Sensex ends flat, Nifty finishes above 9300; HDFC, ONGC up nearly 3%

3:30 pm Market at Close: Equity benchmarks ended the session on a flat note, after witnessing a volatile trading day as the Street swung higher by 150 points, before consolidating.

The Sensex was up 2.78 points at 29921.18, while the Nifty was up 9.75 points at 9313.80. The market breadth was negative as 1,358 shares advanced against a decline of 1,546 shares, while 153 shares were unchanged.

HDFC, ONGC and Indiabulls Housing Finance were top gainers, while Lupin, Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors DVR lost the most.

3:10 pm Buzzing: Shares of tractor manufacturer Escorts touched a 52-week high of Rs 569.70, up 4 percent intraday Tuesday as the company reported a double digit growth in tractor sales during January-March quarter.

The company sold 4,899 units of tractors in April, a growth of 20 percent over 4,086 units sold in same month last year.

Domestic tractor sales also jumped 18 percent to 4,760 units from 4,048 units year-on-year.

2:50 pm CDR approval: Reliance Infrastructure controlled Reliance Defence and Engineering has received approval from the CDR Empowered Group for exiting from the CDR scheme.

As part of the Refinancing Scheme approved by the lenders, the door-to-door tenure of Reliance Defence's term loans stands extended to 18 years.

Pursuant to the Refinancing Scheme, Reliance Defence's existing debt of about Rs 650 crore will also be converted into equity shares at a price of Rs 59.35 per share, the company said.

2:30 pm Buzzing stock: Shares of tractor major Escorts rose 4 percent intraday Tuesday as the company reported a double digit growth in tractor sales of 20 percent at 4,899 units versus 4,086 units in the same period of the previous year.

Domestic tractor sales of the company also jumped up 18 percent at 4,760 units versus 4,048 units year on year.

Escorts' agri machinery segment in April 2017 sold 4,760 tractors against 4,048 tractors in April 2016. Export for the month of April 2017 stood at 139 tractors up by 266 percent against 38 tractors in April 2016.

2:00 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate for third consecutive session today, with the Nifty hovering around 9300 level.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 5.25 points at 29,923.65 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 5.55 points at 9,309.60. The market breadth also turned in favour of declines.

About 1450 shares declined against 1295 advancing shares on the BSE.

Indiabulls Housing, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, BPCL and ONGC were top gainers among Nifty stocks, up 2.5-4.5 percent whereas Lupin, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Ambuja Cements and ACC were under pressure.

1:43 pm Buzzing: Tata Motors share price fell 2 percent intraday on dismal sales performance in April but passenger cars sales growth remained strong.

Its total sales (including exports) in April 2017 were at 30,972 vehicles, degrowth of 21 percent over 39,389 vehicles sold in April 2016, hit by commercial vehicle sales.

The commercial vehicles sales declined 36 percent year-on-year to 16,017 units during the month, which was an unusual decline, in exceptional circumstances, the company said in its filing.

Domestic passenger vehicle sales were strong, growing 23 percent to 12,827 units compared with year-ago month due to an encouraging response for its recently launched lifestyle UV, Tata HEXA and latest styleback, the Tata TIGOR that continued to maintain good order pipeline.

1:30 pm Variable pay banks? Banks Unions and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) are likely to introduce variable pay as it initiates the negotiations today for the next wage settlement in the banking industry.

Talks between IBA and the bank unions under the banner of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) are to be held at Mumbai on May 2.

Bank unions are resisting variable pay but want a salary that is at par with the central government employees with the revision of Seventh Pay Commission.

1:10 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices were trading almost flat in the afternoon session, as it trimmed some of its losses, and the Nifty was hovering around 9300.

The Sensex was down 7.04 points at 29911.36, while the Nifty was up 2.20 points at 9306.25. The market breadth was negative as 1,255 shares advanced against a decline of 1,421 shares, while 148 shares were unchanged.

ONGC, HDFC, and Indiabulls Housing were top gainers on both the indices, while Lupin, Bharti Airtel and Ambuja Cements lost the most.

12:40 pm Europe opening: European markets opened slightly higher as geopolitical concerns appear to have eased and investors awaited the upcoming French presidential vote.

12:32 pm Buzzing: JSW Energy share price lost nearly 8 percent intraday after disappointing set of earnings reported for January-March quarter.

Profit on consolidated basis fell 91.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 24.8 crore and revenue plunged 29.2 percent to Rs 1,862.1 crore in the quarter ended March 2017.

Weak performance was largely due to Vijaynagar plant facing weak demand amid lower tariffs and higher international coal prices and company has been unable to tie any long term power purchase agreement with Karnataka; and Ratnagiri plant was shut down for approximately 3 months due to turbine issue, Deutsche Bank said in its note. Company's profit in FY17 slipped 54 percent.

12:20 pm Manufacturing PMI: Manufacturing conditions in India improved for the fourth straight month in April, Nikkei IHS Markit said.

The upturn was signalled by the headline Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index matching March's reading of 52.5. Slower increases in output, stocks of purchases and employment were offset by stronger growth of new orders and lengthening delivery times.

12:10 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices extended their losses during the session, after staging a 150-point gain in the morning, with the Nifty hovering around 9300-mark.

The Sensex was down 67.02 points at 29851.38, while the Nifty was down 18.20 points at 9285.85. The market breadth was negative as 1,146 shares advanced against a decline of 1,436 shares, while 133 shares were unchanged.

Cements stocks such as Ambuja Cements, ACC and others like Tata Motors and Lupin were top losers, while ONGC, Maruti Suzuki and Indiabulls Housing gained the most.

The midcap index was trading almost flat with a positive bias, but the Bank Nifty was trading nearly one third percent lower.

