Nifty closes above 6150; ACC, Ambuja, UltraTech rally 6%

03:40pm Market closing
The market closed on a strong note. The Sensex rose 164.11 points or 0.80 percent to 20700.75 and the Nifty advanced 64 points or 1.05 percent to 6155.45. About 1459 shares have advanced, 1166 shares declined, and 155 shares are unchanged.

Ambuja Cements, UltraTech Cement, ACC, HCL Technologies, BPCL, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank gained 2-6 percent.

However, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp, Cipla, Ranbaxy Labs and DLF were down 0.5-3 percent.

03:25 pm Macro outlook: India is "stuck in a rut" as weaker consumption and stalled investments prevent the economy from building any sort of momentum, global financial services major HSBC said in a report, adding ''slow recovery'' could start post elections.

According to HSBC, the year 2014 could thus prove to be a tale of two halves. In the latter half of the year, there would be some economic recovery and return to normal business conditions.

''Pent-up demand should be released after the elections are over,'' HSBC said in a research note. It also said ''given that passions are running high, the outcome could bring considerable volatility to Indian equities''.

HSBC for now is 'underweight' on Indian equities but some of its preferred sectors include energy which is likely to gain from subsidy changes, power (stands to benefit from distribution reform), non-ferrous metals (corporate restructuring) and telecoms (more clarity post the auctions).

03:15 pm Buzzing:
Shares in Ipca Laboratories Ltd rise after Credit Suisse initiated coverage on the stock with an "outperform" rating, traders say.

Credit Suisse cites Ipca's sales and earnings growth potential, increasing free cash flow and reduced dependence on lower-margin drug sales.

The investment bank also cites Ipca's market leadership in the rheumatoid arthritis segment in India.

03:10 pm Interview
Ravi Uppal, MD & CEO of Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL), expects the company's total steel capacity, both in India and overseas, to increase around 8 million tonne as compared to current 3 million tonne by the end of the fiscal.

For Jindal Power (JPL), he expects the total capacity to go about 2,800 MW, after the commissioning of three units of 600 Mega Watts. ''The last unit of JPL will get commissioned in another three-four months, which means that in the next 6-7 months, our total JPL capacity will go to 3,500 MW,'' he said.

02:55pm Uttam Value Steels locked at 20% upper circuit
The board of directors of Uttam Value Steels has agreed to issue upto 12,90,32,258 equity shares by way of preferential allotment at a price of Rs 15.50 each for an aggregate consideration of upto Rs 200 crore.

The transaction will take place through preferential allotment to strategic investor namely UD Industrial Holding Pte Limited, Singapore.

Meanwhile, the board convened extra ordinary general meeting to approve preferential allotment issue.

02:45pm IOC in focus
Government sources told CNBC-TV18 that the 10 percent IOC stake sale formalities are likely to conclude next week.

IOC stake sale may be off market and Department of Divestment will intimate SEBI shortly, sources said.

Empowered group of ministers' approval for 10 percent stake sale in IOC was for online deal.

Meanwhile, the board of directors of ONGC and Oil India may meet once again prior to IOC stake buy. Both companies will seek board nod nod to buy IOC stake at 10 percent discount to current market price.

02:35pm Nikkei rises to 3-week high
Japan's Nikkei average jumped 2.9 percent on Friday as the weak yen lifted overall sentiment and after a reading on US manufacturing hit its highest in nearly four years.

The Nikkei ended 416.49 points higher at 14,865.67, the highest closing level since January 31. For the week, the index gained 3.9 percent, the biggest weekly rise since mid-November and snapping a 6-week losing streak.

The Topix rose 2.3 percent to 1,222.31, with all of its 33 subsectors in positive territory.

The JPX-Nikkei Index 400, an index launched this year comprising firms with high returns on equity and strong corporate governance, gained 2.3 percent to 11,059.15.

