Sensex gains 216 points post Gujarat exit polls; Midcap outperforms

3:30 pm Market Closing: Equity benchmarks closed higher for second consecutive session Friday after exit polls indicated BJP would win Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 216.27 points at 33,462.97 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 81.20 points at 10,333.30 while the Nifty Midcap outperformed.

About 1,589 shares advanced against 1,059 declining shares on the BSE.

3:28 pm Jaiprakash Associates in focus: The Supreme Court has granted an extension to Jaypee Associates for depositing Rs 125 crore.

Supreme Court said it would initiate contempt if JP Associates fails to deposit Rs 125 crore by January 25.

Jaypee Associates already deposited Rs 150 crore in Supreme Court on December 13.

The apex court had earlier directed JP Associates to submit Rs 125 crore by December.

3:25 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks wiped out half of its gains in late trade. The Sensex was up 169.61 points at 33,416.31 and the Nifty gained 72.40 points at 10,324.50.

About 1,547 shares advanced against 1,021 declining shares on the BSE.

3:15 pm FII View: India's domestic markets have traded on a strong note in 2017, but of late there is a sense of underlying unease, Singapore's DBS Bank said today.

While the equity markets and rupee have held their ground, the "cautious mood" is most palpable in the debt markets, the multinational banking and financial services corporation said in a daily market report.

DBS noted that 10-year bond yields climbed for a fifth consecutive month into December (6.5 percent in June 2017 to over 7.2 percent in December - one-and-a-half-year highs), with momentum strengthening due to a confluence of unfavourable factors on both the demand and supply front.

In the immediate term, some consolidation at highs is likely as much of the negativity has been priced in, it observed.

Eyes are on upcoming event risks -- two state election results due on 18 December (stakes are higher in Gujarat), the winter parliament session, November trade numbers, and fiscal developments, which will dictate near-term action, believes DBS.

3:08 pm Listing: After closing the initial public offering with good subscription, Future Supply Chain Solutions is all set to list on exchanges on December 18. The issue price is fixed at Rs 664 per share.

The public issue of the logistics arm of Future Group was subscribed 7.56 times during December 6-8, 2017.

The Rs 650-crore public issue had received bids for 5.18 crore shares against the total IPO size of more than 68.49 lakh scrips.

The reserved portion of qualified institutional buyers was oversubscribed 12.36 times, non-institutional investors 11.15 times and retail 3.28 times.

2:58 pm GST meet tomorrow: The all-powerful GST Council will meet tomorrow to discuss early implementation of e-way bill as well as ways to plug tax evasion.

Headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the meeting will be held via video conferencing and deliberate on cementing gaps in the system as well as curbing evasion, sources said.

The meeting assumes importance as there has been Rs 12,000 crore revenue decline in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in October over the preceding month and tax evasion is considered one of the reasons for this, they said.

This would be the 24th meeting of the Council. The last  meeting was held in Guwahati in November where taxes on 178 items were slashed.

2:48 pm Order Win: Eveready Industries India today said it has received Rs 23.85 crore worth orders for supply of ceiling fans and smart LED luminaires from EESL and Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

The company has bagged a Rs 22.14 crore order for design, manufacture and supply of ceiling fans on pan India basis from EESL, the company said in a BSE filing.

Besides, it has received a Rs 1.71 crore order from Kolkata Municipal Corporation for supply of outdoor LED street lighting luminaires.

2:40 pm Buzzing: Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals Corporation shares gained 4 percent intraday after the Arbitration Tribunal has rejected GAIL's claim of Rs 357 crore against the company.

The Gas Authority of India had claimed the amount in respect of supply of domestic natural gas for period July 2006-May 2014, alleging usage for manufacture of products other than urea.

While clarifying its stance, Deepak Fertilizers said as per industrial license, utilisation of gas since the company's inception was for its integrated NPK fertiliser complex. The company was never engaged in the manufacture of urea despite which the dispute was referred to arbitration, it added.

