Nifty closes at fresh high, Sensex ends over 100 points higher; metals, pharma gain

3:30 Market at Close: Benchmark indices began the week on a positive note, with the Sensex ending over 100 points higher, while the Nifty closed at a fresh closing high.

The Sensex closed up 133.97 points at 30322.12, while the Nifty ended 44.95 points higher at 9445.85. The market breadth, however, was narrow as 1,495 shares advanced against a decline of 1,317 shares, while 182 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, Hindalco and Dr Reddy's Laboratories gained the most on both the indices, while Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, and Aurobindo Pharma lost the most.

Metals index rose the most on the Nifty, posting 2 percent gain, which was followed by pharma as well as banks and auto indices, while information technology (IT) stocks were a drag.

3:25 pm Earnings: Vedanta has turned profitable in January-March quarter and overall earnings beat analysts' expectations on Monday. The company has posted consolidated profit at Rs 2,988 crore for the quarter against loss of Rs 21,103 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

In Q4FY16, it had an exceptional loss of Rs 12,312 crore. Earnings growth was driven by strong volume and higher commodity prices during the quarter.

Diversified natural resources company's revenue grew by 40.5 percent to Rs 23,691 crore compared with Rs 16,864.6 crore in same quarter last year, led by growth across segments.

Zinc, lead & silver India revenue during the quarter nearly doubled to Rs 6,671 crore from Rs 3,375 crore year-on-year while copper revenue increased 18 percent to Rs 6,803 crore and aluminium revenue jumped 47.9 percent to Rs 4,651 crore compared with corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

2:55 pm GoAir IPO update: Go Airlines India has handed Kotak Mahindra Capital and Axis Capital the task of managing the process of listing its shares on the stock exchanges this year, according to merchant banking sources. The initial public offering of the airline is expected to raise between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 3,000 crore through issue of new shares with no stake sale being planned by the promoters, a source said.

The Wadia family-promoted airline flies to 23 destinations in the country with a fleet of 19 Airbus A320 and three A320 neo aircraft. It awaits delivery of 141 A320 neo planes, signed as part of its two contracts with the European passenger aircraft manufacturer. The airline had first contracted to buy 72 planes from Airbus but then doubled that order to 144 in December 2016.

2:33 pm Sebi cracks down: Markets regulator Sebi has penalised Rushil Decor, Corporate Strategic Allianz and six others for disclosure lapses in their IPO documents, according to a PTI report.

Sebi has imposed a total penalty of Rs 7 lakh on Rushil Decor and signatories of the IPO prospectus -- Vipul Vora, Ghanshyam Ambalal Thakkar, Krupesh Ghanshyambhai Thakkar, Harshadbhai Navnitlal Doshi, Shankar Prasad Bhagat and Hasmukh Kanubhai Modi.

2:15 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices traded positive in the afternoon session, with the Sensex holding on to its 100 point gain, while the Nifty hovered around 9450.

The 30-share Sensex was up 139.21 points at 30327.36, while the Nifty rose 40.55 points at 9441.45. The market breadth was narrow as 1,485 shares advanced against a decline of 1,247 shares, while 150 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel and Dr Reddy's Laboratories continued to gain, while Infosys, Adani Ports and Aurobindo Pharma lost the most.

1:45 pm Buzzing: Wind energy services provider Inox Wind share price plunged 19.5 percent intraday after disappointing earnings for January-March quarter.

Profit on consolidated basis slipped 36.6 percent to Rs 127.5 crore and revenue from operations dropped 44.6 percent to Rs 1,019.2 crore compared with year-ago period.

Operating profit during the quarter declined 23.2 percent to Rs 229.5 crore but margin expanded by 630 basis points to 22.5 percent on year-on-year basis.

Meanwhile, the company has commissioned 422 MW of orders during the quarter and 656MW during the year. The second half of the financial year has been tough on the back of demonetisation in Q3 and power purchase agreement signing by states coming to a halt on back of SECI auctions in Q4.

1:25 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to hold morning gains on account of consistent buying in banking & financials, FMCG, metals and pharma stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 101.35 points at 30,289.50 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 31.60 points at 9,432.50.

The broader markets remained strong, up 1 percent despite the gap between advances and declines narrowed. About 1454 shares advanced against 1211 declining shares on the BSE.

Tata Steel, Hindalco, Dr Reddy's Labs, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Lupin were top gainers among Nifty stocks.

