Sensex up 80 points, Nifty ends flat; Hero, TCS gains 3%

03:50 pm: The government is planning to come out with a Comprehensive Fertilizer Policy, Parliament was informed today.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Chemicals and Fetilizers Minister Ananth Kumar said that the ministry is also working on the chemical policy and has already consulted various stakeholders on it.

"Consultations with the industry, ministries and other stake holders, on the draft National Chemicals Policy, have been held. The government will take a view on the contents of the policy and timing of its release," Kumar said.

The Minister also said, "The government is also considering bringing out a comprehensive National Fertilizer Policy."

03:35 pm Market closing: The market has ended on higher note. The Sensex was up 80.40 points at 25641.56, and the Nifty was up 23.45 points at 7663.90. About 1439 shares have advanced, 1506 shares declined, and 103 shares are unchanged.

 Hero and TCS are up 3 percent each while ICICI Bank and Wipro are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were Tata Power, BHEL, Hindalco, GAIL and Maruti.

03:20 pm Gold price: Gold prices today rose further by Rs 150 to Rs 28,500 per ten gram in the national capital, tracking robust international markets as investors took shelter in precious metal on fears that Ukraine crisis would deepen.

Silver also gained by Rs 500 to Rs 45,500 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers. Bullion merchants said gold prices soared globally as investors resorted to the precious metal, anticipating further turmoil in Ukraine after the downing of a Malaysian Airlines plane.

They further said that increased buying by jewellers and retailers to meet rising demand also boosted sentiment. Gold in New York, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, rose by 1.42 per cent to USD 1,318.20 an ounce and silver by 1.76 per cent to USD 21.16 an ounce in yesterday's trade.

03:10 pm: Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) pilloried the public-private partnership (PPP) model for the Mumbai airport, saying risks had not been properly transferred to the private party as the project cost doubled and the funding gap was filled up by passengers through development fee.

It also took the Civil Aviation Ministry to task for granting extensions to the project, which was delayed by four years, and not penalising the private-led airport operator, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), for it.

"Examination in the audit indicated that risks had not been appropriately transferred to the concessionaire in the development of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport,
Mumbai," a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, tabled in Parliament, said.

03:00pm Cyient (earlier known as Infotech Enterprises) up 7%: Edelweiss maintains buy with a target price of Rs 397.

The brokerage says Cyient reported a robust Q1FY15 with revenue of USD 104 million, up 7.8% Q-o-Q, ahead of 7.3 percent estimate (4.2 percent on organic basis). However, EBITDA margin, at 14.1 percent (13.3 percent estimate), plummeted 400 basis points Q-o-Q due to wage hikes and currency appreciation.

"Resolution of client-related issues, a stronger deal pipeline and order book, further bolstered by improvement in US and European geographies, infuse us to maintain our FY15 and FY16 USD revenue growth estimates (including Softential) of 20 percent and 14 percent, respectively," it adds.

02:55pm Earnings: Zee Entertainment Enterprises has reported a 6 percent fall in its first quarter (April-June) consolidated net profit at Rs 211 crore compared to Rs 224.6 crore in the year-ago period.

Consolidated total income grew 11.6 percent on yearly basis to Rs 1,086 crore in the quarter ended June 2014. Operating performance was slightly better than street forecast with the operating profit rising 6 percent to Rs 309.2 crore. Margin fell 150 basis points to 28.5 percent versus 30 percent in same quarter last year but it was higher than expectations of 26.5 percent.

02:50pm According to Finance Minister, surplus stake in PSU banks can be sold to retail investors. He says there is a need of more incentives for power sector, adding FDI can add to resources in many sectors.

02:40pm UltraTech Cement nos on Saturday: ICICIdirect.com expects company to report a 8 percent degrowth quarter-on-quarter (growth of 14.6 percent year-on-year) in net profit at Rs 771.1 crore.

Sales are expected to decrease by 2 percent Q-o-Q (up 15.3 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 5715.4 crore, according to ICICIdirect.com.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are likely to rise by 6.9 percent Q-o-Q (up 16.4 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 1221.7 crore.