Accepting the company's stand, the Arbitration Tribunal had earlier rejected the claim under 2006 contract amounting to Rs 244 crore.

"The final award in the arbitration proceedings is received now and the entire claim of Rs 357 crore by GAIL is rejected for want of merits, besides being time barred," Deepak Fertilizers said.

2:28 pm Europe Trade: European stocks moved lower, with sentiment curbed by concerns over plans to overhaul the tax system in the US.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was off by 0.21 percent with most sectors trading in negative territory.

2:25 pm Pledged shares released: Jubilant Foodworks gained over 1.5 percent as its promoter has released their pledged 9.82 lakh shares on December 11.

2:20 pm Maruti at new high: Maruti Suzuki India shares touched a fresh all-time high of Rs 9,237, rising 1.3 percent intraday after the global brokerage house raised target price sharply.

While maintaining a buy call on the stock, Citi has increased its price target to Rs 10,600 (from Rs 9,400 per share earlier), implying 16 percent from Thursday's closing price.

The research house also raised earnings per share estimates by 3-5 percent.

This was the third global brokerage house that raised target price on the stock, after Morgan Stanley and CLSA.

2:08 pm Jindal Steel & Power in focus: JSPL shares rose over 2 percent as promoter has released pledge on their 51.5 lakh shares (0.6 percent of paid-up equity) on December 7.

2:05 pm Buzzing: State-run power equipment maker BHEL gained more than 2 percent as CNBC-TV18 reports quoting agencies said that the company won an EPC contract worth Rs 7,300 crore to set-up 1,320 MW power project.

1:58 pm Index Changes: Yes Bank gained 3 percent and IndusInd Bank was up 0.3 percent as both stocks will be included in the BSE Sensex 30 from Monday.

Pharma companies - Lupin and Cipla will be excluded.

1:50 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices remained strong but were off day's high a bit as investors still looked cautious ahead of outcome of Gujarat state elections on December 18.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 244.15 points at 33,490.85 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 82.10 points to 10,334.20.

About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

1:46 pm Advance Tax: Private sector lender Yes Bank paid an advance tax of Rs 795 crore for October-December quarter, up 30 percent over year-ago, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting Cogencis.

1:36 pm Tyre companies extend gains: Apollo Tyres, MRF, JK Tyre and Ceat gained 3-10 percent.

12:58 pm Project Win: The GMR Group today said it along with its partner Philippines-based Megawide Construction Corporation emerged as the lowest bidder for the USD 250 million Clark International Airport project in the southeast Asian nation.

Clark airport is being developed by Government of Philippines through a hybrid model with EPC and O&M tenders being issued separately.

According to a statement issued by GMR, the EPC project scope involves design, construction, testing and commissioning of a new terminal with a capacity of eight million passengers per annum.

The consortium will construct the integrated terminal along with specified landside facilities like car parks. The Consortium expects to receive the Notice of Award within  one week, it said.

12:45 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained strong with all sectoral indices trading higher after exit polls indicated BJP would win Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 318.90 points at 33,565.60 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 102.90 points to 10,355.

About 1,706 shares advanced against 708 declining shares on the BSE.

12:33 pm Bond Auction: Leading bourse National Stock Exchange (NSE) will on Monday auction investment limits for overseas investors for purchase of government bonds worth over Rs 3,000 crore.

The auction will be conducted on NSE's e-bid platform from 1530 hrs to 1730 hrs after the close of market hours, the exchange said in a circular.
The auction quota gives overseas investors the right to invest in debt up to the stipulated limit.

Till yesterday, the total investment in the corporate debt category reached Rs 1,86,626 crore, which is 98.38 percent of the total permitted threshold of Rs 1,89,700 crore, as per the latest update with depositories.

12:23 pm Customs Duty Raised: The Finance Ministry has raised customs duty on some electronic items including television, mobile phone, projector and water heater in order to boost domestic manufacturing.

As per a government notification, customs duty on television set has been increased to 15 percent from the existing 10 percent.

