Nifty ends below 6100; banks, FMCG, consumer durables rally

4:00 pm Market closing: The Sensex ends up 143.01 points at 20302.13 while the Nifty closes the day below 6100 at 6077, up 46.00 points or 0.76% at 6077.80.

3:50 pm Movers and losers: HUL , BHEL , Sterlite Industries, ONGC and M&M are top gainers in the Sensex. Laggards of the day included Wipro , Bharti Airtel , HDFC , Coal India and Cipla . Banking, FMCG, Realty and Consumer Durables index led the rally.

3:45 pm Macro outlook: The current account deficit of the country is "peaking" but is likely to hover around 4 per cent level until 2015, says a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report, reports PTI.

"India's current account deficit is likely peaking at elevated levels. We expect it to abate from 4.8 per cent of GDP in FY2013 to 4.3 per cent in FY2014 and 3.7 per cent in FY2015," DSP Merrill Lynch India Economist Indranil Sen Gupta said in the research note. CAD, which is the difference between the outflow and inflow of foreign currency, is likely to remain above the "sustainable" level of 2.4 per cent of GDP until 2015.

3:35 pm Exclusive: Thomas Cook has puts up its Mumbai office for sale, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources. It is learnt that 10,300 sq ft office located at Nariman Point is expected to be sold for around Rs 30-32 crore. Analysts peg the current market value at Rs 30-32,000/sq ft. Sources say that the sale is part of Thomas Cook's consolidation plan. The stock closes up 4.17 percent on the BSE.

3:30 pm Buzzing: Reliance Infra ends the day at Rs 396.00 up 2.47 percent on the BSE. Reliance Infrastructure , part of the Reliance Group, today said its Rs 556-crore road project connecting Jaipur and Reengus in Rajasthan has become operational. "Reliance Infrastructure Ltd through its Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)- JR Toll Road Private Ltd-today announced the commencement of its road project from Jaipur to Reengus in Rajasthan," a company statement said.

The market managed to keep its head above water but Nifty's struggle to breach 6100 continued even in the last trading hour. The Nifty is at 6077.05, up 45.25 points while Sensex surges 135.93 points at 20295.05, and the Nifty up 45.25 points or 0.75% at 6077.05.

About 1141 shares have advanced, 1144 shares declined, and 176 shares are unchanged.

Software services exporter Wipro and telecom operator Bharti Airtel dropped 2 percent while healthcare firm Cipla lost over 1 percent and Sun Pharma declined 0.77 percent.

Auto stocks are under pressure on profit booking. Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors slipped marginally whereas M&M surged 2 percent.

03:05pm Earnings
Greenply Industries shares fell 2 percent after hitting a 52-week high of Rs 524 on good earnings. Net profit grew by 25.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 22.6 crore in Q1 and net sales rose by 11.6 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 480.5 crore.

Blue Dart Express gained 1.6 percent. Its first quarter net profit rose to Rs 40.65 crore from Rs 40.63 crore and net sales jumped to Rs 453.2 crore from Rs 430 crore year-on-year.

Also Read - L&T Finance Holdings Q1 net up 20% at Rs 145cr on tax refund

02:50pm Losers
Software services exporter Wipro and telecom operator Bharti Airtel dropped 2 percent while healthcare firm Cipla lost over 1 percent and Sun Pharma declined 0.77 percent.

Auto stocks are under pressure on profit booking. Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors slipped marginally whereas M&M surged 2 percent.

02:35pm It is a stable day for the market with the BSE Sensex advancing 166.39 points or 0.83 percent to 20325.51, tracking strong Asian cues.

The NSE Nifty gained 48.05 points or 0.80 percent at 6079.85.

YES Bank shares rallied more than 4 percent today ahead of first quarter numbers that will be announced tomorrow. Analysts on an average expects the private sector lender to report 39 percent growth year-on-year in net interest income at Rs 658 crore and 32 percent growth in profit after tax at Rs 382 crore.

Bank of Baroda topped the buying list among Nifty 50 stocks, gaining 5 percent. The public sector lender will declare its first quarter results next week.

