Market Live: Nifty ranged ahead of FO expiry, Sensex higher; rupee turns strong

3:24 pm IRB in focus: IRB Infrastructure share price gained 4 percent as the management told CNBC-TV18 that IRB InvIT sold stake in arm IRB Pathankot Amritsar for Rs 534 crore and this deal will add Rs 90 crore to net profit.

3:18 pm Buzzing: ITC share price gained 1.5 percent intraday, after global research firm Deutsche Bank feels the latest proposal to ban non-tobacco products on tobacco kiosks is neutral for cigarette companies.

The brokerage house has a buy rating on the stock, with a target price of Rs 350 per share. This target price is 35 percent higher than the closing price of Rs 258.60 on Wednesday.

Cigarette business contributed around 45 percent to total business of the company in the quarter ended June 2017.

3:12 pm Losers: Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Eicher Motors, Tata Motors and Aurobindo Pharma were down 0.7-2 percent.

3:08 pm Leading contributors: Nifty Bank lent major support to the market, rising 160 points.

HDFC Bank, HDFC and ITC gained 1-1.7 percent.

Even Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank rebounded in last hour trade.

3:05 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks gained strength amid volatility in last hour of trade, especially ahead of expiry of September futures & options contracts.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 149.02 points at 31,308.83 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 42.75 points at 9,778.50.

About 1,456 shares advanced against 934 declining shares on the BSE.

2:59 pm Distribution agreement: Ruchi Soya Industries share price rallied 13.7 percent intraday on signing exclusive distribution partnership agreement with Patanjali for edible oil.

“Under the terms of the MOU, Ruchi Soya would use its own extensive distribution network to sell the complete range of Patanjali edible oils in large packs across all regions of India,” the agri and food FMCG company said in its filing.

Under the agreement, Ruchi Soya has exclusive distribution rights for the existing as well as future range of Patanjali edible oils in large packs.

2:51 pm PSUs’ dividend payments and capex: Sources told CNBC-TV18 that public sector enterprises have been asked to stick to committed dividend payments by finance ministry.

The ministry also told PSUs to achieve capital expenditure targets for this fiscal and to approach finance ministry w.r.t any issues related to capex.

2:46 pm Work on GE’s locomotive factory on track: US firm General Electric’s plan to build a diesel locomotive factory in eastern India is on track, the railways minister said on Thursday, seeking to allay concerns that the state-controlled network was making changes to the contract.

Piyush Goyal’s comments came after GE said this week that the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative would be undermined if the railway ministry went ahead with changes to a joint venture with the conglomerate.

GE had won a USD 2.6 billion contract in 2015 to supply Indian Railways with 1,000 diesel locomotives.

But the railways ministry said last week it wouldn’t need diesel after all – hoping to save on fuel and maintenance costs – and suggested GE might want to make electric engines instead.

2:35 pm Market Check: The volatility increased in last hour of trade, especially ahead of expiry of derivative contracts. The Nifty continued to be in a range of 50-60 points, up 19 points at 9,755.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 101.02 points to 31,260.83 while the broader markets gained nearly a percent as about 1,426 shares advanced against 923 declining shares on the BSE.

The rupee rebounded sharply, trading with 13 paise gains at 65.57 against the US dollar, compared with previous close of 65.72. It touched an intraday low of 65.89 before showing a recovery.

2:15 pm Management interview: Drug maker Suven Life Sciences said it doesn’t see the failure of US-based biotech startup Axovant’s Alzheimer’s drug in late stage clinical trials to have any “bearing” on its experimental molecule SUVN-502 undergoing proof-of-concept study in US.

“Yes, Axovant results are not a surprise since Glaxo did not want to develop this molecule and they are proven right,” Venkat Jasti, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Suven said in a email interview to Moneycontrol.

“It will not have any bearing since the results are the barometer and if they are positive for our molecule then the opportunity is much better and based on our pre-clinical data we are confident that the results will be positive,” Jasti said.

Axovant on Tuesday in a statement to a US stock exchange said that its drug called Intepirdine failed to improve cognitive abilities and daily activities of patients in a late-stage trial, dashing its hopes of a blockbuster drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

2:06 pm Market Check: Amid volatile moves, benchmark indices continued to trade mixed, with the Sensex trading in the green, while the Nifty continued to trade flat with a negative bias.

The Sensex was up 56.98 points or 0.18% at 31216.79, while the Nifty was down 7.50 points or 0.08% at 9728.25, on the BSE. The market breadth favoured the advances as 1,331 shares advanced against a decline of 981 shares, while 157 shares were unchanged.

