Fresh high: Nifty hits 8325, Sensex at 27884

The market is on fire with the Nifty hitting 8325.10 and 27884.62. Currently, the Sensex is up 527.46 points or 1.3 percent at 27884.62 and the Nifty is up 156.60 points or 1.9 percent at 8325.10.  About 1764 shares have advanced, 1132 shares declined, and 126 shares are unchanged.

Gold, silver tumble to four-year lows as dollar rallies

Gold and silver slumped to their lowest since 2010 on Friday, as robust US economic data and a stronger dollar pressured prices, with stop-loss orders accelerating the metals' decline. 
Gold and silver were hit hard after the dollar rose to a near four-week high against a basket of major currencies on Friday. The greenback got a boost from strong US gross domestic product data and the Bank of Japan's surprise move to expand its massive monetary easing that weakened the yen. 
The metals were already facing some heat after the US Federal Reserve earlier in the week largely dismissed financial market volatility, a slowdown in Europe and a weak inflation outlook as factors that might undercut progress towards its unemployment and inflation goals. 

The hawkish comments and the strong economic data dulled gold's appeal as a hedge. 
Spot gold slid over 2 per cent to $1,168.66 an ounce - its lowest since July 2010. The metal's losses accelerated after the BOJ announcement sent the dollar index soaring to fresh session highs. US gold futures also tumbled. 
There were big stop loss orders below $1,180.50 an ounce - the triple bottom for gold, said a Hong Kong-based precious metals trader. That combined with the strong movement in the dollar against the yen sent gold lower, he said. 

The metal is on track for a 4.7 per cent drop this week, the biggest decline since June 2013. It is also headed for a second straight monthly drop. 
"We hold a bearish view on gold, considering a recovering US economy and expectations of higher rates," said Chen Min, a precious metals analyst at Jinrui Futures in Shenzhen. "In the long term, we believe gold is likely to break closer to $1,000." 
Silver fell nearly 3 per cent to $15.94 on Friday - its lowest since February 2010. It was poised for a fourth monthly drop in a row. 
Reflecting bearish sentiment, SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.16 per cent to 741.20 tonnes on Thursday, a six-year low. 

NO SUPPORT FROM PHYSICAL MARKETS

Gold failed to get any support from the Asian physical markets, a factor that could likely push it to further lows. Physical demand usually provides a floor to dropping prices. 
Buyers in top consumer China failed to emerge despite the drop below $1,200. 
Premiums on the Shanghai Gold Exchange - the main platform for physical trades in the country - slipped on Friday to less than $1 an ounce, occasionally dropping to a discount against the global benchmark. 
Premiums ranged between $1 and $2 on Thursday. The lower premiums underscore the soft appetite for gold in China after record consumption last year. 
China's gold consumption tumbled 21.4 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of the year to 754.8 tonnes, theChina Gold Association said in the statement on Friday. 

RBI increases gold loan limit for UCBs to Rs 2 lakh

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the limit for urban co-operative banks (UCBs) to sanction loan against gold collateral to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1 lakh at present under the bullet repayment scheme.

As per the bullet repayment scheme, the UCBs are allowed to sanction loan only on conditions that the period of loan shall not exceed 1 year from the date of sanction. Interest will become due for payment along with principal only at the end of 12 months from the date of sanction. Further, banks should maintain a Loan to Value (LTV) ratio of 75 per cent on the outstanding amount on an ongoing basis, failing which the loan will be treated as a Non Performing Asset.

The RBI’s notification further stated that UCBs should take necessary and usual safeguards and formulate suitable policy for lending against gold jewellery with the approval of their boards of directors.

In another announcement, Reserve Bank also directed urban co-operative banks to strictly adhere to the requirement of using their full name along with their logo or abridged name as a brand promotion exercise. Central bank noted that UCBs efforts towards brand building do not compromise with the rule of proper disclosure to the public. Earlier, a Standing Advisory Committee in 2006 had allowed UCBs to use logo or shorter names.

IDFC demerges financial unit into bank; stock gains

IDFC was up on buying action after getting approval from board members to demerge its financial undertaking into a wholly owned step down subsidiary IDFC Bank, the company said in a filing to stock exchanges.
IDFC Bank will issue one equity share of Rs 10 each for every one share of Rs 10 each held in IDFC as a consideration for the demerger of financial undertaking.
On the completion of the demerger, equity share capital of IDFC Bank will be held approximately 53 per cent by IDFC Financial Holding, a 100 per cent subsidiary of IDFC and approximately 47 per cent by the shareholders of IDFC. 

OMCs' under-recoveries dipped 16% in first half current fiscal

Underrecoveries of oil marketing companies(OMCs) on subsidised sale of diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene declined 16 per cent in the first half of the current financial year. The total underrecoveries would have been lower, had it not been for the 32 per cent jump in losses on LPG sales.
The three OMCs — Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation — registered losses of Rs 51,110 crore between April and September against Rs 60,656 crore in the year-ago period. While LPG losses increased to Rs 24,597 crore from Rs 18,585 crore, diesel underrecoveries dipped about 60 per cent to Rs 11,656 crore from Rs 28,014 crore. Losses on kerosene sales remained flat at Rs 14,857 crore.
The worrisome increase in LPG losses was because of two factors — an 11 per cent rise in consumption (80 per cent of which is subsidised) coupled with near-stagnant retail prices. At the current rate of reduction, OMCs’ gross underrecoveries are seen coming down from Rs 1,39,869 crore in FY14 to Rs 1.17 lakh-crore in FY15 — much higher than the government’s estimate of Rs 75,000 crore.
The three sensitive products account for 60 per cent of the total consumption of petroleum products. Consumption of these grew three per cent to 46.4 million tonnes (mt) in the first half of the current financial year from 45.1 mt in the corresponding period in FY14. LPG consumption grew 11 per cent to 8.56 mt between April and September this year and 16 per cent in September alone.
The prices of subsidised LPG have been revised only twice in two years, that too on account of an increase in dealer commission. The twin revisions have led to a mere 3.7 per cent rise in the price from Rs 399 a cylinder in July 2012 to Rs 414 a cylinder at present. This has led to ballooning of underrecoveries, despite the overall decline in global crude oil prices.

Subsidised LPG accounted for 24 per cent, or Rs 39,558 crore, of total underrecoveries of Rs 1.61 lakh-crore of OMCs on the sale of three sensitive products in FY13. The share rose to 33 per cent in FY14 and further to 47 per cent of the total underrecoveries in the first half of the current financial year. Unlike LPG, diesel’s share in total losses has witnessed a sharp decline from 57 per cent in 2012-13 to 44 per cent in FY14 thanks to a monthly price hike of 50 paise a litre since January 2010. The share dropped to 23 per cent in the first half of the current financial year.

