Sensex, Nifty end in red; HUL, Tata Motors, L&T major gainers

3:30 pm Market closing: After a lot of struggle, the market has ended lower. The Sensex was down 113.57 points or 0.4 percent at 28220.98, and the Nifty slipped 25.20 points or 0.3 percent at 8743.95. About 1721 shares advanced, 1158 shares declined, and 131 shares were unchanged.

HUL, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, L&T and NTPC were gainers in the Sensex while ONGC, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, M&M and Hero MotoCorp were losers.

2:55 pm RBI rate cut: A day after the monetary policy committee (MPC) debuted with a surprise 0.25 percent cut in rates, analysts today said the Reserve Bank will continue with the accommodative stance but the next action can come only in the February review.

In a note, domestic rating agency Icra said it expects the rate easing cycle to continue.

"With the indication that real interest rates (the differential between the key lending rate and inflation) may need to be lower than 1.50 percent given prevailing global scenario of negative rates, further easing by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) can't be ruled out," its senior vice president Karthik Srinivasan said, adding that he is uncertain over the timing.

2:45 pm Metals buzzing

2:30 pm Deal: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure today signed an agreement to sell its power transmission assets to Adani Group for over Rs 2,000 crore.

Reliance Infra owns two electricity transmission lines spanning Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka and has a 74 percent stake in another in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

"Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra) today announced the signing of a binding term sheet with Adani Transmission Ltd (ATL) for 100 percent stake sale of its transmission assets," the company said in a statement here.

While the two companies did not give valuation of the deal, banking sources said the sale consideration was in excess of Rs 2,000 crore.

The market remains sluggish as the Sensex is down 87.16 points or 0.3 percent at 28247.39 and the Nifty is down 23.15 points or 0.3 percent at 8746. About 1655 shares have advanced, 1077 shares declined, and 122 shares are unchanged.

Asian Paints, SBI, Tata Motors, HUL and Maruti Suzuki are top gainers while ONGC, Axis Bank, M&M, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp are major losers in the Sensex. SBI, Force Motors, Vakrangee and Hindustan Zinc are most active stocks in the BSE.

Tirthankar Patnaik, India Strategist at Mizuho Bank says there is a definite scope for further easing even though the Reserve Bank's monetary policy did not specifically mention it in its statement on Tuesday, said

RBI lowering the real rate to 125 basis points leaves significant scope for further easing, he said. "Going forward in the monetary policy report, we notice that they are looking at a 4.5 percent figure for March 2018 and now on 4.5 percent you put a 125 bps real rate gives you 5.25 percent on the policy which essentially means that even from current levels you still have another 50 bps to go over the next year in terms of incremental easing," Patnaik added.

1:55 pm FPI data: More than 1,000 new foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have registered with capital markets regulator Sebi in April-July of 2016-17, a sign of their willingness to be part of India's growth story. This is over and above the nearly 2,900 additional FPIs who got approval from Sebi in 2015-16. The number of FPIs with Sebi approval increased to 5,322 at the end of July from 4,311 in March-end, translating into an addition of 1,011 such investors, latest data from Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed.

1:30 pm Interview: Even as global bond markets are in the midst of a raging rally and are considered by many as being in a bubble, an Indian bond market veteran thinks the local market stands on solid fundamental grounds. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Amandeep Chopra, Group President & Head of Fixed Income, UTI MF, said the Indian bond market is well supported by macros as well stance of the Reserve Bank, such as its activities like open market operations (OMOs). Chopra told CNBC-TV18 that there appeared to be a change in the policy stance by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the new dispensation, and so, there is every chance of one more rate cut by the end of this fiscal. This will be supported by decline in headline CPI in December, he said.

Even as global bond markets are in the midst of a raging rally and are considered by many as being in a bubble, an Indian bond market veteran thinks the local market stands on solid fundamental grounds. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Amandeep Chopra, Group President & Head of Fixed Income, UTI MF, said the Indian bond market is well supported by macros as well stance of the Reserve Bank, such as its activities like open market operations (OMOs). Chopra told CNBC-TV18 that there appeared to be a change in the policy stance by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the new dispensation, and so, there is every chance of one more rate cut by the end of this fiscal. This will be supported by decline in headline CPI in December, he said.

Even as global bond markets are in the midst of a raging rally and are considered by many as being in a bubble, an Indian bond market veteran thinks the local market stands on solid fundamental grounds. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Amandeep Chopra, Group President & Head of Fixed Income, UTI MF, said the Indian bond market is well supported by macros as well stance of the Reserve Bank, such as its activities like open market operations (OMOs). Chopra told CNBC-TV18 that there appeared to be a change in the policy stance by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the new dispensation, and so, there is every chance of one more rate cut by the end of this fiscal. This will be supported by decline in headline CPI in December, he said.