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank jumped 3.5 percent while country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank are up 2.5 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

1:50 pm Management speak: In an interview to CNBC-TV18 CVR Rajendran, ED, Bank of Maharashtra clarified that finance ministry had sought clarification from the bank on credit data because it had asked for additional capital and permission for a qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue.

The public sector lender had reported high credit growth of around 35 percent in FY13.

He further said, since the bank has a small base, its credit growth in percentage terms appears to be large. ''So, the credit growth will remain above the industry, but will moderate to 16-18 percent in FY14,'' he added.

1:45 pm Bond update: Showing strong demand for government bonds despite a weakening rupee , foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have put in bids worth over USD 4.3 billion in an auction for debt securities worth USD 3.96 billion, reports PTI.

The auction was held on Monday at the top exchanges, BSE and NSE, for allocation of FII investment limits in government debt securities worth Rs 23,661 crore (USD 3,957 million).

The auction attracted bids for Rs 25,905 crore (USD 4,332 million), according to the two stock exchanges. As many as 51 bids were made in the auction, of which 50 were declared successful.

1:40 pm Earnings: L&T Finance Holdings' first quarter (April-June) consolidated net profit grew by 20 percent year-on-year to Rs 145 crore on tax refund and other income, but non-performing assets increased during the quarter.

Consolidated net interest income (NII) rose by 28.9 percent to Rs 469.4 crore in June quarter from Rs 364.2 crore reported in a year ago period.

1:35 pm Uodate: GVK Power halts fresh investment in oil and gas exploration projects as Defence Ministry's nod is awaited in the sector. GVK Power arm holds 7 deep-water blocks with BHP Billiton.

1:30 pm Alert: A high-powered ministerial panel will meet on July 25 to consider making available natural gas to fuel starved power plants from sources other than Reliance Industries' KG-D6 fields, reports PTI.

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Defence Minister A K Antony, was to meet on July 22 but the meeting got postponed due to bereavement in Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily's family.

1:25 pm Earnings: Dewan Housing Finance Corporation surprised the street with the first quarter (April-June) net profit growing 53.8 percent year-on-year to Rs 120 crore, sending shares 4 percent higher.

Revenue of the housing finance company increased 52.5 percent to Rs 1,126.2 crore from Rs 738.5 crore and net interest income jumped 57.1 percent to Rs 288.3 crore from Rs 183.5 crore during the same period. The stock is up around 4 percent on the BSE.

The Nifty is still struggling to test 6100 today though there is a buying interest among investors today. The Nifty is at 6088, up 56 points while Sensex is up 177.84 points at 20336.96. About 1061 shares have advanced, 922 shares declined, and 140 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, HUL, Sterlite, ONGC and SBI are lead gainers in the Sensex. Meanwhile, Wipro, Sun Pharma, Bharti are under selling pressure.

Jewellery stocks are in focus today after the RBI announced quantitative restrictions on gold. Titan recovers over 10 percent from day's low after company said that it does not export jewellery and buy gold from domestic bullions. PC Jewellers recovers over 14 percent after they clarified that the rbi moves are positive for their company.

12:55pm Global markets
European markets - France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE gained 0.3 percent each in early trade.

Among Asian markets, Shanghai surged nearly 2 percent and Hang Seng rose 2.4 percent.

The BSE Sensex is up 158.66 points at 20317.78, and the Nifty is up 51.30 points at 6083.10.

12:50pm Earnings
Dewan Housing Finance Corporation shares gained more than 4 percent on stellar performance in first quarter (April-June). Net profit of the company grew by 53.8 percent year-on-year to Rs 120 crore during the quarter.

Revenue increased 52.5 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,126.2 crore and net interest income rose by 57.1 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 288.3 crore in June quarter.

12:40pm Management talks
D Sarkar, CMD of Union Bank of India says that asset quality remains under stress and big accounts are facing stress in steel & power sectors. "We are maintaining slippages in the range of Rs 800-900 crore," he adds.

