Sensex flat after a volatile session, Nifty ends below 9500; FMCG gains

3:30 pm Market at Close: Bears took charge on the D-Street for the second consecutive day, which dragged the markets lower from a gap-up opening as well as 200-plus point gain on the Sensex. The Street managed to close the session on a flat note.

The 30-share Sensex closed up 30.13 points at 30464.92, while the Nifty ended lower by 1.55 points at 9427.90. The market breadth was negative as 985 shares advanced against a decline of 1,759 shares, while 169 shares were unchanged.

FMCG majors, ITC and HUL were the top gainers on both the indices, while Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra and BPCL lost the most.

3:15 pm FDI flows: Inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India increased by 9 per cent to record level of USD 43.48 billion in 2016-17 on account of reform measures undertaken by the government.

In 2015-16, the country had attracted USD 40 billion foreign investments.

"Increased FDI inflows in the country are largely attributed to intense and bold policy reforms the government undertook to bring pragmatism in the FDI regime. The country has now become the topmost attractive destination for foreign investment," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.

2:49 pm Earnings: Laurus Labs said its Profit after Tax for the quarter ended March 31 rose by 39 per cent to Rs 74.3 crore against Rs 53.4 crore during the third quarter of the last fiscal, on the back of low finance cost.

The company went public in December last year.

Total revenues stood at Rs 467 crore during the quarter under discussion when compared to Rs 483 crore during the previous quarter, the city-based company said in a statement.

''Prepayment of loans resulted interest cost reduction apart from reduction in cost of funds," it said.

2:30 Gold smuggling on the rise: As the cash flow increases in the economy, gold smuggling, too, is on the rise. Gold smuggling had reduced after demonetisation due to lack of low liquidity.

According to research firm GFMS, smuggled gold supply had fallen between November 2016 and mid-March 2017.

As per the research, illegal gold was nearly 1.3 tonnes a week in last quarter of 2016. In the last few weeks of the current quarter, this number rose to 1.9 tonnes a week.

2:14 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices were off the day's low points, with the Sensex and Nifty trading almost flat with a positive bias.

The Sensex was up 41.72 points at 30476.51, while the Nifty was up 8.25 points at 9437.70. The market breadth was still negative as 848 shares advanced against a decline of 1,771 shares, while 153 shares were unchanged.

Asian Paints, GAIL and IndusInd Bank were the top losers on both indices, while ITC and HUL gained the most.

1:30 pm F&O list: Leading stock exchange BSE will introduce futures and options contracts in five companies, including RBL Bank and state-run National Aluminium Company (Nalco), from May 26.

Hindustan Construction Company, Kajaria Ceramics, and Ramco Cements are other companies in which futures and options trading has been allowed.

1:15 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices were trading lower, with the Sensex and Nifty cutting all losses and reversing the trend completely.

The Sensex was down 33.44 points at 30401.35, while the Nifty was down 18.40 points at 9411.05. The market breadth was negative as 798 shares advanced against a decline of 1,743 shares, while 155 shares were unchanged.

ITC and State Bank of India were the top gainers, while Asian Paints, Hindalco and GAIL were top losers.

12:51 pm Earnings: State Bank of India (SBI) reported 122 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit for the quarter ended March to Rs 2,814 crore on Friday which was slightly lower than CNBC-TV18 estimate of Rs2,832 crore.

The largest public sector bank reported a net profit of Rs 1,263.81 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

The net interest income surged by 17.3 percent (YoY) to Rs 18,070.7 crore for the quarter ended March which was higher than CNBC-TV18 estimate of Rs 15,275.90 crore. SBI reported net interest income of Rs 15,401.30 crore in the year-ago period.

12:30 pm Order win: Jewellery firm Rajesh Exports today said it has bagged an export order worth Rs 1,140 crore from a UAE-based company.

"Rajesh Exports has procured a prestigious order for its products for a value of Rs 1,140 crore" the company said in a BSE filing.

12:05 pm Market Check: Selling pressure took charge on the D-Street in the late morning session as the market erased a huge chunk of its gains.

The Sensex was up just 48.79 points at 30483.58, while the Nifty was up 4.30 points at 9433.75. The market breadth, however, was negative as 1,031 shares advanced against a decline of 1,385 shares, while 125 shares were unchanged.

ITC and HUL continued to gain on the indices, while Maruti Suzuki, TCS, Hindalco and Eicher Motors lost the most.

11:40 am Buzzing stock: Share price of Sutlej Textiles and Industries rose more than 4 percent intraday Friday as the company has approved the sub-division of its equity shares.

The company at its meeting held on May 18, has approved the sub-division of the equity shares of Rs 10 each into 10 equity shares of Re 1 each.

The sub-division of equity shares is subject to approval of shareholders, and shall be effective only after any other statutory and regulatory approvals.