02:30pm Interview: In an interview to CNBC-TV18 KK Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, Rolta India said the company is looking at refinancing debt from the money raised via bond offering.

The IT solutions provider, Rolta India's subsidiary Rolta Americas LLC raised USD 300 million through bond offering. This offering was oversubscribed by more than 8 times with order book of over USD 2.4 billion with demand from a high quality investor base, banks etc.

02:20pm Finance Minister: While talking in a parliament for discussion on Budget, Finance Minister says India needs to build domestic capacity for defence sector, adding lower taxes will increase economic activity of the country.

He further says, "We should not tax companies retrospectively creating fresh liability." According to him, about Rs 4 lakh crore are stuck in tax disputes.

Budget is tried to boost infrastructure, manufacturing sectors, he says, adding manufacturing is the sector where most jobs need to be created.

02:10pm IT outlook: After robust Q1 earnings from the IT players Tata Consultancy Services and Mindtree, market is betting big on the sector going forward. According to Sandip Agarwal, VP - Wholesale Capital Mkts, Edelweiss Financial Services, IT will drive demand for the next three to five years.

''We have always been extremely bullish on the digital space and that is playing out very well. All the digital dominant players like TCS, Mindtree and Persistent Systems are all doing extremely well, ''he adds.

Agarwal recommends buying TCS and has upgraded the target price again. He suggests holding Wipro with a target price of Rs 581.

02:00pm Equity benchmarks continued to be volatile with positive bias in last hour of trade. The Sensex rose 98.31 points to 25659.47 and the Nifty advanced 27.25 points to 7667.70.

Private sector lender HDFC Bank rebounded with marginal gains while its rivals ICICI Bank and Axis Bank extended gains to 1.7 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Housing finance company HDFC gained 1 percent. Engineering and construction major L&T rose 1 percent too.

TCS and Wipro maintained upmove, rising 2.5-3 percent. Drug maker Cipla advanced 1 percent as its subsidiary acquired 75 percent stake in Mabpharm.

However, Tata Power, BHEL and Maruti Suzuki topped the selling list, down 2 percent each followed by SBI, Hindalco Industries, NTPC and Gail with 1-1.6 percent.

1:50 pm Results: Zee Entertainment Enterprises, the television media and entertainment company, has reported a 6 percent fall in its first quarter (April-June) consolidated net profit at Rs 211 crore compared to Rs 224.6 crore in the year-ago period.

Numbers were in line. According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts had expected the company to report net profit of Rs 210 crore on total income of Rs 1,100 crore for the quarter.

Consolidated total income grew 11.6 percent on yearly basis to Rs 1,086 crore in the quarter ended June 2014. Operating performance was slightly better than street forecast with the operating profit rising 6 percent to Rs 309.2 crore. Margin fell 150 basis points to 28.5 percent versus 30 percent in same quarter last year but it was higher than expectations of 26.5 percent.

1:30 pm Poll: ADAG group company Reliance Power will announce its first quarter (April-June) consolidated results today. As per CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts expect net profit of the company to jump by 13.9 percent to Rs 273 crore against Rs 240 crore in a year ago period. Net sales are likely to go up by 47.2 percent at Rs 1,653 crore versus Rs 1,123 crore, Y-o-Y.

The increase in production at the Rosa unit is likely to translate into higher incentives on assumption of Rosa plant availability factor (PAF) at 100 percent versus 91 percent in Q4FY14 while Rosa plant load factor is seen at 94 percent.

1:20 pm Buzzing: Shares of Kokuyo Camlin, the stationary products manufacturer, are locked at 5 percent upper circuit after reporting stellar numbers in the quarter ended June 2014 supported by other income.

The company saw good profit after reporting losses for almost two years post Japanese major Kokuyo took over management control.

