Closing Bell: Market ends at record high levels; Nifty above 10,200-mark

3:30 pm Market at Close: Benchmark indices began the Diwali week on a very strong note and ended Monday’s session at record high levels.

The Sensex closed up 200.95 points at 32,633.64, while the Nifty ended higher by 63.40 points at 10230.90. The market breadth was negative as 1,310 shares advanced against a decline of 1,390 shares, while 128 shares were unchanged.

Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors DVR and Tata Power were the top gainers on both indices, while Axis Bank and Adani Ports were the top losers.

Midcaps had a day of underperformance against the frontline indices, while infra, auto and metals gained on the sectoral front.

3:25 pm Earnings Estimates: Axis Bank is expected to report profit at Rs 1,298.7 crore for the quarter ended September 2017, a whopping 307 percent growth over Rs 319.1 crore in same quarter last fiscal. In year-ago quarter, profitability was impacted by higher provisions.

On sequential basis, profit is expected to decline 0.5 percent.

According to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18, net interest income is seen rising 5 percent to Rs 4,741 crore from Rs Rs 4,513.9 crore year-on-year.

Earnings will be announced on Tuesday.

3:14 pm Management Interview: GNA Axles is in focus after reporting a subdued set of Q2 numbers.

Margins affected because of dollar and euro currency exchange, Ranbir Singh, President & CEO said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Talking about order inflow, he said he is seeing order inflow of over Rs 60 crore per month which will improve next year. He is getting more orders from North America.

He is aiming 25 percent revenue growth in Q3.

3:02 pm Earnings: Zee Learn’s consolidated net profit grew sharply by 55 percent year-on-year at Rs 11.3 crore from Rs 7.3 crore and revenue jumped 59.2 percent to Rs 60.5 crore from Rs 38 crore in quarter ended September 2017.

2:52 pm Buzzing: Country’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel share price gained 13 percent in two consecutive sessions, especially after its deal with Tata Sons to buy its consumer telecom business.

After their telecom deal, both groups are also in talks for consolidation in direct-to-home businesses, according to sources that told CNBC-TV18.

Bharti Airtel added Rs 21,000 crore in market cap in the last 2 sessions.

2:47 pm Federal Bank earnings: Slippages came in at Rs 284 crore for the quarter ended September 2017, which were much lower compared with Rs 425 crore in previous quarter.

Net interest margin also improved to 3.31 percent from 3.13 percent on sequential basis.

The bank said restructured book at the end of September quarter stood at Rs 1,746 crore against Rs 1,676 crore in Q1FY18.

2:40 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks gained strength again in afternoon, backed by metals, auto, pharma, IT and FMCG stocks. Reliance Industries also cut losses to trade flat.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 182.39 points at 32,615.08 and the 50-sahre NSE Nifty rose 53.70 points to 10,221.20.

2:30 pm JM Financial in focus: JM Financial said consolidated profit in the quarter ended September 2017 grew by 27.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 145.8 crore and revenue increased 33.4 percent to Rs 685.2 crore.

2:20 pm Results: NBFC major Bajaj Finance reported 37 percent rise in its September quarter net profit at Rs 557 crore against Rs 408 crore during the same period last year. The number was largely in line with CNBC-TV18 poll of Rs 566 crore.

The net interest income (NII) was higher by over 41 percent at Rs 1,958 crore against Rs 1,385 crore year on year. The revenue was reported at Rs 3,086 crore against Rs 2,335 crore during the same quarter last year.

The asset quality was slightly better as net NPAs were seen at 0.51 percent against 0.53 percent in the previous quarter, while gross NPAs was seen at 1.68 percent against 1.7 percent quarter on quarter.

The assets under management (AUMs) were up 38 percent at Rs 72,139 crore against Rs 52,332 crore in the same period last year, while provision coverage ratio was seen at 70 percent as of September 30.

2:12 pm Merger in DTH sector?: Tata Group is in talks to acquire Bharti Airtel’s DTH (direct-to-home) business and these talks are at due diligence stage, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

It is learnt that both groups are also exploring options to merge Airtel DTH and Tata Sky, which will create the largest DTH player in India.

Currently Tata Sky has market share of 23 percent in DTH business, Airtel 21 percent and Dish TV 25 percent.

Tata Group told CNBC-TV18 that they cannot comment on speculation in this regard while Bharti Airtel told the channel that both groups are committed to exploring other areas of cooperation.

“There is no additional proposal that is currently active or under consideration. Information is unnecessary speculation citing unknown or unnamed sources,” Airtel said.

Last week, Bharti Airtel signed an agreement with Tata Sons to buy its consumer telecom business.

2:05 pm Earnings: Kansai Nerolac’s second quarter net profit increased to Rs 144.6 crore from Rs 139.3 crore and revenue rose 2.7 percent to Rs 1,164.4 crore from Rs 1,134 crore YoY.

Operating profit was up 11.5 percent at Rs 221.3 crore but margin contracted 80 bps to 19 percent YoY.

1:59 pm Management Interview: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has recalled the insolvency proceedings against VA Tech Wabag. Throwing more details on the development Rajneesh Chopra, Global Head-Business Development of the company said the business is as usual and the interim resolution professional (IRP) has returned after his brief visit.

The NCLT recalled the order on October 13 and the board has been reconstituted and is fully empowered, confirmed Chopra.

Moreover, IRP in his hearing has confirmed that no further claims have come from creditors, bankers, lenders during the period he was there with VA Tech.

On the business outlook he said they were on track to achieve the guidance given for the year. Current orderbook stands at Rs 8000 crore as informed to exchanges. Going forward the order intake seems to be good from domestic market.

The revenue book currently constitutes of equal amount from domestic and international, said Chopra.

1:50 pm S&P on Airtel-Tata deal: Bharti Airtel’s takeover of Tata Teleservices’ consumer mobile business will bolster its subscriber and revenue market share but could raise integration risk at a time when the Sunil Mittal-led company is also combining operations with Telenor, S&P Global Ratings has said.

S&P said however that Airtel’s rating is “unaffected” by its recently-announced acquisition of the Tata Group firm. “…in our view, this deal increases integration risk for Bharti because the company will be simultaneously integrating the operations of Telenor India (acquired last fiscal) and Tata Teleservices over the next 12-18 months, while responding to the intense competition,” it said.

The S&P Global Ratings note added however that it expects Bharti to be able to manage the integration risk because it has successfully managed such deals in the past, particularly in the African markets. The deal will be neutral to Bharti’s leverage in 2017-18 and 2018-19, it said.

1:40 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in afternoon, with the Sensex rising 85.82 points to 32,518.51.

The 50-share NSE Nifty rose 31.10 points to 10,198.60 while the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices traded flat.

Bharti Airtel continued to rally, up 4 percent after the telecom operator and Millicom International Cellular announced completion of a deal to combine their operations in Ghana.

1:33 pm Management Speak: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has recalled the insolvency proceedings against VA Tech Wabag. Throwing more details on the development Rajneesh Chopra, Global Head-Business Development of the company said the business is as usual and the interim resolution professional (IRP) has returned after his brief visit.

The NCLT recalled the order on October 13 and the board has been reconstituted and is fully empowered, confirmed Chopra.

Moreover, IRP in his hearing has confirmed that no further claims have come from creditors, bankers, lenders during the period he was there with VA Tech.

1:25 pm Expert Speak: Continued strength in import growth is a reflection of healthy underlying demand trend and an indication that growth recovery is expected to have taken hold in the September quarter, says a Morgan Stanley report.

According to the global financial services major, global economic growth is expected to stay positive and accordingly exports are likely to remain supportive going ahead.

Supportive export growth “coupled with robust consumption trends, we now have a clear runway for growth and expect that recovery should have taken hold in the September quarter,” Morgan Stanley said in a research note.

