Sensex ends 118 points higher, Nifty above 10,300; pharma soars

3:30 pm Market Check: Frontline indices ended the session on a positive note, but erased a chunk of its gains. The Sensex ended over 100 points higher.

The Sensex ended up 118.45 points at 33478.35, while the Nifty closed higher by 28.10 points at 10326.90. The market breadth was positive as 1463 shares advanced against a decline of 1215 shares, while 168 shares were unchanged.

DRL, Sun Pharma and Cipla were the top gainers, while Coal India, Kotak Mahindra and Indiabulls Housing lost the most.

3:25 pm Winter session: The government will call the winter session of Parliament in December and its dates will be announced soon, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said today while citing precedents during the UPA rule to reject the Congress' allegations of "delay".

Kumar said that the opposition party is suffering from "selective amnesia" as during the Congress-led UPA rule, the winter session was held in December in 2008 and 2013.

"Usually, care is taken not to overlap the parliament session with assembly elections. It has been done so in the past also," he told PTI when asked about the Congress' accusation that the government was sabotaging the winter session.

3:15 pm Mobile users data: Bharti Airtel added 31 lakh mobile users in October, much higher compared with 10 lakh users addition in previous month, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting Cogencis.

The stock rallied 2 percent.

Its peer Idea Cellular and Vodafone India added 7.1 lakh users and 8.8 lakh users against loss of 9 lakh and 7 lakh users in previous month, respectively.

3:10 pm SEBI investigation: Sebi and exchanges have started examining trade details of over two dozen stocks as part of a probe into alleged leak of key financial details of these companies through WhatsApp while the regulator is also considering seeking call data records of the persons involved.

The companies include several listed blue-chip firms, officials said on the condition of anonymity.

The exchanges are analysing the trade data of the last 12 months of such companies in order to detect any possible breach of norms while Sebi is taking the help of data warehouse and its intelligence systems, they added.

Under Sebi rules, all the financial details of listed companies should be disseminated only through stock exchanges as they are considered price-sensitive.

3:02 pm Stake Buy: ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas investment arm of the country's top explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, said it had acquired a 15 percent stake in Namibia's offshore Block 2012A from Tullow Oil, reports Reuters.

OVL executed the deal through its subsidiary ONGC Videsh Vankorneft Pte, it said in a statement.

Tullow Namibia had a 25 percent stake in the block in Namibia's Petroleum Exploration License area (PEL)0030. Eco Oil and Gas Namibia (Pty), with a 32.5 percent stake, is the operator of the block. ONGC Videsh last month bought a 30 percent stake in PEL 0037 from Tullow Oil.

2:55 pm Metals extend losses: Copper and nickel prices eased further by Rs 2 per kg at the non-ferrous metal market today owing to slackened demand from consuming industries amid weak global cues.

Traders said subdued demand from consuming industries at the domestic spot market and a weak trend overseas, mainly kept copper and nickel prices lower.

2:50 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks were off day's high in afternoon, tracking weakness in European stocks due to German political uncertainty.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 127.24 points at 33,487.14 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 28.20 points to 10,327.

PSU Bank index fell a percent while private banks were off day's high. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gain nearly half a percent.

Reliance Industries continued to support the market, rising over a percent while Nifty Pharma outperformed all indices, gaining 2 percent after Dr Reddy's Labs received establishment inspection report for Vizag unit, though the inspection is not yet closed. Dr Reddy's Labs gained 5 percent and Sun Pharma was up 4 percent.

2:44 pm Use gas instead of pet coke: India's oil minister asked state oil firms to boost supply of gas and alternative fuels in states where petroleum coke and furnace oil are banned due to high emissions.

India imports about half of its annual consumption of 27 million tonnes of petcoke, Dharmendra Pradhan said in a tweet.

The country has banned use of petcoke and furnace oil in states around New Delhi and in the capital city to rein in pollution. Demand for petcoke has doubled in the past four years.

2:35 pm Coal Imports: India's coal imports from North America quadrupled to 2.1 million tonnes in October from a year ago, the highest since at least January 2015, Thomson Reuters data showed, and buyers are looking to boost purchases amid a domestic shortage of the fuel.

A ban on the use of petroleum coke, a dirtier but better-burning alternative to coal, is spurring expectations India will buy even more coal from the United States in coming months.

Petcoke has been banned in some states around the Indian capital New Delhi which is battling heavy smog.

But rising pollution in other Indian cities could lead to tougher restrictions such as a nationwide ban on use and imports of petcoke, with environmentalists requesting other states in the country to consider banning the use and import of the dirty fuel.

