Sensex closes flat, Nifty holds 5900; Q2 earnings eyed

The market witnessed consolidation on Friday with the equity benchmarks closing on a flat note after a 385-point rally seen in previous session.

The Sensex failed to close above the 20000-mark after a lot of struggle at that level. The index rose just 13.88 points to 19915.95 while the Nifty declined 2.40 points to 5907.30, but the broader markets marginally outperformed benchmarks. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. Overall the Sensex has been in a range of 18000-20000 for the current year, which may continue in the short term, feel experts ''From a near-term perspective, we are keeping the range bound kind of view on the market, but we are quite optimistic on the long-term, because economy seems to be in the bottoming out process,'' says Swati Kulkarni, Vice President and Fund Manager, UTI Mutual Fund. Now all eyes are on September quarter earnings season, which will begin next week with Infosys announcing results on Friday, October 11. Coal India was the biggest gainer in the Sensex today, rising 2.5 percent. The BK Chaturvedi panel is planning to allow private companies with allocated coal blocks to sell surplus coal to other industry players or to Coal India in a swap arrangement.

The final recommendations are expected by the October end. Hindalco shares rallied 2 percent followed by Tata Motors with 1.4 percent gains. Deutsche Bank raised its target price on Tata Motors by 45 percent from Rs 275 to Rs 400. The brokerage house has a buy rating on the stock, citing strong sales of Tata Motors' UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in China and US.Among others, Reliance Industries, ITC, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, TCS and M&M were gainers among largecaps whereas losers were Infosys, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddys Labs (down 2.5 percent), L&T, HDFC, ONGC and State Bank of India. Jet Airways shares saw profit booking in last couple of hours of trade today after rising as much as 7 percent intraday due to CCEA's green signal for Etihad deal. Shares of Sobha Developer surged 9 percent as the real estate developer sold 1 million square feet of new spaces that are valued at Rs 632 crore in July-September quarter.

Average price realisation is at Rs 6304 per square feet. Shyam Telecom shares were locked at 20 percent upper circuit after Sistema Shyam Teleservices, which provides telecom services under the MTS brand, has received unified telecom licence that is valid for 20 years. Shyam Telecom is a part of Shyam Group.

Shyam Group has 24 percent shareholding in Sistema Shyam Teleservices while Sistema JSFC holds 56.68 percent stake and Russian Federation 17.14 percent stake, as per shareholding data available on MTS website.

4:00 pm Market closing: The market ended on a quite note after voltile session. The Sensex closed up 13.88 points at 19915.95. The Nifty managed to end above 5700, down 2.40 points at 5907.30. About 1209 shares have advanced, 1128 shares declined, and 134 shares are unchanged. Finance ministry may encourage PSU banks to raise additional capital via qualified institutional placements. The ministry has also advanced Rs 14,000 crore capital infusion in PSU banks from the fourth quarter to the third quarter. The BK Chaturvedi panel is planning to allow private companies with allocated coal blocks to sell surplus coal to other industry players or to Coal India in a swap arrangement. The final recommendations are expected by the October end. Coal India ended 2.5 percent higher on the BSE.

3:45 pm Update: With an aim to make Indian capital markets an easier and attractive investment destination for overseas investors, Sebi has finalised detailed regulations for 'foreign portfolio investors' (FPIs). The new norms provide an operational framework for FPIs, a new class of overseas investors that club all existing class of investors like Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs). According to proposed norms, which would be deliberated by Sebi Board here tomorrow here, FPIs in the lowest risk category would not have to pay any registration fees, sources said.

3:30 pm Buzzer: Shares of Shyam Telecom were locked at 20 percent upper circuit on Friday after Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), which provides telecom services under MTS brand in India, received unified telecom licence valid for 20 years. Telecom equipment manufacturer Shyam Telecom is a part of Shyam Group. Shyam Group has 24 percent shareholding in Sistema Shyam Teleservices while Sistema JSFC holds 56.68 percent stake and Russian Federation 17.14 percent stake, as per shareholding data available on MTS website. Russian conglomerate, Sistema controlled SSTL, today said it has received a unified licence from the Government, which allows the liberal use of telecom technologies for providing the latest services.

