Sensex ends slightly higher; Tata Steel up 7%, HUL falls 2%

07 Feb 2014

03:55 pm Market outlook
Amisha Vora, joint MD, Prabhudas Lilladher is of the view that Nifty could remain rangebound between 5900-6300 in the short-term and correction could bottom out around 5850-5900 levels.

She thinks Aurobindo Pharma may appreciate about 25-30 percent and sees a target price of Rs 625-650.

03:45 pm Market closing
The market ended with marginal gains. The Nifty closed at 6063.20, up 26.90 points. The Sensex was up 65.82 points at 20376.56. About 1371 shares advanced, 1197 shares declined, and 153 shares were unchanged.

Metal stocks hogged limelight today with Tata Steel and Sesa Sterlite gaining 6 and 4 percent respectively. Sun pharma, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto were other gainers in the Sensex. FMCG and IT stocks were weak dragged by HUL, TCS, Wipro and ITC.

03:35 pm Opinion
Gautam Trivedi, MD and head of equities-India, Religare Capital Markets says that slowdown in spending continues not only in urban areas but also, in rural areas. The best place to invest right now in the Indian consumer space is the Indian FMCG space versus the foreign MNC FMCG companies, he adds.

"What we found is the Indian FMCG companies actually performed significantly better than Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and the ITCs. For example, over the past 10 years in India at BSE-200, TTK Prestige was number one stock, up almost 20x followed by stocks like Emami which were up about 4,000 percent. Our money would still pretty much be with the Indian names at this point versus the MNCs," he explains.

03:25 pm Results
Cadila Healthcare 's consolidated net profit jumped 81.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 186 crore in the quarter ended December 2013, helped by strong revenues. Lower finance cost and tax expenses boosted the profitability too.

Revenue grew 20 percent to Rs 1,872 crore compared to a year-ago period on account of strong growth in its US business that shot up 61 percent. Emerging markets business rose 30 percent during the quarter.

"The company filed 31 additional abbreviated new drug application (ANDAs) with the US Food and Drug Administration taking the cumulative ANDA filings for the period April-December to 49," Cadila said in its release.

In Mexico, it launched two new products and filed 8 dossiers with the Mexican regulatory authority while in European market, it received the approval for 15 new product dossiers. The company launched two new products in France and three new products in Spain.

03:15 pm Boardroom
Isaac George, Director-Finance, GVK said that the company's consolidated debt stands at Rs 21,000 crore and interest burden continues to hit its consolidated performance. Secondly, energy verticals reported losses in the range of Rs 51 crore, pulling down profitability further, he added. Non-availability of gas remains a serious concern for the company, he said.

Meanwhile, its transportation and airports businesses' performance is in-line with estimates. GVK currently manages international airports at Mumbai and Bengaluru. GVK's debt in Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd (MIAL) currently stands at Rs 7,900 crore and reduction of MIAL debt is the key to turning PAT positive, George said. MIAL is a joint venture between the GVK led consortium (74 percent) and Airports Authority of India (26 percent). The Prime Minister recently iinaugurated GVK's new Mumbai airport T2 terminal and the company is betting big on T2 once it opens because its non-aero revenue is likely to go up.

03:05 pm Divestment
Moving ahead with the residual stake sale in HZL and Balco, an inter-ministerial panel has begun the process of valuation of the two companies so as to complete the deals by march-end, reports PTI.

"We are in the process of valuing the two companies. The IMG discussed the issuance of Request For Proposals (RFP) for valuation of HZL and Balco," a senior Finance Ministry official said.

The government holds 49 percent stake in Balco and 29.5 percent in Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL). "We are working very hard to make it happen by March," Disinvestment Secretary Ravi Mathur told reporters.

02:55pm Cadila Healthcare gains 6.5% and CESC falls 1.4% post Q3 earnings
Cadila Healthcare's third quarter (October-December) consolidated net profit spiked 81.6 percent to Rs 186 crore from Rs 102.4 crore year-on-year on strong revenues.

Revenue grew 20 percent to Rs 1,872 crore from Rs 1,561 crore. Operating profit rose 15.7 percent to Rs 295 crore but margin declined 20 basis points to 15.8 percent compared to a year-ago period.

CESC missed street expectations on every parameter with the October-December quarter net profit growing marginal to Rs 107 crore compared to Rs 101 crore in same quarter last year.

