Sensex, Nifty manage to end session at a record closing high, Tata Group cos gain

3:30 pm Market at Close: Benchmark indices ended the session on a positive note, with indices witnessing a surge in the last hour of trade. The Street had witnessed tight rangebound movement through the day and ended on record high note.

The Sensex closed up 76.17 points at 30658.77, while the Nifty ended up 13.50 points at 9525.75. The market breadth, however, was negative as 1,257 shares advanced against a decline of 1,538 shares, while 179 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, Tata Motors, and Bharti Infratel gained the most, while Adani Ports, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and ACC fell the most.

3:05 pm Good returns: Four blue-chip companies consistently delivered over 30 percent return on capital employed (ROCE) and return on equity (ROE) on an annual basis in every single one of the last three years.

The four stocks comprised Ajanta Pharma, Bajaj Corp, Hero Motocorp and TCS unlike their peers in the BSE universe reported strong metrices on the ROCE and ROE front. While their robust business models and steadily progressive operating profitability played a role, their sound and efficient capital structure management/deployment policies also contributed to healthy returns.

2:30 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices surged in the afternoon trade, with the Nifty firmly above 9500-mark.

The Sensex was up 75.53 points at 30658.13, while the Nifty was up 12.35 points at 9524.60. The market breadth was negative as 1,227 shares advanced against a decline of 1,468 shares, while 177 shares are unchanged.

Tata Group stocks were the top gainers, while Adani Ports, GAIL, Tech Mahindra and Yes Bank lost the most.

1:15 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks traded positive in the afternoon trade, but were still subdued compared to Tuesday's performance.

The Sensex was up 49.65 points at 30632.25, while the Nifty was up 0.75 points at 9513.00. The market breadth was negative as 1,176 shares advanced against a fall of 1,404 shares, while 153 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, ICICI Bank and Indiabulls Housing gained the most, while Adani Ports, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Bosch were the top losers.

12:45 pm Management Speak: Throwing more light on the quarter performance and the outlook going forward, HM Bangur, MD, Shree Cement said lower EBITDA margins in the East India led to a drag on EBITDA per tonne.

The cement manufacturer posted 54.1 percent fall in its Q4 net profit to Rs 304.5 crore against Rs 663 crore during the same period last year.

12:20 pm PSP Projects IPO: The initial public offering (IPO) of PSP Projects was subscribed 0.02 times as of 11:45 am on the first day of its issue, data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has revealed.

From a total issue size of 55,44,000 shares, the issue received bids for 1,30,830 shares.

12:09 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices traded in a narrow range, following subdued global cues. The Sensex was firmly above 30500-mark.

The Sensex was up 1.35 points at 30583.95, while the Nifty was down 9.20 points at 9503.05. The market breadth was negative as 1,163 shares advanced against a decline of 1,282 shares declined, while 148 shares were unchanged.

Metals continued their outperformance, while FMCG stocks were a drag.

Adani Ports, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Bosch were the top losers, while Tata Steel, ICICI Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance gained the most.

11:45 pm Management Speak: Symphony reported a marginal increase in standalone net profit to Rs 46.69 crore for the March quarter.

The Ahmedabad-based manufacturer of products like domestic air coolers, industrial air coolers, and water heaters reported a total revenue of Rs 199.12 crore for the quarter, as against Rs 142.84 crore in the year-ago period, up 39.40 percent.

However, the margins were a bit tepid than what the street is used to. For the full year EBITDA margins stood at 27 percent versus 42.5 percent for the earlier fiscal.

11:27 am Gold Check: Gold prices rose 0.50 percent to Rs 28,235 per 10 grams in futures trade today as participants created fresh positions, tracking a firm trend overseas.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold for delivery in June rose by Rs 141 or 0.50 percent to Rs 28,235 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 546 lots.

11:10 am Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to trade flat with a positive bias, while the Nifty hovered around 9500-mark.

The Sensex was up 18.73 points at 30601.33, while the Nifty was down 3.20 points at 9509.05. The market breadth was very narrow as 1,185 shares advanced against a decline of 1,111 shares, while 118 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, ICICI Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance continued to gain, while Wipro, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra and Yes Bank lost the most.

Metals outperformed on the Nifty, with the sector's index gaining over 2 percent.

10:50 am BOJ Governor's term: Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will most likely serve another five years after his first terms ends next April, according to a Reuters poll of analysts that also found strong support for other senior central bankers to replace him.

Whoever is in the post next year probably faces the difficult task of winding down his super-loose monetary policy, analysts agreed.

"It will be difficult for the BOJ to adopt what it has to do for an exit strategy whoever takes the post," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute, who saw no reason to replace Kuroda.