Market participants are awaiting the outcome of the Group of 20 finance chiefs' meeting in Sydney this weekend, at which finance ministers and central bank chiefs are expected to discuss the impact on emerging markets from the US Federal Reserve's stimulus tapering, reports Reuters.

02:25pm IL&FS Transportation Networks on buyers' radar
Shares of IL&FS Transportation Networks rallied 3.5 percent after the company said its joint venture received project worth Rs 1,348.5 crore in Spain.

"Company in joint venture with Elsamex SA, wholly owned subsidiary of the company in Spain has been awarded a contract by Roads Department Ministry of Transport and Communications, Republic of Botswana under output and performance based road contracts system for a period of 10 years effective February 19, 2014," according to its filing.

IL&FS said the total length of the roads to be maintained for both the contracts is 267.4 km for a total value of USD 216.7 million (approximately Rs 1,348.52 crore), which are being financed by the World Bank.

02:15pm Market Expert
Deven Choksey, MD of KR Choksey Shares & Securities said the Nifty's range stays between 6,000 and 6,200. He asked investors and other traders to basically focus on Nifty when it comes down closer to 6,000 and create long position.

"We believe that the range would operate in a very tight band. To overcome this particular band, one will have to trade into this particular situation more importantly at lower levels, one will have to add the long portfolio and probably trade it out in the 100-150 points range that one could make profits out of it," Choksey elaborated.

02:00pm Consistent buying in banks, technology and heavyweights helped the market trade strong in afternoon. The broader markets too gained strength today with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising over 0.5 percent.

The Sensex rose 130.58 points to 20,667.22 and the Nifty advanced 47.25 points to 6,138.70. About 1327 shares have advanced, 1153 shares declined, and 166 shares are unchanged.

Cement stocks strengthened on account of value buying and short covering. Ambuja Cements, ACC, UltraTech Cement and India Cements rallied between 4-6 percent.

BPCL and Axis Bank jumped 4 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Shares of ITC, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India and Tata Steel climbed over a percent.

Infosys, Reliance Industries, TCS, Tata Motors, HDFC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Wipro and Bajaj Auto advanced 0.5-1 percent.

However, Bharti Airtel shed over 2 percent followed by BHEL with a percent fall. Sun Pharma and Cipla lost 0.7 percent each.

2:00 pm  Cheap cars: Ford India today announced reduction in the prices of its vehicles by up to Rs 1.07 lakh across various models after the excise duty cut announced in the interim Budget.
    
"Ford India has passed on the benefits of recent excise duty reduction to customers and has revised the prices of its products with immediate effect," the company said in a statement.
    
The reductions will be applicable across Ford Figo, Ford Classic, Ford EcoSport, Ford Fiesta and the Ford Endeavour.

1:50 pm Stock in news: Shares of United Bank of India are down over 1 percent as Ministry of Finance has accepted application for voluntary retirement of Archana Bhargava, Chairperson & Managing Director

''In absence of the Chairman & Managing Director both the Executive Directors shall jointly remain in charge of the Bank, till such time that a regular incumbent takes over the charge of CMD,'' said the bank in a statement.

1:40 pm Exclusive: After the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct a special audit of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) two months ago, the audit firm has submitted a report, sources have told CNBC-TV18.

The report, which will be sent to the MCX board after a nod from the Finance Ministry and has been shared with both the commodities regulator FMC and market regulator SEBI, has found instances of volume rigging by the Indian Bullion Markets Association on the commodity exchange. Trades of around Rs 40000 crore by the IBMA took place on the MCX, sources said.

IBMA is a subsidiary of MCX's sister firm, National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), which was involved in a Rs 5,600-crore payments fraud.

1:30 pm FII view: After the US Federal Reserve went in for the second round of tapering, most emerging markets and their currencies have been under pressure. John Woods, Citi Private Bank says there is a possibility that this trend would continue.

He says tapering is likely to continue to impact emerging market currencies. "There is a broad sense that the US dollar is likely to strengthen as term yields rise and expectations for interest rates perhaps move forward. Obviously this will start putting impact or start having an impact on valuations of emerging market currencies, including India," he adds.

