L&T gains as foreign brokerage reiterates buy rating

CLSA has reiterated 'buy' rating on the stock with a target of Rs. 2,275 per share. So far, the stock has touched an intra-day high at Rs. 1,879 on the BSE.

Larsen & Toubro continues to trade on a positive note on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), on the back of positive news flow.

According to media reports, CLSA has reiterated 'buy' rating on the stock with a target of Rs. 2,275 per share.

So far, the stock has touched an intra-day high at Rs. 1,879, and is now up a percent at Rs. 1,875.

The counter has seen trades of around 21,000 shares as against the two-week daily average volume of 163,000 shares.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex has jumped 214 points at 28,150.

Asian Shares Tread Cautiously Before Key Events

Asian stocks inched cautiously higher on Wednesday, taking their cue from Wall Street ahead of key events including Chinese economic data, a Bank of Japan policy decision and congressional testimony by the U.S. Federal Reserve chief.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock index advanced 0.5 percent in early trade.

Greece remained in the news as Athens will vote on a sweeping austerity package to secure the funding it needs to stem its fiscal crisis and remain in the euro zone.

Ahead of that, China's second quarter gross domestic product will be the main Asian spotlight, expected to be released around 0200 GMT.

The Chinese data will be followed by the Bank of Japan's regular policy decision, likely to be out between 0230-0500 GMT, with no shift expected. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will speak at 0630 GMT.

"The market median (for China growth) is 6.8 percent. Nominal GDP however could improve a touch with the weak price environment producing a negative deflator," said strategists at Westpac.

"A steady outcome would help support sentiment after the recent volatile price action in equities," they added, referring to the savage correction that shaved about 30 percent off share market value since last month, before Beijing's support steps stemmed the freefall.

Congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday will be closely monitored for any further hints regarding the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike, particularly after a surprise fall in U.S. retail sales on Tuesday.

Core retail sales slipped 0.1 percent, much worse than economists' forecasts for a 0.4 percent rise.

The unexpected drop backed the view that the Fed might hold off on hiking rates, which gave Wall Street a lift. All three major indexes ended higher.

The downbeat data pushed down Treasury yields, which in turn weighed on the dollar. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes was last at 2.390 percent, down from its U.S. close of 2.399 percent on Tuesday.

The dollar edged down 0.1 percent on the day to 123.32 yen, while the euro was steady at $1.1006.

Crude futures were higher after it became apparent that a nuclear deal between Tehran and six global powers will not immediately remove sanctions placed on Iranian crude exports.

U.S. crude was up about 0.5 percent at $53.28 a barrel.

Stock Talk: Prakash Diwan on Maruti Suzuki, Aban Offshore, Tata Motors

The BSE Sensex jumped nearly 200 points, while the broader Nifty edged past the key 8,500 levels on Wednesday. Domestic equities tracked global markets that reacted positively to the Iran nuclear deal.
 
Market Outlook
Prakash Diwan of Altamount Capital Management says markets have not digested the slew of positive global outcomes (Greece and Iran deals). Markets have enough legs for momentum and real buying is happening in broader markets, he added. Mr Diwan expects the Nifty to edge higher to 8,750-8,780 over the short term.

Market analyst Rajat Bose says Nifty is likely to trade in a broad range of 8,200-8,550; as long as 8,450 is held, there is no reason for concern.

Stock Talk
Tata Motors: The stock has faced heavy selling amid concerns about Jaguar Land Rover sales in China. Mr Diwan says he will buy Tata Motors at current levels. However, Mr Bose expects Tata Motors to fall to Rs 370- Rs 360. He said investors should not buy the stock.

Zee Entertainment: The media company will surprise the Street with its Q1 earnings, Mr Diwan said. A re-test of Rs 375-Rs 380 is on the cards and investors should buy the stock with a target of Rs 386, said Mr Bose.

Aban Offshore: The stock jumped 16 per cent yesterday and is up another 5 per cent today. Mr Bose says there's more upside left in the stock. Mr Diwan said investors, who have Aban Offshore in their portfolio, should continue with the investment.

