Nifty ends below 6200, Sensex down 42 points; M&M up 2%

3:40 pm Market closing: The Sensex closed down 42.45 points at 20725.43, and the Nifty ended at 6164.35, down 14.00 points. About 1177 shares advanced, 1289 shares declined, and 186 shares were unchanged.

3:20 pm Alert: Swedish furniture chain IKEA, which proposes to invest around Rs. 10,500 crores in India, has expressed willingness to set up their first integrated unit for furniture manufacturing and selling in Uttar Pradesh, reports PTI.

Representatives of the Swedish furniture chain IKEA met principal secretary, Infrastructure and Industrial Development Department, Surya Pratap Singh yesterday expressing willingness to set up their first integrated unit for furniture manufacturing and selling in the state, an official spokesman said here.

3:10 pm Macro outlook: Rejecting IMF and World Bank's "unduly" pessimistic projections, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan today exuded confidence that the growth would be around 5.5 percent in the current fiscal, reports PTI.

"These institutions are unduly pessimistic. We think the growth rate will be between 5 and 5.5 per cent. We have projected growth rate of 5 percent earlier, which I think still holds," Dr Rangarajan said on the sidelines of the Global Conference on Financial Inclusion & Payment System .

Earlier this month, the World Bank slashed India's economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 4.7 per cent from an earlier projection of 6.1 per cent.

2:55 pm NHPC sees profit booking NHPC shares fell more than 4 percent on profit booking after the board of directors approved buyback of shares at Rs 19.25 a share, which is lower compared to closing price of Rs 19.60 on Wednesday.

2:45 pm Rupee Update The rupee gained 8 paise to 61.51 against the US dollar, which has been in a range of 61-62 from last week.

Nizam Idris of Macquarie feels that the delayed taper of monthly asset purchase by the US Federal Reserve will be the key driver for Indian currency market. The taper may not happen till March 2014, which is giving the Reserve Bank (RBI) a window to accumulate dollars for shoring up its reserves to USD 300 billion, he tells CNBC-TV18. So, the rupee may find support at 60/USD mark going forward.

The current situation is also good to sell dollars and buy EM currencies till the taper happens and liquidity is tightened, Idris adds.

02:37pm The market continued to consolidate in afternoon trade Thursday after losing 250 points from day's high. Banks and capital goods stocks remained supportive while technology and steel lost ground.

The Sensex is down 3.22 points at 20764.66, and the Nifty is down 2.35 points at 6176. The broader markets are also flat in trade.

L&T and M&M are the biggest gainers among frontliners with over 2 percent upmove while the laggards are TCS , Wipro and Coal India , which fell 2-3 percent.

It is not a bull  market but a trading market, warns Harendra Kumar of Elara Capital. And it remain a trading market at least for the next six months, he adds.

According to Kumar, the improving macros are from the external environment and locally, the macro is quite tepid but the sentiment is definitely improving in the run up to the elections.

Since the liquidity withdrawal seems to have been postponed till March,so till then the market should be okay but after that we have risk events like elections, Budget coming up, says Kumar.

1:55 pm Results boardroom: Gujarat Pipavav Port expects margins to improve going ahead provided there is increase in container volumes and cost efficiencies just like it saw in quarter-ended September, says CFO (APM Terminals Pipavav) Hariharan Iyer.

"When we see this level of container volumes coupled with bulk volumes at current levels, we expect that margins would also improve," he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 he says the company's business is such that large part of the cost is fixed cost and therefore, any increase in volumes (container) will directly translate into better margins. 

1:45 pm Market outlook: ICICI Securities' MD and CEO, Anup Bagchi, does not see a significant upmove to the market going forward. With concerns regarding the pace of the movement upwards, the Nifty may top around 6,200-6,300 levels, he tells CNBC-TV18. 

He believes that liquidity is the biggest driver of midcaps currently. He is positive on Shree Cement and Havells India in the segment. He also prefers IT and cement stocks.

1:30 pm Results poll: Pharmaceutical firm Biocon will announce its second quarter (July-September) results today. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll , operating profit margin of the company is likely to be maintained over 20 percent due to sales mix, which improved by 40 basis points in June quarter due to better product mix and lower R&D spend.

Profit after tax will increase with a slower pace (percentage wise) due to higher other income in a year ago quarter. It had received one off income of Rs 31 crore on account of compensation received from a few partners in second quarter FY13.

Analysts on an average expect profit after tax to grow 3.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 92.5 crore and revenues may rise 14 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 718 crore in three months period ended September 2013.

1:20 pm Update: Government today gave green signal to Singapore Airlines' proposal to start an aviation venture with Tata Sons entailing an initial foreign investment of USD 49 million.

"It (Tata-SIA proposal) has been cleared," Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said. Mayaram said no riders have been set for the joint venture.

