Nifty, Sensex close at day's high; Metals, PSU banks outperform

3:30 pm Market Close: Markets close at high point of the day.

The benchmark indices ended on strong note on the back of positive global cues. The Nifty ended with a gain of 1 percent at 9,979 and Sensex ended with a gain of 244 points (0.8 percent) at 31,836.

Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, NTPC, SBI, HUL, Bajaj Finance, GAIL and Hindalco Industries lead the rally.

3:12 pm Buzzing Stock: Shares of Ashoka Buildcon gained 5.2 percent intraday Friday as the company received arbitration award worth Rs 124 crore.

The company has received arbitration award for one of its projects viz. Ahmednagar - Karmala Road, State Highway No. 141 under BOT Scheme (with toll rights) by government of Maharashtra, Public Works Department.

The work was awarded to the company in the year 1999 with concession period of 16 years and 9 months including construction period of 3.5 years.

03:08 pm European shares trade flat to negative, bond yields rise and the euro weakens as the Catalonia crisis rumbled on in Europe

3:04 Information technology major Tech Mahindra has filed three cases against Reliance Communications and two of its subsidiaries in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Mint reported on Friday.

The petitions are yet to be admitted and the cases will be heard on October 9. According to copies of the petitions reviewed by the newspaper, Reliance Communications and its two subsidiaries Reliance Telecom and Reliance Big TV owe Tech Mahindra Rs 3.6 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1.5 crore, respectively.

''Tech Mahindra has filed these cases in its capacity as the operational creditor of RCom and its subsidiaries. The liabilities mentioned in the petition arise out of the service agreements between Tech Mahindra and the Reliance firms involved,'' a person in the know told Mint.

2:16 pm Market Check: Markets extend the upmove with Sensex gaining 167.96 points, at 31,759.99, and the Nifty up 68.85 points, at 9,957.55.

About 1,622 shares advanced, 874 shares declined, and 97 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, NTPC, Sun Pharma, SBI, ONGC, GAIL and Hindalco are the top gainers on the indices.

1:55 pm Godrej Agrovet IPO: The initial public offer (IPO) of Godrej Agrovet was oversubscribed 22.67 times on Friday so far.

The IPO which was to raise around Rs 1,157 crore, received bids for 40,87,63,008 shares against the total issue size of 1,80,27,464 shares, data available with the NSE showed.

Godrej Agrovet earlier this week raised a little over Rs 341 crore from anchor investors.

1:35 pm IPO update: The initial public offering (IPO) of MAS Financial Services was subscribed 49 percent on the first day of the issue.

For a total issue size of 71,24,910 shares, the company received bids for 35,24,160 shares, data from NSE as of 1:30 pm showed.

MAS Financial Services' initial share sale offer opened for subscription on October 6, with a price band of Rs 456-459 per share.

Equity shares are proposed to be listed on National Stock Exchange and BSE Limited.

1:15 pm Market Check: Frontline indices continued uptrend, with the Sensex holding on to 150 plus point gain, while the Nifty was above 9950-mark.

The Sensex was up 176.51 points at 31768.54, while the Nifty was up 69.55 points at 9958.25. The market breadth was positive as 1679 shares advanced against a decline of 764 shares, while 97 shares were unchanged.

12:58 pm Aadhaar mandatory: The government has made biometric identification Aadhaar mandatory for all post office deposits, PPF, the National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas
Patra.

Existing depositors have been given timetill December 31, 2017to provide the 12-digit unique identification number. Ministry of Finance has issued four separate Gazette notifications making Aadhaar mandatory for opening all post office deposit accounts, Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra deposits.

"Provided that where Aadhaar number has not been assigned, the depositor shall submit proof of application of enrolment for Aadhaar," the notification dated September 29 said.

12:30 pm Leaving a legacy behind: Arundhati Bhattacharya leaves behind a rich legacy at the State Bank of India. As her four-year term comes to an end today, it is worth while to take stock of what she has achieved.

She was the first chief of the state-owned bank who handled the biggest merger to date with its subsidiaries. She rolled out a wider digital platform on which the bank operations could be synchronized. She made the bank a woman-friendly organisation. That is not all, she leaves SBI after making the bank find a mention in the list of top 50 banks in the world.

Read the full story here.

12:05 pm Buzzing Stock: Shares of Pincon Spirit has locked at 5 percent upper circuit as it has entered into tie-up with Metro Cash and Carry.

The company has entered into tie-up with retail outlets of Metro Cash and Carry for selling and distribution of its edible oil viz. Pincon Mustard Oil and Pincon Soya Oil.

There were pending buy orders of 70,267 shares, with no sellers available.

11:50 am Ratings upgrade: Global research and broking firm Morgan Stanley has upgraded Jubilant Foodworks from 'Equalweight' to 'Overweight' and has hiked the price target of the stock from Rs 900 to Rs 1,780.

The research firm believes that demand trends are still favourable with Same Store Sales Growth (SSSG) to offset cost inflation with combination of demand growth, moderate cost inflation, stringent cost control and favorable base which is likley to drive earnings for the company.

The house believes that same store sales growth is likely to be 8 percent, 10 percent and 12 percent for FY18, FY19 and FY20 respectively. Margin of Jubilant Foodworks is likely to expand by 610 basis points over FY17-20, it added.

