Nifty ends May series at 7236, Sensex falls 322points; IT down

04:00 pm Gold level
Extending its downward journey for the fourth straight session, gold prices tumbled by Rs 200 to hit nearly 11-month low of Rs 27,500 per ten grams in the national capital today amid a weak trend in global markets.

Besides, subdued demand from jewellers and retailers and a weak trend in futures trade also weighed on gold prices. Silver also remained under pressure for the fifth straight day and fell by Rs 500 to Rs 40,500 per kg.

"Weak global cues and falling demand from jewellers on hopes of further dip in prices are pulling down gold prices", jewellers said.

Sentiments remained bearish as gold fell to 16-week low in the overseas markets as positive US economic data backed the case for the Federal Reserve to keep on reducing monetary stimulus which has dimmed the metal's appeal.

03:55 pm Macro outlook
The market would be closely watching Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan's move on June 3. The central bank's bi-monthly monetary policy is expected to be next key cue. Rajan has declared a war on inflation from the time he took charge in September last year.

Despite subdued economic growth, inflation remains high. Most market experts and economist expect Rajan to keep rates on hold this time. In his previous policy, Rajan, kept repo rate and cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 8 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

Tanvee Gupta Jain, India economist at Macquarie Capital Securities also expects a status quo on June 3 in fact she believes that the central bank would not move on rates for the entire 2014.

She sees a rate cut only in 2015.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, she says that food prices are higher due to supply side bottle necks and tackling the soaring inflation should the first priority for the new government. She adds that inflation can't be tamed until social sector spending relating to NREGA are revamped.

03:45 pm New government
The Narendra Modi Cabinet met for the second time in 48 hours on Thursday and decided on Parliament session dates. The Parliament session will take place from June 4 to June 12.

Sources say former Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath is likely to be the protem Speaker and will give oath to the new members of the Lok Sabha.

The Modi government is also expected to outline the government's top ten priorities on Thursday. Prime Minister Modi is also expected to address the nation on his policies.

Modi has asked his ministers to be careful in terms of appointing people in their staff especially to ensure that no relatives are appointed. Sources say that Modi is keen to give out a message that he doesn't believe in dynasty or promoting relatives.

03:35 pm Market closing
It was a day of the bears as the Nifty tanked 94 points to end at 7235.65. The Sensex was down 321.94 points at 24234.15. About 1390 shares have advanced, 1556 shares declined, and 115 shares are unchanged.

Infosys lost 8 percent while ONGC, Wipro, BHEL and Cipla were major losers in the Sensex.  Among the gainers were Hindalco, Dr Reddy's Labs, M&M, Sun Pharma and NTPC.

03:25 pm High flyer
AirAsia Bhd's Indian joint venture will start flying from June 12, Tony Fernandes, group chief executive of the Malaysian carrier, said.

AirAsia India will open ticket sales from Friday, Fernandes said in a Twitter message.

AirAsia India, which will operate a low-cost airline, won a flying permit from the Indian regulator this month. India's Tata Group and investment firm Telestra Tradeplace are AirAsia's partners in the venture.

03:15 pm Market check
The Sensex is down 323.88 points or 1.32 percent at 24232.21 and the Nifty is down 98.35 points or 1.34 percent at 7231.30. About 1329 shares have advanced, 1583 shares declined, and 115 shares are unchanged.

Infosys, Wipro, BHEL, ONGC and Cipla are top losers in the Sensex. Among the gainers are Hindalco, M&M, Dr Reddy's Labs, TCS and Sun Pharma.

03:10 pm Boardroom
Wonderla Holidays expects margins to be stable from hereon, says Arun K Chittilapilly, MD of the company. The company reported margins of around 41 percent and a net profit of around 60 percent at Rs 7.2 crore year-on-year.

In the near-term, the company hopes to continue with its growth momentum due to reduction in cost from mature projects. The amusement park operator does not foresee any margin pressure for another couple of years, says Chittilapilly.

Chittilapilly also says that the annual ticket price hike of around 10 percent for the amusement parks is unlikely to impact the business of the company given the base fare of the tickets is low.

"If our ticket prices were Rs 1,000-1,500 then 10 percent hike would have made it a lot more expensive. However, as it stands now, we feel our ticket prices are pretty reasonable. So a 10 percent hike will not affect footfalls and that is at least what we have seen," he adds.

Currently, the company has a debt of around Rs 15 crore.

