BSE Sensex, Nifty flat; ICICI Bank, Bharti, Maruti gainers

3:50 pm Market closing: It's been a volatile session on Dalal Street. Both the Sensex and Nifty started the session on a strong note markets but gave up all those gains later as August WPI inflation jumped too 6-month high. Global markets rallied as Larry Summers withdrew from the race for US Federal Reserve top job.

The Sensex closed up 9.71 points or 0.05 percent at 19742.47, and the Nifty ended 15.55 points down or 0.27 percent at 5835.05.  About 1103 shares have advanced, 1232 shares declined, and 132 shares are unchanged.

3:20 pm Buzzer: Investors started selling shares of Strides Arcolab after the company announced that its sterile manufacturing facility 2 (SFF) at Bangalore of Agila Specialties Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, has received a warning letter from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). The stock fell as much as 6.8 percent intraday Monday.

"The US FDA inspected SFF in the month of June 2013 and the inspection resulted in issuance of Form FDA 483 with observations. The company responded to the 483 observations by implementing corrective actions," company said in its filing.

After recovering100-points rally, the Sensex is flat in late afternoon trade. The Sensex is up 35.17 points or 0.18 percent at 19767.93, and the Nifty down 0.20 points at 5850.40. About 1015 shares have advanced, 1213 shares declined, and 129 shares are unchanged.

Banks, auto and FMCG stocks are holding up the market. Bharti Airtel , Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank , Hero MotoCorp and HDFC Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Meanwhile there is no relief on the macro-economy front as August WPI inflation jumps to 6-month high at 6.10 percent versus versus 5.79 percent month-on-month, led by rising food and fuel prices. June inflation was revised higher to 5.16 percent from 4.86 percent reported earlier. All eyes are now on RBI's September 20 credit policy.

''Overall I still think the market needs to give back some of the losses because one is still pretty discouraged with the macro situation. I would hold on and wait for some more carnage. Maybe today the better quality stocks like pharma names have been butchered along with Ranbaxy. Maybe there is some opportunity there but that is all stock picking type but otherwise in general I would hold,'' says Jagdish Malkani, Member, BSE & NSE.

The market recouped its losses with the Sensex gaining more than 100 points, supported by private financials and telecom stocks. The Sensex is up 102.32 points at 19835.08, and the Nifty is up 20.95 points at 5871.55. Top private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank surged more than 3 percent while heavyweights ITC , HDFC and L&T gained more than 1 percent. Telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular advanced 2 percent. Among auto stocks, Maruti, M&M and Hero MotoCorp rallied 1.5-3 percent whereas Infosys, TCS , Cipla and Coal India declined 1-2 percent. Globally, European markets extended gains after a flat initial trade. France's CAC and Germany's DAX gained 1 percent while Britain's FTSE rose 0.9 percent.

HCL Infosystems gained 12% on a media report that the sales teams of HCL Technologies and HCL Infosystems are working together and jointly pitching for new technology service contracts in India & west Asia. HCL Infosystems confirmed that the companies are collaborating, but it denied markt buzz of a possible merger. Cadila Healthcare shares gained more than 1 percent as it launched cholesterol drug Lipaglyn in Indian market.

02:05pm The market remained under pressure in afternoon trade Monday as higher-than-expected August WPI inflation dented sentiment. Pharma and IT stocks are the biggest losers in trade. The Sensex is down 47.26 points at 19685.50, and the Nifty is down 26.95 points at 5823.65. There is no relief on the inflation front.

August WPI inflation came in higher at 6.10 percent as against 5.79 percent in previous month, led by rising food and fuel prices. June inflation revised higher to 5.16 percent from 4.86 percent reported earlier. Now all eyes are on RBI monetary policy that is scheduled for September 20. The Reserve Bank of India will perhaps not ease rates in the near term, says Taimur Baig, India Economist, Deutsche Bank.

He believes it will take another 2-3 months for RBI to rollback measures. Ranbaxy Labs crashed 28 percent after the USFDA announced an import alert on the company's Mohali plant. While there is no financial impact on account of this import alert, it can delay new product approvals. Brokerages gave the stock a thumbs down. Financial Technologies slipped 7 percent. Forward Markets Commission's interim report on NSEL stated that only 15 percent stock found in NSEL's 16 warehouses. The value of stock is Rs 358 crore, which is much lower than NSEL's claims of Rs 2,389 crore worth of stock. BHEL and Sesa Goa are top losers in the Sensex, falling 3 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.

1:40 pm Market outlook: The current rally is great chance for investors to exit the market, Sandeep Bhatia of Kotak Institutional Equities said. Fundamentally nothing has changed to warrant a market rally and will take around two-three years before things improve structurally, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. Meanwhile, Bhatia, who prefers sticking to large caps now, is positive on auto players Tata Motors & Bajaj Auto . From the FMCG pack, he is betting on ITC as its volume growth looks robust. He is also looking to stay invested in oil and gas major RIL . From the midcaps, he is bullish on Glenmark Pharma . Bhatia remains underweight on metals space. Also, he feels that the pressure seen on pharma player Ranbaxy is due to unwinding of short-term trades. USFDA has issued an import alert on the company's Mohali unit pulling the stock down more than 30 percent today. It will take long time before things settle down for Ranbaxy, he added.