In their new venture, Tata SIA Airlines Ltd, Tata Sons would hold 51 per cent stake and Singapore Airlines (SIA) 49 per cent. The venture secured the approval of the Corporate Affairs Ministry last week. With the clearance of the FIPB, decks are cleared for Tata SIA to launch operations as a full-service air carrier in India.

After a massive rally in the morning, the market has turned flat once again. The Sensex is up 4.50 points at 20772.38, and the Nifty is down 3.20 points at 6175.15. About 1181 shares have advanced, 1151 shares declined, and 149 shares are unchanged.

Banks are leading the way forward with the Bank Nifty hitting the 11,000 level. However, in 2013, the key outperformers include IT companies like HCL Tech and TCS which gained 60-70 percent and pharma stocks like Sun Pharma and Lupin .

HCL Tech, Wipro , Dr Reddy's Lab, Coal India and Ambuja Cements are losers in the Nifty while M&M, Bank of Baroda , Ranbaxy Labs , NMDC and Bharti Airtel are top gainers.

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank matched expectations with second quarter (July-September) consolidated net profit growing 16 percent year-on-year to Rs 583 crore, driven by other income, net interest income and lower provisions.

Net interest margin of the bank increased 10 basis points sequentially (30 basis points on yearly basis) to 4.9 percent during September quarter. Consolidated business includes banking, insurance, car financing, AMC, securities, investment banking and investment advisory.

12:40pm Kotak Mahindra Bank Q2 earnings

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank matched expectations with second quarter (July-September) consolidated net profit growing 16 percent year-on-year to Rs 583 crore, driven by other income, net interest income and lower provisions.

Net interest margin of the bank increased 10 basis points sequentially (30 basis points on yearly basis) to 4.9 percent during September quarter.

Consolidated business includes banking, insurance, car financing, AMC, securities, investment banking and investment advisory.

Consolidated net interest income jumped 22 percent to Rs 1,416.4 crore in three months period ended September 2013 from Rs 1,161 crore in a year ago period.

Gross non performing advances (NPA) rose marginally on sequential basis (28 bps Y-o-Y) to 1.63 percent from 1.58 percent while net NPAs remained unchanged (up 17 bps) at 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Consolidated provisions and contingencies dropped significantly to Rs 86.2 crore during September quarter from Rs 159.6 crore in June quarter, but increased from Rs 61.37 crore in a year ago period.

12:13pm The market maintained its strong momentum in noon trade with the Sensex consistently facing resistance at 21000 level. Both equity benchmarks rose one percent supported by financials and heavyweights.

The Sensex is up 203.41 points at 20971.29, and the Nifty is up 58.60 points at 6236.95 while BSE Midcap index is up 0.97 percent and Smallcap rose 0.5 percent.

Deven Choksey, Kr Choksey Shares & Sec is advising clients to book some profits now but not to exit the market completely. At the same time, he feels, investors can look at select stocks where the valuation looks attractive and where there is a good amount of margin safety on the downside.

ICICI Bank , HDFC Bank , Bharti Airtel , M&M, ONGC , Tata Motors and L&T are the biggest gainers with 2 percent upmove.

However, the laggards are TCS , Wipro , Coal India , Dr Reddys Labs and Cipla with 0.6-1 percent loss.

11:55 am Boardroom: M Shiv Kumar, chief financial officer, Raymond says the company's strong Q2 performance has been the result of a revival in its apparel business that has also helped make profits. "All other business segments too have seen an all-round improvement," adds Kumar.

Kumar is cautiously optimistic on the company's Q3 performance given the macros don't change drastically.

"Our thrust will now be on exports," he highlights while saying the company is a net earner of foreign currency and will continue to up its export realisations.

11:45 am Result poll: Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank will announce its second quarter (July-September) results today.

According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, asset quality of the bank is going to be watched keenly by the street. That was worsened in June quarter with gross non-performing loans (NPLs) rising 31 percent Q-o-Q to Rs 995 crore and net NPLs increasing 59 percent to Rs 758 crore, mainly due to the commercial vehicle and construction equipment book.

Analysts expect stable asset quality in the quarter.

11:30 am Market outlook: Vineet Bhatnagar, MD, PhillipCapital is confident that the Nifty will breach 6300 levels and head towards the earlier high of 6357 on back of global cues.

According to him foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have not only shown a trading appetite on the long side for Nifty but have also bought around Rs 8000 crore in the current series uptil, which has also helped Nifty move higher.

The Bank Nifty could also make higher highs given the fact that the broad based index is expected to move higher, says Bhatnagar. He believes Bharti Airtel could surprise on the upside. From the metal and capital goods space, he is bullish on Tata Steel and Larsen and Toubro respectively.

