Sensex rebounds in late trade, Nifty ends tad below 10,400

3:30 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks closed higher for eighth consecutive session Monday, backed by banking & financials. Positive European cues also pushed market higher.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 45.20 points to 33,724.44 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 9.80 points at 10,399.50.

About 1,591 shares advanced against 1,136 declining shares on the BSE.

3:25 pm Buzzing: Hubtown Limited and The Wadhwa Group are jointly developing a prestigious sea facing residential project at Prabhadevi, Mumbai named as 25 South: Bespoke homes by the bay.

A successful meet with channel partners and leading brokers was organised to announce the pre-launch of this project, the company said.

The project had achieved financial closure, it added.

3:18 pm Stake sale: Indoco Remedies share price fell over 3 percent as First State Investments cut its stake in company to 4.05 percent from 4.7 percent.

3:10 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices turned positive in afternoon, with the Nifty trading nearly 10,400 level. Banks helped the market recover.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 39.31 points at 33,718.55 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 7 points to 10,396.70.

About three shares advanced for every two shares falling on the BSE.

3:02 pm Management Interview: The Indian Railways will start tendering 8,000 km of rail lines for electrification every year, starting the next financial year, to complete the network electrification target in the next five years.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Anil Gupta, CMD of KEI Industries said that it's a big opportunity from cable manufacturing standpoint because we are a leading cable manufacturer.

He further said that it's an opportunity for turnkey execution of railway electrification projects especially overhead lines and also traction substations associated with electrification.

According to him, there are only five-six major players in railway turnkey project.

Talking about order book, he said the current book is around Rs 2,500 crore.

2:52 pm CS bullish on PSU oil firms: Credit Suisse has upgraded Oil India to outperform from neutral and also raised target price to Rs 425 from Rs 300 per share following increase in crude oil prices.

The brokerage firm feels the risk reward remains favourable and capital efficiency is better across with costs falling.

"Oil around USD 60 per barrle is a sweet spot for both ONGC and Oil India with strong earnings and low subsidy risk in FY19," the research house said while raising EPS estimates for ONGC/OIL for FY18/19 by 8/2 percent and 10/9 percent, respectively.

Every USD 10 a barrel increase in oil adds 22-28 percent to EBITDA and 20-30 percent to equity value of ONGC/Oil India.

Credit Suisse has maintained outperform rating on ONGC with increased target price at Rs 220 (from Rs 190 per share).

The research house feels higher oil is a double-edged sword for both companies. It improves financials of companies but increases near-term cash flow risk due to rising subsidies.

2:42 pm Management Interview: Skipper is buzzing in trade today up 9 percent, post a strong session on Friday as the company entered into joint venture (JV) with Metzerplas of Israel to make Drip Irrigation Systems.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Sharan Bansal, Director of the company said the company has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Metzerplas for a JV in India to address the drip irrigation market in India. ''

"We believe it is quite exciting in the years to come."

2:29 pm Freight rates increase: Freight rates for the nine-tonne payload section for select destinations rose by Rs 500 at the local truck transport market in the national capital today on pick-up in cargo movements against tight availability of trucks.

Transporters said besides pick-up in cargo movements, tight availability of trucks, mainly kept freight rates for select destinations higher.

Delhi to Jaipur, Kanpur and Indore were up by Rs 500 each to Rs 18,000, Rs 21,500 and Rs 21,500 respectively.

2:16 pm RBL ups stake in MFI: Midsize private sector lender RBL
Bank has increased its stake in microlender Swadhaar Finserve to 60.48 percent for an undisclosed sum and now possess rights to up it to 100 percent.

The transaction comes amid similar ones by rivals Indusind Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IDFC Bank to acquire microlenders to deepen reach and help meet the mandated priority sector loans.

In September last year, RBL Bank had acquired 30 percent of Swadhaar, which now operates as the bank's business correspondent in 17 states and Union Territories through 242 branches.

2:04 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks were off day's low in afternoon due to recovery in index heavyweight Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 49.04 points at 33,630.20 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 23.20 points to 10,366.50.

About 1,452 shares advanced against 1,089 declining shares on the BSE.