The market is absolutely flat just before closing for the weekend. The Sensex is up 1.30 points at 19903.37, and the Nifty down 10.10 points at 5899.60. About 1098 shares have advanced, 1114 shares declined, and 150 shares are unchanged. Coal India, Hindalco, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and M&M are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Dr Reddy's Labs, L&T, NTPC and ICICI Bank. Shares of Sobha Developer surged 12 percent as the real estate developer sold 1 million square feet of new spaces that are valued at Rs 632 crore.

Average price realisation is at Rs 6304 per square feet. TVS Motor, Arvind, Prestige Estate and Jubilant Life surged 6-10 percent whereas Era Infra Engineering, Den Networks, Infotech Enterprises, Dewan Housing and Coromandel International lost 3-5 percent. In the smallcap space, Tribhovandas and Cinemax India are locked at 20 percent upper circuit. BEML and Ganesh Housing jumped 11-16 percent.

However, Piramal Glass, Setco Auto, Plethico Pharma and Hanung Toys slipped 5 percent.

Shyam Telecom shares are locked at 20 percent upper circuit after Sistema Shyam Teleservices, which provides telecom services under the MTS brand, has received unified telecom licence that is valid for 20 years.

Shyam Telecom is a part of Shyam Group. Shyam Group has 24 percent shareholding in Sistema Shyam Teleservices while Sistema JSFC holds 56.68 percent stake and Russian Federation 17.14 percent stake, as per shareholding data available on MTS website.

The market erased its gains again amid choppy trade as the downtrend extended in ICICI Bank, Infosys, L&T and HDFC. The Sensex is up 21.41 points at 19923.48 while the Nifty is down 1.80 points at 5907.90. Tata Motors trimmed gains from 5 percent to 1.8 percent on profit booking. HDFC Bank and TCS too came off their intraday highs.

Finance ministry may encourage qualified institutional placements for PSU banks to raise additional capital, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources. It is learnt that additional capital will enable banks to lend at cheaper rates. Rs 14,000 crore capital infusion in banks is likely by mid October, say sources.

Shares of Sobha Developer surged 12 percent as the real estate developer sold 1 million square feet of new spaces that are valued at Rs 632 crore. Average price realisation is at Rs 6304 per square feet. TVS Motor, Arvind, Prestige Estate and Jubilant Life surged 6-10  percent whereas Era Infra Engineering, Den Networks, Infotech Enterprises, Dewan Housing and Coromandel International lost 3-5 percent. In the smallcap space, Tribhovandas and Cinemax India are locked at 20 percent upper circuit.

BEML and Ganesh Housing jumped 11-16 percent. However, Piramal Glass, Setco Auto, Plethico Pharma and Hanung Toys slipped 5 percent.

02:19pm The market remained in a positive terrain with the Sensex rising more than 100 points in afternoon trade Friday, led by index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC. The Sensex is up 102.07 points at 20004.14, and the Nifty is up 26.70 points at 5936.40. Metals stocks continued their run up for the second consecutive session today with the BSE Metal Index gaining 1.5 percent. Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries rallied 2-3 percent.

Tata Motors remained in bull grip with 3 percent gains after Deutsche Bank raised its target price on the stock by 45 percent from Rs 275 to Rs 400. The brokerage house has a buy rating on the stock, citing, strong sales of Tata Motors' UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in China and US. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC gained 1.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
 Among others, TCS, HDFC Bank, M&M, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma rose 1-1.5 percent whereas Infosys, ONGC, HDFC, ICICI Bank and L&T are marginally under pressure. Dr Reddys Labs lost more than 1.5 percent.

2:00 Top gear stock: Active buying in shares of Hero MotoCorp took the stock up 1.5 percent intraday on Friday. The stock is excited as the two-wheeler manufacturer hiked prices of its products ranging from Rs 500- Rs 1,500 across models. "We have decided to raise the prices of our products. This is on account of the rising input costs due to the depreciating rupee and also the rising power and logistics costs," a company spokesperson said.