10:37 am Buzzing Stock: Umang Dairies' share price rose more than 5 percent intraday Wednesday as it resumed operations at its Gajraula plant.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has passed an order permitting the company to start operations at its Gajraula plant.

10:25 am New Payments Bank: After months of delay, Paytm is now all set to commence its payments bank operations from May 23, having received the final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

"...Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) has received the final licence from the RBI and would commence its operations on May 23, 2017," it said in a public notice.

10:05 am Market Check: Benchmark indices were trading flat with a positive bias after opening lower in the first tick, with the Nifty reclaiming 9500.

The Sensex was up 38.98 points at 30621.58, while the Nifty was higher by 0.10 points at 9512.35. The market breadth was still narrow as 1,041 shares advanced against a decline of 865 shares, while 108 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, ICICI Bank and Indiabulls Housing were the top gainers on both indices, while Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Tech Mahindra and ITC lost the most.

Capital First dipped 5 percent intraday on the BSE due to a block deal on the index. It informed the exchanges that Warburg Pincus sold 2 crore Shares, 20% Equity, At Rs 740 per share.

9:50 am Fundraising from anchor investors: Construction firm PSP Projects raised a little over Rs 95 crore from anchor investors ahead of its initial public offering opening tomorrow

The company has alloted 45,36,000 equity shares at Rs 210 apiece aggregating to Rs 95.25 crore to nine anchor investors, PSP Projects had said in a statement.

Meanwhile, India Grid Trust, an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), today raised over Rs 1,012 crore from anchor investors.

The InvIT, sponsored by Sterlite Power Grid Ventures Ltd, has allotted 10.12 crore units on an average price of Rs 100 to 19 anchor investors for a sum of Rs 1,012.44 crore, it said in a statement.

9:47 am Earnings reaction: Shares of Shree Cement slipped 6.5 percent intraday Wednesday on the back of dismal Q4 performance.

The company's Q4FY17 (Jan-March) net profit declined 54.1 percent at Rs 304.5 crore against Rs 663 crore, in the same quarter last fiscal.

Other income of the company was down 68.2 percent at Rs 151 crore, while revenue has increased 19.3 percent at Rs 2,683.4 crore.

9:32 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of Tata Steel soared nearly 5 percent intraday as investors cheered the company's strong Q4 results.

The Tata Group firm narrowed its consolidated net loss to Rs 1,168 crore against a loss of Rs 3,042 crore posted during the same period last year. An exceptional loss of Rs 4,068.6 crore was posted by the firm.

The strong performance was visible in its standalone numbers, which explains the narrowing losses on a consolidated basis too. The company's standalone net profit was more than double than its year ago period at Rs 1,415 crore against Rs 520 crore year on year.

9:15 am Market Opens: Profit booking after a stellar run on Tuesday pushed the indices lower in the opening session, with the Nifty snapping 9500-mark.

The 30-share Sensex was down 46.43 points at 30536.17, while the broader index Nifty was down 20.15 points at 9492.10. The market breadth was narrow as 436 shares advanced against a decline of 357 shares, while 62 shares were unchanged.

Midcaps, banks, auto and pharma indices on the Nifty were lower, while metals surged.

Tata Steel gained over 3 percent on the back of strong Q4 earnings, while TCS and ICICI Bank were the other top gainers. Meanwhile, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Zee Entertainment and Bosch lost the most.

The Indian rupee opened higher by 9 paise at 63.99 per dollar on Wednesday, at highest level since April 27, 2017. It has closed at 64.08 on Tuesday.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "We expect the rupee to consolidate in narrow range of 64-64.20/dollar for the day. Negative US economic data may help the rupee to appreciate. Further upside can be expected below 64/dollar."

The dollar index slipped to the weakest in over six months after two US officials said president Donald Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russia's foreign minister about a planned Islamic state operation. Concerns that political turmoil would diminish the prospect for pro-growth fiscal policies pushed the euro more than 1 percent higher versus the greenback.

On the global markets' front, The S&P 500 and the Dow ended Tuesday's session flat after mixed economic data and retail earnings, while the Nasdaq had another record close with help from technology stocks.

US manufacturing production showed its biggest increase in more than three years in April, bolstering a view that economic growth picked up early in the second quarter despite a surprise decline in homebuilding.

Equities in Asia lost ground on Wednesday, with Dow futures tumbling and the safe-haven yen climbing amid political and legal turmoil surrounding US President Donald Trump.

"Investors are deeply concerned that all the political noise will morph into economic risk as the political back-fence talk, speculation and dirty laundry could detract from Trump's key agenda: Tax reform," Stephen Innes, senior trader at OANDA, said in a note on Wednesday.