. Among the losers are Sun Pharma, BHEL, L&T, NTPC and Infosys.

Oil prices were mixed with traders optimistic over falling US production, although they remain on edge as analysts warn of continued volatility. WTI jumped USD 1.57 and Brent crude gained USD 2.24 on Friday after data showed another drop in the number of oil rigs in operation in the United States.

Japan's Nikkei share average rose to a near eight-year high, helped by Wall Street's gains, while investors digested weaker-than-expected domestic growth data.

The Nikkei rose 0.8 percent to 18,031.84 points at midday, after reaching as high as 18,074.26 earlier, the highest level since July 2007. Japan's economy rebounded from recession in the final quarter of last year but growth was weaker than expected as household and corporate spending disappointed, underlining the challenge premier Shinzo Abe faces in shaking off decades of stagnation.

9:55 am Market outlook: Investors should avoid positioning their portfolio around events like the Budget, because ''there is enough money to be made'' from stocks and sectors by taking a longer term view, says Saurabh Mukherjea, CEO, Institutional Equities, Ambit Capital.

Mukherjea says there will be some degree of optimism in the market ahead of the Union Budget. He recommends investors to increase weightage to defensive sectors like FMCG, pharma and IT.

Mukherjea says he has trimmed exposure to some of the large cap cyclicals because prices have run up quite a bit. He continues to maintain a bullish view on small private banks, and his top bets include DCB and City Union Bank.

9:45 am Buzzing: Shares of Suzlon Energy surged over 18 percent intraday on Monday despite increasing loss in December quarter. What is driving the stock is a mega deal with Sun Pharmaceutical founder Dilip Shanghvi.

Shanghvi has agreed to buy a 23 percent stake in Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy for about USD 290 million.

The India's second-richest man will pay Rs 1800 crore through Dilip Shanghvi Family and Associates (DSA) for 1 billion new shares in Suzlon, issued by way of a preferential allotment. Sanghvi's investment firm and Suzlon will also form a wind farm joint venture for the development of 450 megawatt (MW) of wind farms, a company statement said.

9:26 am Market check: The market surges as buying in bank stocks continue. The Sensex is up 162.38 points or 0.6 percent at 29257.31 and the Nifty is up 46.60 points or 0.5 percent at 8852.10. About 917 shares have advanced, 517 shares declined, and 137 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite is up 2 percent while SBI, Hindalco, Cipla and HDFC Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Sun Pharma falls 3 percent. Among the other losers are Tata Power, Infosys, hero and BHEL.

The market has kick-started the truncated week with some gains supported by strong global cues. The Sensex is up 89.27 points at 29184.20 and the Nifty is up 25.90 points at 8831.40. About 489 shares have advanced, 194 shares declined, and 127 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco is up 3 percent while Sesa Sterlite, HDFC Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Sun Pharma, Hero Motocorp, ONGC, Bharti Airtel and HUL.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 62.15 per dollar versus 62.20 Friday.

The pound scaled a six-week peak following recent hawkish-sounding comments from the Bank of England, while the other major currencies were subdued.

Agam Gupta of Standard Chartered said, "Any dips to 61.90-61.95/dollar will attract buying interest from the local government banks. Exporter selling will emerge on upticks to 62.20-62.25/dollar. The markets will keep an eye on developments in the Eurozone where discussions on Greece are going to continue today.''

Asian markets turned higher early with Japanese shares charging up to an 8-year high, shrugging off weaker-than-expected growth figures released before the market opened.

Globally, it was a strong close for the US markets on Friday. Dow crossed the 18,000 mark and the S&P set a new record.

In commodities, Brent hit an eight-week high above USD 62 a barrell after another drop in the US rig count. From the precious metals space, gold prices continued to hover around USD 1230 an ounce.