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.