03:00 pm Opinion on Infosys
Ever since Narendra Modi took charge as the Prime Minister of India on Monday, market has been consolidating, indicating caution ahead of a couple of big events lined-up in the next few weeks. The Reserve Bank of India policy on June 3 and the Union Budget are the key events to watchout.

Sanjay Sachdev, chairman, Zyfin Capital believes market has not fizzled out as the Sensex has moved from 21000 to 24000, gaining almost 15 percent. However, he says foreign investors haven't participated fully and are still waiting for a very big opportunity like resolving of the Vodafone tax issue, which may restore some confidence among them.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 about the re-rating in Infosys stock after sudden exit of its President BG Srinivas, Sachdev says talent is a very big issue with all IT companies.

Since Infosys is a great company, the impact will only be in the short-term. He is bullish on the IT-bellwether from a longer-term perspective.

02:50pm Coal India falls over 1%
Coal India's Q4 net profit fell 18 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,434 crore while operating profit slipped 16.5 percent to Rs 5,108 crore and margin declined 520 basis points to 25.5 percent in the quarter gone by.

02:35pm Tata Global falls 5%
Shares of Tata Global Beverages dropped 5 percent as its net profit declined 27.63 percent decline to Rs 69.3 crore in March quarter. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 95.76 crore for the same period of previous fiscal.

The company's net sales during the quarter under review rose marginally by 3.02 percent to Rs 1,865.69 crore during the fourth quarter, as compared to Rs 1,810.89 crore during the same period of previous fiscal.

02:25pm CAD may widen
India's current account deficit is likely to widen to USD 45-50 billion this fiscal, after shrinking to USD 32.4 billion in FY14, according to economists.

Easing of gold imports and increased demand for other imports as the economy recovers could drive this trend, they say.

''As restrictions on gold imports get relaxed to some extent and as domestic demand starts picking up from the second half of FY15, we expect imports growth to rise and stabilize, which ought to push the CAD higher,'' says a Deutsche Bank report, which predicts a CAD of USD 50 billion in FY15.

However, the bank is not particularly worried about the increase in CAD and considers it as sign of stabilisation of domestic demand in the economy, rather than signals of any imbalances being created.

02:15pm World stocks
Global shares flirted with an all-time peak while the euro touched its weakest in more than two months on bets the European Central Bank would unveil new stimulus measures next week.

ECB policymakers have opened the door to a rate cut, effectively charging banks to hold cash at the central bank overnight, and to a refinancing operation aimed at supporting businesses when its board meets on June 5.

Expectations of monetary easing have caused the euro to fall 2.3 percent against the dollar since the last ECB policy meeting on May 8, leaving it trading at its lowest level since mid-February at around USD 1.3584.

The MSCI All-Country World index has gained 1.6 percent over the same period, pushing it to an all-time high on Wednesday. The index was flat at 0751 GMT, reports Reuters.

02:00pm Equity benchmarks remained under pressure with the Nifty trading below the 7300 level on expiry day, weighed down by heavyweights like Infosys, Reliance Industries and HDFC twins.

The Sensex lost 178.68 points to 24377.41 and the Nifty fell 40.65 points to 7289. About 1375 shares have advanced, 1467 shares declined, and 114 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco Industries rebounded, gaining nearly 3 percent after fourth quarter earnings. Net profit fell 48.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 248 crore due to exceptional loss of Rs 396 crore otherwise overall numbers beat street expectations. Total turnover jumped 20.6 percent on yearly basis to Rs 8,435 crore and analysts had forecast of Rs 7,440 crore.

Operating profit grew 31.2 percent to Rs 844 crore and margin expanded 80 basis points to 10 percent. Analysts had estimated at Rs 650 crore and 8.7 percent, respectively.

Coal India Q4 net profit 18% at Rs 4,434 Cr Vs `5,413.9 Cr (YoY)

1:50 pm Modi's 10-point agenda: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got his ministers working and has issued them guidelines and priorities. Modi, who addressed his second Cabinet meet in the past 48 hours, has reportedly listed down a 10-point priority list for his government.

Sources say that the 10-point agenda of the Modi government includes focusing on economy and infrastructure, using technology and the social media and restoring the confidence of bureaucrats. Modi has also given three guidelines to his ministers - overall governance, delivery and implementation.

"The PM wants all ministers to have their own time-table on the priorities in each ministry for the first 100 days," said Parliamentary Affairs Minister after the Cabinet meet on Thursday.