11:20 am Buzzer: Shares of Jet Airways slumped 6 percent intraday on Thursday after reporting its biggest quarterly loss in history in September. The carrier's loss widened 9 times to Rs 891 crore in Q2 FY14 from Rs 99.7 crore year-on-year.

Rupee depreciation, poor market conditions and grounding of some of its aircrafts dented its losses further.

Net income, however, rose marginally to Rs 4,194.7 crore in the quarter ended September 30, 2013 from Rs 4,137.63 crore Y-o-Y.

The market is rallying ahead of Diwali. One of the key reasons for the Indian market rally could be foreign institutional investors' bullishness on emerging markets including India. According to NSE data FIIs net nought Rs 645 crore in cash market while domestic investors bought Rs 545 crore.

The Sensex is up 212.04 points or 1.02 percent at 20979.92, and the Nifty is up 57.70 points or 0.93 percent at 6236.05.

About 1088 shares have advanced, 662 shares declined, and 100 shares are unchanged. The Asian markets recover as China's HSBC flash PMI hits a 7-month high.

Dollar index falls to 9-month lows to 78.9 with the dollar index touching 2-year low vs the euro at 1.39. The US 10 year yield fell to 3-month lows of 2.49 percent. 

Commodities saw crude prices sell off sharply after a surprisingly large increase in us stockpiles. Brent slid to USD 108, gold saw profit taking from a 4-week high.

Back home, the rupee strengthened slightly after a flat opening taking cues from the positive sentiment in equities and stronger euro. Government bond prices are slightly higher tracking gains in the rupee and a slip in US yields.

10:59am Market Update
The market maintained strong momentum with the Sensex rising 200.01 points to 20967.89, and the Nifty gaining 55.35 points to 6233.70.

HDFC Bank extended rally to 2 percent and ICICI Bank to 1.6 percent while HDFC and State Bank of India rose 1 percent.

Bharti Airtel surged 2 percent as the telecom operator has approved amalgamation of Airtel Broadband with self.

However, TCS , Wipro , Coal India , Cipla and Dr Reddys Labs are the only losers in the Sensex.

10:55am Raymond Boardroom
Textile major Raymond's realisations were strengthened by the massive rupee fall seen in Q1 and Q2 i.e, between April and September, says M Shiv Kumar, chief financial officer, Raymond.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Kumar says the company's strong Q2 performance has been the result of a revival in its apparel business that has also helped make profits. "All other business segments too have seen an all-round improvement," adds Kumar.

Kumar is cautiously optimistic on the company's Q3 performance given the macros don't change drastically.

''Our thrust will now be on exports,'' he highlights while saying the company is a net earner of foreign currency and will continue to up its export realisations. The stock gained 3.6 percent.

10:45am Market Expert
Vineet Bhatnagar, MD, PhillipCapital is confident that the Nifty will breach 6300 level and head towards the earlier high of 6357 on back of global cues.

According to him foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have not only shown a trading appetite on the long side for Nifty but have also bought around Rs 8000 crore in the current series uptil, which has also helped Nifty move higher.

The Bank Nifty could also make higher highs given the fact that the broad based index is expected to move higher, says Bhatnagar.

10:35am Stocks In News
Shares in Jet Airways slumped as much as 6.4 percent on Thursday after the company reported its worst quarterly loss of Rs 891 crore during September quarter, dented by high fuel costs and a weaker local currency. The stock is down 3.5 percent.

SKS Microfinance gained 3.5 percent as it reported a profit of Rs 16.3 crore in three months period ended September, for the fourth consecutive quarter. It had posted a loss of Rs 262.1 crore in a year ago period.

10:12am After a consolidation in previous three sessions, the market is marching towards its record high. The Sensex touched the 21000-mark for the first time since November 9, 2010, about 200 points away from its all-time high seen in January 2008.

The index is up 233 points or 1.12 percent at 21000.88, and the Nifty is up 61.30 points or 0.99 percent at 6239.65. More than three shares advanced for every share declining on the BSE.

Experts believe it is the only global liquidity that is driving the market towards its record high, but the Nifty may see sharp correction after hitting 6300 level, they add.

Foreign institutional investors have been net buyers in October barring first day of the month, taking exposure to more than Rs 11,500 crore worth of shares, in addition to Rs 12,632.90 crore worth of shares buying in September.

With concerns regarding the pace of the movement upwards, the Nifty may top around 6,200-6,300 levels, says ICICI Securities' MD and CEO, Anup Bagchi.

Bank Nifty is trading at 11-month high of 11,000, up 142 points or 1.3 percent. Country's largest lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank rose 1-1.4 percent.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC climbed 1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. ITC will announce its second quarter earnings on Friday while the numbers of Reliance Industries, which announced last week, were well received by the market.

Infosys and TCS, which were losers in previous session, see buying interest on short covering while Wipro fell nearly a percent.