1:59 pm Kotak on MFI: Kotak said recent data shows that microfinance institutions business has returned to normalcy.

PAR 30 (portfolio at risk with dues over 30 days) has reduced to 5 percent from a peak of 11 percent. We have seen solid growth in disbursements (18 percent QoQ) reflecting in acceleration in loan growth (11 percent QoQ), increase in clients (5 percent QoQ), employees (4 percent QoQ) and branches (4 percent QoQ).

Sizeable difference between average loans and disbursements remains a key concern, it feels.

Sharp recovery in stock price leaves limited room for comfort. Hence, Kotak downgraded Ujjivan Financial Services to REDUCE from ADD while Equitas remains its preferred idea.

1:53 pm Net neutrality: Telecom regulator Trai will issue recommendations on the thorny issue of Net neutrality tomorrow over which operators and those who provide apps have locked horns.

"We will issue recommendations on Net neutrality tomorrow," Trai Chairman RS Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of an open house discussion on in-flight connectivity (IFC) for providing phone call and data service.

The recommendations on IFC will be issued within 10 days, he said.

Supporters of Net neutrality back the principle that the entire Internet traffic should be available to everyone on equal terms without any discrimination based on business considerations of service providers.

1:41 pm Tie-Up: Ashok Leyland has entered mutual co-operation agreement with Hino Motors, Japan.

"We will utilise Hino's engine technology for Euro VI development and will support engine parts purchasing in India for global operations," the company said in its filing.

12:59 pm Earnings: PSP Projects' second quarter profit doubled to Rs 12.7 crore, from Rs 6.3 crore in year-ago, backed by operational and revenue growth.

Revenue from operations increased 80 percent to Rs 139.6 crore from Rs 77.6 crore while EBITDA jumped 65.8 percent to Rs 18.6 crore form Rs Vs `11.2 Cr (YoY)
EBITDA Margin At 13.4% Vs 14.5% (YoY)

12:45 pm Axis Bank in focus: Capital Square Partners has acquired Aegis BPO from Essar Group for USD 300 million.

The Essar Group will repay debt of various financial institutions including Axis Bank from BPO business sale.

12:40 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended losses in afternoon, with the Sensex falling 112.87 points to 33,566.37. Index heavyweights ITC, Infosys, Reliance Industries and banking & financials stocks were under pressure.

The 50-share NSE Nifty was down 37.50 points at 10,352.20 but the market breadth was positive. About 1,416 shares advanced against 1,037 declining shares on the BSE.

12:32 pm HDFC MF Listing: HDFC, India's largest financial conglomerate, is looking to get its mutual fund, HDFC Mutual listed on stock exchanges in a year's time as part of a broader plan to unlock shareholder value.

''(For listing of) HDFC Mutual we are discussing with our partner, Standard Life. Once we are ready with a decision, we will certainly communicate,'' Keki Mistry, HDFC vice chairman and CEO, told Moneycontrol in an exclusive interview.

''My sense is that in the next 12 months we should look at a listing for sure,'' Mistry said.

The proposed merger of the HDFC Ltd with HDFC Bank, however, has been put off because of regulatory hurdles. ''Without regulatory concession, a merger is very difficult,'' Mistry said. ''It is not something we are working on at the moment.''

12:25 pm MS on India: Morgan Stanley remains constructive on the macro outlook. "We expect a growth acceleration and a recovery in private capex in 2018, setting the stage for a sustained growth cycle," it said.

12:15 pm Order Win: Lighting firm Surya Roshni has bagged orders worth Rs 73 crore for supply of LED street lights and fans from Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL).
"The company has further obtained orders in this month for supply of LED street lights under SLNP (Street light National Program) and for supply of super efficient (BLDC) fan, aggregating to Rs 72.95 crore from Energy Efficiency Services Ltd," Surya Roshni said in a regulatory filing.

Earlier this month, the company informed BSE that it received orders through competitive e-bidding for LED street lights amounting to Rs 89.77 crore for supply of 2.89 lakh LED street lights across India from EESL.