2:20 pm Fund raising: Midsize private sector lender Yes Bank raised USD 400 million in syndicated loans from lenders in Taiwan and Japan for on-lending to clients.

It exercised a greenshoe option to raise USD 250 million in a five year commercial loan from 17 Taiwanese banks, a statement said.

In Japan, it raised JPY 16.5 billion or USD 150 million from eight lenders in a one-year loan in a maiden transaction, it said.

This borrowing will be used for on-lending through its international branch at GIFT City, Ahmedabad. Its overall foreign asset book had stood at USD 1.4 billion as of September.

2:02 pm Market Check: Frontline indices are continuing to trade strong, with the Sensex rising over 200 points. Nifty Bank and midcap index are off their high points. Pharma stocks too extend rally, while Dr Reddy's jumps over 6 percent after it got an establishment inspection report from the US FDA for its Vizag unit. HDFC Life gains 44 percent in 3 sessions, hits Rs 400-mark.

Sun Pharma and Cipla are the top gainers, while TCS, Asian Paints and Ambuja Cements lost the most.

1:42 pm Europe check: European equities were mostly lower Tuesday morning with investor sentiment curbed by a political impasse in Germany.

The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 was down by 0.2 percent in early deals. Nearly all sectors pushed into negative territory with only autos and media stocks showing slim gains.

Germany could be heading to fresh elections after coalition talks failed to produce a new government. Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday evening that she would prefer a new vote to a minority government. However, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has the power to call for new elections, said that political parties owed it to voters to try to form a government.

1:32 pm Buzzing: Somany Ceramics share price rallied nearly 3 percent intraday after analysts remained bullish on the stock and expect it to rally up to 15 percent.

BOB Capital Markets has initiated 'Buy' rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 975 per share, implying a potential upside of 15 percent from Monday's close.

Cut in GST rate on tiles, expanded value-added portfolio and focus on fast-growing tier-2 & 3 cities are positive factors, the research house said while expecting revenue and net profit to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent and 23 percent respectively by March 2020.

Somany Ceramics, the third largest organized tile manufacturer in India, forayed into sanitary-ware and allied products to offer high margins.

Asset-light model will expand return ratios to 21.3 percent by March 2020, BOB Capital feels.

1:20 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks maintained uptrend but Nifty Bank index was off day's high in afternoon. Positive Asian and US cues continued to support the market but European stocks are expected to open lower amid German political uncertainty.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 177.08 points at 33,536.98 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 48.40 points at 10,347.20.

About 1,512 shares advanced against 938 declining shares on the BSE.

Nifty Bank was up only 0.1 percent. Gains due to Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, PNB, Canara Bank and HDFC Bank were offset by selling in SBI, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bank of Baroda.

1:05 pm Buzzing: Shares of Reliance Communications soared over 14 percent today amid reports that lenders of the debt ridden firm have approved the sale of its real estate assets in Delhi and Chennai to a Canada-based company.

"Lenders have approved sale of real estate assets RCom holds in Delhi and Chennai for Rs 801 crore to Brookfield," a source privy to the development told PTI yesterday on condition of anonymity.

Brookfield is Canada-based asset management firm. RCom is reeling under Rs 45,000 crore debt.

12:53 pm HDFC Life in action: HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company shares rallied for third consecutive session Tuesday, rising as much as 44 percent from its issue price of Rs 290 per share since the listing day (last Friday).

The stock price crossed the Rs 400 level for the first time today, hitting a record high of Rs 417.65.

It rallied nearly 18 percent intraday as investors continued their buying spree. Currently, the stock price was quoting at Rs 411.80, up Rs 56.90, or 16.03 percent on the BSE.

12:45 pm Asia Trade: Asia markets traded higher, following gains in US equities overnight amid strong economic data. This will be a short week for the US stock market, which is set to be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

In Australia, the ASX 200 closed up 0.3 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent while in South Korea, the Kospi was up 0.12 percent.

Chinese mainland markets were also higher. The Shanghai composite rose 0.54 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 1.22 percent.

12:40 pm Fundraising: Reliance Industries today said it has raised USD 800 million by selling 10-year bonds - the first offering since Moody's raised India's sovereign rating.

The bonds were priced at 3.66 percent, the lowest coupon ever achieved by an Indian corporate for a 10-year issuance, the company said in a statement.

RIL, which is rated the same as the sovereign, will use the proceeds to refinance existing debt. This was the first dollar note this year.

The note by RIL, India's largest company, was assigned 'BBB+' rating by S&P and 'Baa2' by Moody's Investors Service.

12:23 pm Order Win: Power Mech Projects informed exchanges that the company has received letter of award, letter of intent/work orders worth Rs 381 crore, including Rs 72 crore worth order from Saudi Arabia.