1:05 pm IPO: Go Airlines India has handed Kotak Mahindra Capital and Axis Capital the task of managing the process of listing its shares on the stock exchanges this year, according to merchant banking sources. The initial public offering of the airline is expected to raise between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 3,000 crore through issue of new shares with no stake sale being planned by the promoters, a source said.

The Wadia family-promoted airline flies to 23 destinations in the country with a fleet of 19 Airbus A320 and three A320 neo aircraft.

12:50 pm Fundraising plans: Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services (Mahindra Finance) is planning to raise up to Rs 29,000 crore through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and seeking shareholders' nod for the same.

In a notice to shareholders, the company said it "proposed to offer or invite subscriptions for secured or unsecured redeemable NCDs, including subordinated debentures in domestic and/or international market in one or more series or tranches, aggregating up to Rs 29,000 crore on a private placement basis".

NCDs, including subordinated debentures issued through private placement, constitute a significant source of borrowings for the company.

12:34 pm Europe opens: European markets open higher Monday as investors look beyond global cybersecurity threats and the latest North Korean missile test.

The FTSE 100 started trading 0.13 percent higher at 7,445; the DAX opened up 0.43 percent higher at 12,827; and the CAC 40 began the day up 0.08 percent at 5,409.

12:10 pm Market Check: Equity benchmark indices extended their gains from the morning session, with the Nifty hovering around 9450-mark.

The Sensex was up 152.81 points at 30340.96, while the Nifty rose 45.30 points at 9446.20. The market breadth, however, was narrowing as 1,468 shares advanced against a decline of 1,029 shares, while 148 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, and Hindalco gained the most, while Infosys, Adani Ports and Bharti Infratel were the top losers.

Banks and pharma stocks surged during the trade, with the Nifty indices gaining over a percent.

12:00 pm Cement outlook: Kotak Institutional Equities feel India will get to China's level of cement consumption over the next 20 years.

"Reverse valuation exercise also shows that India will continue to consume 2.2 btpa of cement annually in perpetuity after 20 years when its cement consumption will reach China's peak cement consumption level. This contradicts the history of economic development in developed countries that show sharp drops in consumption from peak levels," the brokerage house says.

It looks like India's infrastructure build-out over the next 20 years and beyond may put even China to shade, at least as per the current valuations of the Indian cement sector, it adds.

China took 20 years to reach its peak cement consumption of 2.2 billion tonner per annum in 2012 from the time (1992) its cement consumption (280 million tonnes) was the same as India's current consumption.

Anything is possible but India will have to figure out a growth model that can match China's 10 percent GDP CAGR over 1992-2012, a model that may have been unique in the history of economic development of countries, it says.

11:45 am Earnings Estimates: Kajaria Ceramics' fourth quarter consolidated profit is seen rising 3.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 70.5 crore from Rs 68.4 crore while total income from operations may grow 4.5 percent to Rs 772 crore.

However, operating profit during the quarter is expected to decline 1.4 percent to Rs 131 crore and margin may contract 110 basis points to 16.9 percent compared with same quarter last fiscal due to increase in fuel & staff costs.

Analysts expect volume growth at around 4-5 percent.

11:27 am Oil Update: Oil prices jumped over 1.5 percent after the energy ministers of the world's two biggest producers Saudi Arabia and Russia jointly said that a crude production cut would be extended from the middle of this year until March 2018.

11:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning, backed by banking & financials, metals and auto stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 121.43 points to 30,309.58 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 39.45 points at 9,440.35.

The broader markets extended gains, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices up 1.1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. About 1454 shares advanced against 948 declining shares on the BSE.

ITC, ICICI Bank, HDFC, SBI and Mahindra & Mahindra were leading contributors to Sensex' gains while Infosys, Reliance Industries, TCS, Adani Ports and Wipro were losers.

10:50 am Earnings Estimates: Diversified natural resources company Vedanta's fourth quarter profit is expected to be at Rs 2,390.79 crore against loss of Rs 11,181 crore in same quarter last year.

In Q4FY16, profit included an exceptional loss of Rs 12,312 crore.

Revenue during the quarter is seen rising 39 percent to Rs 21,961.8 crore compared with Rs 15,797 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Earnings may look great led by strong volume-and price-led growth in zinc and aluminum. It may also benefit from ramp-up of aluminum, power volumes and strong iron-ore earnings.

Operating profit is likely to increase 103 percent year-on-year to Rs 7,056 crore and margin may expand 1000 basis points to 32 percent in the quarter gone by.

Tax expenses are expected to be higher due to the treatment of dividend distribution tax on dividend income received from Hinudstan Zinc.