Bajaj Auto is also likely to increase prices in the range of Rs 500 to Rs 1500. 1:50 pm Currency talk: Commenting on the rupee getting support from dollar selling, Agam Gupta, Standard Chartered Bank says, some foreign institutional investors (FIIs) may have removed hedges kept when while they were bearish on the rupee. He believes corporates too are selling dollars on seeing buying interest from importers.Exporters are sitting are on the sidelines, he added. He further adds, "If INR goes to 60/USD, there could be a little bit of stop loss export hedging at those levels." 1:40 pm Management speaks: The CARE rating downgrade is based on financials of March 2013, a time since when lot of things have changed in the company, says Firdose Vandrevala, Executive, vice chairman, Essar Steel. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Vandrevala says the company has a strong turnaround plan in place and those aspects may have not been factored into the rating downgrade. "We have taken up with the rating agency for a reassessment, for an outlook change," adds Vandrevala. CARE recently downgraded Essar Steel from BBB- to D, which is a very steep downgrade.

1:30 pm Buzzer: Manappuram Finance is rallying on media report that US-based private equity firm TPG is in talks with the promoter and other large shareholders of India's largest gold loan company for buying a minority stake. The stock gained 5 percent in intraday trade.

"TPG has made an offer for a minority stake, but with governance rights and board seat," a media report said quoting unnamed sources. Promoter VP Nandakumar along with Sushama Nandakumar hold 31.55 percent stake in the company while fund houses like Baring India Pvt Equity Fund III Listed Investments, Morgan Stanley Asia, Wellington Trust Company National Association etc have 39.53 percent stake in the company as of June 2013.

The market seems to be taking a breather post a blockbuster rally seen yesterday. The Sensex is up 80.28 points at 19982.35, and the Nifty up 20.70 points at 5930.40. About 1025 shares have advanced, 994 shares declined, and 128 shares are unchanged. Tata Motors , Hindalco , M&M, Bharti Airtel and Coal India are top gainers in the Sensex. Laggards of the day include Dr Reddy's Labs, Jindal Steel , GAIL , Tata Power and Infosys .

Meanwhile, gold is set for its biggest weekly drop in three weeks but declines have been kept in check by a partial US government shutdown that threatens to hurt economic growth, increasing bullion's safe-haven appeal, reports Reuters. On the macro front, HSBC Services PMI for September slumped to a 4.5 year low of 44.6 versus 47.6 in August. The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, slipped from 47.6 in August to 44.6 in September, its weakest since April 2009.

The market stayed positive amid choppy trade in afternoon. The Sensex is up 81.68 points at 19983.75, and the Nifty is up 20.05 points at 5929.75. Tata Motors, Hindalco Industries, Lupin, BPCL and Ultratech

Cement rallied 2-2.5 percent whereas Jindal Steel, Dr Reddys Labs, GAIL, Tata Power, JP Associates and Axis Bank lost 1-1.5 percent.

Gold is set for its biggest weekly drop in three weeks but declines have been kept in check by a partial US government shutdown that threatens to hurt economic growth, increasing bullion's safe-haven appeal. The metal's 1.2 percent loss for the week so far is largely due to a single massive Comex sell order on Tuesday that sent the price below USD 1,300 an ounce, but it quickly recovered as the budget impasse in Washington dragged on, reported Reuters.

Gold is set for its biggest weekly drop in three weeks but declines have been kept in check by a partial US government shutdown that threatens to hurt economic growth, increasing bullion's safe-haven appeal. The metal's 1.2 percent loss for the week so far is largely due to a single massive Comex sell order on Tuesday that sent the price below USD 1,300 an ounce, but it quickly recovered as the budget impasse in Washington dragged on, reported Reuters.

Jet Airways gained 2.4 percent as the Etihad deal got CCEA's green signal. The CCEA approved Etihad's move to pick up 24 percent stake in the India carrier. Post the deal, the Goyal family will hold 51 percent stake in Jet, Etihad will hold 24 percent and the rest 25 percent will be public shareholding. Hero Motocorp shares rose 0.5 percent. Media reports suggest that the company has hiked prices by Rs 500-1,500 on account of high input costs. Manappuram General Finance shares rallied 2 percent on reports that US-based private equity firm TPG is in talks with promoters of the company for buying a minority stake. TPG may also be looking for governance rights and a board seat on the company.