With global crude prices having declined from a peak of $116 per barrel in June to less than $87 per barrel now, analysts estimate gross under-recoveries of OMCs to land between Rs 70,000 crore and Rs 80,000 crore in the current financial year. This would translate into a more than 26% reduction in the government's petroleum subsidy burden that stood at Rs 65,000 crore last fiscal.

Bata India opens its largest store in Bandra

In a bid to continue to increase its retail presence, Bata India has opened its largest store in Bandra at Hill Road, Mumbai. Trading from 9,000 square feet area and spread across 3 floors, the new store offers customers an international shopping experience.

The store showcases Bata’s new-extensive product offering in the newly introduced city format. Customers can choose from an extensive range of the retailer's latest collection across footwear for women, men, children, as well as a special edit of exclusive accessories.

Bata India is the largest retailer and leading manufacturer of footwear in India and is a part of the Bata Shoe Organization. The company manufactures footwear for men, women and children. The company manufactures shoes of various quality such as leather, rubber, canvas and PVC shoes.

Record opening: Nifty hits 8200, Sensex strong; Bharti up

Bhart Airtel, Infosys, ONGC, Cipla and Maruti are top gainers while Hindalco, HUL and Tata Motors are among the losers.
The market starts November series on a stellar note. The Nifty hit 8200 for the first time, up 32.15 points while the Sensex is up 92.73 points at 27439.06. About 499 shares have advanced, 91 shares declined, and 15 shares are unchanged. Bhart Airtel, Infosys, ONGC, Cipla and Maruti are top gainers while Hindalco, HUL and Tata Motors are among the losers. Asian stocks rose on the final trading day of the week following positive US data overnight, with focus on developments in Japan. US stocks jumped on Thursday with the Dow leading gains by over 1 percent following strong data releases. Third-quarter gross-domestic product (GDP) rose 3.5 percent, beating expectations, while a separate report showed that the underlying trend for first time weekly jobless claims is at its lowest level since 2000. Brent crude was marginally lower as traders saw little chance of OPEC cutting output at its November meeting. From precious metals space, gold traded around USD 1200 an ounce its lowest level in nearly 4 weeks. Asian stocks rose on the final trading day of the week following positive US data overnight, with focus on developments in Japan.

Pre-market: Nifty seen opening higher; may hit fresh record highs

The 50-share Nifty index is expected to open higher on Friday following positive trend seen in other Asian markets. Tracking the momentum, the index is expected to surpass its previous record high of 8181.55 made on Thursday. 
At 07:30 a.m., Nifty India stock futures in Singapore were trading 55 points lower at 8,249 indicating a gap-up opening on the domestic market. 
The benchmark indices ended at all-time closing highs led by gains in technology, oil & gas, banks and realty sectors even as the US ended its Quantitative Easing program on Thursday. 
The 50-share Nifty closed 78 points higher at 8169.20 and Sensex ended 248 points higher at 27346.33 in the previous session. 
"Nifty cleared the resistance of 8,100 and moved higher to form a new high of 8,181. If the present momentum spills over to next few days then it may move higher towards 8,200 - 8,240 range which is the next resistance to watch out for," GEPL Capital said in a report. 

 The level of 8,130 has now emerged as an immediate support and the bias would turn negative for short term only if Nifty breaches 8,130. A breach of 8,130 may drag it down to 8,060," added the report. 

According to analysts, the market is in bull-grip and the momentum is likely to take Nifty to 8,300 in November series itself. 

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended higher boosted by a strong reading on quarterly economic growth and by another round of upbeat earnings reports including Visa, which accounted for nearly 140 points in the Dow industrials. 
Gross domestic product grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the third quarter, beating expectations," Reutrs reported. 
"A separate report showed first-time applications for unemployment benefits rose marginally last week, but a measure of underlying trends hit its lowest level since May 2000 in a show of labor market strength," added the report. 
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 221.11 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 17,195.42, the S&P 500 gained 12.35 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 1,994.65 and the Nasdaq Composite added 16.91 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 4,566.14. 

Asian shares were trading higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 index which was trading 1.7 per cent higher at 15,930 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading 0.80 per cent higher at 23,889. 
South Korea's Kospi index was trading 0.24 per cent higher at 1,963 and China's Shanghai index was trading 0.24 per cent higher at 2,396 

US markets gain on encouraging GDP data

The US markets closed higher on Thursday, as report showed faster-than-estimated growth in gross domestic product, fueling speculation that economy is strong enough to withstand higher interest rates. The US economy grew by a 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter, fueled by a surge in exports and the biggest jump in federal spending in five years. Although growth slowed from a 4.6% pace in the spring, the economy continued to show solid if unspectacular improvement during the period stretching from July through September. Consumers spent at a moderate 1.8% pace, businesses’ invested at a steady clip and government is no longer a major drag on the economy. What’s more, the US is adding jobs at the fastest rate since the recession ended in 2009 and consumers are feeling the most confidence in seven years, buoyed by a rising stock market and falling gasoline prices. Meanwhile, applications for US unemployment benefits rose slightly in late October, but the level of jobless claims continued to point to an improving labor market in which companies are holding onto the workers they already have while slowly beefing up their staffs. Initial jobless claims climbed by 3,000 to 287,000 in the week ended October 25. Claims have been under the key 300,000 benchmark for seven straight weeks for the first time since the recession ended. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, dipped by 250 and stood at 281,000. The four-week average reduces seasonal volatility in the weekly report and is seen as a more accurate barometer of labor-market trends. Dow Jones Industrial Average added 221.11 points or 1.30 percent to 17,195.42, Nasdaq was up by 16.91 points or 0.37 percent to 4,566.14, while S&P 500 ended higher by 12.35 points or 0.62 percent to 1,994.65.  The Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Thursday; Infosys was up by 1.24%, HDFC Bank was up by 0.40%, Wipro was up 0.22% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab was up 0.21%. On the other hand, Tata Motors was down 0.10%.

Indian Overseas Bank reports net loss of Rs 245.51 crore in Q2

Indian Overseas Bank has reported results for the second quarter ended September 30, 2013.

The bank has reported a net loss of Rs 245.51 crore for the quarter as compared to a net profit of Rs 132.55 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank has increased by 7.35% at Rs 6440.77 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 5999.75 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) increased to 7.35% in the July-September quarter as against 4.65% in the same quarter previous year, while net NPAs stood to 5.17%.

ACC reports 62% growth in Q3 net profit

ACC has reported results for third quarter ended September 30, 2014.

The company has registered 69.57% jump in its net profit at Rs 204.91 crore for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 120.84 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has increased 9.64% at Rs 2859.04 crore for September as compared Rs 2607.69 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

On consolidated basis, the company’s net profit after taxes, minority interest and share in profit of associates for the quarter under review registered 61.98% growth at Rs 192.60 crore against Rs 118.90 crore in the September quarter of previous fiscal. The company’s total income has increased by 9.26% at Rs 2847.23 crore for the quarter from Rs 2605.83 crore in the similar quarter of previous year.