Earnings
Century Textiles' first quarter net profit jumped 19 times year-on-year to Rs 38 crore and net sales rose by 14.6 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,573.4 crore.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 34 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 217 crore and EBITDA margin improved by 200 bps to 12.7 percent versus 10.7 percent. The stock gained 2 percent.

12:25pm Expert's view on Market
Dhiren Sarin, Technical Analyst, Barclays is bullish on Nifty and sees it gaining 5 percent in next few days. "We can be modestly bullish but we can't be aggressively bullish until that 6400 area gives way," he told CNBC-TV18.

Earnings
Tata Elxsi's first quarter consolidated net profit grew by 3.5 times year-on-year to Rs 9 crore and net sales rose by 18.5 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 173.2 crore.

12:15pm The market remained in a upward journey with both the equity benchmarks gaining 0.8 percent, helped by oil & gas, banks, FMCG and technology stocks. Asian markets extended gains in late trade; Shanghai and Hang Seng rallied 1.6-2 percent while Nikkei rose 0.8 percent.

The BSE Sensex is up 164.62 points at 20323.74, and the Nifty is up 50.55 points at 6082.35.

DLF, Bank of Baroda, Kotak Mahindra Bank and PNB are biggest gainers among largecaps, rising 3-4 percent followed by Sterlite Industries, BHEL, Dr Reddy's Labs and BPCL with 2-2.5 percent gains.

Meanwhile, HDFC, Sun Pharma and Bharti Airtel are only losers among Sensex 30 stocks, falling nearly 1 percent.

BHEL has received order worth Rs 132 crore from NTPC.

IIFL shares are marginally down after its first quarter consolidated net profit fell by 22 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 63.2 crore and income from operations dropped by 8 percent to Rs 673.3 crore from Rs 732 crore Q-o-Q.

11:50 am Buzzing: Financial Tech rallies 6 percent on the BSE. UBS reiterates a buy with a target of  Rs 1,000. It believes that the directive on NSEL barring fresh contracts will not have any impact on existing business and the weakness is a buying opportunity.

11:40 am FII views: Dhiren Sarin, Technical Analyst, Barclays is bullish on Nifty and sees it gaining 5 percent in next few days. "We can be modestly bullish but we can't be aggressively bullish until that 6400 area gives way," he says.

He adds that Indian stocks have recovered on the back of global sentiment and optimism that has come back into the emerging markets (EMs). The S&P is making all-time highs and he expects it to gain another 4-5 percent by the end of 2013 with a target at 1700.

11:35 am Buzzing: KPIT Cummins is up around 3 percent ahead of its April-June quarter earnings. Its first quarter margins may decline even as some impact of the wage hikes may be offset by rupee depreciation. Street expects FY14 guidance of over 13 percent to nearly 16 percent dollar revenue growth to be maintained.

11:30 am Management interview: Texmaco Rail and Engineering, which is looking to buy 30 percent stake in Kalindee Rail Nirman feels that the open offer price of Rs 68 per share is reasonable for shareholders

Senior vice president and chief financial officer, AK Vijay told CNBC-TV18 that Kalindee's revival depends on strong technical and financial partner and Texmaco is confident of providing that.

He further said that the company may consider increasing the open offer price if need be, but it is too early to comment on that issue.  Meanwhile, Vijay sees no threat from Jupiter Metal , which also attempted to takeover 30 percent stake in Kalindee Rail by launching a conditional and voluntary open offer.

The rail wagon-maker has bought Kalindee's promoters' 11.74 percent stake.

11:25 am Expert views: Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS says the market is likely to correct as he expects more disappointing news coming from Q1 earnings ahead. Although rupee depreciation has benefited the Nifty and some of the heavy weight stocks and sectors, it has not really helped the broader market or the economy as a whole, he says.

He sees Nifty trading in a range of 5,500-5,600 on lower side and 6,100-6,200 on the upper side. The best way to play the market is be selective and just trade, he advises.

11:20 am Gainers and losers: BHEL , Sterlite Industries, Dr Reddys Labs , SBI and ONGC are major gainers in the Sensex while Sun Pharma , HDFC , Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel continue to be laggards.

