Market Live: Sensex gains 100 pts, Nifty hovers around 10,400; IOC, HPCL, BPCL rally

1:15 pm IPO: Private sector lender Bandhan Bank has received markets regulator Sebi’s go ahead to raise an estimated amount of over Rs 2,500 crore through an initial share sale.

The Kolkata-based bank had filed draft papers with Sebi on January 1 and obtained “observations” from the regulator on February 28, as per the latest update with the markets watchdog.

Sebi’s “observations” are very important for any company to launch public issues like initial public offer (IPO) and rights issue.

According to the draft papers, Bandhan Bank’s IPO comprises fresh issue of up to 9,76,63,910 equity shares and an offer for sale of up to 1,40,50,780 scrips by International Finance Corporation (IFC) and up to 75,65,804 shares by IFC FIG Investment Company.

1:05 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices traded higher with mild gains in afternoon, backed by metals and oil retailers. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries and HDFC, too, supported the market but the weakness in ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and ITC capped gains.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 60.78 points at 33,807.56 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 34.40 points at 10,393.30.

12:50 pm PSU Bank Stocks Update:

12:40 pm Record Date for Dividend: NLC India informed exchanges that the company has fixed March 27, 2018 as the record date for payment of interim dividend, if declared.

12:30 pm Arbitration Award: The Delhi High Court has upheld the arbitration award of Rs 2,950 crore as compensation along with interest to Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL), a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra), by a three-member Arbitration Tribunal, Reliance Infra said in its filing.

Reliance Infrastructure stands to get Rs 5,060 crore from the award, which it shall entirely utilise to reduce its consolidated debt. This amount is arbitration award amount plus interest till March 31, 2018.

12:20 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices continued to trade higher, but were off day’s high due to volatility in banks stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 100.18 points at 33,846.96 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 38.60 points at 10,397.50 while the Nifty Midcap index was up 0.4 percent.

IOC, HDFC, Vedanta, Yes Bank, HPCL, Tata Steel, BPCL, HCL Technologies and Aurobindo Pharma gained 1-3 percent while Bharti Infratel was the biggest loser among Nifty50 stocks, down 2.5 percent.

ICICI Bank and SBI continued to trade with half a percent loss.

12:05 pm Buzzing: Pritika Auto Industries announced the signing of agreement with Amrit Duraparts to buy assets (land, building, and machinery) of their unit No 2 in Punjab. The stock price gained 5 percent.

The newly acquired foundry has a capacity of 12,000 tons per annum.

“With this agreement, the total installed capacity of the company will increase to 50,000 tonnes per annum,” forging company Pritika Auto said.

11:55 am Stake Sale: DSP BlackRock Trustee Co has trimmed its stake in apparel brand Indian Terrain Fashions by 1.70 percent after selling 6.46 lakh shares in the open market.

As per a BSE filing, DSP BlackRock Trustee Co, on behalf of various schemes of DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund, decreased its shareholding in the company on March 1.

Before the transaction, the schemes of DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund held 18.66 lakh shares amounting to 4.92 percent stake which has been brought down to 3.22 percent after the open market sale, it added.

11:45 am Crude Oil Update: Oil prices extended gains for the fifth straight day, underpinned by robust demand forecasts and prospects for informal contacts sought by OPEC with US shale oil producers at a key industry meeting in Houston this week.

International benchmark Brent crude futures climbed to USD 65.66 per barrel, up 12 cents, or 0.18 percent.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures advanced to USD 62.72 a barrel, up 15 cents, or 0.24 percent.

11:33 am Buzzing: Nifty Bank index turned negative as Canara Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were down 1-2 percent after investigation deepened in the PNB fraud case.

11:21 am Market Update: Benchmark indices lost more than half of gains in late morning deals due to correction in select banks stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 95.30 points at 33,842.08 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 35.50 points to 10,394.40.

ICICI Bank and SBI were down half a percent each.

11:10 am Acquisition: JSW Steel shares rallied 3.7 percent intraday after sources told CNBC-TV18 that the company has signed memorandum of understanding to acquire Italy’s second largest steelmaker Aferpi.

MoU between JSW & Aferpi guaranteed exclusive talks between the two players. The deal is pegged at Rs 600 crore.

Here are the top headlines at 11 am from Moneycontrol News’ Sakshi Batra

11:02 am PNB Fraud Case: Serious Fraud Investigation Office has summoned ICICI Bank CMD Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank MD Shikha Sharma in the PNB fraud case, a CNN-News18 report said.