Escorts' total tractor sales increased 32.7 percent year-on-year (up 65 percent sequentially) to 6465 units in September. Sameer Tandon, Chief of Sales at Escorts Agri Machinery says that 30 percent plus growth may not be sustainable going ahead. He sees combination of good monsoon and festive season demand. The stock gained 1.5 percent. 12:05pm It is a choppy session for the market on Friday after a rally of 385 points in previous session. The Nifty is in tight range around 5900 level from early trade. Auto stocks extended rally whereas financials are under pressure due to profit booking. The Sensex is up 26.24 points at 19928.31, and the Nifty is up 4.50 points at 5914.20. In the month of October, Sanju Verma, MD and CEO, Violet Arch Capital Advisors believes technicals are worth that the market will break the September high on the Nifty. In September, the Nifty touched a high of 6142. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC recouped morning losses, gaining 0.6 percent each. Tata Motors is the top gainer in the Sensex, rising more than 4 percent on top of a 3 percent rally in previous session. Deutsche Bank raised its target price on the stock by 45 percent from Rs 275 to Rs 400. The brokerage house has a buy rating on the stock, citing strong sales of Tata Motors' UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in China and US. Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated by 35 paise to 61.38 against the US dollar. The currency has clawed back 10 percent in the last couple of weeks. Verma says that the worst is behind us with respect to the current account deficit (CAD). For the September quarter that will come in at barely USD 5.5-6 billion which is excellent given there has been so much hype around that, she adds.

12:00 pm Update: Largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp hiked prices of its products by up to Rs 1,500 across models to offset the impact of rising input costs and rupee depreciation. "We have decided to raise the prices of our products. This is on account of the rising input costs due to the depreciating Rupee and also the rising power and logistics costs," a company spokesperson said, reports PTI. The stock is up around half a percent in the Sensex. 11:45 am Market outlook: Edelweiss Securities expects the second quarter earnings season to be a mixed bag. Co-head IE and head of research Nischal Maheshwari believes that sectors which have benefitted from rupee's fall like information technology (IT) and pharmaceutical are likely to see an earnings upgrade. On the other hand, auto and industrials may see a downgrade in the earnings,

he tells CNBC-TV18 in an interview. Maheshwari advises investors to accumulate export-oriented stocks in their portfolio. He is bullish on Infosys , HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra in the IT space. In FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), he is positive on Emami and Dabur . He also suggests staying away from cement, realty and energy stocks. 11:30 am Buzzer: Investors continued buying Tata Motors shares on Friday after Deutsche Bank raised its target price on the stock by 45 percent from Rs 275 to Rs 400. The stock rallied 5.77 percent in early trade to touch a record high of Rs 364.70, continuing its upmove from previous day's gains of 2.77 percent. The brokerage house has a buy rating on the stock, citing strong sales of Tata Motors' UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in China and US.

The market is going volatile as the HSBC Services PMI for September slumped to a 4.5 year low of 44.6 versus 47.6 in August. The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, slipped from 47.6 in August to 44.6 in September, its weakest since April 2009, reports Reuters. The Sensex is down 26.94 points or 0.14 percent at 19875.13, and the Nifty down 11.95 points or 0.20 percent at 5897.75. About 870 shares have advanced, 812 shares declined, and 97 shares are unchanged. Besides Tata Motors, TCS, BHarti Airtel, Cipla and M&M are top gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite, GAIL, Jindal Steel and ICICI Bank. Asian markets are trading lower with the Nikkei falling below 14,000-mark for the first time in nearly a month on growing political uncertainty in the US. The dollar index continues to trade sub-80 at an 8-month low. Commodities saw Brent slip marginally by 0.3 percent. The rupee recouped early losses, and trades higher on dollar sales by foreign banks. In the bond market, sentiment is positive on expectation of strong demand at the gilt auction and ahead of the RBI's up to Rs 10,000 cr open market operations (OMO) on Monday.

Country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank lost 1 percent each while its rival HDFC Bank gained 0.6 percent. Housing finance major HDFC and engineering & construction company L&T lost 1 percent each. Oil & gas explorers Reliance Industries and ONGC slipped around 0.5 percent. However, Tata Motors remained on buyers' radar with 4 percent gains followed by TCS and Bharti Airtel with 1.5 percent gains. All auto stocks are in bull grip with the Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, M&M and Hero Motocorp rising 0.5-0.9 percent.

10:50am India HSBC Services PMI lowest since April 2009 India HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) declined to 44.6 in September from 47.6 in previous month and India HSBC Composite PMI slipped to 46.1 from 47.6 during the same period.

The Sensex erased its 100 points gains on the back of profit booking in financials, metals, capital goods and oil & gas stocks. FMCG remained under pressure as ITC and HUL lost 0.5-0.8 percent. The Sensex is down 43.65 points at 19858.42, and the Nifty is down 10.55 points at 5899.15.