11:50 am Earnings Estimates: Shriram City Union Finance's fourth quarter profit is seen rising 13.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 193 crore and net interest income may grow 15.2 percent to Rs 745.9 crore, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Key things to watch out for would be disbursement growth, asset under management and asset quality.

Disbursement growth may be impacted due to demonetisation (which was at 7.6 percent in Q3 QoQ). If gross non-performing assets fall below 5 percent (against 4.49 percent in Q3) then that would be considered positive.

11:45 am Interview: JSW Energy has posted a weak quarter, worse than expected. It is a topdown miss, 30 percent lower on the topline, margins have slipped and an over 90 percent crack on the bottomline.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sanjay Sagar, Joint MD & CEO of JSW Energy said lack of demand hurt earnings in Q4. However, Q4 is the weakest quarter for hydro plants, he added.

Sagar sees a slight glimmer of hope with plant load factor (PLF) inching higher.

However, steps taken by Uttar Pradesh (UP) government will aid plant load factor, he feels.

10:55 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks erased all early gains, with the Sensex falling below psychological 30,000-mark, weighed by banks and Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 30.57 points at 29,887.83 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 5.40 points to 9,298.65.

Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were down 0.5-1.5 percent while HDFC, ONGC, Maruti Suzuki and Hero Motocorp gained 1-2.5 percent.

10:45 am Buzzing stock: Maruti Suzuki's share price hit fresh record high of Rs 6,700, up 2.7 percent intraday Tuesday following stellar auto sales data in April.

The country's largest car maker sold 1.51 lakh units in month gone by, a growth of 19.5 percent over 1.26 lakh units sold in corresponding month of last year.

The growth was entirely driven by domestic sales that grew by 23.4 percent to 1.44 lakh units on year-on-year basis.

10:30 am Market Outlook: The recent rise in share prices has made some analysts cautious, including Ambit Capital's Pramod Gubbi, who thinks equities are no longer in sync with fundamental parameters.

''Earnings recovery is on, but it is not commensurate with the rally as well as valuations,'' Gubbi, Head of Equities at Ambit Capital, told CNBC-TV18.

He believes that it is likely only when there is a fundamental recovery in earnings or a significant correction in the valuations. Both have to be hand in hand and justify each other, he added.

10:16 am Buzzing: Shares of Thermax gained 5 percent intraday on export order win worth USD 157 million.

The company has won export contracts of approximately USD 157 million from a leading African conglomerate to supply 4 utility boilers, 8 heat recovery steam generators, and 2 flue gas steam generators for its refinery and petrochemical project coming up in Nigeria.

The contract includes design, engineering, procurement, manufacturing and testing, and supervision and commissioning of these equipment at the site.

Goldman Sachs remained neutral on the stock with a target of Rs 870.

10:00 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended gains in morning, with the Nifty reclaiming 9350 level, backed by HDFC Group, technology and auto stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 147.74 points at 30,066.14 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 46.60 points at 9,350.65.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.7 percent each on strong market breadth. More than two shares advanced for every share falling on the exchange.

Index heavyweight HDFC was the leading contributor to Sensex' gains, up nearly 2 percent followed by Maruti (up 1.97 percent), HDFC Bank (up 0.5 percent), TCS (up 1.19 percent) and ITC (up 0.5 percent).

ONGC extended its Friday's rally, up 1.7 percent on top of nearly 4 percent upside seen in previous session. Hero Motocorp was up 1.5 percent despite 3.5 percent drop in April sales YoY while Bajaj Auto gained 1.5 percent ahead of sales data.

However, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma were under pressure.

9:50 am Earnings Estimates: FMCG firm Marico is expected to report profit growth of 13.8 percent at Rs 155 crore for January-March quarter compared with Rs 136.2 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

Consolidated revenue during the quarter may grow 6 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,370 crore from Rs 1,292 crore, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Operating profit on consolidated basis may see 8 percent growth at Rs 231 crore and margin may expand 30 basis points to 16.9 percent compared with year-ago period.

Analysts expect domestic volume growth at around 6-7 percent against 8.4 percent in corresponding quarter of last fiscal and negative 4 percent in previous quarter.

9:35 am FII View: Mixo Das of Nomura says Asian equities have been quite choppy since mid-March and the outlook remains very clouded.

All things considered, he continues to find it difficult to justify further upside.

Earnings and data have strengthened but the momentum appears to be fading and structural impediments remain, he feels.

Also, downside risks abound from geopolitical to policy to economic, and valuations, Das says.

9:15 am Market Check: The market started off the truncated week on a positive note after a long weekend, with the Sensex rising more than 100 points despite mixed Asian cues.

The 30-share BSE was trading at 30,029.76, up 111.36 points or 0.37 percent over previous close while the 50-share NSE Nifty was at 9,332.75, up 28.70 points or 0.31 percent.

Maruti Suzuki share price hit fresh record high of Rs 6,700, up 2 percent after showing 19.5 percent growth in April auto sales while Tata Motors fell nearly a percent.

HDFC, L&T, Asian Paints, ITC and ICICI Bank were other gainers while Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were losers.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 64.18 per dollar today against Friday's closing value of 64.24.

Bhaskar Panda of HDFC Bank says the USD-INR pair has been consolidating above the 64/dollar mark.

Today, he expects the pair to start around 64.25/dollar level and trade in an intraday range of 64.15-64.35/dollar range.

The dollar hit a one-month high against the yen today, lifted by treasury yields which surged after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin commented on the possibility of Ultra long-term bond issuance.

Asia markets were mixed as most major exchanges resumed after being shut for a public holiday on Monday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.7 percent while across the Korean Strait, the Kospi was up by 0.8 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 0.24 percent and Singapore's STI was up 0.95 percent. China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.25 percent.