The market continues uptrend on the back of supportive global cues. The Sensex is up 156.76 points at 20693.40, and the Nifty is up 52.75 points at 6144.20.

About 1371 shares have advanced, 1028 shares declined, and 160 shares are unchanged.

Axis Bank is up 3 percent while Tata Steel and ITC are rallying 2 percent each. Bharti Airtel, BHEL, Hero MotoCorp, Cipla and Sun Pharma are top losers in the Sensex.

Asian markets trade in the green following positive cues from Wall Street. Nikkei soars 3 percent.

 Brent crude hovered above USD 110 a barrel on Friday, underpinned by supply disruptions in Africa, while US oil is set for a sixth weekly rise buoyed by lower supplies at the contract's delivery point and strong heating demand in North America, reports Reuters.

Gains in West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude shrank its gap with Brent to the narrowest in four months as supplies at WTI's delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell after a new pipeline diverted crude to the Gulf Coast.

12:55pm Idea Cellular under pressure
Brokerage house CLSA reiterated high conviction sell rating on the stock and reduced target price to Rs 123 from Rs 133 apiece.

"Idea's entire 900MHz spectrum is due for renewal between December 2015 to April 2016 and will be refarmed ie, be subject to auction in FY15. Although Idea has purchased spectrum in 1,800MHz in seven of these nine circles already, it will yet be compelled again into additional purchase of at least 5MHz in 900MHz in all seven circles besides purchases again in both 1,800MHz and 900MHz in the remaining two circles. Additional spectrum burden amounts to Rs 12,200 crore/USD 2 billion added spend in FY15CL," the firm reasoned.

The report further said, "The high burden of Rs 10,700 crore and Rs 12,200 crore in FY14 and FY15 will triple balance-sheet debt (including deferred payments) to Rs 27,000 crore by FY16CL even as operating cashflows are adequate for upfront payments in FY14/FY15CL. Idea's hefty regulatory payments will already hit earnings."

The stock declined nearly 2 percent, in addition to 1.9 percent fall in previous session.

12:45pm PWC submits special audit report on MCX
After the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct a special audit of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) two months ago, the audit firm has submitted a report, sources have told CNBC-TV18.

The report, which will be sent to the MCX board after a nod from the Finance Ministry and has been shared with both the commodities regulator FMC and market regulator SEBI, has found instances of volume rigging by the Indian Bullion Markets Association on the commodity exchange. Trades of around Rs 40000 crore by the IBMA took place on the MCX, sources said.

IBMA is a subsidiary of MCX's sister firm, National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), which was involved in a Rs 5,600-crore payments fraud.

FMC has sought an explanation from MCX on the issue of alleged volume rigging while SEBI is examining if MCX, which is listed on the BSE and NSE, violated its listing agreement by allowing such trades to take place on its exchange.

MCX has been under the scanner after NSEL defaulted on payments of up to Rs 5,600 crore and was accused of forging receipts and not holding enough physical underlying behind the trades it was allowing to take place.

The crisis has had a collateral impact on all firms run by Jignesh Shah-promoted Financial Technologies, which has been asked by regulators to quit control of MCX while its role as anchor of MCX-SX stock exchange is also under cloud.

12:35pm Elder Pharma talks to CNBC-TV18
Elder Pharma  is planning to come out with series of new products, especially line of in-license products and brand extension, Alok Saxena, Director International, Elder Pharma, told CNBC-TV18. Elder recently sold one of its key brands, Shelcal, to Torrent pharma.

The company has appointed Deloitte for organisational restructuring post its sale of formulation business to Torrent Pharma . Post the transaction, Elder Pharma is focusing on remaining brands, including Eldervit and Somazina.

 "The company is looking for growth in the three core areas, which are nutraceuticals, wound management and antibiotics,'' Saxena told CNBC-TV18, adding that his company is expecting a domestic turnover in the range of Rs 150-200 crore.