BHEL: Mr Bose says the stock is looking strong on the charts and expects BHEL to hit Rs 285.

Coal India: Mr Bose expects the stock to hit Rs 448. Investors should buy with a stop loss at Rs 435, he said.

Maruti Suzuki: Mr Diwan says the stock has made a decisive move from Rs 3,600 to Rs 4,100. Maruti is facing no competition even in the premium segment, he added. Mr Diwan expects Maruti's latest offering - SX Cross - to be a success.

Sun TV: Mr Diwan says investors should stay away from the stock. Zee Entertainment is a better option, he added.

Alstom T&D: Mr Diwan says it is a good stock to accumulate as it is insulated from day-to-day market volatility due to low liquidity. Government's plan to revive the power sector augurs well for the stock.

Pennar Inds jumps over 3%

So far, the stock has climbed to a high at Rs. 57 on the BSE.

Pennar Industries is trading on a gung-ho note in early morning deals on the BSE, after media reported that subsidiary Pennar Engineered Building Systems has received approval from market regulator Sebi to float an initial public offer (IPO).

The stock rallied to a high of Rs. 57, and is now up 3.2 percent at Rs. 56.50.

The counter has seen trades of around 57,000 shares, as against the two-week daily average volume of 178,000 shares.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex has jumped 177 points at 28,110.

5 key takeaways from Iran's nuclear deal

The deal is being termed as "historic", and is a result of nearly 20 months of negotiations. USA President Barack Obama, while maintaining that the deal was one of the biggest diplomatic coup of his term of presidency, remained cautious as he said that the agreement is “not built on trust — it is built on verification.”

Iran and super powers of the world like Germany, United States and Russia among others, have arrived at a major nuclear deal, that will lift economic sanctions from Iran in lieu of its commitment to stop work on building nuclear bombs. The deal is being termed as "historic", and is a result of nearly 20 months of negotiations. USA President Barack Obama, while maintaining that the deal was one of the biggest diplomatic coup of his term of presidency, remained cautious as he said that the agreement is “not built on trust — it is built on verification.”

Below are 5 major takeaways from the deal

Restriction:  Iran will reduce the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges it has from almost 20,000 to 6,104. It will also cut the number of "in-use" reactors from 10,000 to half that. Moreover, it will reduced the current stockpile of low enriched uranium by nearly 98% in the process.

Breakout time: This is the time required to produce enough weapons-grade uranium (WGU) for one nuclear weapon. Iran currently had the breakout time of nearly three months. With the current deal and the reduction in the number of centrifuges as well as the uranium stockpile, the breakout time will extend to nearly one year, say analysts.

Adherence to sanctions: If Tehran is found violating any norms of the deal, the eight member panel consisting of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, the European Union and Iran itself, will agree to snap back all sanctions in place. An arms embargo will stand for five years and restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile programs for eight. The reactor at Arak would be redesigned so it can’t produce plutonium for nuclear weapons.

New Horizon: Iran hopes for a better economic condition after the severe sanctions had crippled the local currency, rial, which caused inflation. South America and the European countries of Germany, Italy and France were in favour of lifting the sanctions as they would be able to resume export consumer products like cars and apparel to Iran in that event.

Oil: Iran is OPEC's fourth-largest oil producer. Going by few estimates, it has millions of barrels of oil that can be exported to needy countries. This new stock is bound to have an effect on oil prices, with many analysts agreeging that the prices will eventually fall.  

Stocks in focus today

Check out the companies which will be in focus during trade today based on recent and latest news developments

Lupin: The company is seeking shareholders approval to increased authorised shares capital, says a report.

Sun TV Ltd: The stock could suffer as Sun Group's application to participate in the next-stage FM radio auctions has been rejected.

Pennar Industries Ltd: Gains could be in store as Pennar Engineered Building Systems has received nod from Sebi for IPO.