12:12 pm Buzzing: Mercator share price declined over a percent after -Nomura Singapore sold 45,14,888 shares of the company at Rs 40.65 per share.

12:05 pm Fundraising: Zuari Agro Chemicals' board has approved raising up to Rs 400 crore in one or more tranches.

"The board... has considered and approved raising of funds by issue of equity shares and/or any other permissible securities convertible into equity shares through qualified institutional placement (QIP) or through any other permissible mode or a combination thereof in one or more tranches... for an amount not exceeding Rs 400 crore," Zuari Agro Chemicals said in a regulatory filing today.

11:44 am Market Outlook: ''The current market has nothing to do with fundamentals, valuations or even earnings. It is a pure liquidity play,'' Ajay Srivastava, CEO, Dimensions Corporate Finance Services told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

Currently, the situation looks stable. ''There is nothing that is hurting economic fundamentals as compared to last week. Oil is around USD 60 now,'' he told the channel.

Speaking on the rally in Tata Group stocks, he pointed out that a major factor is leadership change at the helm. He pointed how the chairman had sold non-performing businesses and that difference had been brought in by the new leadership.

11:26 am Buzzing: Gati, Allcargo Logistics, Transport Corporation, Snowman Logistics and Patel Integrated shares gained 2-5 percent intraday after the government has given infrastructure status to logistics sector.

The sector after getting infrastructure status is likely to attract more funding at competitive rates.

"The granting of infrastructure status to the logistics sector will result in higher investments, which will drive the revolution of the segment in India," Anshuman Magazine, Chairman, India and South East Asia, CBRE said.

With India's growing economy and boost to the sector, increased movement is expected in the industrial and warehousing segment, he added.

The definition of logistics includes industrial parks, warehouses, cold storages and transportation.

11:15 am EIR from USFDA: Dr Reddy's Laboratories today said it has received an establishment inspection report (EIR) from the US health regulator for its formulation manufacturing facility at Duvvada in Visakhapatnam.

It, however, said the US Food and Drug Administration has not closed the inspection and the manufacturing site's status remains unchanged.

"We have received the establishment inspection report (EIR) from the USFDA for the above mentioned facility. In the cover letter to the EIR, the USFDA has explained that inspection has not closed, and the site's status remains unchanged," Dr Reddy's said in a regulatory filing.

It further said: "The USFDA has released the EIR in order to be transparent about its regulatory process. We are planning to request a re-inspection in 2018 after further discussion on scheduling with the USFDA."

11:00 am Housing Finance License: Satin Creditcare Network shares surged 16 percent in morning on getting license to start housing finance business.

The microfinance institution has informed exchanges that the National Housing Bank has granted 'certificate of registration (under section 29 of the National Housing Bank Act, 1987) to commence business of a Housing Finance on November 14, 2017 to Satin Housing Finance.

Satin Housing Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of Satin Creditcare Network.

10:52 am FII View: Yesterday's (Nov 20, 2017) biggest rally in bond yields was a repeat of November 2016 when demonetisation got announced,  Manish Wadhawan, MD & Head of Interest Rates at HSBC India said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

He further said that whether 6.88 percent bond yield or 6.90 percent is sustainable would depend on future data points. The factors we are looking at are inflation dynamics and some clarity on fiscal, he added.

According to him, market participants have been wary of Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) actions and still adjusting to the new normal of RBI not doing open market operations (OMOs).

He expects market to trade around current levels for next one to one-and-a-half months.

According to him, liquidity scenario is expected to come to neutrality in December 2017-January 2018.

10:45 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks extended gains in morning, backed by Reliance Industries, Infosys, banks and metals stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 174.48 points at 33,534.38 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 48.20 points to 10,347.

About two shares advanced against 665 declining shares on the BSE.

10:26 am Rupee Trade: The rupee firmed up 8 paise to 65.02 against the dollar today, set off by fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

The local unit received some good support from higher domestic equities. But a strong dollar overseas kept the rupee in check.

Yesterday, the rupee had retreated from its near one-week high and ended lower by 10 paise at 65.11 in a restricted trade amid stray dollar demand.

10:16 am Results: Gravita India, the country's leading metal recycler, reported a 57 percent rise in second quarter profit on the back of rising capacity and improved operational efficiency.

Gravita's profit surged to Rs 13.38 crore as against Rs 8.53 crore for the corresponding quarter last year as the company added 16000 tons of fresh lead recycling capacity.

Gravita India has 11 recycling plants across the world. The revenue for the quarter ending September rose by 39 percent to Rs 224.67 crore.