12:05 pm FII View: Chetan Ahya, Co-Head of Global Economics & Chief Asia Economist, Morgan Stanley said the house is expecting the second quarter (Q2) GDP number which will be announced on Thursday to be around 6.5 percent, which will confirm a turn in the growth environment that will be reported in September quarter and that trend is expected to continue.

The moderation seen in the data points in October could be a temporary downtick, while the underlying fundamentals of the economy are good enough to bring recovery back again, said Ahya.

According to him, in FY19, all the drivers of growth would be in place – with pick up in consumption, exports to be held back at reasonable level, global growth to be stronger and missing link of capex will also pick up going forward from 7 percent of GDP right now to 8.5 percent by March FY20. ''So the private capex joining in will bring the strength in India growth numbers that we are forecasting for it to go to 7.5 percent in March FY19,'' he added.

When asked about their expectation from the Reserve Bank of India monetary policy next month, he said they expect them to maintain a neutral stance by highlighting upside risks building from higher oil.

11:25 am Drug Approval: Drug firm Zydus Cadila today said it has received final approval from the US health regulator to market topiramate extended release capsules, used for treatment of seizures and migraine.

The company has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market the drug in strengths of 25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg, Zydus Cadila said in a BSE filing.

The company said it will manufacture the drug at the group's manufacturing facility at Moraiya, Ahmedabad.

Zydus Cadila has more than 170 approvals and has so far filed over 310 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) since it commenced filings in 2003-04.

11:10 am Buzzing: Share price of Kridhan Infra rose more than 6 percent intraday as its subsidiary bagged contracts worth Rs 105.6 crore.

The company's subsidiary KH Foges Pte has recently been awarded 3 new piling contracts worth USD 22 million (Rs 1,056 million) in Singapore.

The contract period for these projects are between 2.5 months to 5 months.

The contract includes piling works for industrial development at woodlands north coast, piling work for proposed public housing development comprising 2 blocks of 18 storey residential building and sub-contract for secant bored piling works.

Kridhan Infra has evolved into a leading EPC company in Singapore through the acquisition of Swee Hong.

11:05 am Deutsche on GIC Re: Global brokerage house Deutsche Bank has initiated coverage with hold rating on General Insurance Corporation of India and set a target price at Rs 830 per share, saying it is a leading Indian reinsurer but the risk-reward is balanced.

"Positives are dominant 60 percent market share, improving financials and combined ratio at 100 percent while negatives are B2B model, tightening competition and investment income driving profits," the research house said.

It feels the competitive landscape is getting incrementally tighter as insurance regulator IRDAI allowed foreign reinsurers to open branches in India.

Deutsche Bank expects combined ratio to exhibit modest improvement hereon.

"We expect combined ratio of 99 percent and return on equity of 17-18 percent over FY18-20. We expect net written premium/net profit to grow at CAGR of 14/13 percent over FY18-20," the research house said.

10:50 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to trade mildly lower in morning, dragged by FMCG, oil marketing companies, technology and select banking & financials stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 70.53 points at 33,608.71 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 30.70 points to 10,359.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks, with the BSE Midcap index rising 0.2 percent and Smallcap up 0.4 percent on positive breadth. About 1,391 shares advanced against 847 declining shares on the BSE.

10:44 am Earnings leak: National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the two leading stock exchanges in the country, have written to at least 12 companies whose earnings were leaked on WhatsApp before their scheduled earnings announcement, according to a media report.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Ajay Tyagi on November 17 had said the regulator will investigate possible leaks of company earnings in social media chatrooms.

10:26 am Oil update: US oil prices dipped on Monday, easing from two-year highs on the prospect of increased US output, although global markets were slightly better supported by expectations an OPEC-led supply cut will be extended.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD 58.70 a barrel, down 0.42 percent, from their last settlement. Brent crude futures fell just 0.03 percent, to $63.84 a barrel.

US crude production has risen by 15 percent since mid-2016 to 9.66 million barrels per day (bpd), not far from top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia, and increasing drilling activity for new production means output is expected to grow further, traders said.

10:02 am CS upgrades Mindtree: Credit Suisse has upgraded IT firm Mindtree to outperform from neutral and increased its target price for the stock to Rs 600 (from Rs 460), citing earnings growth ahead.