11:24 am Global brokerage on CESC: Macquarie which maintains most aggressive 12-month target price of Rs 1100 on CESC sees sharp re-rating in the stock price due to restructuring exercise. It raised its target price from Rs 658 to Rs 1,100.

CESC announced a massive restructuring of its business by splitting its existing company into four different companies focused on a particular business segment. It is a clean mirror shareholding demerger with no loss of value for minorities.

11:10 am Market Check: Benchmark indices has given up some of its early gains, after Sensex touched record high in the morning session.

The Sensex was up 142.25 points at 30577.04, and the Nifty was up 36.25 points at 9465.70. About 1532 shares have advanced, 735 shares declined, and 105 shares are unchanged.

Top loser includes SBI, HUL, ITC, Bharti Airtel and Coal India, while tip losers include TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Asian Paints and Maruti Suzuki.

10:45 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of Cheviot Company touched 52-week high of Rs 1229, gains 3.5 percent intraday Friday as it is going to consider the buyback of its shares.

The company is going to consider and approve the audited standalone financial results for the financial year ended March 31, 2017 and recommendation of dividend, if any, for the financial year ended March 31, 2017, in the board meeting to be held on May 24.

The board will also consider buyback of its shares in the said meeting.

10:35 am GST on insurance: The insurance industry, which is waiting with baited breath for the tax rates, to be announced for the sector under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, may be in for some disappointment. Sources in the tax consulting space, who have been working closely with the government on this reform, said that the GST Council is not in favour of reducing the rate to 5 percent.

At present, a service tax of 14 percent is imposed on insurance policies and there is additional cess including Krishi Kalyan Cess and Swachh Bharat Cess which makes the total service tax payable at 15 percent for regular premium payment policies.

On one hand, while the rate will not be hiked to 18 percent since both the government and the GST Council are of the view that insurance is a savings/protection product, higher rates will be a deterrent to sale.

10:10 am Market Check: Benchmark indices witnessed a strong surge through the morning session, with the Sensex clocking a record high point, while the Nifty hovered around 9500-mark.

The Sensex was up 240.09 points at 30674.88, while the Nifty was up 65.20 points at 9494.65. The market breadth was firmly placed in the positive zone as 1,518 shares advanced against a decline of 428 shares, while 71 shares were unchanged.

FMCG stocks ITC and HUL along with Bank of Baroda were the top gainers, while Sun Pharma, Infosys and Asian Paints lost the most.

10:00 am New Listing: After witnessing a bumper subscription, state-run HUDCO listed at 21.5 percent premium at Rs 73.55 on the exchanges.

The Rs 1,200 crore initial public offer of HUDCO had received bids worth Rs 97,000 crore, thereby recording the highest oversubscription in any PSU disinvestment.

9:30 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of United Bank of India gained 5.5 percent intraday Friday as it turned profitable in the quarter ended March 2017 (Q4FY17).

The company has reported net profit at Rs 73.5 crore in the quarter ended March 2017 against loss of Rs 413 crore, in the same quarter last fiscal.

Net interest income has increased by 23.8 percent at Rs 502 crore versus Rs 405.5 crore.

9:15 am Market opens: Benchmark indices witnessed a gap-up opening on Friday, following the negative previous session, as the Street cheered the rates for the new goods and services tax (GST).

The Sensex was up 152.79 points at 30587.58, while the Nifty was up 40.40 points at 9469.85. The market breadth was healthy as 642 shares advanced against decline of 154 shares, while 37 shares were unchanged.

ITC was the biggest gainer, soaring 5 percent, as the GST rates sprung no surprises to the Street. This was followed by Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Bank of Baroda. Meanwhile, Asian Paints and Infosys witnessed some profit booking after Thursday's rally and
lost the most.

The Indian rupee gained in the early trade on Friday. It has opened higher by 6 paise at 64.78 per dollar versus previous close 64.84.

Yesterday, the rupee fell by nearly 70 paise (1.1 percent) to close at 64.84 to the dollar, tracking losses in domestic equities and other emerging market currencies.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "Political uncertainty continues to cloud the dollar outlook, coupled with Brazilian crisis impacting the emerging market currencies adversely."

"We expect the USD-INR pair to be under pressure till the global risk tone improves. The pair is expected to trade in the 64.50-65.30/dollar range today."

On the global front, Asian stocks were mixed early on Friday and the dollar held onto overnight gains made on strong economic data, but investors were cautious due to uncertainties surrounding President Donald Trump after reports he tried to influence a federal investigation.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.2 percent, on track for a weekly loss of 0.5 percent.

Japan's Nikkei was almost 0.1 percent higher, headed for a decline of 1.6 percent for the week.

Wall Street rebounded on Thursday from its biggest sell-off in more than eight months, helped by strong US economic data, but uncertainty over US President Donald Trump's agenda kept an index of global equity markets near a three-week low.

The US dollar reversed early losses against a basket of major currencies after stronger-than-expected US economic data put the focus back on a widely anticipated increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve.