Market Live: Sensex up over 250 points, Nifty eyes 10,150; GAIL jumps 6%

3:20 pm Gas Stocks in Action: Gas stocks were on fire as the state-run GAIL surged 7 percent to hit a fresh record high of Rs 489.30 per share while Mahanagar Gas, Indraprastha Gas and Petronet LNG rallied 3-5 percent.

Value buying on likely addition of gas sector in goods and services tax (GST), expected rise in volume through city gas distribution and implementation of BS-VI emission norms could be main reasons for rally in these stocks.

“We see gas sector stocks as key beneficiaries on possible inclusion of gas under GST in the near term, which will enhance competitiveness of LNG against alternate fuels,” Kotak said in its report dated December 1, 2017.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has recommended the inclusion of gas under GST ambit to Ministry of Finance.

3:09 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices rallied further, with the Sensex rising 320.17 points or 0.98 percent to 32,917.35.

The 50-share NSE Nifty reclaimed 10,150 level, rising 111.40 points or 1.11 percent to 10,155.50.

About 1,774 shares advanced against 793 declining shares on the BSE.

3:03 pm Telecom Stocks in action: Airtel, Smile, Globacom and Helios are in the race to acquire Nigeria’s 9Mobile, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting agencies.

Bharti Airtel surged more than 5 percent and Idea Cellular rose 4.5 percent.

2:55 pm Ethanol Supply: Ethanol supply to oil marketing companies for blending with petrol will rise 71 percent in 2017-18 season to touch record 113 crore litre, helping sugar mills to earn Rs 4,500 crore revenue, according to ISMA.

Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said around 66 crore litre of ethanol was lifted by OMCs (oil marketing companies) for the ethanol blending programme in 2016-17 season (December-November). The previous record was 111 crore litre in 2015-16.

ISMA attributed the jump in ethanol supply during 2017-18 to improvement in ethanol procurement price by almost 5 percent over last year and increase in sugarcane availability giving more molasses production.

2:40 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained strong in afternoon, with the Sensex rising 279.42 points to 32,876.60 and the Nifty gaining 99 points at 10,143.10.

About 1,765 shares advanced against 777 declining shares on the BSE.

2:25 pm Buzzing: Solar Industries share price surged 7 percent intraday after research house Ventura Securities has initiated coverage with Buy rating on the stock.

The brokerage house has set a target price for the stock at Rs 1,537, implying a potential upside of 37 percent over 27 months.

Incisive business strategy, enviable financial performance, regulatory compliant and well managed capex are compelling case for premium valuation, Ventura said.

Solar Industries is dominant player in the explosives industry and 5x of its nearest peer.

Infrastructure growth and mining boom will boost demand for explosives, Ventura said, adding opening up of Indian defence and tapping international markets is positive for the company.

The research house expects healthy operating cash flows going ahead and expects revenue/EBITDA/net profit to grow at CAGR of 25.3 / 27.2 / 28.6 percent over FY17-20.

2:17 pm IPO: Astron Paper and Board Mill, which is engaged in manufacturing of kraft paper, is launching its initial public offering (IPO).

The issue will open on December 15, 2017 and close on December 20, with a price band of Rs 45-50 per share.

The IPO comprises of an offering up to 1,40,00,000 equity shares, including reservation of upto 7,00,000 equity shares for subscription by eligible employees.

The company proposes to utilise the net proceeds towards setting up of additional facility for manufacturing of Kraft Paper with lower GSM ranging from 80 to 180 GSM and lower B.F ranging from 12 B.F to 20 B.F; part repayment of unsecured loan; funding the working capital requirements of the company; and general corporate purposes.

2:12 pm Preferential warrants: Media services firm Prime Focus today said its board has approved raising Rs 330 crore through issuance of share warrants on preferential basis.

“The Board of Prime Focus has approved to issue and allot, on a preferential basis, share warrants worth Rs 330 crore primarily to a promoter entity (Rs 300 crore) and balance to a non promoter investor (Rs 30 crore),” the company said in a BSE filing.

It said the funds raised would be used largely towards debt reduction.

2:03 pm Buzzing: ITD Cementation India shares gained over a percent after Reliance Capital Trustee bought additional 2.2 percent stake in company on December 5.

Here are the top headlines at 2 pm from Moneycontrol News’ Anchal Pathak

1:57 pm Market Update: Bulls were back in action today as the Sensex was up 247.49 points at 32,844.67 and the Nifty rose 84.70 points to 10,128.80.

More than two shares advanced against 782 declining shares on the BSE.

Midcaps continued to outperform while rate sensitive and metals stocks turned strong as PSU Bank and Metal indices gained a percent.

Maruti hit a fresh life high, rising more than 2 percent.

1:45 pm Buzzing: Shares of Cyient touched 52-week high of Rs 605.25, rising nearly 4 percent intraday as it has entered into global alliance with UK-based company.

The company has entered into a non-exclusive business alliance with EA Technology, an energy technology company headquartered in Chester, United Kingdom.

Through this agreement, Cyient and EA Technology will jointly pursue business opportunities globally, by leveraging their complementary skills, technical capabilities and experience.

The company will also provide project delivery and implementation services for EA Technology’s Assets Investment Management software solution.

1:40 pm European markets open: European markets opened mixed, as investors monitored the prospect of a backlash from President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was flat shortly after the opening bell with most sectors and major bourses in pointing in opposite directions.

1:30 pm Korean tensions: North Korea says a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula has become a matter of when, not if, as it continued to lash out at a massive joint military exercise between the United States and South Korea involving hundreds of advanced warplanes.

In comments attributed to an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman, North Korea also claimed high-ranked US officials, including CIA Director Mike Pompeo, have further confirmed American intent for war with a series of “bellicose remarks.”

Pompeo said Saturday that US intelligence agencies believe North Korean leader Kim Jong Un doesn’t have a good idea about how tenuous his situation is domestically and internationally.

1:10 pm Market Outlook: As the Indian market witnesses a corrective phase, Credit Suisse is not very upbeat about its prospects going forward.

In a report, the research firm has said that structural reforms have weakened near-term visibility. Weak agricultural income growth to lower broad-based consumption. While the market is not relatively expensive, but cuts should resume.

Further, it said that there was an unclear outlook with low utilisations to keep investment demand weak.

Going forward, it believes that 2018 could be less uncertain but growth could still be weak. Changes in market sentiment to drive volatility as 2019 elections approach. It expects double-digit EPS growth in FY19.

12:50 pm Auto Sales: Jaguar Land Rover sold 52,332 vehicles in November, up 10 percent year on year, driven primarily by the introduction of the new Land Rover Discovery and the Range Rover Velar.

Retail sales of Jaguar’s all new compact SUV, the E-PACE, began in the UK and Europe during November, Tata Motors said.

In November Jaguar Land Rover retail sales were up in Overseas markets (19.7 percent), China (19.1 percent), the UK (8.6 percent) and in North America (7.8 percent) but down 2.1 percent in Europe.

Andy Goss, Jaguar Land Rover Group Sales Operations Director, said, “November has been a robust month for Land Rover, driving sales up globally across all of our key regions.”

12:38 pm Earnings: Hotel Leela’s net loss for July-September quarter widened to Rs 24.4 crore, from loss of Rs 8.9 crore in year-ago despite strong operational performance.

Revenue grew by 0.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 158.4 crore while operating income rose 15.4 percent to Rs 37.9 crore and margin expanded by 300 basis points to 23.9 percent in Q2FY18.

Other income turned negative during the quarter as the hotel company reported a loss of Rs 9.1 crore against other income of Rs 17 crore in corresponding quarter.

12:28 pm Gujarat Elections: The battle for Rajkot-West seat, the traditional BJP fortress, could be a cliffhanger for its high-profile contestant and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani who is facing a challenger in Congress’ Indranil Rajyaguru.

Earlier known as Rajkot-II, the seat is considered as ‘safe’ for the saffron party which has been representing it since 1985.

The constituency goes to polls on December 9 in the first phase of the high-stakes Gujarat elections.

Vajubhai Vala, incumbent Governor of Karnataka, had won the seat seven times for the BJP – from 1985 to 2012. In 1985, he had defeated Harshadba Chudasama.

Vala vacated the seat for Narendra Modi in 2002 after the latter was then nominated as the chief minister. Later, when Modi moved to Maninagar constituency, Vala continued his undefeated run till 2012.

Later, after Vala was shifted to Karnataka, Vijay Rupani won the bypoll from the seat in 2014.

12:15 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks were off day’s high in afternoon as index heavyweight Reliance Industries turned lower, but banks, auto, infra and metals stocks continued to support the market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 164.41 points at 32,761.59 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 60.30 points at 10,104.40.

The broader markets also came off day’s high but continued to outperform benchmarks. The Nifty Midcap index was up 0.77 percent.

About 1,704 shares advanced against 708 declining shares on the BSE.