He said the move will bring down costs of operation, which will have a positive impact on the margins and expects international revenues, from subsidiaries in the UK and others, in the range of Rs 600-700 crore. 

The Elder-Torrent deal, priced at Rs 2,004 crore for 30 brands, is expected to be completed in the first half of 2014. The brands sold by Elder include Shelcal, Chymoral, Shelcal CT.

These three are Elder's strongest brands and contribute around 35 percent of the domestic sales.

Eldervit and Formic, which are remaining brands, have sales of Rs 40 crore each. Elder has around 25 in-licensing agreements and few are in the pipeline.

As per the deal, major chunk of Elder Pharma's employees will be joining Ahmedabad-based Torrent Pharmaceuticals after March 31 and would need an organisational restructuring.

12:25pm Market Expert
Things will get worse for the market and economy before they get any better. That's the word coming in from Andrew Holland, CEO, Ambit Investment Advisors.

He says the numbers given by the finance minister in the Vote on Account were somewhat "wishful thinking". "I am working on the basis that whenever the next government comes into power, they'll have to revise those downwards," he told CNBC-TV18.

He expects volatility to continue for both global and local markets in coming quarters. He says the relief rallies seen right now in our part of the world is because of the skewed data coming out of the US and UK due to bad weather. But once that gets factored in, he sees developed markets getting back on to the growth train and a fast-forward of the Fed tapering.

Emerging markets, excluding India, are not ready for interest rising in the US, Holland said. Add to that, he expects more bad news coming out of China in March.

"We will probably look to add more shorts in this market as you see these rallies for no real reason," he said.

12:10pm Standard Chartered IDR gains
Standard Chartered Plc, which listed in June 2010 and the only company with IDR-listed, gained as much as 3 percent intraday today after the company said it would redeem six crore Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs) into equity shares during the quarter.

The company issued 24 crore IDRs with every 10 IDRs representing one ordinary share of USD 0.5 nominal value of the company in June 2010.

According to SEBI circular of two-way fungibility of IDRs dated March 1, 2013, the company is required to submit detailed operating guidelines for redemption of IDRs into shares and conversion of shares into IDRs, to the stock exchanges at least one month prior to implementation.

Accordingly, in 2013, the company had redeemed six crore IDRs, representing 25 percent (on annual basis) of the originally issued IDRs.

Now for the year 2014, Standard Chartered made available the annual limit of 25 percent of the IDRs, being 6 crore IDRs, for redemption into shares in the first quarter ending March 31, 2014.

Redemption window will open on March 21 and close on March 28 with the tendering for 10 IDRs or multiples of 10 thereafter.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks maintained strong momentum in noon trade with the Sensex rising over 150 points supported by lead gainers like ITC and ICICI Bank.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 155.75 points to 20,692.39 and the Nifty climbed 50.05 points to 6,141.50. About 1365 shares have advanced, 882 shares declined, and 161 shares are unchanged.

Deven Choksey, MD of KR Choksey Shares & Securities said the Nifty's range stays between 6,000 and 6,200. He asked investors and other traders to basically focus on Nifty when it comes down closer to 6,000 and create long position.

"We believe that the range would operate in a very tight band. To overcome this particular band, one will have to trade into this particular situation more importantly at lower levels, one will have to add the long portfolio and probably trade it out in the 100-150 points range that one could make profits out of it," Choksey elaborated.

Axis Bank was the lead gainer in the Sensex, rising over 2 percent followed by ICICI Bank and ITC with a 1.7 percent upmove.

Shares of Reliance Industries, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India and Tata Motors rose 0.5-1 percent while Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma, Hero Motocorp, Cipla, BHEL and NTPC declined 0.4-1 percent.

11:50 am Warning: India's allocation of Rs 11,200 crore for capital injection into state-run banks is credit negative as it is much smaller than estimated requirements, Moody's Investors Service said.