Midcaps, however, had a one-way trend day, as the segment witnessed a recovery, gaining over half a percent. Pharmaceutical stocks too gained.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Coal India and ACC were the top gainers on both indices, while Asian Paints and ICICI Bank lost the most.

1:45 pm CLSA on Ipca: Global brokerage firm CLSA has retained its sell rating on Ipca Laboratories but it raised target on the stock to Rs 430 per share from Rs 410 earlier.

The firm slashed its FY18-19 earnings per share estimates by 15-30 percent to factor in challenging FY18 & weak Q1FY18.

Current valuations have adequately captured recovery in earnings, it feels.

Ipca Labs posted net loss of Rs 20.25 crore for the quarter ended June 2017, compared with profit of Rs 47.57 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal.

1:35 pm Millionaires’ wealth: The number of millionaires in the world rose by nearly 8 percent last year to an all-time high of around 16.5 million people, with record total wealth of USD 63.5 trillion, according to a report by global consultancy firm Capgemini.

The wealth of high net worth individuals (HNWI) — which Capgemini defines as those with investable assets of USD 1 million or more, excluding the primary residence, collectibles and consumables — rose 8.2 percent on the year in 2016 and is on track to surpass USD 100 trillion by 2025.

Some 1.15 million people became millionaires last year, the report said.

The United States, Japan, Germany and China boast the highest numbers and together make up for almost two-thirds of the total.

1:30 pm Natural gas deal: Reliance Industries has outbid rivals, including state-owned GAIL India, to buy the entire volume of natural gas from its own coal seam blocks until March 2021.

In May, RIL had become the first buyer of gas it produced from its own coal bed methane (CBM) block in Madhya Pradesh after agreeing to pay the highest price of USD 4.23 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) for May-June.

In the following quarter, it paid an additional 6 percent at USD 4.50 per mmBtu to take all of the CBM gas from Sohagpur East and Sohagpur West blocks.

In the latest bidding for up to 3 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) of gas to be produced during October 2017 and March 2021, RIL quoted USD 6.26 per mmBtu at the current oil price, according to bid documents.

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

1:20 pm FII View: India is likely to be the world’s fastest-growing large economy in the next ten years and hit USD 6 trillion which would propel its equity markets to a fresh record high, Morgan Stanley report.

According to the report, the concomitant impact of higher GDP growth is that corporate earnings growth is also likely to accelerate which should propel equity markets.

“We estimate that digitisation will provide a boost of 50-75 basis points to GDP growth and forecast that India will grow to a USD 6 trillion economy and achieve upper-middle income status by 2026-27,” Morgan Stanley head India research and India equity strategist Ridham Desai told reporters here.

India’s history shows a good correlation between nominal GDP growth and earnings. Ultimately, earnings growth is what drives share prices – but we also expect Indian multiples to expand.

Morgan Stanley expects India’s stock market could be among the world’s best performers in the next ten years, leading to India’s market cap rising from around USD 2 trillion to USD 6 trillion.

The global investment bank sees the BSE Sensex crossing the 100,000 mark in the base case scenario and 1,30,000 mark in the bull case scenario, albeit the bulk of the returns are likely to be front-ended in the coming five years.

1:10 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to be volatile in afternoon ahead of expiry of September derivative contracts today.

The 50-share NSE Nifty fell below 9,750 level, down 20.70 points at 9,715.05 while the 30-share BSE Sensex was down 24.44 points at 31,135.37.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks, though erased some gains from day’s high. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.4 percent each.

About 1,298 shares advanced against 963 declining shares on the BSE.

Total market turnover is expected to be at all-time high today as it already crossed more than Rs 8 lakh crore.

Nifty Bank index fell half a percent as ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, PNB and Kotak Mahindra Bank were down 1-2 percent.

12:59 pm IPO: Indian non-banking financial company MAS Financial Services’ initial public offering of shares to raise up to Rs 460 crore will run from October 6 to October 10, according to a public notice issued on Thursday.

The company has set a price range of Rs 456 to Rs 459 a share for the sale, the notice showed.

MAS is looking to raise up to Rs 233 crore by selling new shares, while selling shareholders are offering up to Rs 227 crore.

Motilal Oswal is the sole banker managing the sale.

12:50 pm USFDA audit: Dishman Carbogen Amcis (erstwhile Dishman Pharma) informed exchanges that its wholly owned subsidiary, Carbogen Amcis AGA’s manufacturing site in Bubendorf, Switzerland, has successfully completed a routine US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection.

“The inspection was concluded without any major or critical observations or Form 483’s, thus confirming that no concerns were discovered during the inspection,” it said.

12:45 pm Nifty50 rejig: Four stocks, which will be excluded from the Nifty50 index with effect from September 29, are ACC, Bank of Baroda, Tata Power and Tata Motors DVR.

Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and UPL will be added in the index.

The India Index Services & Products (IISL), an NSE (National Stock Exchange) group company, had announced change in the constituents of indices on August 28, 2017.

The change in Nifty Midcap 50, IT, PSE and Infrastructure indices will also take place from tomorrow.

12:35 pm Europe trade: Markets in Europe opened higher after President Donald Trump unveiled much-awaited tax plans.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 0.04 percent higher with most of the sectors trading in positive territory.

Trump announced the biggest tax reform for the US in thirty years on Wednesday, proposing tax cuts for most citizens. However, the plan received some criticism for favoring the wealthier and raised doubts over its impact on the country’s deficit.

Meanwhile, South Korean authorities said today that they foresee further provocative actions from neighboring North Korea in mid-October. Asian stocks were mixed as a result.

12:25 pm 3 stocks go ex-bonus: BHEL, Bharat Electronics and Bharat Forge stocks prices adjusted for the bonus share issue in the proportion of 1 share for every two shares held, 1 share for every 10 shares held and 1 share for every share held, respectively.

BHEL was up 1.14 percent at Rs 84.05 and Bharat Electronics gained 2.85 percent at Rs 165.80 but Bharat Forge fell a percent at Rs 602.30 per share post adjustment.

12:10 pm ICICI Lombard trade on second day: ICICI Lombard General Insurance share price fell 0.65 percent today to trade at Rs 676.75 on profit booking.

In previous session, the stock closed 3 percent higher at Rs 681.20, against issue price of Rs 661 per share.

12:01 pm Gold over 1-month low: Gold fell to over one-month lows today as the dollar rose on expectations of a US interest rate hike in December.

US gold futures for December delivery fell 0.36 percent to USD 1,283.10 a barrel.

11:51 am Rupee trade: The rupee covered ground from its early losses today, but was still stuck at its six and a half month low against the dollar following sustained month-end demand for the American currency.

It was trading down 5 paise at 65.76 amid a surging dollar overseas. The rupee resumed lower at 65.78 as against yesterday’s closing level of 65.72. It slid further to 65.89 before quoting 65.76 at 11:51 am.

Concerns of capital outflows continue to weigh on sentiment, dealers said.

FPIs withdrew over Rs 1,858.29 crore on a net basis from stock markets yesterday, as per provisional exchange data.

11:40 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained positive amid consolidation in late morning trade, with the Nifty reclaiming 9,750 ahead of expiry of September futures & options contracts.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 82.83 points at 31,242.64 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 11.60 points to 9,747.35.

After recovery in early trade, the broader markets strengthened further as the BSE Midcap index was up 0.85 percent and Smallcap gained 0.7 percent on strong breadth.

About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

11:31 am IPO: Prince Pipes and Fittings filed draft prospectus with capital market regulator to raise an estimated Rs 800 crore through an initial public offering.

The public issue comprises fresh issue of shares worth up to Rs 500 crore besides an offer for sale by the company’s promoters — Jayant Shamji Chheda, Tarla Jayant Chheda, Parag Jayant Chheda and Vipul Jayant Chheda, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

As per the merchant banking sources, the company’s initial public offer (IPO) is expected to garner Rs 800 crore.

Proceeds from the issue will be utilsed for payment of certain outstanding loans; financing the project cost towards establishment of a new manufacturing facility; upgradation of equipment at manufacturing facilities; and general corporate purposes.

11:21 am China’s manufacturing PMI expectations: China’s factories likely cranked up activity for the 14th straight month in September as the country’s year-long building boom and higher prices generate hearty profits, though the pace of growth may have eased slightly from August.

The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) on Sunday is expected to come in at 51.5 for September, dipping marginally from August’s 51.7, according to a median forecast of 24 economists polled by Reuters.

The 50-mark divides expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.

11:12 am Politics: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the lower house of parliament today, paving the way for a snap election that is expected to be held October 22.

Abe is widely seen as trying to reconsolidate his grip on power within the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party, so he can extend the term of his premiership next year. The dissolution of the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament comes more than a year before required by law.

The ruling party, though, faces a growing challenge from a new party launched by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike this week. The Party of Hope has energized some voters, and is gaining renegade lawmakers from the main opposition party.

11:01 am EIR report from USFDA: Dr Reddy’s Labs today informed exchanges that it has received establishment inspection report from the US Food and Drug Administration for SriKakulam plant (SEZ) unit 1, Andhra Pradesh.