12:05 pm IPO Subscription: The initial public offer of Shalby, the Ahmedabad-based multi-specialty hospital chain, was oversubscribed 1.13 times in noon on the last day of the bidding today.

The IPO, which aims to raise Rs 504 crore, received bids for 1.64 crore shares against the total issue size of 1.45 crore shares – a subscription of 1.13 percent – data available with NSE showed.

The initial share sale, which opened to public subscription on December 5, will close today.

Shalby on Monday raised over Rs 150 crore from anchor investors. The IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares aggregating up to Rs 480 crore and an offer for sale of up to 10 lakh equities.

The price band has been fixed at Rs 245-248. At the upper end, the public issue would fetch Rs 504 crore.

Here are the top headlines at 12 pm from Moneycontrol News’ Anchal Pathak

11:47 am Buzzing: Ansal Properties, Bombay Dyeing, Deccan Gold Mines, Liberty Shoes, Kamat Hotel, Aditya Birla Money, Soril Infra and FACT among over 100 stocks that rallied up to 15 percent after the BSE increased circuit limit from 5 percent to 10 percent and from 10 percent to 20 percent.

However, 63 Moons was the only major loser amongst them, losing 15 percent despite circuit limit revised from 5 percent to 20 percent. The reason for fall in the stock was that the Bombay High Court on Monday had upheld a previous order by Ministry of Corporate Affairs on its merger with NSEL.

The ministry had passed an order in February 2016 to merge National Spot Exchange with its parent firm. The merge’s intention was to recover dues of NSEL scam from 63 Moons. The company had challenged this merger order with NSEL in the higher court.

11:23 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks rallied further in late morning deals, with the Sensex rising 243.40 points to 32,840.58.

The Nifty is firmly trading above 10,100-mark, up 81.40 points at 10,125.50.

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

GAIL was biggest gainer among Nifty 50 stocks, up 4 percent followed by Tech Mahindra, Tata Power, Bosch, Eicher Motors, NTPC, Tata Steel, Maruti, Bajaj Auto and L&T.

11:11 am Stake Sale: IDBI Bank board has approved sale of 28 lakh shares (7 percent) in National Securities Depository (NSDL).

NSDL is promoted by IDBI Bank, NSE, and The Specified Undertaking Of The Unit Trust Of India.

IDBI Bank share price gained over a percent.

10:59 am Credit Rating: BASF India has received credit rating of A1+ from India Ratings and Research Private (A Fitch Group Company) for commercial paper programme of Rs 750 crore. The stock gained 2 percent.

10:50 am Crude oil prices slip: Crude oil futures declined by Rs 13 to Rs 3,624 per barrel today after participants cut down bets in tune with a weak trend in Asian trade.

In futures trade at the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in current month shed Rs 13, or 0.36 percent, to Rs 3,624 per barrel, with a business volume of 2,119 lots.

Oil for January moved down by a similar margin to trade at Rs 3,641 per barrel with a business volume of 45 lots.

Marketmen said the fall in crude oil futures was mostly attributed to trimming of positions at futures trade in tandem with a weakening trend in Asian trade after official data confirmed a huge build in US gasoline supplies, offsetting the data showing crude stockpiles fell for the third straight week.

10:38 am Most Active: Maruti Suzuki India hit fresh record high of Rs 8,745 per share, rising 1.7 percent intraday today.

It is the most active share on the National Stock Exchange and has been rallied nearly 70 percent in last one year.

10:28 am Buzzing: Weizmann Forex gained nearly 4 percent after Girik Wealth Advisors bought 70,000 shares (0.6 percent) of the company at Rs 1,399 per share through a block deal yesterday.

10:18 am Gold Update: Gold prices declined by Rs 57 to Rs 28,910 per 10 grams in futures trade today due to profit-booking by speculators amid a weak global trend.

Gold for delivery in far-month February fell Rs 57, or 0.20 per cent, to Rs 28,910 per 10 grams, in a business turnover of 178 lots at the Multi Commodity Exchange.

Analysts said the fall in gold futures was in tune with a weak trend in precious metals overseas.

10:08 am Bid for Airport project: A GMR group company along with its partner, Manila-based Megawide, is in the race for the USD 250 million Clark International Airport new terminal building project in Philippines.

According to a statement issued by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) of the southeastern nation, seven firms submitted the bid documents for the design, engineering, and construction of the Clark International Airport new terminal building in Philippines.