The rating agency, in a report, said it estimates lenders would need 250-360 billion rupees to meet a minimum Tier 1 ratio of 8 percent in the fiscal year ending March 2015.

"Indian public-sector banks' need for significant external capital is a result of an increase in non-performing loans (NPLs) owing to the country's slowing economy and infrastructure bottlenecks, and profitability that is insufficient for internal capital generation to fund loan growth," it said.

11:40 am Commodity outlook: Ashok Mittal, Emkay Global Financial Services says demand for precious metal gold hasn't seen any decline either from China or India too. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Mittal says the rally seen in the yellow metal will continue in the days to come.

''We are well above USD 1300, so and upside of USD 1360 or 1380 is highly possible,'' adds Mittal. He, however, is quick to add that the upside may be momentary so one should be placed in the commodity for long. On the other precious metal-silver- he says that the metal provides for a good risk reward ratio and make for a good investment bet. He believes a level of USD 22.5 per ounce is possible.

11:30 am Interview: S Ramesh, CFO, Lupin expect the company's Indian business to perform well in Q4FY14 despite a high base. "Historic growth rate for the company has been in range of 18-22 percent," he said.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 from the sidelines of IIFL conference, he said H1FY14 was an aberration for its Indian business and going ahead margin expansion will not be linear. He expects an eventual 150-200 bps upmove in margins.

Trizivir and Zymaxid generics' contribution will remain high going ahead, he added.

Banks are once again lending support to the indices with the Nifty around 6150-level. The Nifty is up 54.40 points at 6145.85. The Sensex is up 175.67 points at 20712.31. About 1350 shares have advanced, 724 shares declined, and 127 shares are unchanged.

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel,  ITC and GAIL are major gainers in the Sensex. Among the laggards are Bharti Airtel, Hero Motocorp, NTPC, HUL and Sun Pharma.

Rupee trades slightly higher taking cues from firm Asian currencies and equities. Gilts edge marginally lower tracking rise in US treasury yields. RBI's announcement to hold term repo auctions in March dampens hope of open market operations (OMO). Fall may be limited due to value buying.

Gold is heading for its third straight week of gains while Nymex is set for its sixth weekly rise and Brent settled lower by 17 cents.

The dollar pulled away from 7-week lows it was trading at against the euro and traded higher against the yen in today's trade.

Asian markets are trading mostly in the green buoyed by the positive close in the US markets.

10:59am HSBC underweight on India for now
"India's economy is still stuck in a rut. A fiscal drag in the first half of the year (most of the budget was spent last year), weaker consumption and stalled investment prevent the economy from building any sort of momentum. Added to this, interest rates could move higher and consensus appears overoptimistic on earnings growth (forecasting 18.2% for 2014). We believe upside in Indian equities is also capped by mutual funds' already-high exposure to them," HSBC report said.

10:55am Maruti gets booking orders for Celerio
Maruti Suzuki, India's biggest car maker, received over 13,000 bookings for Celerio so far. The company launched this car in AutoExpo 2014.

Maruti said it would start second shift at Manesar unit to make Celerio that has average 12-week waiting period.

The stock rose 0.7 percent to Rs 1,694.80 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

10:50am Government approves 8 FDI proposals
The Government of India has approved eight FDI proposals worth Rs 1,024 crore today.

Foreign direct investment proposal of L&T IDPL worth Rs 1,000 crore got approval from government.

The government also approved Welspun Renewables' proposal to issue 13.3 percent stake to ADB.

10:45am Jewellery stocks on buyers' radar
Jewellery stocks rallied between 1-2 percent on hopes of cut in gold import duty going ahead. Tara Jewels surged 5 percent while Shree Ganesh Jewellery jumped over 2 percent.

Gitanjali Gems, PC Jeweller, Renaissance Jewellery, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri and Rajesh Exports climbed 1-2 percent.

CNBC-TV18 reported that ministry may consider Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council's (GJEPC) plea towards reduction of import duty on gold from 10 percent to 2 percent.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram post interim Budget also said the ministry was looking into it.