The market is still rangebound with the Nifty hovering around 8750. The 50-share index is down 15.90 points or 0.2 percent while the Sensex is down 56.93 points or 0.2 percent at 28277.62. Asian Paints, Tata Motors, SBI, HUL and Maruti are top gainers while ONGC, Axis Bank, M&M, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp are losers in the Sensex.

European stocks opened lower as markets digest hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials. European stocks started the trading day in lackluster fashion, similarly to Asia, where stocks traded mixed as investors reacted to the latest remarks from Fed officials indicating a forthcoming hike in interest rates.

On Tuesday, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said there was a strong case for raising interest rates, while on Wednesday, in a speech in New Zealand, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said he would be "fine" with hiking rates by year-end if the data remained supportive, Reuters reported.

12:55 pm Monsoon: The country has recorded the best monsoon in 3 years, says N Chattopadhyay, Deputy Director General Of Meteorology (Agrimet), India Meteorological Department. But a spillover of monsoon into October has led to crop damage in many areas, he says.

The country is going to see a record crop output despite the damage in crops, he says. He has advised farmers not to harvest till the rains subside.

12:30 pm Steel stocks buzzing:
The market is slipping away with the Nifty hovering 8750. The 50-share is down 25.90 points or 0.3 percent at 8743.25 and the Sensex is down 84.70 points or 0.3 percent at 28249.85.About 1549 shares have advanced, 1000 shares declined, and 118 shares are unchanged.

Asian Paints, HUL, SBI, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki are top gainers while ONGC, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's, Bajaj Auto and M&M are losers in the Sensex.

Sakthi Siva of Credit Suisse said, "The MSCI Asia ex-Japan Tech is up 40 percent from the lows in late January. For investors like us who are overweight tech, the key question is whether to take profit, particularly as cyclicals have outperformed defensives by 12.8 percent from the lows, and the cyclicals to defensives P/B gap has narrowed sharply to -0.42x, close to the -0.36x historical average."

"While we are sticking with our overweight in tech, we are suggesting a switch to banks for investors who want to take profit. One of the top picks from the CS regional portfolio is HCL Tech," he added.

11:45 am Interview: The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent due to availability of a headroom to cut rates. Even though an RBI rate cut in October was surprising, there is scope for meaningful cuts in the next 12 months, said Credit Suisse's Neelkanth Mishra. Mishra added that he expects the repo rate to fall to a decade low in the coming quarters. He said that beginning December the market may see a robust and widespread pick-up which may boost indices. Mishra said that he expects food inflation to fall as new crops come in November-December and March-April period. He attributed the decline in food inflation to structural change in momentum and said fiscal discipline exercised by the government is a driver of low inflation.

11:30 am Buzzing
The market continues to be range bound. The Sensex is down 30.83 points or 0.1 percent at 28303.72, and the Nifty down 12.80 points or 0.1 percent at 8756.35. About 1475 shares have advanced, 910 shares declined, and 123 shares are unchanged.

Asian Paints, HUL, SBI, Tata Motors and Maruti are top gainers while ONGC, Axis Bank, M&M, Wipro and Dr Reddy's are losers in the Sensex.

After yesterday's fall, gold prices rose 0.14 percent to Rs 30,208 per 10 gram in futures trade as participants created fresh positions, tracking a firm trend overseas.

Analysts said fresh positions built up by traders in line with a firm global trend where gold strengthened, influenced the sentiment. Globally, gold came back in positive zone by rising 0.45 percent to USD 1,274.10 an ounce in Singapore.

The precious metal plunged the most in almost three years, falling below USD 1,300 an ounce for the first time
since June amid mounting concern that an improving US economy will push the Federal Reserve to boost interest rates soon.

10:55 am Security check: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to chair a high-level security meet around 10 am on Wednesday amid increasing calls from opposition leaders to release visual proof of surgical strikes the Indian Army carried out to dismantle terror infrastructure across the Line of Control.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who returned from a Ladakh tour on Wednesday, was set to brief the Prime Minister at the Cabinet Committee on Security meet, which was expected to be attended by senior ministers as well.

The government has so far rejected calls to release videos of the September 29 strike in Pakistan-held territory, carried out a fortnight after 19 Indian soldiers were killed in a militant attack in the Uri army camp in Kashmir.

10:45 am Interview: In a departure from the trend, August core data shows that steel output surged substantially by 17 percent. Jindal Steel and Power's management attributed the rise in steel output to coming into action of secondary units which were stalled earlier. Steel demand, however, is yet to pick up, according to the company.

