Market Live: Sensex, Nifty lower on profit booking; Idea up 15% on Vodafone merger

9:55 am BoAML on Yes Bank: Bank of America Merrill Lynch has maintained its buy call on Yes Bank with increased target price at Rs 1,820 (from Rs 1,600), saying it is a top pick as growth visibility of the bank is strong and margins will have tailwinds.

According to the brokerage house, asset quality is likely to be as comfortable as it has been and retail side can see acceleration of timeline.

BoAML believes capital is not an issue in near-term for ‘faster growth leg’. It sees return on equity rising to 23 percent by FY18 on rising return on assets and not just leverage.

9:40 am Power plant commissioning: State-run power producer NTPC today said it has commissioned the second unit of 660 MW of Mouda Super Thermal Power Station Stage-II.

“We wish to inform that 2nd unit of 660 MW of Mouda Super Thermal Power Station Stage-II (2 X 660 MW) has been commissioned,” NTPC said in a filing to the BSE.

With this, the commissioned capacity of Mouda Super Thermal Power Station, NTPC and NTPC group has become 2,320 MW, 41,907 MW and 48,873 MW, respectively, it said.

9:30 am Telecom merger: Idea says Vodafone India merger is expected to be completed by 2018. Aditya Birla Group will have the right to buy 9.5 percent stake in the combined entity at Rs 130 per share.

Vodafone will sell shares in the combined company to equalise its shareholding with Aditya Birla Group.

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9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened lower on profit booking Monday after a 2.5 percent rally seen last week. Idea Cellular rallied nearly 15 percent in early trade following announcement of its merger with Vodafone India.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 98.36 points at 29,550.63 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 23.95 points to 9,136.10. About 759 shares advanced against 438 declining shares on the BSE.

The Indian rupee opened with a marginal gain of 6 paise at 65.40 per dollar today against Friday’s close of 65.46.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, “The rupee will trade with a positive bias on the back of positive cues from the equity market and strong FII inflow. The trading range for the USD-INR pair is seen between 65.20-65.80/dollar.”

The dollar stayed on the defensive with bulls still nursing a grudge after the Federal Reserve’s rate guidance last week proved to be less “hawkish” than many had wagered on.