Sensex up over 250 pts, Nifty at 8800; banks, IT, FMCG gain

1:45 pm Subsidy share: The Oil Ministry proposed a new subsidy sharing proposal by which upstream companies ONGC and Oil India would not make any contributions towards subsidy burden if crude prices are at or below USD 60 per barrel. The companies, however, take upon 85 percent of the burden if crude ranged between USD 60 and 100 and 90 percent if oil stays above USD 100.

In an interview Sudhir Vasudeva, former chairman and managing director, ONGC says the government should instead fix the price at USD 65 vis-a-vis 60 per barrel.

1:30 pm Downgrades: Shares of KEC International slumped over 12 percent intraday after it posted disappointing December quarter results. Its consolidated total income fell 6.7 percent to Rs 2053 crore while EBITDA was down 26.2 percent at Rs 104.6 crore.

Sales was driven by strong cable sales offset by weaker transmission and distribution (T&D) and railways revenue. The company was expected to report a recovery in Q3 EBITDA margins. However, during the quarter, its net profit was up at Rs 66.4 crore from Rs 19.2 crore year-on-year.

Barclays downgraded the stock to underweight from overweight and lowered target price by 40 percent to Rs 73 from Rs 121 per share. It warns that there is a limited visibility of a margin turnaround post the deterioration in margins from Q2 while exposure to the Middle East and international business is a concern.

1:20 pm Market check: The market has started to rally with boosts from bank, IT and FMCG stocks. The Sensex is up 257.75 points or 0.9 percent at 29140.86 and the Nifty is up 76.85 points or 0.9 percent at 8800.About 1306 shares have advanced, 1342 shares declined, and 243 shares are unchanged.

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It is a good day of consolidation as the Sensex is up 126.33 points at 29009.44. The Nifty is up 36.75 points at 8760.45. About 1273 shares have advanced, 1342 shares declined, and 230 shares are unchanged.

Wipro is up 3 percent while HDFC, Axis Bank, Infosys and Coal India are top gainers in the Sensex. Metals & oil stocks drag. Among the losers are Tata Power, ONGC, Sesa Sterlite, M&M and Hindalco.

Oil markets edged lower after big losses in the previous session as record high oil inventories in the United States had cut short a four-day rally.Prices had gained in early trade on optimism that steps by China's central bank to pour fresh liquidity into the world's second-biggest economy by lowering banks' reserve requirements would spur demand for energy.

Oil markets remain highly volatile, with US crude losing 9 percent on Wednesday in one of its biggest routs ever. In the previous four sessions, prices had rallied almost 19 percent from their lowest in nearly six years.

Sensex, Nifty consolidate; HUL up 2%, ONGC falls 2%

The market is consolidating with the Nifty hovering around 8750 levels. IT stocks support while banks continue to weigh. The Nifty is up 27.50 points at 8751.20 and the Sensex is up 115.24 points at 28998.35. About 1237 shares have advanced, 1028 shares declined, and 197 shares are unchanged.

Wipro, Axis Bank, HUL and Infosys are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Power, ONGC, GAIL, M&M and Sesa Sterlite.

Globally, Asian markets are mixed. China is higher as the People's Bank of China reduced the reserve requirement by 50 bps, the first cut in 2 years. However, volatility in oil prices and worries about Greek debt after the European Central Bank banned the use of Greek government bonds as collateral weighs.

Nifty ends below 8750, Sensex loses 117 pts; BHEL, SBI fall

03:30 Market close

The market ended in red. The Sensex is down 117.03 points at 28883.11 and the Nifty slipped 32.85 points at 8723.70. About 1332 shares have advanced, 1573 shares declined, and 236 shares are unchanged.

Axis Bank was down over 4 percent while BHEL, SBI, L&T and TCS were down 2-4 percent. On the gaining side were Hindalco, Tata Power, ONGC, Sesa Sterlite and Coal India.

03:15 pm Brokerages on TVS Motor

Shares of TVS Motor rallied 4 percent intraday though it missed street expectations on bottomline and operational front but topline was in line during October-December quarter. The two-wheeler maker’s net profit jumped 31.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 90.2 crore in Q3FY15 as against expected growth of 38 percent.

Brokerages remain bullish on the stock and suggest buying. Goldman Sachs reiterates buy rating with a target of Rs 345 per share. It reasons that Q3 margins were impacted by provisioning of Rs 16 crore pending government’s clarification on possible restriction on input VAT credit and the management is confident of 14-14.5 percent market share in Q4 (13.6 percent in Q3).

Macquarie maintains outperform rating with a target price of Rs 340 per share and expects it to register a 54 percent EPS CAGR over FY14-17E. It feels TVS Motor is well placed, given its high exposure to fast-growing segments like scooters (25 percent of revenues), premium motorcycles (11 percent), and exports (21 percent), along with a strong launch pipeline.

03:00 pm Result

Tata Power has turned profitable with consolidated net at Rs 198 crore during October-December quarter aganist loss of Rs 74.91 crore in the year-ago period.

