Sensex closes flat, cautious ahead of state polls results

The market closed flat amid consolidation on Friday with the Sensex hovering around 21,000 level as investors are cautious ahead of state polls results due on December 08 and US jobs data. The Sensex rose 38.72 points to 20,996.53 and the Nifty climbed 18.80 points to 6,259.90 while the broader markets outperformed benchmarks. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. After exit polls' indication of BJP taking the lead in four out of five states elections, experts believe if the outcome is far better than exit polls then the Nifty may see a fresh record high on Monday.

''If the results actually get confirmed and the victory comes through the way it is being projected then market would have more legs on upward side rather than on the downward side. So, I think that will be the key thing as an event to watch ,'' Market expert Sandip Sabharwal said. Apart from elections results, today's US payroll data, too, will be closely watched by investors. Economic data is the key factor for the FOMC to decide whether to scale back or retain its monthly fiscal stimulus. Federal Reserve will be holding its meeting on December 17-18. Investment guru Marc Faber reiterates that even if the Fed decides to taper the bond programme, it would be done very lightly. In fact, he feels that the Fed will keep broadening asset purchases for few more years to support the markets.

Stocks in focus Capital goods, power, auto and metals saw buying interest while select index heavyweights like Reliance Industries , HDFC, Infosys and HDFC Bank were under pressure. The biggest gainer was Tata Power that rallied nearly 6 percent in last hour of trade followed by NTPC with a 3.4 percent upmove. Coal India continued to see buying interest on special dividend buzz. It rose 3.6 percent on top of a 3 percent rally in earlier session. Hero Motocorp climbed over 2 percent after brokerage house CLSA upgraded its rating on the stock to outperform from sell.

The firm also upgraded Bajaj Auto (up 0.7 percent) to underperform from sell. State-run oil & gas explorer ONGC gained more than 1 percent ahead of board meeting for announcement of interim dividend. However, HDFC plunged 1.65 percent followed by Hindalco Industries , Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel with a 1 percent loss. In the broader space, sugar stocks like Balrampur Chini , Bajaj Hindusthan , Shree Renuka Sugars , Dwarikesh Sugar and Sakthi Sugars surged between 2.5-10 percent after conclusion of Group of Ministers' meeting over sugar crisis. While addressing press conference, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said the committee will send sugar sector sop recommendations to cabinet in 2 weeks. Some of the recommendations are that 1) ethanol blending in petroleum products will be raised to 10 percent, 2) incentive will be given to produce new raw sugar products up to 40 lakh tonne, 3) restructuring of loans will be allowed as per RBI guidelines; and 4) government will provide 5 percent interest subvention. Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 34 paise to 61.51 against the US dollar.

3:50 pm Rupee check: A recovery in the rupee is giving Finance Minister P Chidambaram rare relief in his battle against a threatened credit rating downgrade to junk status by reducing pressure on the government's subsidy bill, reports Reuters. Still, the minister can only meet his fiscal deficit target of 4.8 percent of GDP by rolling over a substantial amount of subsidy spending into next year's budget and by finding big savings elsewhere, two senior finance ministry officials said.  A 10 percent rise in the rupee - which slumped to a record low late in August - means Chidambaram can at least reduce the amount of subsidy spending that gets pushed into next year's budget to USD 12 billion from a previous estimate of USD 15 billion, these officials said.

3:40 pm Market closing: It is a quiet end to the week as ends on a soft note. The Sensex is up 38.72 points at 20996.53, and the Nifty is up 18.80 points at 6259.90. About 1312 shares have advanced, 1167 shares declined, and 160 shares are unchanged. Tata Power ended the day with a gain of 6 percent while Coal India , NTPC , Hero MotoCorp and ONGC are other gainers. On the losing side are HDFC twins, Hindalco , Bharti Airtel and HUL .

3:30 pm  Buzzer: Shares of ONGC gained more than 2.5 percent in intraday trade on Friday ahead of board of directors meeting for announcement of interim dividend today. "Payment of interim dividend, if declared, shall start from the December 12, 2013 onwards to the shareholders," the company said in its filing to the exchange on November 14. The state-run oil & gas explorer has fixed December 11 as record date for determining entitlement of shareholders for payment of interim dividend for the financial year 2013-14.

The market is sitting on the fence awaiting big cues like the assembly election results on Sunday and the US non farm payroll report today evening. The Sensex is up 35.18 points at 20992.99, and the Nifty is up 19.45 points at 6260.55. About 1319 shares have advanced, 1155 shares declined, and 157 shares are unchanged. Tata Power is up 5 percent while other gainers in the Sensex are Coal India, NTPC, Hero MotoCorp and ONGC. Top losers in the Sensex are HDFC, Hindalco, Bharti Airtel, HUL and HDFC Bank . Global markets are under pressure as strong eco data from us reinforces view that taper may come earlier than expected. Asia ends with 0.5 percent cut on an average. The rupee has risen for the third straight day trading well above 62 to the dollar on the back of sustained selling of the dollar by banks and exporters. Oversubscription of the Power Grid FPO, which got subscribed 4.77 times also supported the rupee.

03:00pm Gainers and Losers Shares of Tata Power rallied 5.6 percent and Coal India gained 4 percent. Hero Motocorp rose 2.2 percent as CLSA upgraded its rating on the stock to outperform from sell. However, HDFC, HDFC Bank , Bharti Airtel and Hindalco Industries are down 1-1.7 percent. Hindustan Unilever and Infosys lost 0.8 percent each.

02:55pm PC Jeweller talks to CNBC-TV18 Aided by wedding season and Christmas festivites abroad, Sanjeev Bhatia, president- finance, PC Jeweller, says the company is hoping to maintain its compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25 percent. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Bhatia says that talks of a slump in demand are partially incorrect. The fall in demand, he explains, is in gold coins and bullion and not so much in the jewellery segment. Hence, the company is unaffected by this demand fall. On the road ahead, Bhatia says the company is aiming to add one store per month.

02:50pm Crude Oil Update Brent futures edged over USD 111 a barrel today after a two-day drop, as severe weather cut oil output in Europe and the United States, with traders waiting for a key US jobs report later in the day. Aiding Brent's rise was data on Thursday that showed the US economy grew faster than initially estimated in the third quarter, suggesting oil demand could improve in the world's top consumer. The gains, though, were curbed by speculation that positive economic data would prompt the US Federal Reserve to start unwinding its bond-buying programme, which could reduce support for riskier assets such as oil and other commodities, reports Reuters.

02:45pm Sugar stocks sweeten Sugar stocks gained between 4-10 percent after sugar package finalised by the Group of Ministers panel headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar. While addressing press conference, Pawar said ethanol blending in petroleum products will be raised 10 percent and incentive will be given to produce new raw sugar products up to Rs 40 lakh tonne. If necessary, import duty will be increased at reasonable level, he said.

02:35pm Investment guru Marc Faber talks to CNBC-TV18 The strength seen in the US market will continue; while it is too late to buy the US markets, says ace investor Marc Faber. At the same time he says that it is too early to commit huge investments to emerging markets yet. ''We have a very large valuation discrepancy between the US and the emerging markets. The growth in emerging economies will be slower in the next three-five years than it has been in the past three-five years, so I think that there will be still be some disappointment,'' he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18. Farber who is also the editor & publisher of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report is not gung-ho on the performance of global equities and foresees muted returns from this asset class in the next few years. Those betting on equities won't fetch more than 5 percent returns going ahead, he added.

02:25pm Essar Oil in focus Lalit Kumar Gupta, chief executive officer, Essar Oil says the company's promoters are converting the Foreign Currency Convertible Bond (FCCB) in order to boost the company's networth. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Gupta says the FCCBs will be converted at an average price of Rs 130 and Rs 153 in two different tranches. Additionally, Gupta says that the company has high interest costs of Rs 3000 crore per annum, but it is likely to be reduced substantially by USD 150-200 million (Rs 15-20 crore).

02:15pm Equity benchmarks are lacklustre in afternoon trade as traders are cautious ahead of state elections results due on Sunday. Power stocks are on buyers' radar with the Tata Power rising 4.3 percent and NTPC gaining 3 percent. The Sensex rose 6.72 points to 20,964.53, and the Nifty advanced 9 points to 6,250.10. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1233 to 1103 on the BSE. Raamdeo Agrawal, joint MD, Motilal Oswal Financial Services believes that the market has not run ahead of itself and sees a turnaround in sentiment post outcome of state assembly elections. In an interview to CNBC-TV 18 he said that the oil policy has been the biggest problem of last decade and he is hopeful of seeing some reforms in oil and gas sector post elections. If the government announces any kind of reforms for this sector, then ONGC would benefit from it, he added.

1:50 pm FII view: Ace investor Marc Faber points out Indian equities have seen severe wealth destruction in dollar terms from 2008. He advises market participants to shift focus from macro data like GDP growth etc to individual companies. Faber sees opportunity in midcap and small cap stocks in India. He prefers betting his chips on private sector banks currently. The strength seen the US market will continue; while it is too late to buy the US markets, says ace investor Marc Faber.

1:40 pm Stock in news: Drug firm Lupin today said its US arm has launched generic Fenofibric Acid capsules used for reducing cholesterol and fatty acids in the blood in the American market.     Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc (LPI), the company's US subsidiary has launched its generic Fenofibric Acid Delayed- release capsules in the strengths of 45 mg and 135 mg, Lupin said in a statement. The company had earlier received the final approval from the US health regulator (USFDA) for the same, it added.     The company's generic products are generic equivalent of AbbVie Inc's Trilipix delayed-release capsules in the same strengths.    

1:30 pm Interview: Engineering conglomerate, L&T expects the company's FY14 engineering and construction (E&C) margins to be at 11.5 percent , however, given the nature of the business, one may see a 50 bps variance to this guidance. Whole-time Director and CFO R Shankar Raman told CNBC-TV18 that he is not surprised by volatility in seen in the company's margins and one should take call on the margins based on the company's performance on a 12-month basis than three or six months.  Meanwhile, he is not too hopeful of capex cycle picking up anytime soon. He added that large industries are battling capacity underutilisation and recovery in the capex cycle looks another 12-18 months away.

The market is flat with the Nifty holding 6200 firmly. The Sensex is down 4.30 points at 20953.51, and the Nifty up is 3.05 points at 6244.15. About 1112 shares have advanced, 1046 shares declined, and 164 shares are unchanged. Power, consumer durables, auto sectors are among the top sectoral gainers in trade today. A group of ministers headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is likely to meet today to discuss a bailout package for the cash starved sugar mills and to ensure timely payment to cane growers. Bajaj Hindusthan, Balrampur Chini, Dwarikesh Sugar, KM Sugar Mills, Oudh Sugar Mills, Shree Renuka Sugars and Simbhaoli Sugar gained between 2-5 percent.

Coal India, NTPC, Tata Powe, Hero MotoCorp and Dr Reddy's Labs are rallying 1-3 percent each. HDFC twins, Hindalco, Bharti Airtek and Infosys are major losers in the Sensex. Speaking at CNN IBN-HT Summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says Indian economy is on a rising growth trajectory but the country is dissatisfied with annual growth of 5 percent. Japanese stocks rose, recovering some of the losses seen in the past two days, as the yen weakened against the dollar on expectations that the Federal Reserve could start tapering its stimulus soon, reports Reuters. The Nikkei ended 0.8 percent higher at 15,299.86 points after trading as low as 15,177.49 earlier in the session. For the week, the Nikkei dropped 2.3 percent, the first weekly decline in a month.

13:00pm Market Update Equity benchmarks are directionless in afternoon trade due to lack of trigger. The Sensex declined 9.11 points to 20,948.70, while the Nifty rose 1.85 points to 6,242.95. Most active shares are Infosys , Axis Bank , YES Bank, SBI , Havells India , Larsen and Toubro , ICICI Bank and ITC . In the midcap space, Redington , Dewan Housing , Engineers India and Whirlpool surged 5-8 percent whereas Jubilant Life, Den Networks , Gujarat State Petronet , Jyothy Labs and Puravankara lost 2.5-5 percent.

12:50pm L&T not hopeful of capex cycle picking up anytime soon Engineering conglomerate, L&T expects the company's FY14 engineering and construction (E&C) margins to be at 11.5 percent, however, given the nature of the business, one may see a 50 bps variance to this guidance. Whole-time Director and CFO R Shankar Raman told CNBC-TV18 that he is not surprised by volatility in seen in the company's margins and one should take call on the margins based on the company's performance on a 12-month basis than three or six months. Speaking about the latest happenings in the company, he said that L&T is expecting Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp order  to begin by March 2014 for the west-north region, which is the company's area of focus. The industrial corridor may have begun, but actual ordering is expected to start post election. Meanwhile, he is not too hopeful of capex cycle picking up anytime soon. He added that large industries are battling capacity underutilisation and recovery in the capex cycle looks another 12-18 months away.

12:40pm SAIL says worst over for steel sector In an interview to CNBC-TV18, CS Verma, Chairman, SAIL said that the worst is over for the steel industry. Steel companies in India and globally have upped prices by Rs 1,500-2,000/tonne and USD 15-20/tonne respectively, so one should expect better realisations. He further highlighted that in 2012, global crude steel output went up by 0.7 percent, but in the first 10 months (January to October) of the current calendar year, the growth steel production globally is 3.2 percent. SAIl's current gross debt stand at around Rs 21,000 crore and the company expects its capacity to reach 18.5 mt by FY14-end. Meanwhile, Verma who is also officiating as the head of state-owned miner NMDC , said that company has increased prices of both fines and lumps by Rs 200/tn for December and is confident of achieving 30mt in FY14.

12:30pm Gainers and Losers Coal India gained 3.3 percent, in addition to a 3 percent rally in earlier session on special dividend buzz. Hero Motocorp and NTPC rallied over 2.5 percent. However, HDFC Bank , HDFC, Bharti Airtel and Hindalco Industries lost over 1 percent.

12:15pm Sugar stocks in focus A group of ministers headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is likely to meet today to discuss a bailout package for the cash starved sugar mills and to ensure timely payment to cane growers. Bajaj Hindusthan , Balrampur Chini , Dwarikesh Sugar , KM Sugar Mills, Oudh Sugar Mills , Shree Renuka Sugars and Simbhaoli Sugar gained between 2-5 percent. 12:00pm The market is still rangebound in noon trade as it is waiting for the outcome of five state elections results. Exit polls on Wednesday indicated that the BJP is a leading party in four out of five states. The Sensex fell 27.52 points to 20,930.29, and the Nifty slipped 3.80 points to 6,237.30. Although the market trend continues to be positive, but if the political outcome on Sunday is a big deviation from what the exit polls suggest then there could be big dip in the markets cautions Tushar Mahajan, Nomura Financial Advisory & Sec in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

The 50 day-moving-average (DMA) for the Nifty at 6,050 levels is an important support, says Mahajan. So, one can look at strikes of 6,400 on the upside and 6,000 on the downside with a bias on the long side, he adds. The rupee trades flat against the US dollar, tracking rise in euro and firm local shares. The currency eyes US jobs data and domestic state elections results, while gilts are trading down ahead of Rs 15,000 crore-rupee gilt auction and US non-farms payroll data today.  Consumer products giant Unilever aims to cut the number of individual products it sells by 30 percent by end of 2014 to make the company more efficient and navigate a global slowdown it admits it was slow to confront. The company also said that it is cutting 2,000 jobs and will continue to adjust its portfolio.