ICICI Announces Q2 results, Results Press Release & Auditors' Report for the Quarter ended September 30, 2014

ICICI Bank Ltd has announced the following results for the quarter ended September 30, 2014:

The Audited Standalone results for the Quarter ended September 30, 2014

The Bank has posted a net profit of Rs. 27090.10 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2014 as compared to Rs. 23520.50 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2013. Total Income has increased from Rs. 129797.50 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 to Rs. 148889.50 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2014.

The Consolidated Results are as follows:

The Unaudited Consolidated results for the Quarter ended September 30, 2014

The Group has posted a net profit of Rs. 30646.20 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2014 as compared to Rs. 26974.20 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2013. Total Income has increased from Rs. 190155.80 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 to Rs. 221503.90 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2014.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories surges on launching Sirolimus tablets in US

Dr. Reddys Laboratories is currently trading at Rs. 3085.25, up by 38.90 points or 1.28% from its previous closing of Rs. 3046.35 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 3066.25 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 3115.00 and Rs. 3066.25 respectively. So far 10485 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 3353.85 on 25-Sep-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 2250.00 on 19-May-2014.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 3185.00 and Rs. 2995.05 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 52475.23 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 25.49% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 43.79% and 13.69% respectively.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has launched Sirolimus Tablets 1 mg and 2 mg, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of RAPAMUNE (Sirolimus) tablets in the US market on October 27, 2014, following the approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA). The company’s Sirolimus tablets in 1 mg and 2 mg are available in bottle counts of 100.

According to IMS Health, the RAPAMUNE tablets brand had US sales of approximately $206 million MAT for the most recent twelve months ending in August 2014.

Dr. Reddys is an integrated global pharmaceutical company, committed to providing affordable and innovative medicines for healthier lives. Through its three businesses - Pharmaceutical Services and Active Ingredients, Global Generics and Proprietary Products - the company offers a portfolio of products and services including APIs, custom pharmaceutical services, generics, bio-similars, differentiated formulations and NCEs.

Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund files offer document for MOSt Focused Long Term Fund

Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund has filed offer document with SEBI to launch an open ended equity linked saving Scheme as 'Motilal Oswal MOSt Focused Long Term Fund'. The New Fund Offer price is Rs 10 per unit.

Entry and exit load charges will be nil for the scheme. The scheme offers growth and dividend option and seeks to collect a Minimum Target Amount of Rs 10 crore.

The scheme will be benchmarked against scheme CNX 500 Index. The minimum application amount is Rs 5,000 and in multiples of Rs 500 thereafter.

The investment objective of the scheme is to generate long-term capital appreciation from a diversified portfolio of predominantly equity and equity related instruments.

Gold futures decline ahead of Federal Reserve announcement

Gold futures declined on Wednesday as investors avoided the precious metal ahead of the Federal Reserve's statement on monetary policy and interest rates. However, dollar's weakness against major currencies limited the losses to some extent.

Gold futures for December delivery settled down $4.50 at $1,224.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. While spot gold fell 1.4 percent at $1,210.20 an ounce.

Indian economy can grow at 8-9 percent: Finance Minister

Optimistic over the improving economic condition, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has stated that India has the potential to grow at 8-9 percent annual rate. Highlighting that good governance would remain a key for economic growth, Arun Jaitley stressed that if the government follows the best practices and displayed the highest standards of good governance, Indian economy can get back on to high growth path.

Finance Minister also highlighted the importance of audit and said that accountability and transparency are essential as it helps in good governance. After registering an average growth rate of 8% during FY08-FY12, Indian economic growth had slowed down to below 5% over the last two financial years. Factors like high interest rate, stubborn inflation, low investments and slow execution of infrastructure projects have impacted country’s economic growth.

However, Indian economy has shown signs of nascent recovery during the first quarter of current fiscal. India’s economy expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years by 5.7% during first quarter of current fiscal as compared to 4.7% growth recorded in same quarter last year.

Nifty hits 8100 on F&O expiry day; realty stocks in focus

The Nifty has hit 8100 on October F&O expiry day. The 50-share index is up 10.45 points at 8100.90. The Sensex is up 40.25 points at 27138.42. About 581 shares have advanced, 257 shares declined, and 34 shares are unchanged. Dr Reddy's Labs, Infosys, GAIL, HDFC and Wipro are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are BHEL, Tata Motors, Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco and NTPC.Realty stocks are in focus with Sobha Developer, Prestige Estate and DLF as big gainers. The Indian rupee slipped in early trade. It has opened lower by 16 paise at 61.51 per dollar against previous day close of 61.35. The dollar index rises after the Federal Reserve ended its monthly bond purchase program and signaled confidence the US economic recovery would remain on track despite signs of a slowdown in many parts of the global economy.

US stocks closed with slight losses, finishing off their lows of the session, after the Federal Reserve ended its stimulative monthly bond-buying program and expressed confidence in US economic prospects.

Major indexes were volatile following the central bank's statement, with the S&P 500 down as much as 0.8 percent before pulling back. Material shares were lower throughout the session, a decline in Facebook pressured the Nasdaq, but strength in energy and financial shares helped the market recover.

In a statement after a two-day meeting, the Fed ended its quantitative easing program of bond purchases, as had been expected. At its peak, the program pumped USD 85 billion a month into the financial system. The Fed also dropped a characterization of US labor market slack as "significant" in a show of confidence in the economy's prospects. Brent crude prices slipped to USD 86 a barrel after the Fed announced it would end its two-year-old bond-buying stimulus program. Gold prices dropped over a percent following a strong dollar.

Moody's retain negative outlook on Indian banks on high corporate leverage

In yet another worrying development for banking sector, international rating agency, Moody’s while retaining its negative outlook for the Indian banking sector, has underscored that high leverage in the corporate sector could prevent any meaningful recovery in asset quality of the banking system over the next 12-18 months, regardless of moderate rebound in economic growth. The rating agency since November 2011 has maintained a negative outlook for the banking system.

Notably, the report of Moody just comes a day after another global ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P’s), in its Country Risk Assessment report on the Indian banking sector, underscored that country’s plan to grant new banking licenses to companies could heighten the risk for banking sector as the aggressive market share gaining tactics, like underwriting standards or undercutting prices by new entrants may adversely impact the banking sector's stability.

Further, Moody’s specified that negative outlook on the Indian banking system pertains mainly to the public-sector banks, which represent more than 70% of total banking-system assets, since these banks have experienced higher growth rates in non-performing and restructured loans, as well as greater weakening in profits, than their private sector peers. 

The agency has estimated that India's corporate sector had an average debt-to-equity ratio of more than 3 times, and would need a stronger economic recovery than currently projected by the credit agency to bring down the leverage.