However, the government raised import duty on the precious metal three times taking it to 10 percent from 2 percent and also made it mandatory to export 20 percent of the total gold imported.

According to gold jewellery makers, the fall in import duty will help companies reduce transaction cost of exports, reduce blocked funds, curb the menace of gold smuggling & avoiding leakages.

10:40am Most active and midcaps
Idea Cellular, Shoppers Stop, JSW Holdings, MCX India, Shree Renuka Sugars, Infosys, Tata Motors, JSW Holdings, ICICI Bank and SBI are most active shares on exchanges.

Among midcaps, Tube Investment, Sanofi India, Indian Bank and Mcleod Russel gained 3-5 percent while Shree Renuka, HMT, Indian Hotels, India Tourism and Edelweiss fell 1.5-6 percent.

10:30am Telecom M&A norms announced
In a bid to spur M&As in the crowded telecom sector, the government on Thursday eased rules by allowing mergers between firms with up to 50 percent combined market share .

At present, telecom firms are allowed to merge if their combined market shares in terms of subscriber base does not exceed 40 percent in any of the nation's 22 circles or zones.

Government will determine market share based on both subscriber number and adjusted gross revenue which is earned through telecom services.

The Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) guidelines issued Thursday however stated that a market determined fee will have to be paid if the merged entity was to hold low-priced 4.4 MHz spectrum.

The long-awaited guidelines pave the way for fresh investments through consolidation activity in the industry which has 12 telecom service providers, reports PTI.

10:20am Shree Renuka under pressure post deal
Shares of Shree Renuka Sugars tanked 8 percent as investors do not seem to be impressed by its deal with Wilmar group . As per the deal, Singapore-based agri-business Wilmar group will get joint control of the company along with its promoters and help the sugar company reduce its debt to Rs 2,500 crore.

Renuka Sugars entered into an agreement with Wilmar International through its subsidiary Wilmar Sugar Holdings (WSH), to facilitate the "investment of about USD 200 million" in the primary capital of the company.

In a complex multi-tranche deal, Shree Renuka Sugars will first sell 25.75 crore fresh equity shares to Singapore-based agri-business firm Wilmar International for Rs 517 crore. It will be done through a preferential allotment of preferential shares at a price of Rs 20.08 per share.

Post the preferential issue, the current promoters and WSH will jointly hold 27.5 per cent of Renuka Sugars' expanded equity share capital.

The second step will involve an open offer for up to 26 percent of the expanded equity share capital of the company at a price of Rs 21.89 per share.

Interestingly, the preferential issue for the deal has been announced at a 10 percent discount and open offer at a 2.3 percent discount to the current market price of Shree Renuka Sugars at Rs 22.40 per share.

"The next step would involve Wilmar and the existing promoters of Renuka Sugars jointly participating in a rights issue to raise upto a further Rs 725.4 crore of primary equity capital for Shree Renuka Sugars," Shree Renuka said in a statement.

10:10am Market Experts on Fed tapering
Nick Parsons, National Australia Bank is of view that Fed taper of around USD 10 billion per month is likely to continue for next six months.

Meanwhile, Chris Wood, CLSA says Greed & Fear remains fundamentally wary of the US markets primarily because of the onset of tapering.

"If we had to bet on a major developed equity market it would be Japan and Europe, in that order. This is because a positive monetary easing catalyst looks closer on the horizon. The Fed has so talked itself into tapering that it is going to require some 'humble pie' to admit to the need for a U-turn," Wood adds.

10:00am The market extended its upmove with the Nifty inching towards the 6150 level supported by banks and index heavyweights ITC & Reliance Industries.

The Sensex rose 159.72 points to 20,696.36 and the Nifty climbed 49.70 points to 6,141.15. The broader markets gained nearly 0.7 percent. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1044 to 410 on the BSE.