11:50 am Update: SKS Microfinance said it maintains a proxy register and no shareholder asked for the same at December 3 annual general meeting. Earlier this week, SKS Trust Advisors Pvt Ltd, single- largest shareholder in the Hyderabad-based micro-finance firm, had written to market regulator Sebi, saying the company had not produced the register of proxies for inspection as requested by it and sought recounting of votes. "Proxy register is very much maintained by the company. No shareholder ever asked for it either at or before the annual general meeting," India's only listed micro-finance company said in a release here.

11:40 am Market news: Deutsche Bank , which is quitting trading in most raw materials markets, will retain its near USD 9 billion commodities index fund business, a strategy industry experts said helps the German bank profit from fees and maintain ties with some of the largest investors, reports Reuters. A top-five financial player in commodities, Deutsche Bank said on Thursday it will cease trading energy, agriculture, base metals, coal and iron ore, while retaining precious metals and a limited number of financial derivatives traders. It cited mounting regulatory pressure.

11:30 am Opinion: Foreign institutional investors will stick to company fundamentals and their performances before making an investment decision and not what the exit polls indicate, says Naina Lal Kidwai, president, FICCI . Kidwai is also the country head of HSBC India. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Kidwai says the Indian economy is definitely showing some green shoots. Quoting positive export data, clearances of coal issues, Kidwai says most of the macros are positives in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP) or the current account deficit (CAD).

The market is consolidating ahead of the election results of five states on Monday. The Sensex is up 39.94 points at 20997.75, and the Nifty is up 12.95 points at 6254.05. About 1013 shares have advanced, 740 shares declined, and 113 shares are unchanged. Hero Motocorp , Coal India , Tata Power , NTPC and BHEL are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the laggards are Bharti Airtel , Wipro , Hindalco and HDFC twins. The rupee is higher for a third session, tracking euro gains after the ECB gave no indication of policy easing. Brent futures edged above USD 111 a barrel on Friday, on course to end the week more than 1 percent higher, as traders awaited a US jobs report later in the day and severe weather cut oil production in Europe and the United States.

Asian shares spent much of Friday in a state of suspended animation as tension mounted ahead of jobs data that could make or break the case for an imminent scaling back in US stimulus, reports Reuters. Government borrowing costs from Japan to Australia hit fresh highs on trepidation the Federal Reserve could start tapering its USD 85 billion of monthly debt purchases at its policy meeting on December 17 and 18

11:00am Sensex positive amid volatility The market is marginally higher amid choppy trade as traders cautious ahead of five state elections results on December 08. The Sensex advanced 33.31 points to 20,991.12, and the Nifty rose 11.30 points to 6,252.40. Market expert Sandip Sabharwal believes the exit polls of the state elections were factored into the market on Thursday itself. However, traders are now cautious, he says. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Sabharwal says, ''If the results actually get confirmed and the victory comes through the way it is being projected then market would have more legs on upward side rather than on the downward side. So, I think that will be the key thing as an event to watch."

10:55am Asian Markets Update Asian shares spent much of Friday in a state of suspended animation as tension mounted ahead of jobs data that could make or break the case for an imminent scaling back in US stimulus. Government borrowing costs from Japan to Australia hit fresh highs on trepidation the Federal Reserve could start tapering its USD 85 billion of monthly debt purchases at its policy meeting on December 17 and 18, reports Reuters.

10:45am NIIT Tech soars to new 52-week high of Rs 344 In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Arvind Thakur, CEO & joint MD, NIIT Technologies on Thursday says the company's revenue is up 30 percent CAGR in the last three years. This, he says, gives them the confidence of driving growth in the organization and looking at an aspirational goal of USD 1 billion going forward.