1:40 pm Stock in action: Shares of Unitech slumped 5 percent intraday as it delivered another disappointing quarter with loss of Rs 51 crore in January-March quarter. It had seen a net profit of Rs 30.33 crore in the year-ago period.

Provision to write off Rs 103.02 crore investment in its erstwhile telecom business dented its March quarter earnings. However, net sales increased by 22 percent to Rs 1,033.31 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal against Rs 848.25 crore in the corresponding period of previous year.

Macquarie retains underperform rating on the stock with a target of Rs 13 per share as it is looking for more evidence of a pick-up in execution or large asset sales before turning constructive.

1:30 pm Result poll: Drug maker Cipla will announce its fourth quarter (January-March) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts expect profit after tax of the company to increase 8.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 289 crore during the quarter.

Revenue is seen going up by 26 percent on yearly basis to Rs 2,473 crore while operating profit may increase 11 percent to Rs 454.3 crore but margin may decline 242 basis points to 18.4 percent in the quarter gone by.

1:20 pm Buzzing: Shares of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) fell 5 percent intraday on poor March quarter results. It disappointed street with the fourth quarter net profit rising 1.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 453 crore, impacted by weak operational performance.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts had expected net profit of Rs 840 crore on total income of Rs 13,212.9 crore for the quarter.

Total income grew 10 percent to Rs 13,509 crore in the quarter ended March 2014 from Rs 12,284.7 crore in same quarter last year.Operating profit increased 39 percent on yearly basis to Rs 1,221 crore and margin expanded 210 basis points to 9 percent in the quarter gone by, which both were lower than analysts' forecast of Rs 1,600 crore and 12.1 percent, respectively.

Both Macquarie and Credit Suisse maintain underperform rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 60 and Rs 30 respectively.

The market is struggling ahead of the F&O expiry later today and amid sell-off in index heavyweight Infosys.

The Sensex is down 174.36 points at 24381.73 and the Nifty is down 41.45 points at 7288.20. About 1326 shares have advanced, 1384 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged.

NTPC, Dr Reddy's Labs, M&M, Tata Power and SBI are top gainers in the Sensex. Besides Infosys, other losers are Wipro, Sesa Sterlite, HDFC Bank and Hindalco.

Asian shares inched up to a one-year high while global bond prices surged, pushing their yields to multi-month lows, supported by expectations of easier monetary policy from the European Central Bank.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.15 percent, led by gains in Hong Kong and Singapore shares and hitting one-year highs for the fifth time in the last six sessions.

Japan's Nikkei share average gained 0.1 percent.

12:58pm Parliament session to starte from June 4
The Lok Sabha will convene from June 4-12, a government minister told reporters on Thursday after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The constituent session of the newly elected lower house is expected to elect a new speaker. The chamber would reconvene later for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to present his first budget, reports Reuters.

12:48pm Market Expert
Dharmesh Mehta, managing director, Axis Capital believes an investor should utilise every dip in this market and make it a buying opportunity.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Axis Investor Conference, Mehta says the mood among foreign institutional investors (FIIs) right now is very bullish, the kind of optimism that hasn't been seen for long.

Among stocks, midcaps have seen a massive rally in the past few days and it continues to be the flavour of the market, he adds.

''However, people are cautious to invest money at higher levels. There is over-expectation from the new government. It can change macros overnight. But investors are keen to watch the new reforms that the government will unleash. Large investments will come into India once that happens, '' he further adds.

12:40pm Nikkei gains
Japan's Nikkei share average rose marginally, extending its gains into a sixth day as strong Asian equities supported sentiment, but trading was choppy as some investors booked profits from the recent gains.

The Nikkei ended 0.1 percent higher at 14,681.72 after trading in negative territory, reports Reuters.

12:30pm RBI policy expectations
The market would be closely watching Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan's move on June 3. The central bank's bi-monthly monetary policy is expected to be next key cue. Rajan has declared a war on inflation from the time he took charge in September last year.

Most market experts and economist expect Rajan to keep rates on hold this time. In his previous policy, Rajan, kept repo rate and cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 8 percent and 4 percent, respecti vely.

Tanvee Gupta Jain, India economist at Macquarie Capital Securities also expects a status quo on June 3 in fact she believes that the central bank would not move on rates for the entire 2014.

She sees a rate cut only in 2015.

12:20pm Sun Pharma in focus
Drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries will announce its fourth quarter (January-March) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts expect profit after tax of the company to rise 32 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,334 crore during the quarter.