Total income rose 16 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,207 crore. Operating profit increased 20 percent to Rs Rs 293 crore, but margin declined 130 basis points to 24.3 percent compared to corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

02:50pm Gainers and Losers
Tata Steel extended gains, rising nearly 6 percent. Sun Pharma and Sesa Sterlite rallied 3 percent each followed by Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy's Labs, Maruti, Cipla and NTPC with 1-2 percent upmove.

However, shares of HUL, TCS and Wipro plunged 1.5 percent each. HDFC, ITC, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are under pressure.

02:40pm Nikkei gains over 2%
Japan's Nikkei average jumped 2.2 percent on Friday, moving away from a four-month low hit earlier this week, as investor sentiment brightened on hopes for an upbeat US jobs report later in the day.

The Nikkei ended at 14,462.41, recovering from a four-month trough of 13,995.86 set on Wednesday. It was the biggest daily percentage rise since January 29.

For the week, however, the Nikkei dropped 3 percent, its fifth consecutive week of declines.

02:30pm Sugar sop
Government is all set to announce a subsidy of Rs 3,500 per tonne on export of four million tonnes of raw sugar costing the exchequer Rs 1,400 crore, a move aimed at boosting overseas sale andAmid differences among the ministries, Pawar, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Food Minister K V Thomas today met to resolve the issue. They finally agreed to fix subsidy of Rs 3,500 per tonne, aggressively pushed by the NCP chief.

"In the meeting, it has been decided to provide a subsidy of Rs 3,500 per tonne. The matter will now come before the CCEA soon," Food Minister K V Thomas told PTI after the meeting.

The CCEA had twice deferred the decision on fixing the export subsidy this week as Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was in favour of higher subsidy of Rs 3,500 per tonne as against Rs 2,000 per tonne proposed by the Food Ministry.

02:20pm Patel Engineering surges 6% on bagging orders
Shares of Patel Engineering company jumped nearly 6 percent as it has bagged Rs 1100 crore order.

The new projects bagged by the company includes the Rs 473 crore EPC contract and allied construction work for the 37.5 MW Parnai Hydro Electric Project of Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation. The company also bagged Rs 66.64 crore construction work from Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) company for construction of retaining wall along the Sabarmati River bed.

Other projects bagged by the company include Rs 307 crore irrigation project for Rapti Nagar Nirman Mandal in UP.

02:10pm Tata Power slips 0.7% post Q3 earnings
Tata Power, one of the largest private power producers in India, reported consolidated net loss of Rs 75 crore on account of forex loss in the quarter ended December 2013.

The company had posted a loss of Rs 329 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal due to impairment loss of Rs 260 crore related to Mundra power project.

The forex loss during the quarter stood at Rs 160 crore as against loss of Rs 85 crore in a year-ago period.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts had expected the company to report profit after tax of Rs 201 crore on revenues of Rs 9,365 crore for the quarter. Consolidated total income of the company declined 3.8 percent on yearly basis to Rs 8,700 crore in the quarter gone by due to lower revenues from power segment.

02:00pm The market continued to be rangebound. The Sensex fell 24.17 points to 20,286.57, and the Nifty slipped 2.35 points to 6,033.95. About 1310 shares have advanced, 1111 shares declined, and 144 shares are unchanged.

Amisha Vora, joint MD, Prabhudas Lilladher is of the view that Nifty for the short-term could remain rangebound between 5900-6300 and the correction could bottom out around 5850-5900 levels.

She thinks the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) or the global investors pulling out of emerging markets were not only due to taper announcements but also because of recent events taking place in Turkey, Argentina etc. The market seems to gradually adjusting to tapering, says Vora in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Aurobindo Pharma is the most active stock on exchanges, especially after Q3FY14 earnings. Profit after tax of the company jumped over 350 percent to Rs 417.5 crore compared to a year-ago period.

Other most active shares were Infosys , Tata Steel, Idea Cellular , Cadila Healthcare, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel .

1:50 pm Result: Tata Power , one of the largest private power producers in India, reported consolidated net loss of Rs 75 crore on account of forex loss in the quarter ended December 2013.

The company had posted a loss of Rs 329 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal due to impairment loss of Rs 260 crore related to Mundra power project.

The forex loss during the quarter stood at Rs 160 crore as against loss of Rs 85 crore in a year-ago period. Power business revenues declined 7.7 percent to Rs 5,962.8 crore while coal business increased 3.65 percent to Rs 2,567.5 crore compared to a year-ago period.

1:40 pm Buzzing: Shares of Patel Engineering company jumped over 10 percent as it has bagged Rs 1100 crore order.