Net profit of the company surged 350 percent on yearly basis to Rs 4 crore on total revenue of Rs 159 crore (up 13.5 percent Y-o-Y). Operational performance too was good with the operating profit growing 33 percent to Rs 8 crore and margin expanding 70 basis points to 5 percent in the quarter gone by.

Other income was up at Rs 2.07 crore in April-June quarter as against Rs 4.37 lakh in the year-ago period.

The Sensex is up 59.59 points at 25620.75 and the Nifty is up 15.20 points at 7655.65.
 
About 1250 shares have advanced, 1462 shares declined, and 96 shares are unchanged.

TCS, Wipro, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp and Cipla are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are BHEL, Tata Power, Hindalco, Maruti and SBI.

Japan's Nikkei share average dropped to a one-week low on Friday and posted its biggest one-day fall in three weeks as investors turned risk averse on news a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet was shot down near the Ukraine-Russia border.

The Nikkei ended 1.0 percent lower to 15,215.71, the lowest closing level since July 11. At one point, the index was down as much as 1.7 percent.

For the week, the benchmark rose 0.3 percent. The broader Topix dropped 0.8 percent to 1,263.29, and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 shed 0.7 percent to 11,505.50.

01:00pm Divestment in PSUs: Divestment Secretary Ravi Mathur is confident that the government will exceed the divestment target of Rs 58,000 crore for this fiscal.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Mathur said the target could even be exceeded, and the government would consider additional divestment if market conditions were favourable.

12:50pm L&T Q1 results on July 28: Larsen & Toubro says a meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on July 28, 2014, to consider and take on record the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q1).

Hence to avoid insider trading, the trading window for dealing in the securities of the company is closed for the company's directors/officers and designated employees from July 01, 2014 till 24 hours after the announcement of financials results, i.e. July 29, 2014.

12:40pm Earnings: Stationary products manufacturer Kokuyo Camlin's net profit surged 350 percent on yearly basis to Rs 4 crore on total revenue of Rs 159 crore (up 13.5 percent Y-o-Y). Operational performance too was good with the operating profit growing 33 percent to Rs 8 crore and margin expanding 70 basis points to 5 percent in the quarter gone by.

Other income was up at Rs 2.07 crore in April-June quarter as against Rs 4.37 lakh in the year-ago period.

12:30pm Reliance Power Q1 nos today: As per CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts expect net profit of the company to jump by 13.9 percent to Rs 273 crore against Rs 240 crore in a year ago period.

Net sales are likely to go up by 47.2 percent at Rs 1,653 crore versus Rs 1,123 crore, Y-o-Y.

The increase in production at the Rosa unit is likely to translate into higher incentives on assumption of Rosa plant availability factor (PAF) at 100 percent versus 91 percent in Q4FY14 while Rosa plant load factor is seen at 94 percent.

The company's EBITDA is seen up 30.4 percent at Rs 585 crore versus Rs 449 crore but margin may fall 460 basis points to 35.4 percent Y-o-Y.

12:20pm Interview: DB Corp's net profit during April-June quarter was up by 4 percent at Rs 79.1 crore versus Rs 76.1 crore, Y-o-Y. The company said April & May were bad months for business. But going forward, the company is banking on lower newsprint prices, that will aid margins in the range of 28-30 percent, says Pawan Agarwaal, Deputy MD, DB Corp.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Agarwaal says elections did not benefit ad revenues of the company significantly. The company's advertising revenue was up 8 percent in the quarter.

12:10pm Nikkei update: Japan's Nikkei share average dropped to a one-week low on Friday and posted its biggest one-day fall in three weeks as investors turned risk averse on news a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet was shot down near the Ukraine-Russia border.

The Nikkei ended 1.0 percent lower to 15,215.71, the lowest closing level since July 11. At one point, the index was down as much as 1.7 percent. For the week, the benchmark rose 0.3 percent.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks recouped losses in late morning trade with the Sensex rising 27.42 points to 25588.58 and the Nifty gaining 4.50 points to 7644.95 supported by technology and private banking & financial stocks.

The broader markets recovered too. About 1189 shares have advanced, 1283 shares declined, and 97 shares are unchanged.