Revenue is seen going up by 35 percent on yearly basis to Rs 4,167 crore while operating profit may increase 43 percent to Rs 1,821 crore and margin may expand 240 basis points to 43.7 percent in the quarter gone by.

12:10pm FII View
Jeff Chowdhry of F&C Investments expects the Indian equity market to double in next five years if reforms come through.

Chowdhry expects government to ease long-standing issue like power supply and sees more investments in these beaten-down sectors if infrastructure and power reforms are introduced.

The Indian equity market has had a good run in last six months, yet Chowdhry doesn't find valuations too expensive at the current levels. He sees potential for it to move to much higher in the next three-five years. He further added, long only funds are still not completely invested in India yet.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks continued to see selling pressure on expiry day for May derivative contracts. The Sensex fell 136.31 points to 24419.78 and the Nifty declined 32.80 points to 7296.85. About 1285 shares have advanced, 1292 shares declined, and 100 shares are unchanged.

Infosys lost 7 percent after BG Srinivas, president and member of the board, resigned. It was the 10th big exit since 2013. IT Index fell nearly 3 percent. The ripple effect was seen in Wipro that lost nearly 2 percent.

Shares of ONGC, BHEL, Hindalco Industries and Cipla declined 0.6-2 percent ahead of fourth quarter earnings today. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries slipped 0.8 percent while private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank fell 0.3 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

However, HDFC, State Bank of India, NTPC, Axis Bank, M&M, Dr Reddy's Labs, ITC, Tata Power, Sun Pharma and Bharti Airtel continued to support the market.

11:50 am Outlook: Dixit Joshi, managing director and head of equities for Asia Pacific at Deutsche Bank said that he won't be surprised if the Sensex hits 30,000. He thinks the new government can consider taking a number of steps in power sector and controlling inflation.
 
"If you are from an investment and an asset allocation point of view you will see that over the medium term a number of these sectors are going to receive incremental investment, a number of the blockages would be unlocked. Picture this, if we went from a 5.5 percent growth rate to 8 percent what will that do for many of these sectors? So it again depends on the kind of investor you are and what your time horizon is," he said.

11:40 am Modi's top 10 priorities: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to unveil his top 10 policy priorities on Thursday, seeking to unblock an investment logjam and setting deadlines for action in order to revive the economy.

A top aide flagged the action points ahead of a cabinet meeting at which Modi will begin the task of meeting the aspirations of voters who handed his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the strongest electoral mandate in India in 30 years.

"The entire machinery will be geared up to fulfil the mandate of the new leader," Nripendra Misra, newly named as principal private secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, told The Hindu in an interview.

Misra said that Modi's policy priorities will "necessarily have to be implemented in a time-bound manner". They would focus on overcoming delays to major infrastructure projects and addressing why India has become a coal importer, he added.

11:30 am Market outlook: The market is well aware of the fact that the new government has no magic wand to fix India's economic mess in a short span of time. Jeff Chowdhry of F&C Investments reiterated this view saying that, one needs to give the government time to deliver on its promises, which cannot be done in two weeks.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said, ''Rome was not built in a day and effective execution of reforms in India could take years.'' However, he expects the Indian equity market to double in next five years if reforms come through.

Chowdhry expects government to ease long-standing issue like power supply and sees more investments in these beaten-down sectors if infrastructure and power reforms are introduced.

According to him, Arun Jaitley is a good choice for the position of Finance Minister.

11:20 am Result poll: Drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries will announce its fourth quarter (January-March) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV1 poll estimates, analysts expect profit after tax of the company to rise 32 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,334 crore during the quarter.

Revenue is seen going up by 35 percent on yearly basis to Rs 4,167 crore while operating profit may increase 43 percent to Rs 1,821 crore and margin may expand 240 basis points to 43.7 percent in the quarter gone by.

US markets: Analysts expect growth in sales driven by TARO/URL/Dusa. Overall benefit may be from enhanced product mix due to increased contribution from key drugs Cymbalta & Lipidox. Competition in Doxil should limit these gains in FY15E, say analysts.

It seems to be a profit taking day as May F&O series expires today. The Sensex is down 168.44 points at 24387.65, and the Nifty is down 42.65 points at 7287.00. About 1123 shares have advanced, 1195 shares declined, and 88 shares are unchanged.

Dragged by slump in Infosys, IT index crashed 3 percent while only Healthcare is in green.  Bharti Airtel, Tata Power, GAIL and HDFC are top gainers in the Sensex.