The new projects bagged by the company includes the Rs 473 crore EPC contract and allied construction work for the 37.5 MW Parnai Hydro Electric Project of Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation. The company also bagged an Rs 66.64 crore construction work from Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) company for construction of retaining wall along the Sabarmati River bed.

Meanwhile, the company said that the company in consortium with Limak of Turkey and state-owned BHEL has emerged as the lowest bidder for the 1,000 MW Pakal DUL Hydroelectric Project.

1:30 pm Result poll: Software services provider Hexaware Technologies is set to announce its fourth quarter (October-December) earnings today. Analysts expect profit of the company to fall 1.9 percent sequentially to Rs 96.8 crore in the quarter ended December 2013. It had reported a forex loss of Rs 18.7 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal, according to CNBC-TV18 poll.

The company had not given quarterly guidance for the first time even (for Q4) post announcement of third quarter numbers.

On a sudden move, the market fell off sharply from the day's high. IT and FMCG stocks are in red while metals, pharma and realty stocks are in buyers' radar. The Sensex is up 8.41 points or at 20319.15, and the Nifty is up 8.45 points at 6044.75. About 1332 shares have advanced, 922 shares declined, and 143 shares are unchanged.

On the earnings front Jet Airways and Tata Power will be posting their third quarter earnings today. Jet Airways may post a revenue jump of 9 percent while EBITDA may fall by 55 percent. Tata Power may post a consolidated PAT of Rs 201 crore against reported loss of Rs 329 crore year-on-year.

Reliance infrastructure-owned power distribution companies, BSES Rajdhani and BSES Yamuna take NTPC to Supreme Court against NTPC's ultimatum to cut supplies.

The rupee is trading marginally up tracking euro and firm equity markets. Expectations of dollar inflows also keep mood positive.

12:59pm Market Update
The market moved towards day's high. The Sensex rose 125.63 points to 20,436.37, and the Nifty climbed 41.50 points to 6,077.80.

SJVN shares gained 1.5 percent as its October-December quarter net profit increased to Rs 211 crore from Rs 192 crore and revenues jumped to Rs 387.4 crore from Rs 358 crore year-on-year.

12:55pm CESC slips over 1% post lower-than-expected Q3 numbers
CESC missed street expectations on every parameter with the October-December quarter net profit growing marginal to Rs 107 crore compared to Rs 101 crore in same quarter last year.

12:50pm Nomura maintains buy in Power Grid
Brokerage house Nomura maintains buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 129 apiece.

"Ahead of the impending 2014-19 final tariff regulations by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), we currently maintain our earnings outlook (FY14F-17F fully diluted EPS CAGR of around 14%) for Power Grid; 9MFY14 normalised EBITDA and PAT comprise 73 percent/74 percent of our FY14F forecasts. However, final tariff regulations notwithstanding, consensus earnings forecast (around 9 percent above our FY14/FY15 forecast) may potentially be trimmed on the back of the Q3FY14 results (EBITDA/PAT were 7.6%/12% below consensus), in our view," Nomura report said.

12:40pm Cadila Healthcare surges over 2% post Q3 earnings
Cadila Healthcare's third quarter (October-December) consolidated net profit spiked 81.6 percent to Rs 186 crore from Rs 102.4 crore year-on-year on strong revenues.

Revenue grew 20 percent to Rs 1,872 crore from Rs 1,561 crore. Operating profit rose 15.7 percent to Rs 295 crore but margin declined 20 basis points to 15.8 percent compared to a year-ago period.

12:30pm Aurobindo Pharma touches record high
Shares of Aurobindo Pharma gained 4 percent as it posted highest ever profit in December quarter. The drug company's Q3 FY14 net profit zoomed 355 percent to Rs 417 crore versus Rs 91.8 crore on a yearly basis, despite a higher tax expense of Rs 1,336 crore. The higher tax expenses could have come due to acquisition of Actavis' west european business done in this quarter.

Its operating profit margin doubled to 30.1 percent compared to 16.5 percent. During the quarter, gross margin rose to 58 percent, expanding 840 basis (Y-o-Y), indicates improved product mix that has helped company cut costs.

Consolidated total revenues grew 38 percent to Rs 2140 crore versus Rs 1913.8 crore Y-o-Y, driven by 81 percent growth in US sales. India business grew 18 percent and exports were up 40 percent in December quarter.

The stock touched a record high of Rs 536 on the BSE.

12:20pm Tata Power to deliver October-December quarter nos
According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect the company to report profit after tax of Rs 201 crore as against reported loss of Rs 329 crore in same quarter last year.