11:30 am MF View: In line with celebrating seventh day of every month as Mutual Fund Day, CNBC-TV18 spoke to Harsha Upadhyaya, CIO-Equity, Kotak Mutual Fund to talk about his outlook for the market and their portfolio investments.

Although September was a bit weak in terms of overall industry flows, there is nothing to worry about, said Upadhyaya but the systematic investment plan (SIPs) continue to be strong. There could have been some profit booking but the long-term money continues to flow in, he said.

When asked if they picked up any new themes for their portfolio during the recent correction, he said there were no new themes although they did participate in the IPOs. Most of the old portfolio construct remains the same – they are still positive on oil and gas on back of strong refining margins and volume growth, as well as quality of business and reasonable valuations.

11:15 am Market Check: Buying counters continued to ring on the market, with the Sensex gaining over 200 points, while the Nifty traded comfortably above 9950-mark.

The Sensex was up 218.96 points at 31810.99, while the Nifty was up 77.35 points at 9966.05. The market breadth was healthy as 1,708 shares advanced against a decline of 553 shares, while 79 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, GAIL and NTPC gained the most on both indices, while HDFC and Dr Reddy's Laboratories were the top losers.

10:55 am Buzzing Stocks: Share price of Majestic Auto added 6.3 percent intraday Friday as it has closed at fine blanking division due to lack of orders and profitability.

The company has shut down its fine blanking division which was a part of its manufacturing business vertical due to unviable business operations; lack of viable orders & profitability.

In the month of September 2017, the company shut its electric motor division which was a part of its manufacturing business vertical due to lack of viable orders, profitability & capital investment requirement for new technology.

10:30 am Expert Speak: The Nifty50 hit a fresh record high of 10,178 last month but lost momentum soon after and touched a low of 9688 on 28 September. The next crucial question is will the market retest record highs?

Well, the market could well retest record highs but not in a while amid strong headwinds in term of muted earnings growth period and slowdown in the economy, Tushar Pradhan, Chief Investment Officer, HSBC Asset Management (India) Private Ltd said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

The market is likely to remain volatile for a while. Going into the September quarter there is not much hope of a recovery in this quarter. That leads the market to think in 2 ways -- the earnings estimate number for the end of the year which is close to 16-17% will get delivered when you get over 20% growth in next 2 quarters, said Pradhan.

10:06 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended their gains from the morning session, with the Nifty clocking 9950-mark during the day's trade.

The Sensex was up 173.50 points at 31765.53, while the Nifty was up 63.60 points at 9952.30. The market breadth was positive as 1,448 shares advanced against a decline of 437 shares, while 58 shares were unchanged.

NTPC, Tata Steel and GAIL were the top gainers on both indices, while Tata Motors, Tata Motors DVR, Hero MotoCorp lost the most.

9:55 am Moody's view: The sale of stake by few Indian banks in their insurance arms is credit positive for these lenders as the proceeds received would strengthen their loss-absorbing buffers, Moody's said.

Earlier this week, State Bank of India's life insurance subsidiary, SBI Life Insurance, listed its shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange, less than a week after ICICI Lombard General Insurance (ICICI Lombard), the general insurance subsidiary of ICICI Bank did the same.

"The initial public offerings (IPOs) of these banks' insurance subsidiaries are credit positive because the banks will receive proceeds that will strengthen their loss-absorbing buffers," the report said.

9:35 am Buzzing Stocks: Shares of Future Retail and Shoppers Stop rose 6-9 percent intraday on Friday as investors cheered the deal to buy HyperCity.

On Friday, Future Retail announced that it will acquire Shoppers Stop's loss-making retail chain HyperCity for Rs 655 crore in a part cash and part stock deal.

The deal, which is likely to be completed in the next three to five months, will see HyperCity Retail India Limited become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Future Retail.

In a stock exchange filing, Future Retail said it will allot 9.310 million shares of Rs 2 face value to HyperCity Retail's 15 shareholders at Rs 535 per share on a preferential basis.

9:15 am Market Opens: Frontline indices began the session on a positive note, with the Nifty reclaiming 9900 in the opening tick.

The Sensex was up 51.66 points at 31643.69, while the Nifty was up 22.75 points at 9911.45. The market breadth was positive as 454 shares advanced against a decline of 132 shares, while 22 shares were unchanged.

Midcaps continued their outperformance from the previous sessions, while metals led the charts among sectoral indices.

ONGC, Tata Steel and GAIL were the top gainers, while Tata Motors, Tata Motors DVR and Zee Entertainment lost the most.

Asian stocks rose on Friday after optimism over US tax reform plans lifted Wall Street shares to new highs, while the dollar hovered near a seven-week peak following additional indications of solid economic growth.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent, poised for a 1.4 percent gain on the week.

Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.3 percent, Australian stocks rose 0.7 percent and South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.9 percent.

US stocks notched record closing highs again on Thursday as investors cheered increased prospects for a tax overhaul with Congress moving closer to agreement on a budget resolution.

The day's move extended a run of records that began last week.

The benchmark S&P 500 set a record-high close for the sixth straight day, its longest such run since an eight-day streak in June 1997. It also rose for eight sessions in a row, matching a winning streak from July 2013.