1:05 pm Steel price hike: Steel Authority of India has raised prices of its flat products by Rs 600 per tonne while keeping rates of longs unchanged, an industry source told Moneycontrol. The hike by the state-owned steelmaker, coming as it does after some months of no change, will more than compensate for the lapse in railways’ Rs 300 per tonne subsidy for steel transport in the lean monsoon season.

The subsidy is provided by the railways to encourage transportation of commodities in the lean season of monsoon when demand is subdued. It lapsed September 30.

Flats are currently trading in the market at around Rs 39,000 per tonne while longs are going for Rs 34,500-Rs 35,000 per tonne.

12:48 pm Market Outlook: Gautam Duggad, Head of Research, Institutional Equities, MOSL said 13,000-13,500 levels on Nifty look achievable in next 18 months.

The house has an EPS estimate for Nifty at Rs 487 for FY18, Rs 602 for FY19 and Rs 693 for FY20.

The economy is looking good currently on back of good PMI manufacturing as well as services, decent IIP and good commercial vehicle sales, so one could see a gradual pickup in second quarter FY18 as far as macros are concerned, said Duggad.

So, although worst seems to be over as far as macros are concerned, one should realize that the festive season has come early this time and so should not pronounce too early that this is the bottom, he said.

12:37 pm Europe trade: European markets opened the first trading day of the week in the black, as investors gear up for the latest in political news coming out of Austria, Spain and the UK.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up by 0.17 percent with all sectors but banks moving in positive territory.

12:27 pm Earnings: Private sector lender Federal Bank has reported profit at Rs 263.7 crore and net interest income of Rs 899 crore for the quarter ended September 2017.

Numbers were ahead of estimates as a CNBC-TV18 poll had expected profit at Rs 251.6 crore and NII at Rs 861.1 crore for the quarter.

Asset quality improved in quarter gone by. Gross non-performing assets declined to 2.39 percent from 2.42 percent and net NPA fell to 1.32 percent from 1.39 percent on sequential basis.

12:15 pm Earnings Expectations: “This will be the third quarter in a row of muted earnings growth, with wide dispersion at the sectoral levels,” Sunil Sharma, Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Sanctum Wealth Management said in an interview to Moneycontrol.

Over the past quarter, a few key trends were at play that is likely to have an impact on earnings. First, GST re-stocking was underway in July but as the quarter wore on, substantial working capital cycle, liquidity and operational challenges emerged.

Second, oil prices have risen, globally and at the pump, and were a contributory factor to the dip in consumer confidence. Sentiments were muted as small businesses grappled with the new regulations, consumers grappled with the changing tax structures and rising uncertainty on job security and job prospects.

Finally, commodity input costs have risen and the exchange rate weakened leading to rising cost pressures.

12:05 pm Inflation: WPI inflation eased to 2.6 percent in September, against 3.24 percent in previous month and far lower than CNBC-TV18 poll of 3.3 percent.

Manufactured products inflation increased to 2.72 percent from 2.45 percent but food articles inflation dropped to 2.04 percent from 5.75 percent.

Vegetables inflation also fell sharply to 15.48 percent from 44.91 percent on month-on-month basis.

12:01 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks erased some early gains but were still trading higher, backed by metals, auto, FMCG and technology stocks. However, Reliance Industries and select banking & financials capped gains.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 124.75 points at 32,557.44 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 42.60 points to 10,210.10.

The market breadth turned negative as about 1,224 shares declined against 1,181 advancing shares on the BSE.

11:50 am Consumer Sector Growth: Growth in India’s consumer sector is seemed to have recovered in the July-September quarter largely owing to increasing urban demand and the festive season, says a Nomura report.

According to the Japanese financial services major, consumer firms are expected to report average net sales growth of 8.6 per cent year-on-year with EBITDA growth of 8.4 per cent in the second quarter of this fiscal. Growth in India’s consumer sector particularly the household and personal care segment was held back in recent quarters largely due to macro issues.