The rupee is up in early trade as exporters and FIIs sell dollars. Buying by PSU banks stems dollar losses.  Indian bond yields move lower partly in sympathy with US and global yields but bond prices are unlikely to rise much ahead of auctions tomorrow.

Euro weakened against the dollar to slip below the USD 1.36 mark on indications that the European Central Bank was inclined towards monetary stimulus measures and could announce more measures when it meets next week.

Gold prices continue to hover near 15-week lows. Following a statement from Russia that it will respect the Ukrainian election outcome and its new president, concerns of escalating violence have eased and increased risk appetite globally.

Meanwhile, it is a quiet session of trade across Asian markets. Marginal declines seen in Kospi and Taiwan, while Hang Seng is up half a percent. Nikkei recovers 0.75 percent from lows on speculation that the Bank of Japan would need to undertake further monetary easing measures to ensure Japan meets its inflation target.

10:55am Market Update
The Sensex fell 171.62 points to 24384.47 and the Nifty lost 41.75 points to 7287.90. About 1082 shares have advanced, 1130 shares declined, and 107 shares are unchanged.

Reliance Industries, Sesa Sterlite, BHEL, Hindalco Industries, Wipro, Hero Motocorp and Cipla declined 1-3 percent. Infosys continued to see selling pressure, losing 6.5 percent after BG Srinivas resigned.

10:50am Interview
Amara Raja expects a margin of around 16-16.5 percent for FY15, says CFO SV Raghavendra. The battery-maker is eyeing a double digit revenue growth in terms of topline and the bottomline.

The company reported a net profit rise of 34 percent at Rs 80 crore against Rs 59.6 crore year-on-year. Amara Raja expects a market share of 27-28 percent in car replacement going ahead and has no plans to undertake price cuts in the near-term.

10:40am Nalco down 2%
National Aluminium Company (Nalco) reported 29.9 percent drop in net profit at Rs 172.45 crore for the quarter ended  March 31 on the back of lower income and higher expenses.

The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 246.03 crore in th corresponding quarter of the year-ago period. The total income from operations of Nalco came down to Rs  1,838.20 crore, over Rs 1,867.27 crore in the same quarter of a year-ago period, it said.

10:30am FII View
The recent bull run has given Macquarie Securities all the confidence it needed to upgrade Nifty target to 8400 from 7200. Rakesh Arora of Macquarie Securities expects the market to re-rate from hereon. He adds that the 8400 Nifty target is not factoring in earnings growth.

On the back of the previous government kickstarting various projects over the last 15 months and the new government taking it ahead, with all the ministers in Narendra Modi's cabinet talking about growth from Day 1, there is a lot of expectation from this government. Finance minister Arun Jaitley has also spoken about curbing inflation and fiscal deficit in a meaningful way.

Based on the assumption that the new government is able to walk the talk, Arora sees recovery in the domestic economy and he is bullish on all the sectors that are levered to the domestic economy - cyclicals such as cement, etc. He further adds that the valuations of cyclical stocks are currently trading at a 15 percent discount when compared to defensives. He expects cyclicals to outperform defensives by 10-15 percent.

10:20am Tata Motors in focus
India's largest commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors will announce its first quarter (January-March) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts expect consolidated profit after tax of the company to grow 29 percent year-on-year to Rs 5,090 crore during the quarter.

Revenue is seen going up by 21 percent on yearly basis to Rs 67,650 crore while operating profit may jump 45 percent to Rs 11,350 crore and margin may expand 280 basis points to 16.7 percent in January-March quarter.

10:10am Hero Motocorp slips 1%
Shares of Hero MotoCorp fell 1 even though its March quarter earnings were better-than-expectations. The two-wheeler maker's net profit shrank 4 percent (year-on-year) to Rs 554.43 crore on higher tax expenses. Volume uptick of 4 percent drove sales up by 6 percent at Rs 6513 crore. During the period, its margins improve sequentially to 13.7 percent due to lower ad expenses.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts expected profit after tax of the company to fall 9 percent year-on-year to Rs 522 crore and revenue was seen to increase 6 percent to Rs 6,518 crore.

Deutsche Bank maintains sell on the stock with a target price of Rs 1850 per share. It says that the results were broadly in line with forecasts but is cautious on the two-wheeler sector as competitive intensity rises.

10:00am The market is shedding some more gains on May F&O series expiry. The Sensex is down 81.22 points at 24474.87 and the Nifty is down 13.95 points at 7315.70. About 1068 shares have advanced, 781 shares declined, and 72 shares are unchanged.