The rally was largely led by positive global cues. Asian markets barring Shanghai gained between 0.5-2 percent following 0.6 percent upmove in US equities on manufacturing data.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank topped the buying list, rising 2 percent while rivals HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and State Bank of India rose 0.7-1.7 percent.

Shares of ITC, Infosys, HDFC, Tata Steel and GAIL added a percent. Reliance Industries, TCS, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra advanced over 0.6 percent.

However, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever are only losers in the Sensex.

9:50 am Foray: The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki is gearing up to protect its market share. According to CNBC-TV18 sources, the company is looking to fast-track its entire range of product pipeline in an effort to protect its share of the passenger vehicle market which stands at 40 percent plus currently.

Sources say the company will be launching an all new premium sedan later this year with a target of bringing it out during the festive season. The proposed model is being developed on the Ciaz platform that Maruti showcased during the Auto Expo earlier this month.

The new car will see Maruti enter the price bracket of Rs 9.5 lakh and Rs 12.5 lakh – a segment where Maruti is not present in currently. Till date its most expensive made-in-India car is the SX4 that retails for a price of just above Rs 9 lakh.

9:40 am FII view: Sakthi Siva, Credit Suisse is overweight on cyclicals and top picks f include HCL Technologies, Wipro, Tata Motors, Cairn Energy, Sterlite and Reliance Industries. "Cairn Energy and Tata Motors are the most undervalued using our price-to-book versus return on equity valuation model while Tata Motors and HCL Technologies rank strongly on three-month EPS revisions," she says.

Chris Wood, CLSA, adds, "If we had to bet on a major developed equity market it would be Japan and Europe, in that order. This is because a positive monetary easing catalyst looks closer on the horizon. The Fed has so talked itself into tapering that it is going to require some 'humble pie' to admit to the need for a U-turn."

9:30 am Big fall: Shares of Shree Renuka Sugars tanked 8 percent as Wilmar group invested USD 200 million in  in the sugar major. Wilmar group will get joint control of the company along with its promoters. Shree Renuka will bring its debt down to Rs 2,500 crore post the deal.

Shree Renuka Sugars will sell 25.75 crore fresh equity shares to Singapore-based agri-business firm Wilmar International for Rs 517 crore in order to reduce the company's debt.

The market has opened in green territory. The Sensex is up 70.92 points at 20607.56, and the Nifty is up 16.85 points at 6108.30. About 256 shares have advanced, 68 shares declined, and 14 shares are unchanged.

Tata Motors, Infosys, Coal India, Cipla and M&M are top gainers in the Sensex. ONGC is the top losers in the Sensex.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns over the government's fiscal jugglery saying that the government's move to shift spending to the next year may not be ideal. It has further added that the RBI will need to continue raising its policy interest rate given the sticky nature of inflation.

Meanwhile, India has finally got its twenty ninth state- Telangana. The Rajya Sabha has cleared the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create Telangana by a voice vote. Trinamool MPs tear copies of the bill in the house as PM intervenes to announce a special package for Seemandhra.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 62.19 per dollar in the early trade on Friday. It closed at 62.22 Thursday.

The dollar pulled away from a seven-week low against the euro and pushed higher against the yen in early Asian trade, bolstered by upbeat US economic data.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Alpari India said that, "Rupee is expected to depreciate during the day taking cues from the dollar which is trading strong despite mixed data released yesterday raising the questions about the economic growth. Expect rupee to trade in a range of 61.80-63/dollar."

In the global market front, US stocks moved higher to close at session highs, with the S&P was nearing its all-time high, as investors seemed to shrug off a mixed bag of economic and earnings reports. The CBOE volatility index ended below 15.

Asian markets are higher with Japan leading the gains.

Crude prices are trending flat this morning with Nymex set for its sixth weekly rise, buoyed by strong heating demand in North America and as a new pipeline drained supply from the contract's delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma. Gold is pressurised by a firmer dollar and having risen nearly 1 percent in the previous session.