L&T Finance Ltd: L&T Finance has acquired a 26 % stake in Grameen Capital India.

Phoenix Mills: The company has approved closing of QIP issue at a price of Rs353.60 per share

DLF Ltd: DLF may raise about Rs 2,500-3,000 crore by next month via private equity.

India Cements Ltd: The stock could continue to see weakness even though India Cements Ltd (ICL), which owns the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchisee prepares to move Supreme Court against suspending CSK from IPL for two years.

Tata Motors Ltd:  The fall in Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) sales in UK and Europe for June could keep the stock under pressure.

ONGC: Iran's historic nuclear deal will aid the company as some deals could take place as far as ONGC-discovered Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf is concerned.

Coal India Ltd: The stock which is at a 52-week high could remain in demand even as it has decided to relinquish about three-fourths of a coal mine allotted in Mozambique.

Adhunik Metaliks Ltd: Orissa Manganese & Minerals, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, has been granted extension of lease for its three manganese ore mines (Patmunda, Orahuri and Kusumudhi) till March 31, 2020 under the merchant category.

JSPL: JSPL could see weakness after one of its promoter reportedly pledged 3.49% stake in the company with Axis Trustee Services Ltd.

PVR Ltd: PVR has opened a seven-screen multiplex at VED Transcube Plaza, taking its count to three in the city.

Ashok Leyland:   Sales of its small commercial vehicle DOST, the first product to be launched under the joint venture with Nissan Motor Company, had crossed the one lakh mark.

Emami: The company  says it will continue its acquisition-led growth and offer new product lines

DCB Bank: The company announced that its Apr-Jun net profit was at Rs. 468.7 million

NIIT Tech:  The Company announced a net profit of Rs. 722.70 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 as compared to Rs. 448.20 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2014.

Engineers India: The company is looking  to set up south-east Asia hub in FY16

Ramco Systems: The company has signed multi-year global mandate with Cobham Aviation Services, an aviation solution specialist to defence, government and commercial aircraft customers.

Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd: Kerala government has handed over the letter of award (LoA) for the mega Vizhinjam port project to sole bidder Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd.

Granules India Limited: The company is now focusing on R&D and formulations and the new acquisitions are likely to reflect this new thrust in its business strategy.

GVK Power & Infrastructure: The company is now looking to raise funds for its airport business as the diversified group seeks to reduce its debt burden.

Yes Bank: The bank has received approval from RBI to set up IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) in Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) city. 

Reliance Communications: The telecom firm is building its own mobile applications as it looks to offer new and enhanced services to retail and enterprise customers. 

Wall Street Notches Fourth Straight Advance as Energy Gains

Wall Street gained for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, its longest winning streak since January, buoyed by the energy sector as oil prices rebounded from early declines.

Oil prices were initially lower on concerns a deal between Iran and six global powers would result in more supply, but turned higher after it became apparent sanctions on Tehran's crude exports would not be removed immediately.

"The big news is clearly in the oil markets and the fact there was an agreement reached," said David Lefkowitz, senior equity strategist at UBS Wealth Management Americas in New York.

"There is still, frankly, a lot of uncertainty about exactly what it will do in terms of oil supply."

The S&P energy sector advanced 0.8 per cent, led by a 0.8 per cent gain in Exxon Mobil Corp to $83.11. Brent settled up 1.1 per cent to $58.51 and U.S. crude settled up 84 cents to $53.04 a barrel.

Gains were broad, with nine of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors ending higher, led by a 1 per cent gain in the healthcare index. The Nasdaq biotech index jumped more than 2 per cent to hit a record high for the second time in three weeks.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75.9 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 18,053.58, the S&P 500 gained 9.35 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 2,108.95 and the Nasdaq Composite added 33.38 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 5,104.89.

Investors have shifted focus to corporate profits as the pace of quarterly results begins to pick up speed, diverting attention from the debt crisis in Greece and the massive selloff in Chinese stocks.