The BSE IT Index shot up over 2 percent with the TCS and Wipro gaining 3.6 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Strong dollar revenue growth of 5.5 percent in Q1FY15 led the rally in TCS while strategic alliance with Canada-based ATCO lifted Wipro.

Top private sector lender ICICI Bank rebounded, up 0.6 percent while housing finance company HDFC gained 0.6 percent. Reliance Industries and L&T trimmed losses.

However, shares of State Bank of India, ONGC, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Hindalco Industries, BHEL, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Power, Bajaj Auto, Coal India and Gail declined 0.5-2 percent.

11:50 am Market outlook: Sanjay Dutt, director, Quantum Securities, does not see the Nifty going below 7400 near term. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said he would continue to avoid realty stocks. Dutt sees companies like GMR Infra and JP Associates restructuring their balance sheets.

"What we are seeing is a typical bull market action where we see a sector rotation. Last two-three months technology sector has underperformed or has corrected whereas banking, infrastructure and some of the beta names have come up substantially because they were grossly undervalued, they had corrected very aggressively over the last two-three years and they are basically doing the catch-up act," he said.

11:40 am Buzzing: Shares of non-banking finance companies (NBFC) rallied 4-9 percent intraday on Friday as the Reserve Bank of India released the draft guidelines for licensing of both payments banks and small banks.

The central bank has sought views/comments on the draft guidelines from all interested parties and general public.

The entities eligible to set up a payments bank include existing non-bank pre-paid Instrument Issuers (PPIs), non-banking finance vompanies (NBFCs), corporate BCs, mobile telephone companies, super-market chains, companies, real sector cooperatives, and public sector entities.

11:30 am Buy on Bajaj? CLSA holds a contrarian view with a target price of Rs 2420. It still expects Bajaj to register a healthy 15 percent EPS CAGR over FY14-17 after a muted 2 percent CAGR over the last two years.

The brokerage believes that the two-wheeler's growth trajectory will improve further over FY15-16 led by better outlook for exports. Bajaj's volume growth, though still weak, has improved from 9 percent in FY14 to 1 percent in 1QFY15. Bajaj's domestic motorcycle market share also seems to be bottoming, which together with improving industry growth, should improve growth trends here as well, it says.

However, it has cut FY15-17 EPS forecasts by 5-7 percent mainly factoring in higher staff costs, lower financial income post change in tax policy on fixed maturity, plans in the recent budget and higher depreciation.

11:20 am F&O experts: The market is characteried by punctuations but upward momentum will continues till the end of this series, says Tahir Badshah of Motilal Oswal. Badshah bases his judgement on the market on government actions.

''With government actions coming in, we can clearly head higher than 7600,'' he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

Hemant Thakrul of Aditya Birla Money says it does not make sense to go short at this point. He said market may remain rangebound in immediate short term, but advises investors to buy on dips for the long term. Speaking on the RBI draft rules, Badshah said some of the NBFCs which are eyeing to become banks will see the conversion happening soon.

The market is consolidating for another day. The Sensex is down 5.84 points at 25555.32, and the Nifty is down 5.85 points at 7634.60. About 1088 shares have advanced, 1211 shares declined, and 78 shares are unchanged.

TCS, Wipro, Tata Steel, Cipla and Hero MotoCorp are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Hindalco, BHEL, Coal India, Tata Power and Bajaj Auto.

Gold dipped on profit-taking after a sharp overnight jump, but the metal is being supported by a wave of risk aversion after a Malaysian airliner was downed in eastern Ukraine, killing nearly 300 people.

Gold, seen as an alternative investment during times of geopolitical uncertainty, rose about 1.5 percent in the previous session after news of the plane crash, which a Ukrainian official said was caused by a missile fired by pro-Russian militants.

The incident sharply raises the stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels that has been going on for months, and has escalated tensions between Russia and the West.

11:00am: FII View: Chris Wood, CLSA said Greed & fear would advise investors to ignore entirely the alleged disappointment over the first Modi Budget as its not the only platform for government action.