10:50 am Market Outlook: Volatile moves and a cautious stance by investors continued to rule the Street as benchmark indices began on a slightly negative note.

Experts believe that there could be some more pain in store for the Street. UBS Securities, in fact, continues to hold on to Nifty’s base case target by December 2017 at 9,000.

“Our base case Nifty scenario for December still remains 9,000. Only if we see the markets below that do we look at constructive opportunities to buy the market. Otherwise, you are just playing the momentum trade than fundamental based investing,” he told the channel.

“Fundamentally, the risk reward is unattractive. If the market goes below 9K, only then one could look at constructive opportunities,” Gautam Chhaochharia, Head-India Research, UBS Securities told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

10:40 am Buzzing: Shares of GE Power India added nearly 3 percent intraday on the back of order win worth Rs 328 crore.

The company has been awarded a contract worth approximately Rs 327.5 crore (USD 49.2 million) by Doosan Power Systems India.

The order includes supply of 4 units of 660 MW state of art Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) for the prestigious supercritical power projects of UP Government, Obra C 2×660 MW project of Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (UPRUVNL) and Jawaharpur 2×660 MW of Jawaharpur Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (JUVNL), as per company release.

10:32 am Market Check: Benchmarks indices rebounded amid volatility ahead of expiry of September futures & options contracts.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 68.22 points at 31,228.03 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 6.85 points to 9,742.60.

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

The rupee also recovered from its day’s low, trading at 65.72 against the US dollar, compared with previous day’s closing of 65.71.

9:30 am IPO: Newgen Software Technologies has filed preliminary papers with markets regulator Sebi to raise an estimated Rs 400 crore through an initial share-sale offering.

The IPO comprises fresh issue of shares aggregating up to Rs 95 crore and an offer for sale of 1,34,53,932 scrips by existing shareholders, including Ascent Capital and Pandara Trust, according to draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised towards purchase and furnishing of office premises near Noida-Greater Noida Expressway in Uttar Pradesh and for other general corporate purposes.

According to merchant banking sources, the company’s initial public offer (IPO) is expected to fetch Rs 400 crore.

9:25 am 5G Technology: Sterlite Technologies has launched a high-speed 5G ready network solution named FlashFWD at India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2017, being held in New Delhi, India.

Globally, as data consumption continues to grow exponentially, there is a need for new, dense networks that enable extremely high data speeds and low response times. 5G is expected to generate about eight times more data traffic than an average 4G connection, with 15 percent global population expected to have 5G subscriptions by 2021-22.

10:20 am Bad loans: The battle against bad loans shows no signs of abating, with another state-run bank now offloading its exposure in the beleaguered Essar Steel, reports CNBC-TV18.

Indian Overseas Bank has offloaded its exposure in Essar Steel to Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company for Rs 1,900 crore. Sources said Edelweiss ARC is likely believed to have bought IOB’s stake at a 50 percent discount to its book value.

10:15 am Stake sale: State-run ONGC yesterday said it may sell its holding in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and GAIL to fund the Rs 33,000 crore acquisition of HPCL.

The company is debt free and has got the shareholders’ approval to raise Rs 25,000 crore through borrowing, ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Dinesh K Sarraf said. “We have several options to fund the acquisition. On a standalone basis we are debt free so we can borrow from the market. Also, we have certain investments which can be sold,” Sarraf said.

ONGC has about 13.77 percent stake in IOC, which is worth around Rs 26,450 crore and 4.87 percent stake in GAIL, which is worth Rs 1,640 crore. Sarraf said no decision on selling stake has been taken but the option is available for the company.

10:06 am Tax woes for telecom sector: Large telecom operators including Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular today lamented the high taxes, and spectrum costs being faced by the industry, and asked the government for immediate relief to mitigate the woes of the stressed sector.

While most of the speakers at India Mobile Congress inaugural eluded to India’s digital vision and technological prowess, Idea Cellular MD and CEO Himanshu Kapania minced no words in highlighting the “severe financial and mental stress” that the industry is going through.

He went on to red flag the industry’s woes ranging from introduction and proliferation of bundled unlimited usage plans to “lack of effective regulatory intervention”, all of which had bearing on the industry’s realisations.

Bharti Airtel MD and CEO for India and South Asia, Gopal Vittal too rued the high taxes in the industry.

10:01 am Modi on GST: Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said traders across the country are “positive” about GST and accepting the new taxation arrangement but they need “handholding” so that their problems can be resolved.

He urged the chief secretaries to use the district administration in this regard, so that small traders are facilitated to access and adopt the new system, according to a PMO statement.

At the meeting, the prime minister reiterated that small businesses must register with the GST network to take advantage of business opportunities, the PMO statement said.

