Market Live: Sensex, Nifty hold early gains; PSU Bank jumps 2%, IT stocks drag

12:08 pm Market Check: After surging ahead from the opening sessions, the market held on to its extended gains, led by a rally in banks.

The Sensex was up 117.89 points at 29450.05, while the Nifty was up 30.80 points at 9117.10. The market breadth was narrowing as 1,031 shares declined against an advancement of 1,435 shares. Around 169 shares were unchanged.

ICICI Bank, SBI and Bank of Baroda were top gainers on the indices, while Bajaj Auto, TCS, Grasim and Tech Mahindra were the top losers.

The S&P BSE Banking index rose and the Nifty Bank rose 1 percent each in trade on Friday, led by gains in Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, PNB, Federal Bank and Canara Bank.

Banking stocks gained traction after the Finance Minister said that the government is going to announce a policy to push for the quick settlement of the non-performing assets (NPA) at banks in a ‘couple of days’ at CNBC-TV18’s IBLA Awards on Thursday.

11:50 am IPO: The Rs 350 crore IPO of Shankara Build has received overwhelming response from investors.

The issue has oversubscribed 4.14 times, so far, on its last day of offer.

11:35 am Fund raising: Tata Motors will raise up to Rs 500 crore via issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis.

“A meeting of duly authorised committee was held today approving offering for subscription on a private placement basis, up to 5,000 rated, listed, unsecured, 7.84 percent coupon, redeemable, non-convertible debentures aggregating up to Rs 500 crore,” Tata Motors said in a BSE filing.

11:20 am NPA resolution: The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday at IBLA Awards promised a major policy decision to push for the quick settlement of the non-performing assets (NPA) at banks in a ‘couple of days’.

Rajneesh Kumar, MD, SBI said that no resolution can happen without the support of the Reserve Bank of India and the government. Also whatever the decision, there needs to be a proper regulatory mechanism to speed it up, said Kumar in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Santosh Singh, Haitong Securities said policy framework around this issue has been formed many times, now what is needed is quick action plan.

For many years the discussions on solving the non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loan issues have taken place and at the end of the day, there is just one more scheme of debt restructuring but that is not really solving the problem, there needs to be a concrete action plan and that too soon, said Singh.

11:00 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks maintained early gains despite mixed trade in Asian markets. Among sectoral indices, PSU Bank gained the most on hopes new NPA resolution policy.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 119.52 points at 29,451.68 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 30 points at 9,116.30 while the broader markets continued to outperform.

The Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.6 percent each as about three shares gained for every share falling on the exchange.

ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda and SBI were top gainers among Nifty stocks, up 2-4 percent whereas TCS, Infosys and ONGC were under pressure.

10:41 am Interview: “Yesterday HPCL and all other OMCs have declared a second interim dividend and I am sure shareholders will be happy with that,” MK Surana, CMD of HPCL said.

The first interim dividend was declared in February last year.

Crude prices are on a downward trend and there is a close watch on the products and the crude prices and then adjust the market prices accordingly, he further added.

Talking about gross refining margins (GRMs) he expects to end the year (FY17) around USD 6 per barrel.

10:20 am Buzzing: Skipper shares gained more than 10 percent intraday to hit a year high of Rs 177.90 after receiving orders for supply of transmission towers.

“The company has secured contracts for supply of transmission towers to the projects of Power Grid Corporation of India, Transmission Corporation of Telengana and Power Transmission Corporation of Uttrakhand,” the Kolkata-based company said in its filing.

The transmission & distribution structures maker further said these contracts are worth Rs 405 crore approximately.

10:00 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended gains in morning, with the Sensex rising more than 100 points, supported by ICICI Bank, ITC and HDFC Bank.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 121.31 points at 29,453.47, and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 33.25 points to 9,119.55.

The market breadth remained strong as about two shares gained for every share falling on the BSE.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks as the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.6 percent each.

9:56 am Policybazaar plans IPO: Insurance comparison portal Policybazaar is setting its sights on an initial public offering (IPO) by the end of 2018. The company also is close to raise a pre-IPO round worth USD 50 million, according to a report in Mint. The company wants to strengthen its balance sheet with the fund raise.

Policybazaar’s plans for a public offer have got a leg up after the company broke even in November 2016. It is hopeful of clocking significant profit growth in FY18.

Policybazaar will end FY17 with revenue of Rs 210 crore and ring in a Rs 50-crore profit over revenue of about Rs 350 crore in FY18, Chief Executive Yashish Dahiya told the paper.

9:33 am FII View: Laurence Balanco of CLSA says the Nifty is pulling back after last week’s break above the September 2016 highs.

Nevertheless, the fact that the daily Relative Strength Index has confirmed the recent high of 9,212 suggests the current pullback is likely to be short lived and followed by further gains.

Also read – Buy, Sell, Hold: 5 stocks you should keep an eye on

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks started off last day of the week on mildly positive note, with the Nifty reclaiming 9100 level, backed by banking & financials and FMCG stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 40.77 points at 29,372.93 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 10.20 points to 9,096.50. About 560 shares advanced against 192 declining shares on the BSE.

Bharti Airtel rallied 2 percent in early trade as the company will acquire Tikona Digital Networks’ 4G business for Rs 1,600 crore. Yes Bank was up over a percent after its QIP subscribed over 2.5 times.

The Indian rupee gained marginally in the early trade. It has opened at 65.48 per dollar versus previous close 65.52.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank says, “The USD-INR pair continues to trade in a very tight range around the 65.50/dollar handle, with gains on account of strong portfolio flows getting offset by strong intervention.”

He expects the pair to trade in the 65.30-65.70/dollar range for today.

The dollar hovered near a four-month low against the Japanese yen ahead of a vote on republican healthcare plans which is seen as a litmus test for President Trump’s ability to deliver on promises.
Asian markets were mixed, shrugging off US equities lower close as key health care vote in the US was delayed and President Donald Trump called on legislators for an up-or-down decision today.