It is a steady run for the market with the Nifty holding well over 6050 led by banks and commodity plays. The Sensex is up 162.60 points at 20321.72, and the Nifty is up 49.15 points at 6080.95.

About 896 shares have advanced, 669 shares declined, and 113 shares are unchanged. About 906 shares have advanced, 639 shares declined, and 115 shares are unchanged.

Most of the jewellery stocks have recovered after initial weakness. PC Jeweller surges 9 percent on the BSE. Sanjeev Bhatia, CFO of the company feels that RBI's curbs on gold imports is positive for the company as it is rational and well-defined. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said that the central bank is not against gold imports but wants current account deficit not to be impacted.

RBI lifted financing restriction on gold and put quantitative restrictions. The central bank says importers have to park at least 20 percent of imported gold for exports. Data suggests gold imports could fall by as much as 63 percent.

The mid and small caps see buying interest too.

In currencies, dollar index retreated to 82.1 on weak US economydata. Euro moves towards 1.32 on Portugal relief and yen appreciates to 99.6.

In commodities, gold surges to USD 1330 on dollar weakness. Brent unchanged at USD 108-108.5 barrel while nymex is at USD 107.

The rupee pared early gains against the US currency weighed down by the dollar demand from foreign and state owned banks. According to dealers there is heavy month-end crude oil an defense payment related dollar buying from two state owned banks.

Government bond prices hardened today as appetite for gilts was weak on apprehension that the RBI may come out with more measures to tighten liquidity in the banking system. The range for the 10 year is 8.02 to 8.15 percent.

10:55am Brokerages views on stocks
Deutsche Bank cut order inflow estimate for BHEL by 22 percent to Rs 24,300 crore for FY14 expected. The brokerage house also cut FY14/FY15 expected EPS by 5 percent/14 percent. The stock gained 2 percent after it had fallen 15 percent in previous two sessions. It seems that the stock already priced in concerns that are expecting by brokerages.

Ranbaxy Labs gained 0.7 percent. Macquarie included the stock in its top picks in Indian pharma space and set a 12-month price target at Rs 470 apiece. The brokerage house expects CY15 EBITDA to grow 175 percent to around USD 350 million.

10:45am Brokerages Ratings on stocks
Deutsche Bank downgraded Ambuja Cements , which will announce its results tomorrow, to sell with a target price of Rs 154 a share. The stock fell nearly 1 percent.

Financial Technologies shares gained 5 percent after UBS reiterated its buy rating on the stock with stop-based price target of Rs 1,000 apiece. "NSEL news will not have any impact on existing business. Share price weakness a buying opportunity," UBS report said.

10:35am Buzzer
Bayer Cropscience shares plunged more than 8 percent to Rs 1605 after the board has fixed the maximum buyback price at Rs 1580 apiece, a discount to its current market price. The board has approved proposal to buy back about 28.79 lakh equity shares for upto Rs 455 crore.

10:20am Indian equity benchmarks gained momentum today after witnessing flat closing for previous two sessions, tracking positive Asian cues. Larsen & Toubro rebouned with 1.6 percent gains after falling 7.5 percent in earlier session on poor Q1 numbers.

There is no downgrade on L&T despite the poor numbers . Goldman Sachs maintained its buy rating on the stock, but has cut a target price to Rs 1056 from Rs 1120. The brokerage house has adjusted downwards their FY14-16 expected EPS by 6 percent on lower growth from the power segment and lower margins. Goldman Sachs believes the numbers were well below expectations, but it still prefers the bellwether. Citi has maintained neutral rating on the stock, but cut price target to Rs 1007.

State-owned capital goods major BHEL rallied 2.5 percent; in previous two sessions the stock tanked 15 percent on orderbook concerns.

The BSE Sensex is up 165.39 points at 20324.51, and the Nifty is up 51.10 points at 6082.90, outperforming the broader markets.

The BSE Midcap Index rose 0.6 percent. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by 882 to 559 on the BSE.

Shares of ITC , ICICI Bank , Infosys and State Bank of India gained 1 percent each while Reliance Industries and TCS rose over 0.8 percent.