Similarly, the duty on monitors and projectors has been doubled to 20 percent, said the notification issued by Department of Revenue of the ministry.

For the push button telephone or mobile, the duty has been raised to 15 per cent from nil while water heater and hair dressing instrument duty has been doubled to 20 per cent.

Customs duty on some other items like electric filament and discharge lamps was also tweaked.

12:12 pm Buzzing: Adani Group stocks continued to see buying interest in afternoon, possibly after Gujarat assembly exit polls.

Adani Ports, Adani Enterprises, Adani Transmission and Adani Power rallied 2-3 percent.

12:01 pm MCLR cut: Public sector lender Corporation Bank today said it has reduced its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 0.1 percentage point for overnight loan maturities.

The bank has cut the overnight MCLR by 0.1 percent to 7.80 percent.

The tenor-based MCLR, for all new rupee loans and advances including renewals, is to come into effect from December 15, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

For the rest of the tenors, the bank has kept the MCLR unchanged.

11:45 am Record highs: HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki hit fresh record highs today, rising 2.6 percent, 2.1  percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

11:35 am IPO opens: Gujarat-based kraft paper manufacturer, Astron Paper and Board Mill has opened its Rs 70-crore initial public offering (IPO) for subscription today.

The company has set a price band of Rs 45-50 per equity share for the same. The issue will close on December 20, 2017.

With 1,40,00,000 equity shares of face value of Rs. 10 each, at the upper end of the price band, the firm could be looking to raise Rs 70 crore through the issue.

''The issue also comprises of reservation of up to 7,00,000 equity shares for subscription by eligible employees (the ''employee reservation portion''),'' the company said in a statement.

The company plans to use the proceeds for setting additional facilities to make Kraft Paper with lower GSM ranging from 80 to 180 GSM and lower B.F ranging from 12 B.F to 20 B.F, part repayment of unsecured loan, funding the working capital requirements of the company and general corporate purposes.

11:20 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained strong but came off early highs. Investors await the outcome of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections due on December 18, though exit polls announced on Thursday indicated BJP win in both states.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 278.07 points at 33,524.77 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 91.30 points to 10,343.40.

About 1,666 shares advanced against 616 declining shares on the BSE.

11:05 am Winter Session of Parliament Begins: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hoped the Winter Session of Parliament will be a productive one with constructive debates and innovative suggestions that will help resolve the country's problems.

The government is expected to table 25 pending bills and 14 new ones, including a bill providing Muslim women the right to seek maintenance in case of triple talaq, during the session which begins today.

10:45 am Gold Drops: Gold prices declined by Rs 55 to Rs 28,300 per 10 grams in futures trade today due to profit-booking by speculators amid a weak global trend.

Gold for delivery in far-month April fell Rs 55, or 0.19 percent, to Rs 28,300 per 10 grams, in a modest business turnover of one lot at the Multi Commodity Exchange.

Also, gold for delivery in February contracts too was trading down by Rs 51, or 0.18 percent, at Rs 28,266 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 145 lots.

10:28 am Buzzing: Zee Entertainment gained nearly a percent on positive sentiment after Walt Disney Co on Thursday agreed to buy film, television and international businesses from Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox Inc for USD 52.4 billion in stock.

Motilal Oswal has maintained buy call on the stock with increased price target of Rs 690 from Rs 630 per share.

10:15 am FII View: Indranil Sengupta of Bank of America Merrill Lynch said the research house continued to advise investors to play consumption over investment in the run up to the summer 2019 polls.

Farm loan waivers, in particular, should double to USD 40 billion from USD 20 billion so far, he feels.

This, along with a possible La Nina, will help support rural demand, he said.

Second, States will likely speed up the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission and the Center will also want to extend it to public sector undertakings by the 2019 polls, Sengupta feels.

This will likely add a consumption stimulus of 0.2-0.5 percent of GDP for the next 2 years, he said. Finally, he expects Union Budget 2018 to raise the income tax exemption limit.