It had reported an impairment loss of Rs 260 crore in Q3FY13; hence on adjusted basis that profit (Q3FY13) figure stands at approximately Rs 227 crore.

12:10pm Jubilant reacts strongly to Q3 earnings
Shares of Jubilant Life Sciences surged 5 percent riding high on its December quarter results. Its net profit jumped 437 percent to Rs 143.43 crore for the third quarter ended December 2013, up from Rs 26.69 crore year-on-year.

Its total income grew 10 percent growth at Rs 1,442.78 crore in the quarter against Rs 1,306.39 crore in a yearly basis.

The company feels that revenues and EBIDTA are expected to improve in the coming quarters led by improved capacity utilisations in sterile injectables and OCL, nutrition ingredients, Symtet and 3CP, backward integration of Pyridine and expansion to newer markets.

''We expect revenue growth due to strong pipeline in APIs and solid dosage formulations, new product launches, expansion in newer geographies in API and Formulations, and robust order book in sterile injectables,'' it says in a statement.

12:00pm Indian stocks continued to see buying interest in noon trade supported by healthcare and banks stocks. However, the weakness in FMCG stocks capped the gains.

The Sensex rose 86.41 points to 20,397.15, and the Nifty advanced 27.95 points to 6064.25. The broader markets continued to outpace benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising over 0.7 percent.

Metal stocks, which were beaten down badly on fears of China slowdown, have consistently been seeing buying interest. Tata Steel topped the buying list, surging nearly 5 percent followed by Sesa Sterlite with over a 3 percent upmove.

Healthcare stocks like Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs and Cipla gained between 1-2.6 percent.

Private sector lenders ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank rose a percent while top lender State Bank of India climbed 0.65 percent.

However, shares of ITC, Bharti Airtel, TCS, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Wipro and BHEL slipped 0.4-1.4 percent.

About 1282 shares have advanced, 853 shares declined, and 158 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

12:00 pm 2G spectrum: The third round of spectrum auction commenced for the fifth day on Friday with Delhi witnessing an upward revision in prices for both the premium 900 MHz and 1800 MHz band.

''Auction has started. There is excess demand in circles, including Assam, J&K, MP, West Bengal, UP (E) and UP (W),'' a Department of Telecom (DoT) official said.

At the end of fourth day, telecom companies have jointly made bids worth about Rs 52,689 crore. The government has got bids of around Rs 30,754 crore for 1800 MHz band and Rs 21,935 crore for 900 MHz band.

The price of 900 MHz in Delhi shot up by about 78 percent to Rs 639.24 crore per megahertz as compared to the base price of Rs 360 crore fixed by the government; whereas for the 1800 MHz band, the reserve price rose by 5 percent to Rs 230 crore a MHz.

11:50 am Buzzing: Shares of Jubilant Life Sciences surged 9 percent intraday on Friday riding high on its December quarter results. Its net profit jumped 437 percent to Rs 143.43 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, up from Rs 26.69 crore year-on-year.

Its total income grew 10 percent growth at Rs 1,442.78 crore in the quarter against Rs 1,306.39 crore in a yearly basis.

''We expect revenue growth due to strong pipeline in APIs and solid dosage formulations, new product launches, expansion in newer geographies in API and Formulations, and robust order book in sterile injectables,'' it says in a statement.

11:40 am Result poll: Telecom operator Reliance Communications will announce its third quarter (October-December) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, profit after tax is likely to see steep fall on account of high base in previous quarter. Operating profit margin and profit after tax was boosted by a provision writeback of Rs 441 crore in the quarter ended September 2013.

Hence on adjusted basis, operating profit margin is expected to be at 35.3 percent versus 35 percent and PAT is seen going up 15 percent at Rs 270 crore in Q3FY14 on sequential basis.

11:30 am Global macro data: China's services sector grew at its slowest pace in almost 2-1/2 years in January after firms secured a smaller volume of new business, a private survey showed, adding to growing signs of slackening in the Chinese economy.

The HSBC/Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) retreated to 50.7 in January, a low last seen in August 2011 though still above the 50-point level that demarcates growth and contraction. December's PMI was 50.9. The index is the last of China's four monthly PMI releases, which all showed growth in the world's second-largest economy moderating in January on softer local and foreign demand.

The market is holding up its gain. The Sensex is up 71.96 points at 20382.70, and the Nifty is up 23.10 points at 6059.40.

Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Sun Pharma, Tata Power and Dr Reddy's Labs are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the laggards are Bharti Airtel, Coal India, ITC, M&M and TCS.

