Sensex rallies 450 points; pharma, banking stocks gain

The breadth too is extremely positive, with over 1,200 advancing shares versus 230-odd declining stocks on the NSE. The broader market has also logged significant gains. The CNX Nifty Junior, Midcap and the Smallcap indices are up around 2.5 percent each. The India VIX (Volatility) index has slumped nearly 14 percent to 22.00.

The market has extended gains in the last one-hour or so of trades on the back of unabated buying in HDFC and select blue chips stocks.

HDFC alone has contributed over 150 points to the BSE index. The Sensex has now rallied 470 points to 26,185.

The NSE Nifty is now firmly trading above the 7,900-level, with a gain of 143 points at 7,935.

The India VIX (Volatility) index has slumped nearly 14 percent to 22.00.

The broader market has also logged significant gains. The CNX Nifty Junior, Midcap and the Smallcap indices are up around 2.5 percent each.

The breadth too is extremely positive, with over 1,200 advancing shares versus 230-odd declining stocks on the NSE.

Among sectors - the Realty index has zoomed 3 percent, and the Pharma index has surged 2.5 percent. All the sectoral indices are up more than a percent each.

Cairn India and HDFC have soared nearly 8 percent each to Rs. 140 and Rs. 1,186, respectively.

Vedanta has zoomed over 6 percent to Rs. 90.80. Ambuja Cements, Cipla and BPCL have rallied around 3.5 percent each.

Lupin, Kotak Bank, ONGC, Dr.Reddy's, Bank of Baroda, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Infosys are the other major gainers.

On the flip side, BHEL is the major loser, down nearly 4 percent at Rs. 231.

Bajaj Auto and Zee Entertainment are the other major losers, down over a percent each.

Mere five stocks have registered a fresh 52-week high in trades so far, while 25 stocks have touched a new 52-week low.

Aurobindo Pharma receives USFDA approval for Entecavir Tablets

The approved ANDA is bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Baraclude Tablets, 0.5mg and 1mg, of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Aurobindo Pharma Limited is pleased to announce that the company has received the final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Entecavir Tablets, 0.5mg and 1mg (ANDA 206217).

The approved ANDA is bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Baraclude Tablets, 0.5mg and 1mg, of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Entecavir Tablets are indicated for treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection of the liver. The product has an estimated market size of US$294 Million for the twelve months ending June 2015 according to IMS.

This is the 44th ANDA to be approved out of Unit VII formulation facility in Hyderabad, India for manufacturing Oral Non-Antibiotic products. Aurobindo now has a total of 209 ANDA approvals (181 Final approvals including 9 from Aurolife Pharma LLC and 28 Tentative approvals) from USFDA.

At 12:54 PM, the stock was up 3% at Rs. 745.50. The stock has hit a high of Rs. 749.85 and a low of Rs. 733.10. Total traded quantity on the counter stood at over 0.78 lk shares.

HDFC rallies on buzz of HDFC Life IPO

HDFC Life is likely to divest 25 percent stake in the planned public offering.

HDFC is trading on a bouyant note on the on buzz of likely IPO of its subsidairy, HDFC Life.

According to reports, HDFC Life is likely to divest 25 percent stake in the planned public offering.

HDFC holds around 61.65 percent equity in HDFC Life.

The stock continues to trade near the highs of the day, and is now up over 6 percent at Rs. 1,170. The counter has seen trades of around 72,000 shares as against the two-week daily average volume of around 197,000 shares on the BSE.

Meanwhile, the Sensex the surged 329 points to 26,043.

Jaiprakash Associates Surges 6% on Buzz of Selling Cement Plant

Jaiprakash Associates shares advanced nearly 6 per cent to hit intraday high of Rs 9.22 on reports that Aditya Birla group company, Ultratech Cement was nearing an agreement with Jaiprakash Associates to acquire its cement plant in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh.

Bloomberg reported that the deal for the sale of Bhilai plant is pegged between Rs 600-700 crore and the plant has capacity to produce 2.2 million tonnes of cement on an annual basis.

The deal if goes through will be beneficial for Jaiprakash Associates to cut down its mounting debt. During the financial year FY14-15 Jaiprakash Associates had total debt of over Rs 61,284 crore.

As of 9:59 a.m., shares in Jaiprakash Associates traded 4 per cent higher at Rs 9.06.