10:01 am Listing: Ahmedabad-based multispeciality hospital chain operator Shalby started off first trade at Rs 243.80 on the National Stock Exchange, a 1.7 percent discount to issue price of Rs 248 per share.

Though soon after listing it recovered to hit a day's high of Rs 254.80 (up 2.74 percent), it continued to hover around issue price.

9:55 am Rupee Trade: The rupee jumped 19  paise to 64.15 against the dollar today on exit poll findings that the BJP is set to win in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections.

According to the findings released yesterday, the BJP is set to retain Gujarat and wrest Himachal Pradesh from the Congress. This led to a ripple effect on the stock market, which zoomed, impacting in turn the rupee sentiment.

The dollar lost some mojo against the euro after the European Central Bank left its policy rates and stimulus measures intact. The Bank of England, too, kept key interest rates unchanged.

Yesterday, the rupee bounced 10 paise to end at 64.34 a dollar.

9:52 am Pre-opening: Shalby Limited settled at Rs 239.70 per share in pre-opening trade on the NSE, lower compared with issue price of Rs 248.

9:47 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended rally in morning with the Sensex rising 369.38 points or 1.11 percent to 33,616.08 after the latest exit polls suggested BJP win in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

All sectoral indices were higher. Nifty Bank, Auto, Metal, PSU Bank and Realty indices gained 1-2 percent.

The 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 116.10 points or 1.13 percent to 10,368.20. About 1,542 shares advanced against 338 declining shares on the BSE.

9:41 am Market Outlook: Sanjeev Prasad of Kotak said most exit polls suggested a victory for the BJP in Gujarat. This will be received well by the market while a surprise defeat would be a large negative surprise, he feels.

In the former case, he sees a modest rally and in the latter, a moderate correction as the market will also start focusing on India's weakening macro position.

India's macro has weakened significantly in the past few months, he said. The equity market seems to be much more sanguine about India's macro than the bond market, Prasad feels.

"We do not like the absolute valuations of the bulk of the market with most of the consumption stocks trading at rich valuations and discounting FY19E earnings fully and even FY20 in several cases," he said.

9:32 am Listing: Multi-specialty hospital chain Shalby, which recently concluded its Rs 504 crore initial public offering, will list its shares on the exchanges today.

The equity shares will be listed on the NSE as well as on the BSE.

The IPO, which opened for subscription from December 5-7, was subscribed 2.8 times at a price band of Rs 245-248 per share.

The portion set aside for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 4.47 times, high net-worth individuals 43 percent, retail investors 2.97 times and employees 1.43 times.

The initial public offer (IPO) comprised a fresh issue of shares aggregating up to Rs 480 crore and an offer for sale of up to 10 lakh equities.

Proceeds of the IPO will be utilised towards repayment of borrowings by the company, besides purchase of medical equipment for the existing, recently set-up as well as upcoming hospitals.

9:21 am Sale of pledged shares: HDFC has sold 1.29 crore shares of Unitech in the open market and invoked nearly 8.2 crore pledged shares of the crisis-hit realty firm.

HDFC has sold 1,29,19,566 shares carrying voting rights worth 0.49 percent stake, and invoked 8,19,88,820 pledged shares worth 3.13 percent stake, according to a regulatory filing.

Promoters hold 17.92 percent stake in Unitech, of which 73 percent is pledged, as per the shareholding pattern at the end of the second quarter of this fiscal.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened sharply higher on last day of the week Friday after the exit poll results indicated that the BJP is likely to be winner in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections.

The 30-sahre BSE Sensex was up 286.89 points at 33,533.59 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 91.40 points at 10,343.50. About 981 shares advanced against 185 declining shares on the BSE.

Adani Ports, Vedanta, Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto were early gainers while Kotak Mahindra Bank and Infosys were flat.

Nifty Midcap as well as Nifty Bank indices gained 1 percent each.

VIP Clothing was up 10 percent while Religare Enterprises, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Adani Power rallied 3-5 percent.