Meanwhile, HDFC , Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma are marginally under pressure.

Fresenius Kabi Oncology shares rallied 20 percent to touch an intraday high of Rs 132.45 after capital market regulator Sebi allowed the company to delist its shares from the Indian stock market.

9:55 am Gainers: BHEL and ONGC are up 2 percent on the BSE while DR Reddys' Lab, TCS, Tata Power are other gainers.

9:50 am Management speaks on gold import: Sanjeev Bhatia, CFO, PC Jeweller feels that RBI's curbs on gold imports is positive for the company as it is rational and well-defined. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said that the central bank is not against gold imports but wants current account deficit not to be impacted. The stock is down around 1 percent on the BSE.

9:40 am Expert view on gold: Global gold prices may head to USD 1,370-1,380 to 1,420 per ounce if it manages to hold crucial levels of USD 1,330-1,334 per ounce,  Jonathan Barratt, CEO, barrattsbulletin.com told CNBC-TV18.

According to him, Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) latest move to put further curbs on gold import needs to be reviewed as it will force investors to return to the yellow metal since it will hit supply.

9:35 am Buzzing: Bayer Cropscience will buy back up to 28.7 lakh shares and has fixed the buyback price at Rs 1,580 a share. The stock is currently at Rs 1,588.15, down Rs 160.80, or 9.19 percent  on the BSE.

9:30 am Buzzing: Fresenius Kabi jumps 20 percent on the BSE. After facing off with over a 100 companies who failed to comply with the minimum public shareholding norms, the market regulator Sebi has relaxed terms for Fresenius Kabi, giving a nod of approval to its delisting plans.

9:20 am Earnings impact: Deutsche Bank maintains sell on Asian Paints with a target price of Rs 4,600. The brokerage says that it remains cautiously optimistic on the stock.  Asian Paints' first quarter (April-June) consolidated net profit fell 1.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 283 crore, sending shares 3 percent lower.

Total income from operations increased 11.5 percent to Rs 2,841 crore in June quarter from Rs 2,548 crore reported in a year ago period, which was lower than expectations. The stock is down around 3 percent on the BSE.

The market has opened on a stable note with the Sensex gaining around 100 points. The Sensex opens at 20263.97 up 104.85 points while the Nifty gains 32.50 points at 6064.30. About 225 shares have advanced, 49 shares declined, and 20 shares are unchanged.

The early gainers in the Sensex are M&M, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Hindalco and Tata Steel.  Meanwhile, L&T is still down 1.2 percent.

The Indian rupee gained 23 paise in the opening trade on Tuesday. It has opened at 59.49 per dollar versus 59.72 Monday.

Jayesh Mehta, Bank of America said, "The central bank has now taken fiscal measures to stem the rupee volatility and to address fiscal concerns by putting further restriction on gold imports. However, month-end dollar demand continues from the OMCs. The range for the day is seen between 59.30-59.70/USD."

On Monday, RBI has lifted financing restriction on gold and put quantitative restrictions. The central bank says importers have to park at least 20 percent of imported gold for exports. Data suggests gold imports could fall by as much as 63 percent. However, the jewellery sector is divided in its reactions. They feel exports to a tepid overseas market would be tough.

In US, markets eked out marginal gains in lackluster trading, with the S&P 500 closing at a new high, but a batch of mixed earnings reports and weaker-than-expected existing home sales weighed. The CBOE volatility index slid near 12.

In Europe, major indices pared early gains to close flat. A series of earnings releases boosted stocks in Europe, particularly in the banking sector. Shares of UBS closed 2.50 percent higher in heavy trade, after it posted a net profit for its the second quarter that beat market expectations.

In the currency space- the euro is steady above 1.31 to the dollar. The dollar index is at 82.20 levels. Meanwhile dollar-yen is around 99 levels.

Gold prices surge to its highest level in nearly a year, currently at above USD 1333 an ounce. Brent crude hovers at around USD 108 per barrel, and Nymex crude slips to sub USD 107 per barrel on profit taking.