Market Live: Sensex, Nifty extend gains, Nifty eyes 9100; GAIL up 2%

12:00 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices maintained morning gains, backed by Tata Motors, Reliance Industries and Infosys. However, gains capped by sell-off in ITC and HDFC Bank.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 119.84 points at 29,287.52 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 38.30 points at 9,068.75 on short covering.

The broader markets extended gains in noon as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained nearly a percent each. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the exchange.

Reliance Capital, Indian Hotels, Indiabulls Housing, HPCL and MRF were top midcap gainers, up 2-4 percent.

11:44 am Management Speak: In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Achal Bakeri, CMD of Symphony said that summer is expected to be harsh this year.

“We had great summer last year. We were sold out; most of the industry was sold out. So expectations are that this is going to be a good summer”, he said.

I am confident that margins will be sustainable at current levels, said Bakeri.

11:30 am Interview: The rupee is reasonably well placed on inflation differential, current account deficit and FDI flow, Lalit Nambiar, EVP & Fund Manager (Equities), Head – Research, UTI Mutual Fund, said.

He also thinks investors are likely to benefit more from stocks related to GST theme.

You can read the full interview here.

11:10 am Market Check: After witnessing a correction through the week, the market extended its gains form the morning session.

The 30-share Sensex was up 128.42 points at 29296.10, while the Nifty was up 39.15 points at 9069.60. The market breadth was positive too as 1,598 shares advanced against a decline of 692 shares. Around 130 shares were unchanged.

Gas Authority of India (GAIL), Tata Motors and BPCL were among top gainers on both the indices, while ITC, Eicher Motors and HUL were among the top losers.

The National Stock Exchange on Wednesday introduced futures and options (F&O) contracts in 15 individual securities. These stocks will be available for trading from March 31, 2017.

Reliance Defence, InterGlobe Aviation, PVR, among others will be included in the list. Among financials, Capital First, Muthoot Finance, Equitas Holdings, Ujjivan Financial Services, Max Financial Services and Indian Bank will be included in the list.

Dalmia Bharat, Infibeam Incorporation, Suzlon Energy, Piramal Enterprises, Escorts, and Shree Cements are the other stocks to be included.

10:55 am Stake sale in Axis Bank? The government may sell some of its stake in Axis Bank, Larsen and Toubro and ITC through an exchange traded fund, reports BloombergQuint.

Sources privy to the development say that this ETF would be larger than the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) ETF, a fund unveiled in 2014 that was made up of the government’s shares in state-owned companies.

Post the newsbreak yesterday, the price of all three stocks fell.

10:40 am Macquarie on Hindustan Zinc: Macquarie has maintained its outperform rating with a reduced target price of Rs 340. It has also lowered FY18-19 earnings per share (EPS) estimates by 6 percent factoring lower cash.

The research firm believes the dividend cannot be read as a precursor to government stake sale. It, however, makes a strong case for high dividend yield should drive a multiple re-rating.

On the payout, the dividend implies 143 percent payout for FY17. The special dividend is lead by the government’s fiscal requirements, it said.

10:20 am Interview: Jewellery companies are in focus as the government has lowered the cap on cash transactions from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Bhaskar Bhat, MD of Titan Company said proportion of cash transactions is coming down significantly.

Government’s focus on digitisation and capping cash transaction will benefit company, he added.

He said that cash transactions were at 40 percent before demonetisation.

Q4 has played out well; hold 15 percent topline growth for FY17, said Bhat.

Also read – PAN may be phased out in future as govt makes Aadhaar necessary for tax filing

10:00 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks were off day’s high in morning due to correction in ITC and HDFC Bank. However, other heavyweights L&T, Reliance Industries, HDFC and Infosys continued to support market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 66.47 points at 29,234.15 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 18.65 points to 9,049.10.

Ajay Srivastava, CEO of Dimensions Consulting believes that the market is waiting for a trigger now.

“A major trigger could be results…. the market is waiting for a confirmation from a first few results,” he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. This will then decide the next upward or downward movements, he added.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap rising half a percent. About three shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

9:42 am F&O additions: The National Stock Exchange on Wednesday introduced futures and options (F&O) contracts in 15 individual securities. These stocks will be available for trading from March 31, 2017.

Reliance Defence, InterGlobe Aviation, PVR, among others will be included in the list. Among financials, Capital First, Muthoot Finance, Equitas Holdings, Ujjivan Financial Services, Max Financial Services and Indian Bank will be included in the list.

Dalmia Bharat, Infibeam Incorporation, Suzlon Energy, Piramal Enterprises, Escorts, and Shree Cements are the other stocks to be included.

9:29 am FII View: Mixo Das of Nomura says Asian equities have posted solid gains this year, against Nomura expectations of a more substantial correction since early February.

He further says investor feedback indicated there is no better time to be bullish than during a simultaneous growth acceleration in all major economies.

A high likelihood of US dollar weakness and generally benign political outcomes seen as positives, he adds.

Das says consensus is compared to other asset classes, equities still look attractively valued. However, Nomura continues to see risk-reward unfavourable on balance, and maintain cautious view on Asian equities, he adds.

Also read – Buy, Sell, Hold: Which stocks are analysts tracking today?

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened sharply higher on Thursday after sell-off in previous session but immediately came off day’s high amid sideways trade in global peers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 76.94 points at 29,244.62 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 22.85 points at 9,053.30 while the broader markets outperformed, rising half a percent.

L&T, Tata Motors, Infosys, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank were top five contributors to Sensex’ gains while heavyweights ITC and HDFC Bank were moderately lower.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 65.40 per dollar against previous close of 65.44.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank says the rupee continues to be resilient against the dollar. The USD-INR trading range for the day is seen between 65.30 and 65.60, he feels.

In the currency space, the dollar nudged up from four-month lows against the yen in early trade today, although analysts say US President Donald Trump’s struggle to push through a healthcare bill could weigh on any recovery in the greenback.
Asia markets traded sideways after US equities closed mixed as traders await a key US health care vote in Congress, which is seen as a proxy of US President Donald Trump’s mandate.