U.S. companies are expected to report their worst sales decline in nearly six years when they post second-quarter results, while earnings are expected to have fallen 2.8 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters estimates.

JPMorgan and Wells Fargo helped lift financials by 0.4 per cent after posting quarterly results. JPMorgan rose 1.4 per cent to $69.04 and Wells Fargo climbed 0.9 per cent to $57.25.

Twitter jumped as much as 8.5 per cent after a false report, attributed to Bloomberg LP, that the social media company received an offer to be acquired for $31 billion. Bloomberg and Twitter said the report was fake and the stock ended the session up 0.9 per cent at $36.72.

Micron Technology jumped as much as 12.7 per cent to $19.84 and was the biggest gainer on the S&P 500. China's state-backed Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd is preparing a $23 billion bid for the U.S. memory chip maker, Reuters reported, in what would be the biggest Chinese takeover of a U.S. company.

NYSE advancing issues outnumbered declining ones 1,934 to 1,089; on the Nasdaq, 1,769 issues rose and 1,032 fell.

The S&P 500 posted 44 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows while the Nasdaq recorded 137 new highs and 34 new lows.

Volume was light, with about 5.5 billion shares traded on U.S. exchanges, well below the 6.8 billion average so far this month, according to data from BATS Global Markets.

Nifty to Open in Green Ahead of Key Greek Vote on Bailout Deal

9:00 a.m.: Rupee opens higher at 63.36/dollar against Tuesday's close of 63.39.

8:45 a.m.:Rajat Bose, independent technical analyst says that Nifty is likely to trade in a range and for this clearing Nifty will not move beyond 8,550.

8:40 a.m.: Bank of America Merrill Lynch has maintained its buy call on State Bank of India for target price of Rs 375 per share. BoFAML says that the bank is well positioned to capitalize on the macro uptick and on the asset quality concerns worst seems to be behind SBI. Risk reward still seems very positive, adds BoFAML.

8:20 a.m.: Below are the stocks which will be in focus today:

Zee Entertainment: Zee Entertainment will declare its first quarter numbers later in the day. Analysts expect the company to post sales of Rs 1,287 crore compared to Rs 1,085 crore during the same period last year. Net profit is expected at Rs 219 crore compared to Rs 210 crore (YOY).

DLF: DLF will be in focus today as reports suggest that the company is in talks with Singapore government's investment arm GIC to raise Rs 3,000 crore by selling its 49 per cent stake in new residential project in Delhi. Deal is likely to be closed by next month.

Tata Motors: Tata Motors may face some selling pressure as its subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover reported flat sales for the month of June. JLR retail volumes came in flat at 39,602 units. Sales in its biggest market China declined by 46 per cent to 6,242 units (YoY).

Lupin: Lupin has sought for shareholders nod for issuing securities worth Rs 7,500 crore.

India Cements: India Cements will move Supreme Court against suspension of Chennai Super Kings from Indian Premier League.

Jindal Steel: JSPL's promoters have pledged 3.4 per cent stake with Axis Trustee Services.

NHPC: NHPC has raised Rs 1,475 crore by issuing long term 'T' series bonds.

Century Ply: Century Ply has incorporated a new entity in Indonesia.

8:10 a.m.: The foreign institutional investors purchased Indian shares worth Rs 269.9 crore while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 130 crore.

In the derivatives segment, the FIIs purchased index futures worth Rs 890 crore and sold stock futures worth Rs 430 crore.

7:50 a.m.: The Sensex and Nifty are likely to open on a positive note ahead of number of global events which are due later in the day. The Nifty traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange also known as the SGX Nifty was up 0.2 per cent indicating a positive start for the Indian markets.

However, the markets are likely to trade cautiously take ahead of global events which are due to take place later in the day. Greece Parliament will vote on a sweeping austerity package to secure the funding it needs to stem its fiscal crisis and remain in the euro zone.

Chinese economic data, Bank of Japan's policy decision and congressional testimony by the U.S. Federal Reserve chief are also some events which market participants would watch out for