Profit booking seeps in market on disappointing August wholesale price index (WPI) inflation which jumped to 6-month high at 6.1 percent month-on-month. The Sensex is down 106.97 points or 0.54 percent at 19625.79, and the Nifty slips 45.40 points or 0.78 percent at 5805.20. 

About 895 shares have advanced, 1177 shares declined, and 115 shares are unchanged. C Rangarajan, Chairman, PMEAC is expecting inflation to be around 5.5 percent by the end of the current fiscal. "Food inflation will definitely come down and now that the rupee is stabilised, the imported commodities in rupee terms will also come down.

Therefore going ahead we look forward to the smoothening or the inflation coming down," he said. Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, ICICI Bank , Bharti Airtel are major gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are Sesa Goa , BHEL , Coal India , Tata Steel and TCS . Meanwhile, global markets rally after Larry Summers pulls out of the race for Fed's top job. Most European and asian markets also trading about 1 percent higher.

The 30-share BSE benchmark erased more than 400 points gains from day's high in afternoon trade on profit booking and rise in August inflation. The Sensex is down 89.02 points at 19643.74, and the Nifty is down 38.90 points at 5811.70. The market breadth also turned in favour of declines; declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by 1124 to 938 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The current rally is great chance for investors to exit the market, Sandeep Bhatia of Kotak Institutional Equities said.

Fundamentally nothing has changed to warrant a market rally and will take around two-three years before things improve structurally, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. CNBC-TV18's Udayan Mukherjee is also of the view that the rally seen in emerging markets is the past few days is driven by global liquidity and has nothing to do with domestic factors.

Top private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gained 1-2 percent while auto stocks like Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp and M&M rallied 1-2.6 percent. Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular advanced 1 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

IT and healthcare stocks are biggest losers today. Ranbaxy slid 27 percent after the USFDA announced an import alert on the company's Mohali plant. While there is no financial impact on account of this import alert, it can delay new product approvals, feel brokerage houses. Brokerages gave the stock a thumbs down. Technology majors TCS , Infosys and Wipro slipped 1-1.7 percent.

12:09pm The market lost all its early gains in noon trade after the WPI inflation increased higher-than-expected to 6.10 percent in August from 5.79 percent in previous month on food inflation. Food articles inflation jumped to 18.18 percent from 11.91 percent month-on-month and primary articles inflation rose to 11.72 percent from 8.99 percent while manufactured products inflation declined to 1.90 percent from 2.81 percent.

The Sensex is up 18.08 points at 19750.84, and the Nifty is up 0.85 points at 5851.45. Meanwhile, the rupee remained in a recovery mode, rising 90 paise to 62.59 against the US dollar. Credit Suisse says the rupee can reach 57-58 levels though the RBI may try to stem the volatility by starting to build reserves at 60, reported Reuters. The resumption of foreign capital inflows could also lead to a significant balance of payment surplus and help the rupee, the investment bank said.

11:50 am Udayan speaks: The rally seen in emerging markets in the past few days is driven by global liquidity phenomenon says Udayan Mukherjee of CNBC-TV18. Larry Summers' withdrawal from the Fed chairman race is the key event for the markets now. After the US non-farm payroll numbers emerging markets started to sense that there won't be very aggressive tapering of quantitative easing (QE) by the Fed, he explained. "A lot of people have fashioned it as a Raghuram Rajan rally, I think that is not the truth.

It is an emerging market rally because those got terribly oversold," he added. 11:30 am Buzzer: Shares of Power Grid are getting investors' attention taking it up 4 percent in early morning trade. The stock is excited as ministry of power has given the approval for appointing merchant bankers for its follow-on public offering (FPO), while seeking the approval of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for a 17 percent FPO. The FPO comprises of 13 percent fresh issue and 4 percent divestment. The government plans to raise Rs 40000 crore through sale of its shares in state companies in the current fiscal year ending March 2014.

The market is going strong ahead of the FOMC and RBI monetary policy review lined up this week. Continuing its upmove, the Sensex is up 234.13 points or 1.19 percent at 19966.89, and the Nifty is at 5913.15, up 62.55 points or 1.07 percent. About 1053 shares have advanced, 599 shares declined, and 89 shares are unchanged. Asian markets trend higher after Lawrence Summer withdrew his name from the race for the Fed's top job. The relief rally was on account of the fact that many investors considered him to be a candidate that was more likely to curtain the central bank's aggressive moves.