The profit beat street expectations supported by forex gain while topline was in line. Profit was expected at Rs 134 crore for the quarter. Net sales increased 1.2 percent to Rs 8,806.6 crore in the quarter ended December 2014 from Rs 8,700 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

"Power business grew 9.8 percent year-on-year to Rs 6,545.7 crore with EBIT rising 5 percent but coal revenue fell 18 percent to Rs 2,104 crore with EBIT surging 17.4 times in Q3FY15," said the company in its filing.

02:30pm Raghuram Rajan says

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said that inflation was still a concern but added the deflationary global environment gave the central bank some elbow room with monetary policy.

"We still have concerns about inflation. Given the deflationary environment elsewhere, it's actually easier for us because we are not fighting inflation in an environment where inflation is picking up elsewhere," Rajan said in a conference call with analysts.

"So I think we are still in conventional monetary policy territory."

The comments come a day after the central bank held interest rates steady at 7.75 percent, leaving its next move probably until after the government presents its annual budget at the end of this month, reports Reuters.

02:00pm Market Check

The market remained lacklustre in afternoon trade as the Sensex hovered around 29000 level. HDFC twins, metals, healthcare and PSU oil stocks gained while banks, capital goods and auto stocks were under pressure.

The Sensex rose 7.09 points to 29007.23 and the Nifty fell 0.60 points to 8755.95. About 1372 shares have advanced, 1410 shares declined, and 239 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

There have been too many earnings disappointments for the December quarter, leading some investors to question if the India story has been hyped, says Manishi Raychaudhuri, MD and Asian Equity Strategist at BNP Securities.

In an interview says the Indian economy had already bottomed out four quarters ago and that growth prospects look much better compared to other economies. Falling commodity prices is one of the key cushions for the Indian economy, says Raychaudhuri.

ONGC was among the top gainers on the Nifty today, up 3 percent. The government is moving to iron out the subsidy sharing formula and fast track the ONGC divestment. Sources say, the oil ministry asked the government not to impose any subsidy burden on upstream companies if crude prices stayed at or less than USD 60 per barrel.

Cairn India gained 4 percent today in addition to 4 percent rally in previous session post 19 percent jump in crude oil prices in last 4 sessions. Canara Bank and Wockhardt rallied 3 percent and 7.5 percent post good third quarter earnings.

Global markets were a mixed bag today. Asian markets like Japan gained almost 2 percent while European markets like Germany fell 0.5 percent. In commodities, crude prices dropped around 2 percent after 4-day rally.   

Sensex & Nifty sluggish, Brent rises; Bharti falls 2%

1:55 pm Result: Pharmaceutical firm Wockhardt's third consolidated net profit increased 14 percent year-on-year to Rs 347 crore led by strong operational income and other income.

Consolidated total income rose 11.8 percent to Rs 1,382 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 1,236.4 crore in the year-ago period.

Operating profit (EBITDA) surged 92.4 percent on yearly basis to Rs 463 crore and operating profit margin spiked a whopping 1400 basis points to 33.5 percent in the quarter ended December 2014.

Other income jumped 4.5 times year-on-year to Rs 28.5 crore while finance cost declined to Rs 12 crore from Rs 30.5 crore during the same period.

1:45 pm Growth: India needs to grow at 7-8 percent a year to create more job opportunities for young people and double the size of the economy in 10 years, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said.

"We want to put India on sustainable non-inflationary growth trajectory of 7-8 percent growth. We need to have 7-8 percent growth to provide employment to young people that join workforce every year," Sinha said at 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit today.

"7-8 percent growth will double size of economy in the next 10 years. For this we need to build our productive capacity, but also need to ensure that our growth is sustainable," he added. The minister also stressed upon need to protect the environment.

1:30 pm Result: Canara Bank's third quarter net profit climbed 60.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 656 crore boosted by higher other income and lower provisions.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew 6.9 percent to Rs 2,380.5 crore during October-December quarter compared to Rs 2,227 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

Provisions for bad loans declined 20 percent year-on-year (up 3.4 percent sequentially) to Rs 841.3 crore during the quarter with the provision coverage ratio at 59.44 percent at the end of December 2014.

Asset quality weakened a bit during the quarter as gross non-performing assets (NPA) increased 56 basis points Y-o-Y (up 43 bps Q-o-Q to 3.35 percent and net NPA rose 3 bps year-on-year (up 11 bps sequentially) to 2.42 percent.

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The market is still flat with the Nifty managing to hold above 8750 marginally. The 50-share index is up 5.20 points at 8761.75. The Sensex is up 25.39 points at 29025.53, and the Nifty About 1323 shares have advanced, 1319 shares declined, and 242 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite is up 4 percent while ONGC gain 4 percent, Hindalco, Coal India and Tata Steel are other gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Axis Bank, BHEL, TCS, Bharti and Tata Motors.

Crude oil futures prices rose 0.96 percent to Rs 3,257 per barrel today as speculators engaged in enlarging positions, tracking a firming trend in Asian cues. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in February traded Rs 31, or 0.96 percent, higher at Rs 3,257 per barrel, with a business turnover of 19,103 lots. The oil for March also moved up by Rs 30, or 0.90 per cent, to Rs 3.334 per barrel, with a business volume of 1,040 lots.

Analysts attributed the rise in crude oil futures to a firming trend in Asia, extending gains from the previous day due to a significant decline in US drilling activity. Crude also gained strength with the dollar dropping to a one week low after some weak US factory orders data in December.