EBIDTA for the July-September period stood at Rs 25.77 crore as against Rs 11.95 crore during the same quarter last year. EBIDTA margin stood at 11.4 percent in Q2FY18 as against 7.38 percent in Q2FY17.

10:05 am Order Win: Shares of Simplex Infrastructures rose 11.3 percent in the early trade on contract win of Rs 524 crore.

NBCC has awarded contract worth Rs 524 crore to Simplex Infrastructures for construction of various buildings of IIT Bhubaneswar.

NBCC has awarded the contract for construction of various buildings for IIT Bhubaneswar at Bhubaneswar and its extended campus to Simplex Infrastructures, Kolkata with completion period of 15 months.

NBCC will get project management consultancy fee on the same.

NBCC and Simplex Infrastructures gained more than 90 percent in the last 1 year.

9:55 am Buzzing: Shares of BCL Industries were locked in 5 percent upper circuit as Porinju Veliyath bought stake in the company.

On November 20, 2017, Porinju Veliyath bought 2,00,000 shares of the company at Rs 109.90.

Also, EQ India Fund also bought 4,50,000 shares at Rs 109.90 and Om Prakash Chugh bought 75,000 shares at Rs 109.90 on the BSE.

9:43 am Mahindra in EV biz: Mahindra & Mahindra, one of India's oldest vehicle manufacturers, is testing autonomous tractors, trucks and cars, while moving closer to bringing electric vehicles to the United States, Chairman Anand Mahindra said.

The company, which opened a new North American headquarters north of Detroit on Monday, is considering when to begin US sales of the vehicles, Anand Mahindra said in an interview.

It is also weighing whether the vehicles should carry the Mahindra brand or those of its affiliates Pininfarina, the famed Italian design house; and Ssangyong Motor Co , a Korean manufacturer of utility and crossover vehicles, he added.

9:35 am FY18 Outlook: IT major Tech Mahindra said it expects to outgrow Nasscom's industry growth projection and may touch USD 5 billion mark in revenues during the current fiscal.

Noting that there is a skill gap among employees, C P Gurnani, Managing Director and CEO of Tech Mahindra, also said the company is geared up to reskill about 50,000 employees for the present and future requirements.

"We will beat the Nasscom projections. Tech Mahindra will beat Nasscom projections. Whatever Nasscom has projected 6-8 per cent, we should be higher than that.

"We are already at run rate of USD 4.5 billion and we are growing more than 6 to 8 per cent....You do the maths. For 2018, I think we should be (at USD 5 billion)," Gurnani told PTI.

The company's revenues during the last fiscal were USD 4,351.1 million, up 7.8 per cent year-on year. In Rupee terms they were 29,141 crore; up 10 percent YoY.

9:26 am Assets Sale: Lenders of debt ridden Reliance Communications have approved the sale of its real estate assets in Delhi and Chennai to Canada-based asset management firm Brookfield, said a source.

"Lenders have approved sale of real estate assets RCom holds in Delhi and Chennai for Rs 801 crore to Brookfield," a source privy to the development told PTI on condition of anonymity.

When contacted RCom declined to comment on the development, while email query sent to Brookfield elicited no reply.

The proceeds will be used for retiring debts, the source said.

9:20 am Jet Airways in focus: Jet Airways, in analysts meet, said it would focus on reducing expenses, especially in trimming maintenance and distribution costs, as the full-service airline pursues strategic growth priorities amid stiff competition.

To bolster its overall income, the carrier would also focus on enhancing ancillary revenue by around Rs 250 crore.

In a presentation made to investors on Monday, the carrier has listed out its priorities for strategic growth.

The airline would look to reduce maintenance expense from January 2019 as well as bring down the cost of sales and distribution, as per the presentation.

Going forward, Jet Airways said it would also be deploying "15 per cent fuel efficient B737-Max (aircraft) inductions commencing from June 2018".

More than 25 such planes are expected to be delivered to the airline by March 2020.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened higher on Tuesday, continuing upmove for fourth consecutive session while the broader markets also participated in rally, backed by positive global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 109.13 points at 33,469.03 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 30 points to 10,328.80.

About 892 shares advanced against 258 declining shares on the BSE.

Yes Bank, Reliance Industries, Vedanta, Cipla, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance and Bharti Airtel were early gainers while TCS, L&T and NTPC were losers.

SKM Egg and Venkys gained 4-11 percent.

L&T Finance Holdings fell 3 percent after big block deals.

Jet Airways fell 4 percent post analysts meet.

Quess Corp was up 8 percent after acquisition of 51 percent equity stake in Tata Business Support Services Limited.