Crude slipped further with Brent below USD 111 as geopolitical fears eased over the weekend. Gold has retreated further to hit 5-week lows on prospects that the United States would curb its stimulus soon. Dollar index declined falling to a 4-week low. In sync with other emerging market currencies, the rupee opened sharply higher and has retained most of its gains as corporates and FIIs were noted selling dollars. PSU banks were seen buying dollars for their corporate clients. Bonds too are higher today following the strength in the rupee and lower crude prices. The market is cautious ahead of the inflation number due today.

Ranbaxy Labs shares plunged 26 percent after US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) issued an import alert on the company's Mohali unit on September 13. The import alert was due to non compliance with drug good manufacturing practices (GMPs).

IT stocks are under pressure on profit booking and further recovery in rupee. IT majors TCS , Infosys and Wipro gained 0.7-1.6 percent. The rupee gained 78 paise to 62.71 against the US dollar. It appreciated 610 paise in seven sessions from its record low of 68.80 touched on August 28. 10:08am The market continued its upward journey with the equity benchmarks rising more than one percent, supported largely by banks, capital goods, oil & gas and metals stocks.

The Sensex is up 266.19 points at 19998.95, and the Nifty is up 78 points at 5928.60. More than three shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Hemant Thukral of Aditya Birla Money expects the Nifty to touch 6050 in near term.

"The foreign institutional investor (FII) flows and the way the Put writers have been extending confidence still persists, so I don't think the bullish, undertone should change. My first target for Nifty would be around 6050, so I will maintain my long positions. For people who have been on the long side, stop loss should be 5850," Thukral adds.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank gained the most among bluechips, rising 4.5 percent followed by its rival State Bank of India and HDFC Bank with 1.5-2 percent gains. Among others, L&T, Hindustan Unilever , ONGC , M&M, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC and Hindalco Industries rallied 2-3 percent. Meanwhile, the rupee gained 83 paise to 62.66 against the US dollar. The dollar has weakened against major EM currencies and hence we expect dollar weakness against rupee too.

10:00 am FII view on rupee: The rupee may see sharp appreciation on the back of measures taken by the central bank and the government as the decline was largely driven by "fear trade", analysts at Credit Suisse said in a note on Friday. The bank says the rupee can reach 57-58 levels though the RBI may try to stem the volatility by starting to build reserves at 60.

The resumption of foreign capital inflows could also lead to a significant balance of payment surplus and help the rupee, the investment bank said. 9:40 am Buzzer: Shares of oil marketing companies rallied in early morning trade on Monday on the back of petrol price hike by Rs 1.63 per litre. HPCL , BPCL , ONGC were up 3 percent each while IOC gained around 1.4 percent on the BSE.

The seventh increase of petrol price since June is on the back of rising oil rates and falling rupee. With this increase, petrol prices have gone up by a massive Rs. 10.80 per litre since June, excluding VAT.

The price in Delhi has surged by Rs. 13.06 per litre, inclusive of state tax, since June 1. 9:30 am Movers and losers: M&M, ICICI Bank , L&T, ONGC, Jindal Steel are big gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are technology stocks including Wipro and Infosys.  Ranbaxy is down around 28 percent on the BSE as the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) issued import alert on the drug company's Mohali Unit.

After the problems at Paonta Sahib and Dewas, the USFDA now has a problem per se with its unit at Mohali. Mahali being a new plant, its manufacturing wasn't at full scale but most of the new drugs by the company were slated to be actually manufactured there. There is more clarity yet required from the company itself in terms of what will happen to all of their big ticket drugs, which were expected to be launched especially in Q4 CY13.

The market has kick started the week on a strong rally with the Sensex gaining 289.66 points or 1.47 percent at 20022.42. The Nifty is at 5925.50, up 74.90 points or 1.28 percent. About 332 shares have advanced, 49 shares declined, and 17 shares are unchanged. The Indian rupee opened with a gap up of 69 paise at 62.80 per dollar versus 63.49 Friday.

The dollar slides to 81 levels to hit a four week low after Lawrence Summer's exit from the race for Fed president. The euro retreats a tad after jumping to 1.33/USD and the yen trades at 99.3/USD. Agam Gupta, Standard Chartered said, "Rupee will probably open between 63 and 63.20. The dollar has weakened against major EM currencies and hence we expect dollar weakness against rupee too.

Expect exporters to sell on upticks. The range for the day is seen between 62.50-63.25/USD." August WPI inflation data is due today. A CNBC-TV18 poll sees it coming in a tad higher at 5.8 percent versus 5.79 percent last month. Dow Futures surged over 1 percent as Larry Summers - largely considered to be the front runner for the job of Fed Reserve president withdrew his name from the race.

US markets ended the week near session highs ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting starting tomorrow. The Dow posted its second biggest weekly gain this year and the European markets closed flat. Brent prices slipped towards USD110/barrel after the US and Russian foreign ministers agreed to push for a conference to end Syria's civil war. Nymex hovered at USD107.5/barrel.