According to him, the RBI's move on infra lending is a reminder that the Modi government will be all about promoting investment. ''Greed & fear will increase India's overweight in the Asia Pacific ex-Japan relative-return portfolio by one percentage point this week with the money taken from Hong Kong,'' he added.

10:50am Oil Price Check: Oil prices rose in Asia today after a Malaysia Airlines plane came down in war-ravaged Ukraine and Israel launched a ground offensive into Gaza,
sparking fears about tensions in the crude-rich Middle East.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August was up 53 cents at USD 103.72 in late-morning trade and Brent crude for September advanced 65 cents to USD 108.54.

Speculation that flight MH17 with 298 people aboard was shot down by pro-Moscow separatist rebels in Ukraine has fuelled concerns of an escalation of the conflict as well as
intensified US sanctions on Russia, CMC Markets in Singapore said.

"Oil prices rose as fears over intensified sanctions on Russia risked a tit-for-tat situation which may affect supplies from the (world's) second largest crude oil producer," it said in a commentary. Ukraine is also a major conduit for Russian gas exports to Europe, reports PTI.

10:40am NBFC and Microfinance lenders in action: SKS Microfinance, Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance rallied 4-7 percent after RBI issued draft guidelines for payment and small bank licences.

According to the RBI, both payments banks and small banks are ''niche'' or ''differentiated'' banks; with the common objective of furthering financial inclusion.

10:30am Zee Entertainment Q1 earnings today: According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts expect net profit of the media company to decline by 7 percent to Rs 210 crore versus Rs 225 crore in a year ago period.

Its total income is likely to move higher by 13 percent at Rs 1100 crore against Rs 973 crore, Y-o-Y.

The company's advertising revenue is likely to increase by 14-15 percent, Y-o-Y, which is expected to be backed by gains in regional channels and stable share in Zee TV.

Subscription revenue will see a growth of 7-8 percent, Y-o-Y, which will be driven by DTH and analogues plus international subscription.

10:20am Interview: Madhu Terdal, group chief financial officer, GMR Infrastructure says the company's debt cycle has peaked and the cash generation cycle has begun

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Terdal says the company will reduce its corporate debt by another Rs 1500 crore by FY15-end.

GMR Infra has raised USD 250 million via its qualified institutional placement (QIP) and the company will not look at raising any more debt capital from the market, adds Terdal.

On a more optimistic note, Terdal says that the company's debt to EBITDA ratio too is likely to fall to 10 times by the year-end.

10:10am Market Expert: Sanjay Dutt, director, Quantum Securities, does not see the Nifty going below 7400 near term. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said he would continue to avoid realty stocks.

Dutt sees companies like GMR Infra and JP Associates restructuring their balance sheets.

10:00am Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate amid selling pressure with the Sensex falling 43.11 points to 25518.05 and the Nifty slipping 18.90 points to 7621.55. The broader markets declined too, down 0.4 percent.

The market breadth turned negative with the decliners beating advancers by a ratio of 1069 to 699 on the BSE.

India's largest lender State Bank of India lost 1.5 percent followed by rival ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank with 0.6-0.8 percent. Capital goods majors Larsen and Toubro, and BHEL declined 0.8 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

Among autos, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki slipped more than a percent. Two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto dropped another 1.5 percent on top of a 3 percent loss in previous session post disappointing on margin front the company. Deutsche Bank maintains sell rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1800.

Shares of ONGC and Reliance Industries went down 0.9 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. Power producers NTPC and Tata Power lost 1.5-2 percent.

However, IT stocks bucked the trend with the TCS rising nearly 4 percent post strong numbers in Q1FY15. Wipro gained 2.5 percent and Infosys rose just 0.25 percent. Housing finance company HDFC gained 0.7 percent and Cipla shot up over 1.5 percent.