Moody’s in its report, highlighted that continuing poor asset quality, wherein the NPAs levels were set to touch 4.5% of the system, would require continued provisioning and strengthened capital buffer and highlighted that after provisioning, profitability of public sector banks would generate insufficient internal capital for loan growth. It added that poor asset quality and low capitalization remained to be the primary concerns for Indian public sector banks, which were not expected to improve much in the coming 18 months.

Mentha oil futures edge higher on rising demand

Mentha oil futures edged higher on MCX as speculators enlarged their positions amid rising demand from consuming industries in the spot market. Besides, tight supplies in physical markets on restricted arrivals from producing belts too supported mentha oil prices’ uptrend.

The contract for October delivery was trading at Rs 675.90, up by 0.67% or Rs 4.50 from its previous closing of Rs 671.40. The open interest of the contract stood at 1730 lots.

The contract for November delivery was trading at Rs 686.70, up by 0.53% or Rs 3.60 from its previous closing of Rs 683.10. The open interest of the contract stood at 9181 lots on MCX.

Wipro gains on plan to expand its operations in Romania

Wipro is currently trading at Rs. 555.10, up by 1.00 points or 0.18% from its previous closing of Rs. 554.10 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 556.50 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 560.00 and Rs. 555.00 respectively. So far 40854 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 621.50 on 07-Oct-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 465.40 on 27-Nov-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 585.90 and Rs. 548.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 137554.74 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 73.43% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 13.64% and 10.99% respectively.

Wipro is planning to expand its operations in Romania with the addition of about 150 employees by end of next calendar year. The company is planning to increase its employee strength in Romania by 25% to 750 employees by December 2015.

At present, the company’s facilities in Romania serve more than 20 customers in Eastern Europe, supported by over 600 employees. Wipro's customers in Romania span across sectors like retail and consumer goods, healthcare, manufacturing and telecom industries, among others.

Meanwhile, the company is in discussions with local universities to partner and develop curriculum for enhancing local capabilities.

Wipro is a leading provider of analytics and information management solutions - enabling customers to derive actionable business insights from data to drive growth, enhance cost management and strengthen risk management.

Dr Reddy's Labs Q2 disappoints, net falls 17% to Rs 574 cr

Drug maker Dr Reddy's Laboratories ' second quarter consolidated net profit fell 16.8 percent to Rs 574 crore compared to Rs 690.2 crore in the year-ago period. Profit was slightly above estimates but topline and operational performance missed street expectations. Profit was expected at Rs 537 crore on revenue of Rs 3,702 crore (up 10.3 percent) for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. Net sales grew by 6.9 percent to Rs 3,588 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 compared to Rs 3,357 crore in same quarter last year. Consolidated operating profit during the quarter declined 12.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 646.5 crore and margin dropped 400 basis points to 18 percent as against expectations of Rs 800 crore (up 8.8 percent) and 21.6 percent, respectively.

IDBI Bank firms up on raising $350 million from overseas bond sale

IDBI Bank is currently trading at Rs. 68.40, up by 0.15 points or 0.22 % from its previous closing of Rs. 68.25 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 68.75 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 68.95 and Rs. 68.25 respectively. So far 55123 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 116.50 on 09-Jun-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 52.95 on 30-Jan-2014.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 69.00 and Rs. 65.30 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 10971.06 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 76.50 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 13.92 % and 9.58 % respectively.

State-run IDBI Bank has raised $350 million in an overseas bond sale highlighting pick-up in forex fund raising by domestic corporates.  The city-based lender raised $350 million in overseas senior unsecured notes through its Dubai branch. Global credit rating agency, Fitch has assigned the senior unsecured notes issue due April 2020 a final rating of ‘BBB-‘.

IDBI Bank is new generation public sector universal bank that rides on a cutting edge Core Banking Information Technology platform. This enables the Bank to offer personalized banking and financial solutions to its clients through its 1,217 branches and 2,101 ATMs.

Sensex adds over 150 pts, Nifty firm; Hero up 2%, HUL gains

The market has once again opened higher. The Nifty is inching closer to 8100, up 49.45 points at 8077.05.  The Sensex is up 172.73 points at 27053.55. About 471 shares have advanced, 85 shares declined, and 16 shares are unchanged. Hero, Tata Motors, HUL, M&M and ONGC are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Dr Reddy's Labs and TCS.
The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 61.25 per dollar against 61.32 Tuesday.
Dollar was subdued as investors waited for the latest guidance from the Federal Reserve, while a surprisingly dovish message from Sweden's Central Bank saw the currency slump to four-year lows. 
In the US, stocks rose, with the Dow industrials extending gains into a fourth day and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite higher on the month, as investors embraced corporate earnings, a rise in consumer sentiment and anticipated the end of the Federal Reserve's bond buys. 
European stocks ended firmly in positive territory, regaining some of Monday's losses, as investors reacted to third-quarter earnings and prepared for a key monetary policy decision from the US.
In commodities, Brent crude prices were steady above USD 86 per barrel after industry data showed a rise in us crude inventories that was in line with expectations. From precious metals space, gold hovered near USD 1,230 an ounce, clinging to gains from the previous session.

Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in early deals; Nifty reclaims 8,000 mark

Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals on Tuesday with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 8,000 (Nifty) and 26,800 (Sensex) bastions. Some support came in with a World Bank report saying that India’s GDP is likely to expand by 5.6 per cent this fiscal as reforms gain momentum and the growth is expected to accelerate as proposed measures such as GST will give a boost to manufacturing sector. World Bank has also said that implementation of the goods and service tax (GST) is the most critical reform needed for Indian manufacturing. On the global front, the US markets ended almost flat, trading directionless for much of the trading session. While there was some profit taking on the strong performance shown by the markets last week, the traders also remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Asian markets were trading mostly in the red at this point of time tailing weak cues from the US markets where data from home sales to manufacturing fell short of estimates. Back home, sentiments got some support from report that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers to the tune of around Rs 49.14 crore on October 27, 2014. On the sectoral front, capital goods, banking and healthcare witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while infrastructure, oil and gas and power remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1114 shares on the gaining side against 661 shares on the losing side while 72 shares remain unchanged. The BSE Sensex opened at 26788.73; around 36 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 26752.90, and has touched a high and a low of 26865.11 and 26785.89 respectively. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26844.18, up by 91.28 points or 0.34%. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. The overall market breadth remained in the favour of advances with 60.31% stocks advancing against 35.79% declines. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.40%, while Small cap index up by 0.52%. The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.82%, Bankex up by 0.77%, Healthcare up by 0.63%, Realty up by 0.43%, IT up by 0.34% while, Infrastructure down by 0.50%, Oil & Gas down by 0.40%, Power down by 0.40%, Metal down by 0.31% and Consumer Durables down by 0.19% were the losing indices on BSE. The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.90%, SBI up by 1.77%, ICICI Bank up by 1.76%, GAIL India up by 1.60% and Wipro up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.80%, BHEL down by 1.53%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.51%, Reliance Industries down by 0.91% and Coal India down by 0.89% were the top losers. Meanwhile, with the intent of restricting oil imports and protecting domestic farmers, the government is mulling over an issue of raising import duty on crude and refined edible oils, among other matters. In the wake of local prices of oil falling to historic lows due to cheaper imports from Malaysia and Indonesia, Industry body Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) has been demanding a duty hike in crude edible oils to 10% and on refined edible oils to 25%. Further, in the meeting held between the Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday, besides the import duty issue, problems faced by sugar mills in availing loans sanctioned through the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) along with the issue of additional budget allocation for FCI were discussed. Paswan, primarily, briefed Finance Minister about the current impasse between the UP sugar mills and the state government over cane price policy. The food minister was in the favour of relaxing certain norms so that sugar mills could avail loans easily from SDF, while seeking additional budget allocation for state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) for giving food subsidies this fiscal. A budget allocation of Rs 92,000 crore has been made against the requirement of Rs 1,47,700 crore for this fiscal. The CNX Nifty opened at 8,002.40; around 11 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 7,991.70, and has touched a high and a low of 8,020.80 and 7,999.65 respectively. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8018.60, up by 26.90 points or 0.34%. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 2.39%, Sun Pharma up by 1.89%, ICICI Bank up by 1.77%, SBI up by 1.70% and Wipro up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.26%, Lupin down by 2.05%, BHEL down by 1.78%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.61% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.48% were the top losers. Asian markets were trading mostly in the red; Nikkei 225 tumbled by 110.42 points or 0.72% to 15,278.30, KOSPI Index declined by 5.16 points or 0.27% to 1,926.81, Straits Times dropped 13.70 points or 0.42% to 3,212.41, Jakarta Composite dipped 22.27 points or 0.44% to 5,002.02 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 1.36  points or 0.07% to 1,821.79. On the flip side, Hang Seng soared 141.07 points or 0.61% to 23,284.30, Shanghai Composite spurted by 27.17 points or 1.19% to 2,317.61 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 126.69 points or 1.47% to 8,754.47.

Implementation of GST most required reform to boost manufacturing sector: World Bank

Just few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited global firms to participate into 'Make in India' programme to spur manufacturing in the country, World Bank, in a twice yearly report on the Indian economy and its prospects, described implementation of goods and service tax (GST) as the most critical reform, which would go long way in boosting the manufacturing sector. According to the World Bank, implementation of GST would not only transform India into a common market, but will also eliminate inefficient tax cascading. Further, it emphasized that transformational impact of reform, if enhanced by a systematic dismantling of inter-state check posts, could considerably boost competitiveness and help counterbalance both domestic and external risks to the outlook. Further, World Bank which pegged India’s economic growth rate at 5.6% in 2014-15, followed by further acceleration to 6.4% and 7.0% in the next two financial years respectively, in its report added that merely halving the delays due to road blocks, tolls and other stoppages that would cut freight times by 20-30% and logistics costs by an even higher 30-40%, could strongly boost the competitiveness of India's key manufacturing sectors by 3 to 4% of net sales, thereby helping the country to resume its high growth path and enable large-scale job creation.

L&T secures order for construction of Statue of Unity

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured order for construction of the Statue of Unity, World’s tallest statue in the riverbed of Narmada near Kevadia in Gujarat. The work order is worth Rs. 2,979 crore. The Statue of Unity project involves construction of 182-metre tall statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The project was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31, 2013, the birth anniversary of the ‘Iron Man of India’. Of the total contract of Rs. 2,979 crore, Rs 1,347 crore will go towards building the statue, Rs 235 crore for constructing the exhibition centre and convention centre, Rs 134 crore for research and development centres and Rs 83 crore for building the bridge connecting memorial with the mainland. The construction will take place on the Sadhu bet, an island approximately 3.5 km south of Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia. As per the terms of agreement, L&T will be responsible for maintenance and management of the project site for 15 year after the completion of construction. L&T will be paid Rs. 657 crore for the same. The construction of the statue is likely to be completed in the next 42 months.

Food Minister seeks import duty hike on crude and refined edible oils

With the intent of restricting oil imports and protecting domestic farmers, the government is mulling over an issue of raising import duty on crude and refined edible oils, among other matters. In the wake of local prices of oil falling to historic lows due to cheaper imports from Malaysia and Indonesia, Industry body Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) has been demanding a duty hike in crude edible oils to 10% and on refined edible oils to 25%. Further, in the meeting held between the Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday, besides the import duty issue, problems faced by sugar mills in availing loans sanctioned through the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) along with the issue of additional budget allocation for FCI were discussed. Paswan, primarily, briefed Finance Minister about the current impasse between the UP sugar mills and the state government over cane price policy. The food minister was in the favour of relaxing certain norms so that sugar mills could avail loans easily from SDF, while seeking additional budget allocation for state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) for giving food subsidies this fiscal. A budget allocation of Rs 92,000 crore has been made against the requirement of Rs 1,47,700 crore for this fiscal.

Sensex, Nifty consolidate; auto, FMCG stocks under pressure

Equity benchmarks remained positive amid consolidation. The Sensex climbed 52.62 points to 26903.67 and the Nifty rose 16.40 points to 8030.95. About 982 shares have advanced, 921 shares declined, and 77 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Banking and financial stocks supported the market. Top lender State Bank of India and rival HDFC Bank rallied around a percent each while ICICI Bank was up 0.5 percent. Housing finance company HDFC gained 1.8 percent. Dr Reddy's Labs, BHEL and Gail India topped the buying list, up 2-3 percent. Hindalco Industries gained more than a percent. However, commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors and utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra fell more than 1.5 percent on profit taking. Two-wheeler manufacturers Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto declined 0.8 percent each while car maker Maruti Suzuki lost 0.4 percent.   Shares of ITC, Sun Pharma, ONGC, Wipro, HUL and NTPC declined 0.5-0.8 percent.