Bharti, Tata Power, HDFC, M&M and Dr Reddy's Labs are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Infosys, BHEL, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco and Wipro.

Asian shares inched up to a one-year high on while global bond prices surged, pushing their yields to multi-month lows, supported by expectations of easier monetary policy from the European Central Bank.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.15 percent, led by gains in Hong Kong and Singapore shares and hitting one-year highs for the fifth time in the last six sessions.

Japan's Nikkei share average erased much of earlier losses to stand flat.

10:00 am Results: Realty firm Unitech reported Rs 51.55 crore consolidated loss for the quarter ended March, dragged down by the provision to write off Rs 103.02 crore investment in its erstwhile telecom business.

It posted a net profit of Rs 30.33 crore in the year-ago period, Unitech said in a statement. However, net sales increased by 22 per cent to Rs 1,033.31 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal against Rs 848.25 crore in the corresponding period of previous year.

"Profit after tax from ordinary activities stood at Rs 42.69 crore (in Q4). During the quarter, the company made a provision of Rs 103.02 crore towards diminution in value of its investment in wireless business. Net loss for the quarter, therefore, was Rs 51.55 crore," Unitech said.

9:50 am FII view: Laurence Balanco, CLSA says base case remains that the Nifty is now set for a period of consolidation before the markets long-term uptrend resumes.

''The behavior post elections coupled with the intraday reversal posted on May 16 infers that the Nifty is likely to enter a consolidation/correct between 7,625 resistance and 6,661-6,902 support over the coming weeks. As such we would look to buy on weakness,'' he adds

9:40 am Market outlook: The recent bull run has given Macquarie Securities all the confidence it needed to upgrade Nifty target to 8400 from 7200. Rakesh Arora of Macquarie Securities expects the market to re-rate from hereon. He adds that the 8400 Nifty target is not factoring in earnings growth.

On the back of the previous government kickstarting various projects over the last 15 months and the new government taking it ahead, with all the ministers in Narendra Modi's cabinet talking about growth from Day 1, there is a lot of expectation from this government. Finance minister Arun Jaitley has also spoken about curbing inflation and fiscal deficit in a meaningful way.

Based on the assumption that the new government is able to walk the talk, Arora sees recovery in the domestic economy and he is bullish on all the sectors that are levered to the domestic economy - cyclicals such as cement, etc. He further adds that the valuations of cyclical stocks are currently trading at a 15 percent discount when compared to defensives. He expects cyclicals to outperform defensives by 10-15 percent.

9:30 am Results: HCPL is up 4 percent intraday as fuel subsidy helped it to improve its March qaurter earnings. The state-owned company reported a better -than-expected fourth quarter net profit of Rs 4,609.24 crore after it got lumpsum fuel subsidy.

It saw a net profit of Rs 4,609.24 crore in January-March quarter. HPCL Chairman and Managing Director Nishi Vasudeva said the Q4 profit is not comparable as last year the government released a backlog fuel subsidy.

The NSE Nifty opened lower on Thursday (expiry day) but it still held the 7300-mark. The index declined 19.75 points to 7309.90 and the Sensex slipped 85.05 points to 24471.04.
About 502 shares have advanced, 233 shares declined, and 23 shares are unchanged.

Infosys fell 7 percent after BG Srinivas, President and Member of the Board, resigned w.e.f June 10. This is the 10th high-profile exit from the company in the last one year. Srinivas, who was once seen as the top contender for the job of Infosys CEO along with Pravin Rao, may have sensed that he was no longer in the reckoning.

Hero MotoCorp, country's largest two-wheeler maker, lost 2.5 percent after it reported 3.44 percent decline in its standalone net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014 at Rs 554.43 crore.

Indian rupee has opened flat at 58.92 a dollar on Thursday as against previous day's closing value of 58.93 a dollar.

Espirito Santo analyst Deepali Bhargava thinks the market may be overestimating the RBI's buying power, and underestimating the side-effects if the central bank were indeed to go on a dollar-buying binge. She expects the rupee to strengthen gradually to 55 to the dollar over the next 12 months.

Asian markets are mixed on concerns over global bond yields and US growth data. Japanese shares fell on profit taking following five straight sessions of gains and weak economic data.

US stocks fell on Wednesday, ending a four-session rally that lifted the S&P 500 to a record high, with investors skittish as benchmark treasury yields fell to lows.

European shares too closed slightly down despite a slew of positive data being released for the Euro zone.