Dow Surges Over 600 Points, Posts Biggest Gain Since 2008

Wall Street racked up its biggest one-day gain in four years on Wednesday as fears about China's economy gave way to bargain hunters emboldened by expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve might not raise interest rates next month.

Led by Silicon Valley stalwarts Apple, Amazon and Google, the surge put the brakes on a six-day losing streak that saw the S&P 500 surrender 11 per cent.

In a sign that a faltering Chinese economy and slumping global financial markets could affect U.S. monetary policy, New York Fed President William Dudley said the prospect of a September rate hike seemed "less compelling" than it was just weeks ago.

All 10 major S&P 500 sectors jumped, led by a dizzying 5.3 per cent jump in the technology index, its largest one-day rise since 2009.

Some of the late-day rally was driven by short-term traders, including many who had bet the market would fall and rushed to cut their losses, said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc in San Antonio.

A strong rally on Tuesday had evaporated in the final minutes of trading and turned negative.

"A lot of people were anticipating the last half of the day would roll over and fall off and that hasn't happened," Matousek said. "You could see the buying accelerating at mid-day and people saying 'I'm wrong', and starting to cover their shorts."

The Dow Jones industrial average finished 3.95 per cent higher at 16,285.51. Its gain of 619.07 points was its biggest since 2008.

The S&P 500 gained 3.9 per cent to 1,940.51 and the Nasdaq Composite added 4.24 per cent to end at 4,697.54.

Dudley's dovish comments came even after data on Wednesday that appeared to strengthen the case for a rise in interest rates at a Fed policy meeting on Sept 16-17.

Durable goods orders rose 2 per cent in July, compared with analysts' average forecast of a 4 per cent fall. Orders for core capital goods, a proxy for business investment, rose 2.2 per cent in the biggest gain in 13 months.

Shares in Apple, which had taken a beating in recent weeks because of concern about demand in China for iPhones, provided the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite index, jumping 5.73 per cent to $109.69.

Up to Tuesday's close, the Dow had lost 10.71 per cent in the past six trading days and the Nasdaq composite had shed 11.5 per cent.

The S&P is now down 5.8 per cent in 2015.

"We're still in a period of searching," said Kurt Brunner, a portfolio manager at Swarthmore Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "You have more people taking advantage of upside. But we're in for some sloppy trading and I don't think it's over today. I don't think it's a straight shot up."

The recent pummelling in U.S. shares reduced valuations some investors had seen as pricey. The S&P 500's valuation was down to about 14.8 times expected earnings as of Tuesday's close, compared to around 17 for much of 2015 and below a 15-year average of 15.7, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data, the most recent available.

Google surged 7.72 per cent after Goldman Sachs raised its rating to "buy" from "neutral". Amazon jumped 7.38 per cent.

After the bell, Apple supplier Avago Technologies posted fiscal third-quarter earnings per share that beat analysts' expectations and its shares rose 2 per cent.

During Wednesday's session, NYSE advancing issues outnumbered decliners 2,474 to 646. On the Nasdaq, 2,136 issues rose and 713 fell.

Underscoring the market's frailty, the S&P 500 index showed no new 52-week highs and 28 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded five new highs and 142 new lows.

Volume was heavy, with about 10.5 billion shares traded on U.S. exchanges, far above the 7.6 billion average this month, according to BATS Global Markets. 

Asia Stocks Take Heart from Wall Street Rally, China Gains

Tokyo: Asian stocks extended gains on Thursday as a sharp rebound on Wall Street and gains in battered Chinese shares eased fears of a deep and protracted global market rout, while the dollar rallied as risk aversion eased.

Sentiment was also supported by comments from New York Fed President William Dudley on Wednesday who said the prospect of a September rate hike "seems less compelling" than it was only weeks ago given the threat posed to the U.S. economy by recent market turmoil.

Still, some investors remained on edge, after European shares slid nearly 2 per cent overnight and ahead of more readings on China's factory and services sector activity early next week.

Markets around the world plunged earlier in the week as a slump in Shanghai shares fuelled worries over China's economic health, but some calm returned after Beijing rolled out strong policy easing steps late on Tuesday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.8 per cent, pulling away from a three-year low hit earlier in the week.

Chinese shares, the epicentre of recent financial market tremors, rose in early trading, with the CSI300 index adding 2.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index gaining 2.1 per cent. The indexes had plunged more than 20 per cent over the past week.

Tokyo's Nikkei rose 1.8 per cent, adding to the previous day's 3.2 per cent gain, after U.S. stocks racked up their biggest one-day gain in four years.