Nifty breaches 8050, Sensex firm; HUL up, Wipro falls 2%

The market continues its uptrend in first session after the auspicious Mahurat trading. The Sensex is up 106.15 points at 26957.20 and the Nifty is up 49.80 points at 8064.35. About 498 shares have advanced, 116 shares declined, and 27 shares are unchanged. Dr Reddy's Labs, TCS, BHEL and HUL are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Wipro, GAIL, Cipla and Sun Pharma. The Indian rupee opened higher by 11 paise at 61.17 per dollar versus 61.28 Wednesday. The euro held firm in early trade after the European Central Bank's stress tests found smaller capital shortfalls among European Banks than expected. Traders will be looking to Germany's IFO business sentiment index due later today. Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "After a long weekend, equity markets are likely to trade sideways and will take cues from global markets for further directions. Rupee is expected to trade firm, although strength in dollar could cap upside moves in rupee altogether. Range for the USD-INR seen between Rs 60.80-61.80/dollar." US stocks climbed on Friday, with Wall Street derailing a four-week slide with its best week this year, as quarterly results from companies including Microsoft and Procter & Gamble inspired investor enthusiasm. In addition, the Federal Reserve will begin its 2-day policy meeting on Tuesday. The fed is expected to end its 3rd round of bond buying with investors eyeing clues on rate hike timings. In Europe, concerns about the results of Europe's bank stress tests and the first Ebola case in New York, weighed on investor sentiment ending the FTSE Friday's session down around half a percent. Moreover, other core indices, CAC and DAX were down around seven tenths of a percent. Brent crude slipped below USD 86 a barrel amid abundant supply and weak demand. And in metals space, gold edged lower as rallying equity markets and strong us economic data dented demand for the precious metal as an insurance against risk.

Sensex, Nifty celebrate Diwali; Hero, Tata Motors gainers

Equity benchmarks continued to see buying interest led by capital goods, auto, healthcare and technology stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 184.49 points to 26760.14 and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 55.75 points to 7983.50. The broader markets gained too with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. About 1343 shares have advanced, 545 shares declined, and 62 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.   Hero Motocorp topped the buying list, up over 3 percent as the two-wheeler maker expects to clock close to 1.5 lakh in retail sales on October 21. "Dhanteras sales of 1.5 lakh will be 40-50 percent growth (YoY)," it said. Tata Motors, Cipla, BHEL, Dr Reddy's Labs and Jindal Steel gained 2 percent each. Kotak Mahindra Bank rose over 2 percent ahead of second quarter earnings today. The CNBC-TV18 poll expects standalone profit after tax to grow 15.2 percent and net interest income to rise 12 percent year-on-year. However, ONGC, Tata Power, Coal India, PNB, NMDC and DLF were only losers. Risa International, KPIT Technologies, Dewan Housing, Den Networks and Tube Investment rallied 5-17 percent while BASF India, Jagran Prakashan, TVS Motor, Biocon and Sobha Developer were down 2-4 percent. 

RIL, Lupin and NMDC to see some action today

Reliance Industries’ (RIL) telecom arm - Reliance Jio Infocomm is merging its two subsidiaries, Infotel Telecom and Rancore Technologies, with itself. The move is aimed at bringing all its telecom related operations under a single entity before launching services. While Reliance Jio has a unified licence, Infotel Telecom has long-distance telephony licences. Rancore is an R&D unit. The merger will enable Reliance Jio to conduct national and international long-distance business under a single licence. The company, which holds 1800 MHz spectrum across 14 circles and 2300 MHz in 22 circles, is gearing up to launch fourth-generation wireless services in 2015. Looking to bolster its overseas presence, drug major Lupin is scouting for acquisition opportunities in the US market, especially in inhalers and injectables segments. The company continues to be on the lookout for meaningful targets, be it brands or technology companies, in inhalation, complex injectables and skin diseases segments. Terming the US as a high growth market for the company, the Mumbai-based firm aims to grow at around 25% in the world’s largest drug market. The company remains the 5th largest and fastest growing top five generic players in the US for the third year now. The Joint Venture company between the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and state-owned Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC) would explore 1 million tonne iron ore every year from the new deposit of the Bailadila mines in Dantewada district. Both the mining companies had formed a Joint Venture (JV) in 2008 to develop and explore the deposit 13 in the Bailadila mines where the NMDC has two deposits namely Kirandul and Bacheli. The third mine in Bailadila that had been endowed with rich and world-class iron ore deposit would be developed after nearly 54 years. The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) will hear realty giant DLF’s appeal against the SEBI order that barred the company and six top executives from accessing capital market for three years.  In a major blow to DLF, the order had been passed by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for active and deliberate suppression of material information at the time of its IPO over seven years ago. DLF’s initial public offer in 2007 had fetched Rs 9,187 crore -- the biggest IPO in the country at that time. SpiceJet has introduced its ‘Diwali Dhamaka’ sale, with one way fares starting as low as Rs 899 (all-inclusive). The fares for the Bangalore-Chennai-Kochi circuit start at Rs 899 while for Bangalore-Goa it is Rs 1,599 and rest of India it is Rs 2,499. The tickets for the offer can be booked between October 21 and October 26 for travel between November 1, 2014 to December 15, 2014. The sale applies to all direct flights on SpiceJet’s domestic network. The fares charged under this offer are non-refundable (taxes and fees are refundable). Changes are permitted for a fee of Rs 2,000 plus applicable fare difference. Tata Motors’ British-based arm Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) sees sales growth in China roughly halving this year and decelerating even further next year due to a larger base of comparison and slower expansion of the world’s largest auto market. JLR opened its first overseas factory in China. By manufacturing locally, the automaker can avoid heavy import duties and price its vehicles more competitively in a fast-growing luxury car market dominated by German brands Audi, BMW and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz. The cash-strapped National Spot Exchange (NSEL) is set to be merged with its parent, Jignesh Shah-promoted Financial Technologies (India) or FTIL, with the government issuing a draft order to this effect. The order comes about a year after a Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis broke out at NSEL, leaving 13,000 investors in the lurch. The move will help resolve the payment crisis but FTIL will be hit with NSEL’s liabilities. After the order comes into effect, NSEL will be dissolved. This is likely only after two months, as the ministry has given this time to FTIL and NSEL to give suggestions and objections. The worsening asset quality, high levels of restructured loans and elevated provisioning costs - aspects that have troubled Punjab National Bank(PNB) in the last one year - continue to remain concerns. In the recent September quarter, the gross NPAs remained elevated at 5.65 percent of loans, up from 5.4 percent in the June 2014 quarter. The bank’s pile of restructured loans, at 10 percent of total loans is one of the highest among the public sector banks. Provisions for bad loans shot up 63 percent over last year. While PNB’s net profit grew 13.8 percent in the September quarter, it was mainly led by a 73 percent rise in other income. Hindustan Motors has agreed to settle claims of the West Bengal Government worth Rs 194.47 crore for additional profit on the sale of 314 acres of surplus land in its plant in the State in 2006-07. It would transfer to the Government of West Bengal rights to the non-compete fee that it was to receive from Bengal Shriram Hitech City (BSL) as a part of the land sale consideration. The West Bengal Government and Hind Motors have been at loggerheads over the claim for the last couple of years. Hind Motors had sold the land for a total of Rs 295 crore. The company had projected to make a profit of Rs 18 crore and a turnover of Rs 644 crore in the sixth year from 2006.