While the third quarter (October-December period) and fourth quarter (January-March) of 2016-17 were hurt by demonetisation, the first quarter of the current financial year was derailed due to destocking ahead of Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation, the report said.

11:40 am Rupee Trade: The rupee trimmed initial gains but was still trading up by 17 paise to 64.75 against the US currency on bouts of dollar selling by some banks and exporters amid higher domestic equities.

The dollar index was trading steady at 93.14 against a basket of six currencies in early trade.

11:30 am Buzzing: Godrej Agrovet share price slipped below Rs 600 level due to volatility in the market, but still trading above issue price of Rs 460.

The stock was trading at Rs 580.70 on the National Stock Exchange, up 26.23 percent over issue price.

11:19 am Financial Closure: CG Tollway, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of IRB Infrastructure Developers, has successfully achieved financial closure for its another BOT project of 6 laning of NH-79, Chittorgarh – Gulabpura Bypass.

The SPV, basis the concession agreement signed and executed with National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for this Rs 2,090 crore project, has tied up with the consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India.

11:10 am Order Win: Shares of Jain Irrigation Systems gained 2 percent in morning as it has received order worth Rs 178.4 crore.

The company has been awarded work of Rs 178,39,16,702 for supplying, installing, and testing of UGPL System of sub minor for Irrigation through Kundies in Chak area of Sardar Sarovar Project Command.

The company will execute the said work in 15 months.

11:00 Market Outlook: Krishna Kumar Karwa said that on earnings, these are still early days and the trend looks good so far.

The Indian market is going through a Diwali cheer phase as frontline indices hit fresh record highs, backed by macro data and steady earnings trends in its first week of the season.

Having said that, these are still some early days as companies with good numbers initially are declared in the early part of the season. “Ex-financials, companies in our coverage should have 10 percent growth,” Krishna Kumar Karwa, MD, Emkay Global Financial Services told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

10:50 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks came off day’s high in morning due to profit booking in Reliance Industries and select banking & financials stocks. Metals, FMCG and auto stocks continued to gain.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 123.20 points at 32,555.89 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 43.90 points at 10,211.40.

About 1,330 shares advanced against 899 declining shares on the BSE.

10:45 am Results Reaction: Share price of Reliance Naval and Kirloskar Oil Engines declined 3 percent in morning on the back of poor Q2 numbers.

Reliance Naval and Engineering has reported loss at Rs 150 crore in the quarter ended September 2017 (Q2FY18) against loss Rs 116 crore, in the same quarter last fiscal. The company’s revenue was down 15 percent at Rs 83 crore versus Rs 98 crore.

Kirloskar Oil Engines’ Q2 net profit declined 31 percent at Rs 29 crore versus Rs 42 crore. Revenue was down 10 percent at Rs 646 crore versus Rs 715 crore.

10:35 am Ghana deal: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel and Millicom International Cellular announced completion of a deal to combine their operations in Ghana.

The deal, executed through their respective subsidiaries, will create Ghana’s second largest mobile operator with nearly 10 million subscribers and USD 300 million in revenue.

“The combined networks of the two companies will cover more than 80 per cent of Ghana’s population, in particular in villages and far flung areas and serve customers with affordable world-class voice/ data services, affordable global roaming and mobile banking services,” a Bharti Airtel statement said.

Airtel and Millicom will have equal ownership (that is 50:50 each) and enjoy governance rights in the combined entity.

10:25 am FM on reforms: India carried out key structural reforms at the right time – when the growth rate was high – and it will serve the country well in the days to come, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Some of the key reforms, including demonetisation and the GST, were carried out keeping in mind their long-term benefits to the country’s economy and as a result, India’s growth rate is now headed for a higher trajectory, he said.

“When the world was growing at two-and-a-half percent, India was the fastest-growing major economy in the world. That was a time to really fix the roof. You don’t have to wait for a downward slide in order to do it,” Jaitley told a group of Indian reporters at a news conference here.

“I think, this was just the right time to bring about structural changes,” he said.