In the first 6 months of the year, steel demand grow by just 0.5 percent, and now with the end of monsoon business activity with pick pace in the second half which is likely to push up steel demand by 4-5 percent for the year, said Ravi Uppal, Chief Executive and Managing Director of JSPL.

10:30 am Early winter session: A decision on the schedule of the Winter session of Parliament is expected on October 13 amid indications that a month-long session could start in the second week of next month. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, is sheduled to meet next Thursday to decide the schedule, sources said. Generally, the Winter session concludes by December 23 before Christmas. However, it is not clear when the session would conclude this time in view of plans to advance the Budget session by a month.

The market has become flat after initial rush in opening. The Sensex is up 8.55 points at 28343.10 and the Nifty is down 4.05 points at 8765.10. About 1246 shares have advanced, 745 shares declined, and 78 shares are unchanged.

SBI, Tata Motors, NTPC, Maruti and Tata Steel are top gainers while Bajaj Auto, ONGC, Wipro, ONGC, M&M and HDFC are losers in the Sensex.

Sakthi Siva of Credit Suisse said, "The MSCI Asia ex-Japan Tech is up 40 percent from the lows in late January. For investors like us who are overweight tech, the key question is whether to take profit, particularly as cyclicals have outperformed defensives by 12.8 percent from the lows, and the cyclicals to defensives P/B gap has narrowed sharply to -0.42x, close to the -0.36x historical average."

"While we are sticking with our overweight in tech, we are suggesting a switch to banks for investors who want to take profit. One of the top picks from the CS regional portfolio is HCL Tech," he added.

9:55 pm Fund raising: Shriram City Union Finance plans to raise Rs 100 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement.

"The company intends to raise funds through issue and allotment on private placement basis of 1,000 secured non-convertible debentures of face value of Rs 10 lakh each aggregating to Rs 100 crore," it said in a regulatory filing.

Shriram City said the allotment of bonds is to be considered by the Banking and Securities Management Committee of the Board of Directors at its meeting to be held on October 7.

Shriram City Union Finance (Shriram City) is a non banking finance company and part of Shriram Group.

9:45 am Steel bonanza: The government has extended the minimum import price (MIP) on 66 steel products by another two months to protect the industry against cheap imports. The 66 products include semi-finished products of iron or non-alloyed steel, flat rolled products of different widths, bars and rods. In August this year, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had extended MIP on the same products of iron and steel till October 4. MIP had first come into place in February this year on 173 steel products in range of USD 341-752.

9:30 am FII view: Timothy Moe, Goldman Sachs said, "We remain overweight India as cyclical upturn and profit recovery appears underway. We expect Indian corporate earnings to grow 10 percent this year and 14 percent next year, highest within the region."

"Stocks with a high proportion of US revenues may underperform. The buy-rated stocks that are on our conviction list include HDFC Bank and Yes Bank in India," he added.

The market has opened firm with the Nifty scaling 8800. There is a positive sentiment in the market after Reserve Bank of India decided to cut rates in its bi-monthly monetary policy review yesterday.

Also, there is another good news as International Monetary Fund has raised India's growth forecast to 7.6 percent from 7.4 percent for 2016 and 2017. Improvements in trade, policy actions and reforms have led to the rise in forecast. IMF retains global growth forecast for 2016 at 3.1 percent and for 2017 at 3.4 percent. The international body has warned of economic stagnation on back of subdued global growth following weakness in the US as well as Brexit vote in Europe.

The 50-share index is up 37.20 points or 0.4 percent at 8806.35 while Sensex is at 285449, up 116 points or 0.4 percent.

SBI, Tata Steel, GAIL, ICICIBank and Tata Motors are top gainers while Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, M&M, Infosys and Hero MotoCorp are losers in the Sensex.

Endurance technologies IPO will open today in a price band of Rs 467-472 per share. The company has raised Rs 348 crore by allocating shares to anchor investors.

The Indian rupee opened lower by 17 paise at 66.63 per dollar on Wednesday against previous close 66.46.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "Concerns from the US with respect to rate hike expectations helped the dollar trade higher compared to peers. The rupee is expected to trade lower within a range of 66.50-67/dollar."

The greenback strengthened on upbeat economic data and bets on a year-end US interest rate increase. While the British pound took a beating, falling to its lowest level against the buck since 1985 on Brexit concerns.

Among global markets, Asian shares and gold retreated and bond yields were near two-week highs after markets were rattled by a report flagging the possible withdrawal of global stimulus measures.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.5 percent in early trading. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.1 percent, aided by a weaker yen.

US stocks dropped as investors fretted about Britain's exit from the European Union and the prospect of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike in coming months. It was the second straight session of losses on Wall Street, where investors were already on edge due to the uncertainty of a tight race ahead of the November 8 presidential election.