Nifty gains for 3rd day, ends above 7900; Wipro surges 3%

The market rallied for the third consecutive session on Tuesday with the benchmark Nifty closing above the 7900 level supported by banks, metals, auto and capital goods stocks.   The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 145.80 points to close at 26575.65 and the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 48.35 points to 7927.75. Even the BSE Midcap and Smallcap close higher, up 0.9 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. After looking at the kind of reforms announced by the government in last two days, experts expect the market to continue its upward trajectory in the days to come. The Sunday election results, then the couple of announcements that have come about for the coal as well as the diesel deregulation and the gas price hike, I think that changes the pace completely as far as the reforms are concerned, believe Nipun Mehta, founder and chief executive officer, Blue Ocean Capital Advisors. He feels there are going to be more expectations now coming in from the government between now and the finance budget about four months away. Meanwhile, in a move to decide the fate of coal blocks that were de-allocated by the Supreme Court recently, the government on Monday proposed an ordinance to allow e-auction of mines to private players while adding that state-run companies would be allocated mines directly. Auctioning of coal blocks in the next 3-4 months will be a positive for the industry, said Ravi Uppal, CEO and MD of Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL). JSPL rallied more than 7 percent followed by Sesa Sterlite with 4.4 percent gains. Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries climbed over a percent. Capital goods majors BHEL, and Larsen and Toubro rallied 4.3 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Gail India was also one of the top five gainers, up 4.4 percent. Top private sector lender ICICI Bank surged 2.6 percent while rival Axis Bank rose 1.3 percent and State Bank of India was up 0.7 percent. Tata Motors rose 1.5 percent as its subsidiary (British luxury carmaker) Jaguar Land Rover expects its China sales to grow 20 percent this year. Software services exporter Wipro climbed 3 percent ahead of earnings. CNBC-TV18 poll expects dollar revenue to jump 2.45 percent sequentially to USD 1783 million in September quarter. Shares of Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC and Hero Motocorp jumped 2-3 percent. However, ONGC and M&M dropped 2.5 percent. Reliance Industries, Infosys and Sun Pharma fell 0.5-1 percent. Coal India slipped 1.6 percent after the Cabinet recommended promulgation of an ordinance that will deal with the process of coal mine allocation of deallocated blocks. Investors of the state-run company are concerned that about the enabling clause within the ordinance that will allow commercial players in the coal mining business, once okayed. It is said this provision will serve as a threat to Coal India to ramp up its production. Earnings HDFC Bank closed flat post second quarter earnings met street expectations. The bank’s Q2 profit rose 20 percent on higher NII and other income year-on-year and asset quality was stable. But public sector lender Punjab National Bank fell 2.6 percent on lower than expected second quarter earnings. Profit grew 14 percent compared to estimates of 142 percent jump and asset quality deteriorated further with the gross non-performing assets rising sequentially (up 51 basis points Y-o-Y) to 5.65 percent from 5.48 percent. South Indian Bank dropped nearly 4 percent as the private sector lender’s second quarter net profit fell 40 percent year-on-year to Rs 76.3 crore dented by sharp jump in provisions. JSW Steel gained nearly 3 percent on beating street expectations on all parameters in second quarter earnings. The steel maker turned profitable, reporting consolidated net at Rs 748.7 crore as against loss of Rs 115.5 crore in the year-ago period. In the midcap space, PTC India Financial, Kalyani Steel, TVS Motor, PFC, Hexaware, SAIL, Apollo Tyres, BGR Energy, REC and Arvind surged 3-7 percent. However, Finacial Technologies tanked 20 percent after the government issued draft order for merger of NSEL with company, saying the entire business of NSEL will be transferred to Financial Technologies. Finance Technologies was not in favour of NSEL's merger with company. Helios and Matheson, Suzlon, Exide Industries, Jindal Saw, Zee Media and HCL Info were down 3-20 percent. About 1504 shares advanced while 1327 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange. 

HDFC Bank Q2 profit rises 20% on higher NII, other income

India's second largest private sector lender  HDFC Bank met street expectations with the second quarter net profit rising 20.1 percent to Rs 2,380 crore compared to Rs 1,982 crore in same quarter last year supported by higher other income and net interest income by impacted by higher provisions. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 23.1 percent to Rs 5,511 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 from Rs 4,476.5 crore in the year-ago period while net interest margin expanded 10 basis points sequentially to 4.5 percent from 4.4 percent. Profit was expected at Rs 2,398 crore and net interest income at Rs 5,275 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. Other income (comprising of fees & commissions, foreign exchange & derivatives, profit on sale of investments) increased 11 percent to Rs 2,047 crore from Rs 1,844 crore during the same period while operating expenses jumped 19.2 percent to Rs 3,497.90 crore from Rs 2,934.2 crore Y-o-Y. Provisions and contingencies jumped 18 percent on yearly basis (down 5.6 percent quarter-on-quarter) to Rs 455.9 crore in the quarter gone by. Asset quality was stable with the gross non-performing assets (NPA) falling to 1.02 percent in second quarter of current financial year 2014-15 compared to 1.07 percent Q-o-Q and 1.09 percent Y-o-Y. Net NPA remained unchanged at 0.3 percent on sequential as well as yearly basis. The bank said total restructure loans were at 0.1 percent of gross advances as of September 2014 as against 0.2 percent in September 2013. In absolute term, gross NPA was flat (up 14.3 percent year-on-year) at Rs 3,362 crore compared to Rs 3,356 crore on sequential basis and net NPA declined 9 percent (up 19.6 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 917.3 crore from Rs 1,007.4 crore quarter-on-quarter. Advances during the quarter grew by 21.8 percent year-on-year to Rs 3.27 lakh crore driven by domestic retail loans and wholesale loans while deposits jumped 24.8 percent to Rs 3.9 lakh crore in the same period.

Sensex up 150 pts, Bank Nifty at life high; ITC falls 1%

The Nifty sees gains for the third consecutive session retracing back to 7900 as sentiment turned positive with foreign investors returning to Indian market. Metal and cement stocks are also adding strength after the cabinet decision to introduce an ordinance to re-auction the de-allocated coal blocks which will be completed in the next 3-4 months. The Sensex is up 150.35 points at 26580.20, and the Nifty is up 45.30 points at 7924.70. About 1415 shares have advanced, 733 shares declined, and 81 shares are unchanged. The Bank Nifty is at a lifetime high today outperforming the Nifty month-to-date in October with a gain of 6.7 percent in the month versus a 0.44 percent gain for the Nifty. HDFC Bank and PNB also trade higher ahead of Q2 earnings today. Sesa Sterlite, GAIL, BHEL, NTPC and Bharti Airtel are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Coal India, ONGC, Sun Pharma, ITC and M&M. Globally, Asia is mostly lower reacting to a raft of economic data from china. GDP for Q3 in China came in at 7.3 percent slightly better than the estimated 7.2 percent but slower than the 7.5 percent in the previous quarter. September industrial data from China jumped 8 percent beating estimates but retail sales missed estimates.