9:59 am Govt plans to dilute stake in O&G fields: India plans to offer stakes of up to 60 percent in oil and gas fields owned by state energy companies that are already under production to private firms, Reuters said quoting five government and company sources with knowledge of the matter.

The government is making the decision after failing to draw investment from global oil majors in new fields. The plan would boost India’s domestic oil and gas output and would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target to reduce oil imports by 10 percent by 2022. However, the plan could reduce profits of state-owned companies.

India is the world’s third-largest crude importer, buying 80 percent of its supplies from overseas.

Another of the sources, an ONGC executive, said the government’s move to invite private firms in the mature oil fields will impact their long-term plans.

9:55 am Stake sale: Carrier International (Mauritius) Limited, a subsidiary of UTC, has executed a trade on Wednesday, to divest its balance equity shareholding in Cyient, according to information available on the NSE.

Cyient said this is the second tranche of divestment, the first being done earlier on 7th June 2017. UTC first invested in Cyient in 2002 when the company was establishing itself as a global engineering services company. Since that time, Cyient has grown considerably and remains a trusted service provider to UTC with over 1,600 engineers engaged on UTC projects worldwide.

“UTC has been a strategic customer and investor in the company,” reiterated Cyient CEO Krishna Bodanapu. “Their decision to divest stood testimony to the growth of the company over the years and justified the prudence of the investment made therein.”

9:50 am Technical Outlook: See Nifty support in the range of 9,710-9,755, said Laurence Balanco of CLSA in an interview to CNBC-TV18. He still has a long-term target of 12,000 on Nifty.

According to him, Nifty at 9,710 is a good buying opportunity.

Nifty can attain 10,300 mark by end of current calendar year, he said.

He see downside target for the rupee at 62 against the US dollar.

Talking about crude, he said for Brent crude USD 58 per barrel looks like the top of its trading range.
9:41 am Rupee at over 6-month low: The rupee took more blows today as

it slipped 16 paise to a fresh six and a half month low of 65.88 against the dollar that gained clout overseas on talk of a US rate hike and the prospect of monetary stimulus pullout.

The US Fed’s policy decision and commentary led to foreign investors heading to the exit door here.

Month-end demand from importers for the US currency is at work, forex dealers said.

9:37 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended losses in morning as the Nifty breached 9,700 level, down 36.95 points at 9,698.80.

The Sensex was down 45.50 points at 31,114.31. The market breadth was balanced as about 779 shares declined against 752 advancing shares on the BSE.

9:25 am Rollovers: Nifty rollovers were at 45.99 percent versus the lower than 3-month average of 48.78 percent, ICICIdirect said.

Market wide rollover was at 55.26 percent, lower than 3-month average of 57.34 percent.

Highest rollover was observed in DHFL (80 percent), JSW Steel (76 percent), Indiabulls Real Estate (74 percent), Bharat Forge (71 percent) and Bharat Finance (71 percent).

Roll activities have found some momentum in the last session across sectors due to high closure of positions in the September series. Nifty October series has added close to 39 lakh shares against closure of 34 lakh shares in the September series. The roll spread in Nifty remained largely range bound near 32 points (excluding dividend of almost 10 points in the September series). Data suggests continued short aggression getting rolled into the next series especially in the sectors like PSU Banks and cement, ICICIdirect said.

9:20 am FII View: Andrew Garthwaite of Credit Suisse said according to the research house, low volatility has some fundamental underpinnings like low GDP growth and inflation volatility, low default rates and the low real Fed Funds rate.

Previous instances of very low volatility have not necessarily preceded a significant sell-off, he added.

Credit Suisse believes that low volatility, by boosting the relative risk-adjusted return of equities, could encourage an asset allocation shift towards equities.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened marginally lower on the day of expiry of September derivative contracts.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 36.73 points at 31,123.08 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 12.25 points to 9,723.50.

ONGC, Aurobindo Pharma, Bharti Infratel and Dr Reddy’s Labs were early losers while Tech Mahindra, Wipro, TCS, HCL Technologies and Axis Bank were early gainers.

Nifty Midcap was down 0.14 percent.

In broader space, Ipca Labs, DHFL, Reliance Home Finance, ICICI Lombard General and Titan Company were under pressure.

Goa Carbon, Divis Labs, Indo Count, Edelweiss Financial and Cyient gained 1-3 percent.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee extended losses today, opening lower by 11 paise at 65.82 against the US dollar. In previous session, it closed at 65.71 a dollar.
Asian indexes were narrowly mixed today, after US equities advanced and the greenback rose following the unveiling of a long-awaited tax reform plan stateside.