The target price implies 17 percent upside from Friday's closing price. The stock price gained more than 3 percent in morning Monday.

The research house expects Mindtree to post industry leading revenue growth and margin expansion from low base.

"Revenue challenges are behind as top clients seem stable. Bluefin grew in Q2 and Magnet appears to have bottomed out," it said.

Its earnings had been impacted due to revenue loss from some top clients and challenges faced by Bluefin & Magnet.

Credit Suisse expects FY20 EBITDA margin at 15 percent against 11.6 percent in Q2FY18. Attractive earnings growth will be supported by 23 percent EBITDA CAGR for 2 years, it feels.

9:52 am Stake Buy: Quess Corp has signed definitive agreements to acquire 51 percent equity in Trimax Smart Infraprojects Private Limited on November 24, 2017.

Trimax is proposed to be operated as a joint venture between Quess Corp and Trimax IT Infrastructure and Services to implement smart city project in Ahmedabad.

Transaction is expected to be completed by December 15, 2017.

9:42 am  Management Interview: The upcoming IPO of Future Supply Chain Solutions, which is expected the garner over Rs 700 crore, is primarily to give an exit to private equity firm Griffin Partners, Future Group Chairman Kishore Biyani said.

Future Supply Chain Solutions (FSCSL), a subsidiary of Future Enterprises, has filed a draft red herring prospectus with Sebi for the public issue of up to about 97.84 lakh equity shares representing 24.43 percent of the existing paid-up equity share capital of FSCSL.

While private equity firm SSG Capital's entity Griffin Partners will sell about 78.27 lakh equity shares in FSCSL, representing up to 20 percent of the paid-up equity share capital, the promoter company Future Enterprises will offload 19.57 lakh shares, representing around 5 percent stake.

According to Biyani, FSCSL, the logistics arm of the group, is well capitalised and payment of debt or requirement of immediate funds is not the reason for the IPO.

9:32 am Order Win: L&T Construction, the subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro, has bagged orders worth Rs 3,572 crore under transportation infrastructure, metallurgical & material handling, power transmission & distribution, and buildings & factories segments.

9:27 am Inorganic Growth: Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma is looking at inorganic growth opportunities in Eastern Europe and other geographies for deeper market penetration and to secure newer technologies.

Apart from acquisitions, the company is also keen to expand its product portfolio in the US and Western European markets with high-value drugs.

The high-value products that are in the pipeline include oncology, hormones, depot injections, peptides, inhalers, patches and films, vaccines and biosimilars, the company said.

"Our acquisition strategy will be largely around two platforms. One is to penetrate markets deeper and the other to secure newer technologies and platforms. We always maintain that anything that can come across in Eastern Europe will be prioritised," Aurobindo Pharma's managing director N Govindarajan said in an earnings presentation.

9:20 am Buzzing: Shares of Cupid rose nearly 4 percent in early trade on order win from UNFPA.

The company has received a new order from United National Population Fund (UNFPA) to supply female condoms for the first time to Malawi, Africa worth Rs 1.36 crore.

The company had reported 11 percent increase in its Q2 net profit at Rs 5.95 crore against Rs 5.36 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks started off the week on a negative note on Monday, weighed by banks after the S&P retained its India's rating at BBB- and outlook stable. Weak Asian cues also weighed on sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 77.25 points at 33,601.99 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 35.30 points to 10,354.40.

ONGC, L&T, Bosh, Dr Reddy's Labs and Power Grid were early gainers while Sun Pharma, Vedanta, HPCL and Tata Motors were losers.

Nifty Midcap was down 0.4 percent.

Bharat Bijlee, Suzlon Energy, Autoline Industries, GPT Infra, Inox Wind and KEC International gained 1-5 percent.

Quess Corp, Edelweiss Financial, Reliance Communications, SBI, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, BHEL and Crompton Consumer were under pressure.

Asian indexes edged down despite the firmer lead from Wall Street last week. Chinese markets traded lower as investors kept an eye on developments in the bond market while South Korea's Kospi slid on weakness in tech names.