10:45 am Buzzing: Shares of Gitanjali Gems cracked another 5 percent after the Central Bureau of Investigation has detained Vipul Chitalia, Vice President (Banking Operations) of Gitanjali Group, in Mumbai in the Rs 12,700 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case.

The CBI yesterday said the violation of norms for issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) to benefit billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had been going on since 2010.

This is the 14th straight session of fall for the stock. It has lost as as much as 75 percent since February 14, the day the PNB fraud came to light.

10:25 am Rupee Trade: The rupee rose by 11 paise to 64.99 against the US dollar on mild selling of the greenback by exporters and a higher opening in the domestic equity market.

Meanwhile, the dollar gained against most major global currencies as concerns over a global trade war eased after investors saw Trump’s proposed tariffs as more of a negotiating tactic than a hard policy proposal.

Investors sentiment was supported by the US non-manufacturing sector growth and improved risk appetite for the dollar, currency traders said.

10:15 am Market Update: Benchmark indices were off their opening highs despite strong global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 159.14 points or 0.47 percent at 33,905.92 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 47 points or 0.45 percent at 10,405.90.

The Nifty Midcap was also off its opening high, rising half a percent. About 1,470 shares advanced against 579 declining shares on the BSE.

10:10 am Order Win: Share price of Jain Irrigation Systems rose 2.5 percent as the company bagged an order worth Rs 287.66 crore.

The company has bagged order for integrated irrigation solution project in Karnataka. Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam, a division of water resources department of Karnataka, has placed this order on the company through national competitive bidding, company said in release.

The company is expecting to complete the said project in 24 months.

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

10:00 am Acquisition: Share price of JSW Energy added 3 percent on acquisition of JSW Electric Vehicles.

The company has acquired 100 percent stake in JSW Electric Vehicles and post this acquisition, JSW Electric Vehicles has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

The acquisition falls within related party transaction.

The acquired entity has been set up to, manufacture electric motor vehicles, all types of parts, spare parts, engines, appliances and apparatus, equipment, etc.

It is part of diversification strategy of JSW Energy to foray into electric vehicles, energy storage systems and charging infrastructure which will be housed under the acquired entity-JSW Electric Vehicles.

9:53 am Buzzing: Shares of Bharat Wire Ropes gained 4 percent as company to consider fund raising plan on March 9.

The company’s board meeting is scheduled to be held on March 9, to consider and approve raising of funds by way of issue of securities.

It will consider fundraising via equity shares and/or american depository receipts (ADR) and/ or global depository receipts (GDR) and/or any other securities convertible into equity shares and/or non-convertible debentures with or without warrants, through further public offer (FPO)/ qualified institutions placement (QIP)/ preferential issue (PI)/ right issue (RI) or through, any other permissible mode or a combination thereof.

9:42 am Market Update: The market continued to trade higher, with the Sensex rising more than 200 points and the Nifty trading above 10,400 levels on positive global cues.

All sectoral indices are in the green, with Metal index rising 2 percent.

9:29 am Asia Update: Asian stocks rallied, tracking gains seen in the US and Europe in the last session as concerns over a potential trade war faded.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.28 percent, with the dollar extending gains against the yen as trade-related fears abated.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, Australia’s ASX 200 and South Korea’s Kospi gained more than 1 percent.

9:21 am PNB Fraud: Violation of norms for issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) to benefit billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had been going on since 2010, the CBI told a court.

The agency, which secured a 12-day remand of four accused arrested on Sunday, explained the modus operandi involved in the alleged Rs 12,636-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud before the special CBI court.

An LoU would be issued to one of the firms of Modi and Choksi, and after the money was credited to the applicants’ account, a new LoU would be obtained to “adjust” the earlier one, the CBI lawyer said.

This had been going on since 2010, the lawyer said, while seeking remand of four accused including Aniyath Shiv Raman Nair, Director of Gitanjali Group of Companies of Choksi.

9:15 am Market Check: Benchmark indices opened sharply higher on Tuesday after falling for previous four consecutive sessions, aided by positive global cues and short covering.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 213.48 points or 0.63 percent at 33,960.26 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 65.30 points or 0.63 percent at 10,424.20.

NMDC, Tata Steel, SAIL, JSW Steel, JSPL, Hindalco and Vedanta rebounded with 1-4 percent gains.

About four shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE. Nifty Midcap index was up 166 points or 0.86 percent.

JSW Energy, IDBI Bank, Godrej Agrovet, VST Tillers and Ashok Leyland gained more than 1 percent while PFC and Idea Cellular were under pressure.