10:19 am Indian Economy: Days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its growth forecast for the current and the next year, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the Indian economy is on a “very solid track” in the mid-term.

“Turning to India…we have slightly downgraded India but we believe that India is for the medium and long-term on a growth track that is much more solid as a result of the structural reforms that have been conducted in India in the last couple of years,” the IMF Managing Director Lagarde said.

Describing the two major recent reforms in India – demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) – as a monumental effort, Lagarde said it is hardly surprising that there “is a little bit of a short-term slowdown” as a result.

“But for the medium term, we see a very solid track ahead for the Indian economy,” she said to a question on India.

10:10 am Merger: Bharat Financial Inclusion share price rallied 3 percent after its merger with private sector lender IndusInd Bank.

The deal is subject to approvals from the Reserve Bank of India, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India and Competition Commission of India among others.

IndusInd Bank share price declined 1.7 percent.

According to the deal, Bharat Financial shareholders will get 639 shares of the bank for every 1,000 held. The deal is likely to be completed in 9-10 months.

The deal comes nearly a month after IndusInd informed the stock exchange that they have entered into exclusive merger talks with Bharat Financial.

The composite scheme, which will be effective from January 1, is between IndusInd, BFIL and a wholly owned subsidiary of the bank.

10:00 am Listing: Diversified agro-business company Godrej Agrovet started off first trade at Rs 615.60 on the National Stock Exchange, a whopping premium of 33.82 percent over its issue price of Rs 460 per share.

The stock touched a high of Rs 630 and low of Rs 605.55 in early trade.

9:50 am Pre-opening: Godrej Agrovet stock price settled at Rs 615.60 on the National Stock Exchange in pre-opening trade, against issue price of Rs 460.

9:35 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended rally in morning, with the Sensex hitting fresh record high and crossing its earlier high of 32,686.

9:30 am USFDA Approval: Shares of Glenmark Pharma added 1 percent in morning as it has received approval for Aprepitant Capsules.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA has been granted final approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for Aprepitant Capsules USP 40 mg, 80 mg, and 125 mg.

Aprepitant Capsules USP is a generic version of Emend Capsules, 40 mg, 80 mg, and 125 mg, of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation.

As per IMS Health sales data for the 12 month period ending August 2017, the Emend Capsules achieved annual sales of approximately USD 64.9 million.

9:25 am Listing: Godrej Agrovet, the diversified agro-business company, will make a Dalal Street debut today.

The final issue price is fixed at Rs 460 per share, at the higher end of price band.

Analysts expect the listing price to be in Rs 550-600 per share range, given the overwhelming response to the issue and market demand.

Sources told Moneycontrol that market premium for the stock is in the range of Rs 140-155 per share.

The Rs 1,157-crore initial public offer was oversubscribed 95.41 times on October 6, the last day of bidding.

9:20 am Buzzing: Share price of Cadila Healthcare rose 1 percent in early trade on USFDA approval for Allopurinol tablets.

Zydus Cadila has received final approval from the USFDA to market Allopurinol Tablets USP, 100 mg and 300 mg.

The drug is used to treat major depression and will be manufactured at the group’s formulations manufacturing facility at Moraiya, Ahmedabad.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks started off the Diwali week at fresh record high on Monday, with the Nifty hitting 10,200 level backed by Reliance Industries and banks stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 214.70 points at 32,647.39 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 61.10 points to 10,228.60. About five shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Ambuja Cements, Hero Motocorp, Sun Pharma, IOC, Cipla, BPCL and HPCL were early gainers while IndusInd Bank was down.

Nifty Midcap was up 0.6 percent or 115 points in early trade on strong market breadth.
Keval Kiran Clothing, Bhansali Engineering, Avenue Supermarts, Gruh Finance, Bharat Financial, VA Tech Wabag, Ujjivan Financial, Equitas and Idea Cellular gained 2-10 percent while Jaiprakash Associates, Reliance Naval and GNA Axles fell 1-3 percent.