10:40 am Market Outlook: Highlighting the mismatch between price and fundamentals in midcap and smallcap stocks, Quantum Securities is sounding caution on these segments.

''Midcaps and smallcaps are worrying me now. Price-value mismatch is significant," Sanjay Dutt, Director, Quantum Securities, told CNBC-TV18 in an interview, saying investors should consider taking profits off the table.

Having said that, Dutt believes that this is a liquidity-driven market and not a fundamental one and investors' money will move into largecaps. So, there won't be much of change on how the market will move.

10:25 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of JK Cement touched 52-week high of Rs 1194.20, gains 11.4 percent intraday Monday on the back of strong Q4 numbers.

The company's Q4FY17 (Jan-March) net profit increased by 30.4 percent at Rs 91.4 crore versus Rs 70.1 crore, in the same quarter last fiscal.

Revenue of the company was up 10.5 percent at Rs 1,241.3 crore versus Rs 1,123.1 crore.

10:10 am Market Check: Equity benchmark indices traded steady after opening 100 points higher, while the Nifty was seen nearing 9450. Midcaps and banks continued to trade half a percent higher.

The Sensex was up 99.37 points at 30287.52, while the Nifty was up 32.25 points at 9433.15. The market breadth was marginally narrow as 1,293 shares advanced against a decline of 692 shares, while 97 shares were unchanged.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Grasim were the top gainers on both the indices, while Infosys, Reliance and Aurobindo Pharma lost the most.

9:46 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of GMR Infrastructure rose 1.5 percent in early trade as it has entered into agreements for stakes divestment in its Indonesian coal mining entities.

The company's subsidiaries GMR Energy Netherlands BV and GMR Infrastructure Overseas have entered into conditional share purchase agreement with PT Golden Energy Mines Tbk, Indonesia for sell of 100 percent equity shareholding.

The company will also sell mandatorily convertible bonds in PT Dwikarya Sejati Utama, PT Duta Surana Internusa, PT Unsoco and PT Barasentosa Lestari.

9:40 am Macro data: Sonal Verma of Nomura says India's macro data released on Friday paint a picture of low inflation and slightly better growth.

CPI inflation moderated to 3 percent YoY in April from 3.9 percent YoY in March, driven by lower food price inflation, favourable base effect and a cut in transport fuel prices.

She feels CPI inflation is set to moderate further in Q2 of 2017 and undershoot our forecast of 3.5 percent, but the likelihood of this decline being sustained remains in doubt, as most of these disinflationary forces are transitory rather than structural, cyclical factors have started to rise and there are one-off risks to inflation.

She expects the RBI to look through the current low inflation prints and stay on hold in 2017. However, as growth and inflation accelerate towards end-2017, she expects a move towards a tightening policy bias with a cumulative 50 bps in repo rate hikes in 2018, starting next April.

9:30 am FII View: Laurence Balanco of CLSA says from a global equity standpoint it's worth noting that 91 percent of the country constituents of the MSCI World are trading above their respective 200-DMAs.

Unlike the run-up in the MSCI World in 2014-2015, the current advance off the early 2016 low has broader global participation, he feels.

Again he would expect breadth to deteriorate as it did at the 2007, 2010 and 2015 highs before a more important global equity market peak is registered.

Despite expecting an extension of the S&P 500 uptrend in absolute terms relative to the World, he would be taking some profits and would favour overweight positions in Europe ex-UK and emerging markets.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks stated off the week on a positive note, with the Sensex rising over 100 pts despite mixed Asian cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 110.51 points at 30,298.66 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 28.70 points to 9,429.60. About 670 shares advanced against 222 declining shares on the BSE.

ICICI Bank, ONGC, Tata Steel, HDFC, Axis Bank, Hindalco and Dr Reddy's Labs were early gainers while Cipla, Infosys, Hero Motocorp, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, BPCL and Bharti Infratel were losers.

The Indian rupee has opened higher by 18 paise at 64.12 per dollar against Friday's closing of 64.30.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity feels weak economic data released on last Friday as well as positive cues from domestic equity market may trigger a fall in the dollar.

According to him, the rupee may breach 64.20/dollar levels and the spot USD-INR pair is likely to trade in the range of 64-64.40/dollar.

The dollar index is slightly lower against a basket of major currencies after US economic data came in shy of expectations and another missile test by North Korea over the weekend underpinned the perceived safe-haven yen.

Asian markets were mixed despite concerns over trade protectionism during the G7 meeting in Italy and North Korea's latest missile launch at the weekend.