10:30pm Lupin up 1%, Power Grid gains 2% Lupin has launched generic Trilipix delayed-release capsules in the US, in 45 mg and 135 mg strengths. The Rs 7,000-crore follow-on public offer of Power Grid Corporation has received overwhelming response from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), oversubscribing 4.77 times on Thursday. The reserved portion of QIBs got subscribed nine times. The issue closed for QIBs on Thursday and today is the last day for other investors.

10:00am The market is seeing a consolidation with the Sensex gyrating around the 21,000-mark today after a 249-point rally seen in earlier session. The Sensex gained 56.53 points at 21,014.34, and the Nifty rose 19.60 points to 6,260.70. The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.3 percent each. About 733 shares have advanced while 452 shares declined on the BSE. Sanjay Dutt, Director, Quantum Securities is fairly positive on the market for next year. He predicts 2014 to be the beginning of a new bull market, where market participants can make money by adopting a stock specific approach. ''We may not see the index giving 10-15-20 percent return, but within the market, lot of rotation will take place. We are already seeing the beginning of that. A good amount of excess gains will be made in some of the second-rung good quality stocks,'' he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

9:50 am Market check: The market has made slight upmove as the Nifty holds 6250. The Nifty is up 14.95 points at 6256.05 while the Sensex is up 45.36 points at 21003.17. About 659 shares have advanced, 459 shares declined, and 56 shares are unchanged. ONGC, BHEL, Hero MotoCorp are up 2 percent eaxh while Coal India and Bajaj Auto are other gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are Hindalco,, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank.

9:40 am Results: Net profit of HP-owned IT services firm MphasiS declined 9 percent, while revenues grew 22 percent for the quarter ended October 31, 2013 on the back of significant deal wins. MphasiS, which follows November-October fiscal, posted a 9.12 per cent drop in its net profit to Rs 190.22 crore year-on-year on account of higher taxes and increase in interest costs. The company's consolidated revenues for the reported quarter grew 22 per cent to Rs 1,594.03 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 1,306.16 crore in the year-ago period. For the year, the company's net profit declined 6 per cent to Rs 743.8 crore, while revenues were up 7.4 per cent to Rs 5,796.3 crore. The stock is down 1.5 percent intraday.

9:30 am FPO update: The follow-on-public offer (FPO) of Power Grid Corporation was subscribed 4.77 times on the third day of offer today with institutional buyers lapping up the shares. For the 78.70 crore shares offered for sale, the total number of bids received was 375.73 crore at close today. The number of bids at cut off price was 16.88 crore, as per data available on bourses. The shares are being offered at a price band of Rs 85-90 apiece.

After a stellar rally on Thursday, the market has opened today on a flat note. The Sensex is up 2.79 points at 20960.60, and the Nifty is down 4.90 points at 6236.20. About 179 shares have advanced, 95 shares declined, and 18 shares are unchanged. Hindalco, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Larsen are major laggards in morning trade. Top gainers in the Sensex are Sesa Sterlite, Tata Power, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy's Labs and ITC. The rupee opened with gains of 12 paise at 61.64 per dollar on Friday as against previous day's closing of 61.76 per dollar. Pramit Brahmbhatt of Alpari feels the sudden euphoria in equity markets will help rupee strengthen further."However, concerns of early taper will keep a check on its positive momentum," he adds. According to him, the range for the day is seen between 61.12-62.02/dollar.

In the global markets, US extended losses into a fifth session as speculation grows that the Fed's tapering programme could begin sooner than expected. European markets too led lower on Fed concerns and red flags raised by Mario Draghi. Asia is cautious ahead of the key US jobs data today. In the precious metal space, Gold is steady after choppy trading in the previous session, though it is headed for a weekly decline as improving US economic data raised fears of an early end to monetary stimulus. Indian gold premiums hit another record of USD 160 an ounce on Thursday, owing to low supplies to meet the wedding demand. From the oil space, crude rose for a sixth straight session, marking its biggest weekly gain in 5 months.