9:55 am Exclusive interview: The Indian aviation sector does not show a rosy picture, says Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who believes state taxes for aviation turbine fuel (ATF) are fairly high. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 Raju says states can play an important role in the revival of aviation sector by cutting taxes on ATF. ''

The feel good factor is missing from pricing strategy of airlines,'' he says.

The minister wants Air India to survive but not at the cost of taxpayers' money. ''The losses and figures of Air India are mind-boggling,'' he says, but adds that the carrier has shown signs of improvement in the last one year. He also informs that there are many ideas floating around on how to deal with Air India.

9:45 am New banks? The Reserve Bank of India released draft guidelines for licensing of both payments banks and small banks. The central bank has sought views/comments on the draft guidelines from all interested parties and general public.

Final guidelines will be issued and the process of inviting applications for setting up of payments banks and small banks will be initiated after receiving feedback, comments and suggestions on the draft guidelines. According to the RBI, both payments banks and small banks are ''niche'' or ''differentiated'' banks; with the common objective of furthering financial inclusion.

9:35 am Global opinion: Chris Wood, CLSA says 'Greed & fear' would advise investors to ignore entirely the alleged disappointment over the first Modi Budget as its not the only platform for government action.

According to him, the RBI's move on infra lending is a reminder that the Modi government will be all about promoting investment. ''Greed & fear will increase India's overweight in the Asia Pacific ex-Japan relative-return portfolio by one percentage point this week with the money taken from Hong Kong,'' he added.

9:25 am TCS Boardroom: TCS chief executive officer and managing director N Chandrasekaran says most companies globally are now focusing on the digital space and that is an area that has contributed significantly to the company's Q1 numbers.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Chandrasekaran says that the size of digital deals are ranging from sub-USD 1 million to a few million dollars. The company that has most business coming from North-America saw a decent 5 percent growth from its Indian business too.

"But I wouldn't factor that in for the coming quarters as these are just the business that we have already engaged in," says Chandrasekaran who credits the company's strong Q1 numbers to the banking and financial services sector (BFSI).

The market has opened in red as investors seem to be nervous on global uncertainties as the world is drawn into the Ukraine-Russia conflict after the MH17 crash. The Sensex is down 13.72 points at 25547.44 and the Nifty is down 16.45 points at 7624.00. About 223 shares have advanced, 310 shares declined, and 23 shares are unchanged.

The Indian rupee declined in the opening trade on Friday. It has opened lower by 21 paise at 60.39 per dollar versus 60.18 Thursday. TCS is up 3 percent after posting firm May-June quarter last evening.

Wipro, Cipla, HDFC and Sun Pharma are other top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Power, NTPC, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and ICICI Bank.

Yen trades at a five-month high against the euro and rallies against the dollar, as news of a Malaysian airliner being downed over Ukraine and escalating conflict in Gaza boosted the safe-haven currency.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "The rupee continues to trade in a tight range. Today also, rupee is expected to depreciate as geopolitical tension has taken the front seat which will force local equities to trade low as asian markets have already opened in red which will further harm the rupee and keep it under pressure. Range for the rupee is seen between 59.70-60.70/dollar."

S&P 500 fell over 1 percent on a closing basis after 63 trading sessions, the longest streak since 1995.

Geopolitical tensions escalated after a Malaysian airlines' passenger jet is shot down less than 50 kilometers from the Russian border. All the passengers and crew members are feared dead. Ukraine blames pro-Russian rebels for the crash while the separatists deny it. This is just after the US tightened sanctions against Russia for supplying the rebels with weapons. Separately, Israel has sends ground forces into the Gaza strip raising tensions in the middle-east.

Asian shares dropped while Malaysia Airlines sunk over 13 percent. Minutes from the Bank of Japan's June meeting released in early trade showed that policymakers expected only a moderate increase in exports going forward.South Korean shares fell off the previous session's seven-month high.

European markets closed lower, as investors shunned riskier assets due to a resurgence in concerns about Russia.

Nymex crude rises towards USD 104 a barrel. Brent crude rises above 108 dollars. Gold prices rise over 1 percent on heightened geopolitical tensions.