Ironically, U.S. stocks rallied on Wednesday on expectations that the Fed will hold off from hiking interest rates next month due to mounting global uncertainties, including China - the very factors that prompted heavy selling in the previous sessions.

"The market has started to price in this prospect while the current level provides a good short-term rebound opportunity," said Shigemitsu Tsuruta, senior strategist at SMBC Friend Securities, referring to speculation that the Fed will decide to wait.

Chinese shares ended lower in the previous session as a double-barrelled blast of central bank stimulus failed to convince investors of Beijing's ability to jolt the world's second-biggest economy out of its slowdown.

In currencies, the dollar dipped briefly overnight after Dudley's comments on the chances of a September rate hike.

However, he warned about overreacting to "short-term" market moves, and left the door ajar to raising rates when the U.S. central bank holds a policy meeting on Sept. 16-17.

The greenback subsequently rallied as ebbing risk aversion reduced demand for the yen and euro, which had been bought as safe haven plays during the recent equity selling.

The dollar got an additional boost from upbeat U.S. durable orders data, which backed the view that the Fed would remain on track to eventually raise interest rates as the U.S. economy continues to recover.

Against the Japanese currency, the greenback fetched 120.16 yen, up 0.2 per cent from U.S. levels and recovering from a seven-month low of 116.15 plumbed on Monday

The euro was up about 0.1 per cent at $1.1327 after losing 1.7 per cent overnight, knocked further away from a seven-month peak of $1.1715 scaled on Monday.

The common currency was also hurt by comments from a senior European Central Bank official. Peter Praet said the risk of the ECB missing its inflation target has increased due to commodity price falls and weakness in some overseas economies.

Crude oil rebounded amid a general thaw in global risk aversion. U.S. crude futures bounced 2.3 per cent to $39.50 a barrel. The contracts had slumped to a 6-1/2-year low on Monday, dogged by supply glut woes and worries of a hard landing by China's economy. Brent added 2.4 per cent to $44.16.

Gold took back some lost ground after suffering its biggest fall in five weeks overnight as the dollar rebounded and U.S. stocks rallied. Spot gold rose about 0.3 per cent to $1,127.50 an ounce.

Sensex Soars 450 Points, Nifty Regains 7,900: 10 Developments

BSE Sensex and Nifty were sharply higher in early trade on Thursday, tracking gains in global markets. Asian markets were sharply higher following a rebound on Wall Street overnight. Dalal Street however is likely to remain choppy as derivatives for the August series expire today.

Here are the top 10 developments:

1) The Sensex rose as much as 455 points at its day's high while Nifty hit 7,930.80. The rupee rose to 65.88 /dollar today in early trade as compared to yesterday's close of 66.14.

2) Asian stocks were higher after a sharp rebound on Wall Street helped soothe investors' tattered nerves.

3) Stock markets around the world had tumbled earlier in the week as a slump in Shanghai shares fuelled worries over China's economic health, but some calm returned after Beijing rolled out strong policy easing steps late on Tuesday.

4) China markets were also higher today with benchmark index Shanghai Composite trading 1.6 per cent higher. In the previous six days, China shares slumped over 22 per cent, pulling down markets across the globe.

5) US stocks snapped a six-day losing streak on Wednesday after one of the most senior officials in the Fed said the turmoil that has gripped world financial markets had weakened the case for a rate rise in September. Overnight, the Dow Jones industrial average surged 3.95 per cent higher at 16,285.51. Its gain of 619.07 points was its biggest since 2008.

6) However, worries that a slowdown in China, the world's second-largest economy, could stall world growth still haunted the policymakers even after another rate cut by Beijing.

7) William Dudley, the head of the New York branch of the Fed and one of the most influential members of its monetary policy board, on Wednesday said the reasons for a rate hike in September had faded. "The slowdown in China could lead... to a slower global growth rate and less demand for the US economy," he said.

8) Analysts say that unless selling pressure from foreign institutional investors abates, Indian markets are unlikely to gain a steady footing. Foreign institutional investors hold nearly 25 per cent of BSE 200 stocks.

9) Foreign investors sold Indian shares worth Rs 2345.77 crore on Wednesday. This takes their total selling to nearly Rs 13,500 crore in the previous five sessions.

10) In contrast, domestic investors bought stocks worth Rs 1881.08 crore on Wednesday. They have been big buyers of Indian stocks for the last four days, offering some support to Sensex and Nifty.