About 1215 shares have advanced, 668 shares declined, and 129 shares are unchanged.

The rupee gains on better risk appetite globally while bonds are mostly unchanged cautious ahead of the Rs 10,000 crore auction today. Asian currencies are mixed against the US dollar ahead of the crucial non-farm payrolls data from the US. The Korean won, Taiwanese dollar and Philippine peso rose as risk appetite improved.

Gold is set for its sixth weekly gain. Crude inched up with Nymex is at USD 98/ bbl and Brent is at USD 107/bbl.

Asian markets barring Shanghai are higher taking cues from the positive close from the US. China's HSBC Services PMI data for January was subdued coming in at 50.7 versus 50.9 M-o-M.

10:55am GVK Power talks to CNBC-TV18
Infrastructure firm GVK Power and Infrastructure reported narrowing of net loss at Rs 45 crore for Q3FY14 versus a net loss of Rs 57 crore in the year-ago period. This is the ninth consecutive quarter when the company has reported loss on a consolidated basis. However, consolidated net income of the group increased over 16 percent to Rs 735 crore from Rs 649 crore in the year-ago period.

Director-Finance Isaac George told CNBC-TV18 that the company's consolidated debt stands at Rs 21,000 crore and interest burden continues to hit its consolidated performance. Secondly, energy verticals reported losses in the range of Rs 51 crore, pulling down profitability further, he added. Non-availability of gas remains a serious concern for the company, he added.

10:50am Tata Communications sees buying interest
Tata Communications gains nearly a percent as sources say the company is in advanced stages to sell Neotel to Vodacom.

Neotel is Tata Communication's South Africa business. CNBC-TV18 learnt from sources that the government approval is required for sale of Neotel. Government of India holds 26 percent in Tata Communications.

Sources say the deal will to help Tata Communications bring debt down significantly.

10:40am Reliance Communications to report Q3 earnings today
The profit after tax is likely to see steep fall on account of high base in previous quarter. Operating profit margin and profit after tax boosted by a provision writeback of Rs 441 crore in the quarter ended September 2013.

Hence on adjusted basis, operating profit margin is expected to be at 35.3 percent versus 35 percent and PAT is seen going up 15 percent at Rs 270 crore in Q3FY14 on sequential basis.

10:30am Infosys to set up unit in Brazil
Shares of Infosys were up over 1 percent. Investors are buying the stocks of the software company as it is expanding its footprint in Latin America. It will establish a delivery centre in Araraquara (Brazil), which will deliver application management services for clients.

"With this new centre, Infosys and its subsidiaries are further expanding their footprint in Latin America with operations across Brazil, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Argentina, employing over 1,700 people," it said in a statement.

Initially, the 100-seat facility in Brazil will house 25 people and provide SAP Application Management services to Citrosuco, the world's leading orange juice producer.

The centre will also deliver application management services supporting critical business operations, including SAP ERP systems to other clients across Brazil.

10:20am FIIs snap 5-day selling streak
Foreign investors bought Rs 10.75 crore worth of Indian shares on Thursday to snap their five-day selling streak totalling USD 542 million in secondary markets, provisional exchange and regulatory data shows.

Analysts say with Nifty taking support at 200-day moving average, any follow up buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) will help reverse the short-term trend which had turned down.

The Nifty took support at its 200 day moving average for a third consecutive day on Thursday.

"The recent bout of FII selling is more related to global factors of tapering and China slowdown, not due to India issues," said Premal Madhavji, head of equities at Espirito Santo Securities.

Most likely outflow are those of short-term ETF money, not long only selling, Madhavji added, reports Reuters.

10:10am FII View
Timothy Moe of Goldman Sachs feels India and Indonesia are still working through the growth effects of recent policy tightening.

He believes broad emerging markets (EM) concerns may continue to weigh on Asian equity performance despite a generally better fundamental backdrop in Asia. "Thus, regional performance may be even more back-end loaded than we initially expected, and we have lowered our near-term targets," he adds.

10:00am The market maintained its positive momentum with the Nifty holding 6050 level, tracking positive global cues.

The Sensex rose 93.25 points to 20403.99, and the Nifty advanced 26.85 points to 6,063.15 while the broader markets outperformed benchmarks.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices climbed over 0.7 percent. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1125 to 404 on the BSE.

Sun Pharma, Tata Steel and Sesa Sterlite topped the buying list, rising more than 2 percent followed by Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs and Maruti Suzuki with a 1.5 percent upmove.