“The firms which submitted the bid documents are China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd, Sinohydro Corporation Limited, the joint venture of Megawide-GMR Infrastructure (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DDT Konstract Inc, R-II Builders Inc and Tokwing Construction Corporation,” BCDA said in a statement yesterday.

10:01 am CS on PI Industries: Credit Suisse initiates coverage with outperform rating on PI Industries and set a target price of Rs 1,150 per share, implying 19 percent potential upside from Wednesday’s closing price.

The research house said the agri-sciences company is strongly positioned in custom synthesis and manufacturing (CSM) segment and the orderbook in the segment provides visibility.

It has a less than 5 percent market share of global industry in CSM, hence, it is offering ample opportunity to grow for the company, it added.

Focus on speciality products in domestic business is a key differentiator, said Credit Suisse which expects revenue of CSM/Domestic to grow at a CAGR of 20 percent/14 percent over FY18-20.

The research house also expects 18 percent EPS CAGR over FY18-20, with better growth for CSM in second half of FY18 itself. EBITDA margins should sustain in narrow range, it believes.

Here are the top headlines at 10 am from Moneycontrol News’ Anchal Pathak

9:51 am Market Check: Benchmark indices as well as broader markets extended gains in morning, driven by upside across sectors.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 141.18 points at 32,738.36 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 46.70 points at 10,090.80 while the Nifty Midcap index was up 0.66 percent.

About 1,431 shares advanced against 427 declining shares on the BSE.

9:45 am Rupee Update: The rupee is trading flat at 64.52 against the US dollar at the interbank foreign exchange today.

The rupee had lost 14 paise to end at 64.52 against the US dollar yesterday after RBI decided to keep the key policy rates unchanged and raised the inflation forecast.

9:42 am Results Today: Jet Airways, Shriram EPC, Precision Wires, Zicom, Venus Remedies, Indian Hume, Hotel Leela, Ginni Filaments, Asian Hotel and Cambridge Tech will announce its September quarter earnings today.

9:33 am Buzzing: Shares of Hatsun Agro Products added nearly 3 percent in the early trade as company approved raising funds via right issue.

The company at its meeting held on December 06 has considered and approved raising funds by way of issue of securities to the existing equity shareholders of the company on a rights basis aggregating up to Rs 900 crore.

The board has also constituted a rights issue committee and authorised it to decide the terms and conditions of the rights issue including the nature of security, issue size, issue price, timing of the issue, rights entitlement ratio, record date and all other matters related and incidental to the rights issue in consultation with the lead manager to the rights issue.

9:26 am Order Win: L&T subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering has won order valued over Rs 1,600 crore from HPCL, Visakhapatnam Refinery.

“The project is a part of HPCL Visakh Refinery Modernisation Project and involves engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of 3.053 MMTPA full conversion hydrocracker project,” L&T said.

9:20 am IPO Subscription: The initial public offer of Shalby, the Ahmedabad-based multi-specialty hospital chain, was subscribed 46 percent as on the second day of the bidding Wednesday.

The IPO, which aims to raise Rs 504 crore, received bids for over 66 lakh shares as against the total issue size of 1.45 crore — a subscription of 46 percent — data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

The initial share sale, which opened to public subscription yesterday, will close tomorrow. Shalby on Monday raised over Rs 150 crore from anchor investors.

The IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares aggregating up to Rs 480 crore and an offer for sale of up to 10 lakh equities.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks bounced back in opening, backed by short covering in beaten down stocks like banks, auto and metals stocks. The Sensex had fell more than 200 points in previous session.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 87.41 points at 32,684.59 and the 50-sahre NSE Nifty gained 28.40 points at 10,072.50.

JSW Steel, Tata Steel, SAIL, Aurobindo Pharma, GAIL, HPCL, Tech Mahindra, Eicher Motors, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries were early gainers while Bharti Infratel, Power Grid and UltraTech Cement were under pressure.

Nifty Midcap was up 0.35 percent and Nifty Bank gained 0.2 percent.

IRB Infrastructure shares fell nearly 4 percent after CBI filed a chargesheet against the company with Pune Sessions Court in illegal land purchase case. CBI had searched company’s offices in Pune & Mumbai in January, 2015.

Fortis Healthcare was down 2.5 percent. 63 Moons plunged nearly 17 percent.

Petronet LNG, Bombay Dyeiing, Ansal Properties, Puravankara, Hansan Agro, Claris Life and United Breweries gained 1-3 percent.
Asian markets were mixed today, as the Nikkei 225 recouped some losses, trading 1.3 percent higher after falling around 2 percent on Wednesday.