Idea Cellular reports 69% rise in Q2 consolidated net profit

Idea Cellular has reported results for second quarter ended September 30, 2014. The company has posted a rise of 71.57% in its net profit at Rs 664.60 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2014 as compared to Rs 387.36 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. The company’s total income has registered a growth of 20.80% at Rs 7606.71 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 6296.45 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2013. On consolidated basis, the company’s net profit after taxes and minority interest for the quarter under review registered 68.87% growth at Rs 755.88 crore against Rs 447.61 crore in the September quarter of previous fiscal. The company’s total income has increased by 20.36% at Rs 7686.48 crore for the quarter from Rs 6385.91 crore in the similar quarter of previous year.

Sensex, Nifty maintain strong momentum; Nikkei surges 4%

Japan's Nikkei share average surged 4 percent to post its biggest daily rise since June 2013 as investors took heart from upbeat US data and the weaker yen lifted exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co. Also underpinning the market was news that Japan's USD 1.2 trillion public pension fund will likely raise its allocation to domestic stocks to about 25 percent from 12 percent at present. People familiar with the process told Reuters that a weighting in the middle of the 20-30 percent range is the main proposal for an impending reallocation of the fund's asset mix and is under final discussion within GPIF. The Nikkei share average added 578.72 points to end at 15,111.23, recouping most of the losses posted last week. Upbeat US consumer confidence supported investor sentiment and lifted risk appetites. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment unexpectedly rose in early October to its highest level since July 2007. Separate data showed groundbreaking on new homes rose more than expected last month. Traders said investors scooped up recently-battered stocks after the Nikkei tumbled 5 percent last week on concerns about faltering global growth and the stronger yen, reports Reuters.

HCC surges on bagging order worth Rs 393.08 crore

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) is currently trading at Rs. 28.40, up by 1.65 points or 6.17% from its previous closing of Rs. 26.75 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 27.75 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 29.25 and Rs. 27.55 respectively. So far 852564 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 49.00 on 01-Jul-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 11.11 on 18-Oct-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 31.50 and Rs. 26.60 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1837.38 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 43.51% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 16.03% and 40.45% respectively. Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has been awarded Rs 393.08 crore road project by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highway. This Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract is for reconstruction of 65.87 km section of NH-233 on indo Nepal Border. The scope of work includes rehabilitation, up-gradation and augmentation of the existing carriageway to two-lane with paved shoulders, construction of pavements, construction and/or rehabilitation of major and minor bridges, culverts, road intersections, interchanges, drains. HCC is a leader in engineering and construction space. The company has established a vast presence and gained recognition in the sectors of Hydro Power, Water Solutions, Transportation and Nuclear Power.

BSE Sensex up over 300 pts, Nifty strong; ONGC gains 7%

Boosted by fuel stocks, the market has opened on a strong note. The Sensex is up 341.55 points or 1.3 percent at 26450.08 and the Nifty is up 112.70 points or 1.4 percent at 7892.40. About 532 shares have advanced, 74 shares declined, and 9 shares are unchanged. The government has begun with the mother of all reforms. It has raised the gas prices to USD 5.6 per unit effective from November with a review every six months. Also, in a huge boost to public sector oil companies, diesel price deregulation finally sees the light of the day. Government has deregulated the price of diesel, linking it to global market prices. Diesel has now become cheaper by Rs 3.37. ONGC is up 7 percent while Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors are top gainers in the Sensex. The Indian rupee advanced in the early trade. It has opened higher by 24 paise at 61.20 per dollar against 61.44 Friday. Dollar gained after upbeat data restored some calm to the financial markets, prompting equities to rally back from deep losses and triggering a rise in treasury yields. Agam Gupta of Standard Chartered said, "The diesel price decontrol and the state election results will support risk appetite. Expect exporters to sell on upticks to 61.35-61.40/dollar and local government banks to be buyers of USD on dips towards 61.05-61.10/dollar. Expect the rupee to trade in the range of 61.05-61.40/dollar," he added. It was a massive victory for the BJP in Maharashtra. It came out as the single largest party in the state with 123 seats in Haryana.It created a record getting majority on its own in Haryana assembly winning 47 seats.  US stocks rallied, softening a fourth week of losses, as investors bet on further stimulus from central banks and corporations including General Electric and Morgan Stanley reported profits that topped expectations. Meanwhile Fed Chair, Janet Yellen believes that the widening inequality paused during recession, has resumed in recovery. In economic data, new-home construction climbed 6.3 percent in August, signaling improvement in the US residential real-estate market. Also the preliminary read for consumer sentiment in October came in at 86.4 versus 84.0 estimate. Asian markets gained in a broad rally on Monday. The Nikkei rebounded from four-month low while Kospi recovered from eight-month low. Nymex crude futures bounce back after a three-week fall that pulled prices to their lowest since 2012 amid abundant supply and slack demand. Brent crude too rises to 86 dollars per barrel.

Sensex, Nifty flat; TCS, HCL Tech tank 6-7% on earnings

Equity benchmarks started of Friday's trade on a positive note post yesterday's sharp cut but it could not sustain those gains. It got back to consolidation mode with the Sensex rising 2.70 points to 26002.04, and the Nifty falling 4.60 points to 7743.60. About 781 shares have advanced, 373 shares declined, and 33 shares are unchanged. Hero Motocorp gained 1.68 percent post a 58 percent jump in second quarter net profit. Bharti Airtel, M&M, ITC, HUL, Zee Entertainment (ahead of earnings) and Asian Paints rallied 1.2-1.7 percent. TCS tanked 7.41 percent on profit booking and lower than expected revenue numbers in the quarter ended September 2014. HCL Technologies crashed over 6 percent after its revenue missed expectations. Tech Mahindra was down 4.53 percent. Sesa Sterlite, Wipro, Tata Motors, Hindalco, and DLF were other losers. The Indian rupee has opened higher by 15 paise at 61.68 a dollar on Friday compared to previous day's closing value of 61.83 a dollar. Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity feesl local equity market is likely to trade sideways and will take cues from global markets for further directions. He expects the rupee to trade firm after yesterday's fall although the strength in the dollar will keep the currency under pressure. According to him, the rupee is expected to trade in the range of Rs 61.40-62.40/USD. The dollar recovered given the relative strength of the US economy and the Federal Reserve's commitment to tighten monetary policy. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed with the Nikkei falling marginally. US stocks ended little changed, with the Dow industrials recouping much of a 206-point deficit, as investors balanced worries about global growth against mostly better-than-expected US earnings and economic reports. In Europe, shares closed lower after trimming losses in late afternoon trade, tracking US markets which partially recovered after visiting correction territory, even as fears surrounding Greece's stability resurfaced. In commodities, Brent crude rises to USD 86 per barrel buoyed by robust economic data and as US gasoline inventories last week fell to their lowest in nearly two years.