Healthcare stocks are on buyers' radar because two healthcare midcap companies reported strong third quarter (October-December) numbers.

Aurobindo Pharma hit fresh record high of Rs 536 after it reporting 353 percent rise in profit after tax at Rs 417.5 crore during October-December quarter year-on-year. The stock climbed over 4 percent.

Jubilant Life Sciences surged nearly 6 percent as its December quarter profit after tax spiked to Rs 143 crore from Rs 26.7 crore in a year-ago period.

10:00 am Macro outlook: The government is likely to cut its estimate of 5 percent growth forecast for the fiscal year that ends on March 31, thanks to a slower-than-expected recovery by industries, reports Reuters. The revision will do little to help the Congress party-led ruling alliance, which faces an uphill battle in elections due by May amid allegations of economic mismanagement, corruption scams and high inflation.

Last week, the Statistics Ministry revised down economic growth for the previous fiscal year to 4.5 percent - the slowest pace during the decade Manmohan Singh has been prime minister - from an earlier estimate of 5 percent.

9:50 am Stock in news: Shares of Aurobindo Pharma are at life high following strong December quarter results. Aurobindo Pharma surpassed all street expectations in third quarter FY14 with highest ever profit numbers. A healthy and improved product mix and increase in sale of high margin products has pushed profitability higher for the company.

PAT grew by 355 percent to Rs 417 crore vs Rs 91.8 crore Y-o-Y, despite a higher tax expense of Rs 1336 crore. The higher tax expense could have come on account of acquisition of Actavis's West European Business, which Aurobindo made this quarter.

Operating profit margins at 30.1 percent vs 16.5% are the highest ever. Even gross margins at 58 percent has expanded 840 bps y-o-y is at an all time high indicating improved product mix that has helped company cut costs.

9:40 am FII views: Timothy Moe of Goldman Sachs says India and Indonesia are still working through the growth effects of recent policy tightening. "We believe broad EM concerns may continue to weigh on Asian equity performance despite a generally better fundamental backdrop in Asia. Thus, regional performance may be even more back-end loaded than we initially expected, and we have lowered our near-term targets," he said.

Chris Wood of CLSA feels the recent huge fund outflows from emerging markets (EM) have raised the risk of a redemption-driven liquidation which could trigger a sell-off greater than warranted by the fundamentals. "And it would be a sell-off where the emerging equity asset class would to a certain extent inevitably be correlated; a correlation which would be made worse by the misplaced enthusiasm for investing in emerging markets in recent years via so-called 'ETFs'," he added.

9:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Infosys were up over 1 percent in the Sensex. Infosys is expanding its presence in Latin America and will establish a delivery centre in Araraquara (Brazil), which will deliver application management services for clients.

Initially, the 100-seat facility in Brazil will house 25 people and provide SAP Application Management services to Citrosuco, the world's leading orange juice producer.

The market gained more than half a percent in early trade following positive global cues, but the volatility continued.

The Sensex rose 96.17 points to 20,406.91, and the Nifty climbed 27.70 points to 6,064. About 631 shares have advanced, 159 shares declined, and 28 shares are unchanged.

Shares of Infosys, ICICI Bank , Reliance Industries , TCS , Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India and ONGC gained more than 0.5 percent.

Sun Pharma , Axis Bank , Tata Steel and Sesa Sterlite are top gainers, rising over a percent. However, FMCG stocks are under pressure with the ITC and HUL falling 0.4 percent each. Tata Motors and NTPC slipped too.

Indian rupee opened at 62.27 per dollar on Friday, up 10 paise compared to previous day's closing of 62.37 per dollar.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Alpari India feels the spectrum sale has given enough impetus to rupee to strengthen from its weak zone and assurance from finance minister to stick to the proposed fiscal deficit will bring more cheer to rupee today.

"A positive equity will also help, but concerns regarding Fed tapering impact on emerging markets will still keep some pressure on rupee. The range for the day seen between 62.02-62.83/USD," he added.

US stocks rallied significantly with the Dow Jones marking its best session this year. A drop in applications for jobless benefits ahead of January's payrolls reports indicated an improving US economy, thereby giving the stocks a much needed impetus.

Asian markets, barring China's Shanghai took cue from US, and showed robust rallies. Japan's Nikkei rose on speculation of further monetary easing in June.

Joining the party was European markets that closed higher aided by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) maintaining status quo on its interest rates. Crude was trading mixed supported by positive US data. Meanwhile, gold is little changed but the metal looks poised to post a gain for a sixth week out of seven as global equities remained on edge over economic growth concerns.