Investors continued buying Tata Motors shares on Friday after Deutsche Bank raised its target price on the stock by 45 percent from Rs 275 to Rs 400. The stock rallied 5.77 percent in early trade to touch a record high of Rs 364.70, continuing its upmove from previous day's gains of 2.77 percent. The brokerage house has a buy rating on the stock, citing, strong sales of Tata Motors' UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in China and US. Shares of Jet Airways continued to rally, taking the stock up 7 percent in early trade Friday on final nod from the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) for the deal with Etihad Airways. As per the norms, Jet promoter Naresh Goyal would eventually have a 51 percent stake in the company, Etihad 24 percent and the public remaining 25 percent.

10:22am The market gathered momentum with gaining marginal strength in morning trade after flat opening, supported majorly by Tata Pack. The Sensex rose 72.92 points to 19974.99, and the Nifty is up 22.05 points at 5931.75. The broader markets too gained with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.6 percent each. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by 903 to 377 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Abhay Laijawala of Deutsche Equities reiterated its December 2013 Sensex target of 21,000.  "Postponement of Fed's QE taper helped the rupee to consolidate gains. Rupee was among the best performing key emerging market currency. With the currency appreciating strongly and stabilising in a tight band investor sentiment should likely improve," Laijawala explained. Meanwhile, the rupee too extended its appreciation, gaining 40 paise to 61.33 against the US dollar.

10:00 am Update: The National Spot Exchange Ltd's (NSEL's) e-series settlement contracts were scheduled for settlement yesterday. However, two investors by way of petition in the Bombay High Court sought to stall this entire process alleging that the exchange was siding with e-series contract holders and the FMC clarified on these concerns. The Bombay High Court (BHC) took onboard both the clarifications put forth by the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) and the concerns of the investors participating in these e-series contracts and consequently, had given a partial nod for this redemption exercise. 9:45 am FII views: Abhay

Laijawala of Deutsche Equities, says the postponement of Fed's QE taper helped the rupee to consolidate gains. Rupee was among the best performing key emerging market currency. With the currency appreciating strongly and stabilising in a tight band investor sentiment should likely improve. We reiterate December 2013 Sensex target of 21,000. Chris Wood of CLSA: Investors are trying not to freak out after the US shutdown. If the US economy is really normalising, US bank stocks should be leading the rally. Treasury bond market should be selling off for reasons that have nothing to do with tapering. We are removing our investment in IDFC in the Asia ex-Japan long-only portfolio. 9:40 am Macro concerns: The finance minister may have to slice at least Rs 200 billion from government spending to prevent a budget blow-out, which could threaten to send the country's credit rating into "junk" status , two ministry officials said, reports Reuters. P Chidambaram will make a final decision on whether to go ahead with the cuts at the end of October, when he gets an update on revenue collections, the officials, who have direct knowledge of the process, said. If he goes ahead with cuts, the minister would likely focus on areas of discretionary spending but keep programmes, such as food subsidies, in place as state and national elections near, these officials said. 9:30 am Buzzer: Investors gave thumbs up to Jet Airways' shares with the stock rallying more than 7 percent after the country's second largest air carrier received final clearance for Jet-Etihad deal from cabinet committe on economic affairs. The Union Cabinet cleared Jet Airways' proposed sale of 24 percent equity to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, days after the Rs 2,058 crore deal got regulatory clearances. The deal has already been cleared by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), with the minister saying that approval to the deal was delayed as it had to go through all regulatory processes, including twice to FIPB.

The market opened on a muted note after a blockbuster rally seen yesterday. The Sensex rose 4.81 points to 19,906.88 and the Nifty lost 4.4 points to 5,905.30. The Indian rupee fell by 12 paise in early trade Friday to 61.85 per dollar as against previous day's closing of 61.73 per dollar. Jayesh Mehta of Bank of America Merrill Lynch expects the current stabilisation in rupee to continue. For the time being, trajectory for the rupee is to appreciate further, he adds. According to him, RBI shoring up the reserves via oil marketing companies could further provide upside and key support level at 61.50/USD is difficult to breach. "The range for the day is seen between 61.75-62.25/USD." US markets finished broadly lower with the Dow closing below the psychologically-important 15000 mark. Trading was jittery as speculation circulated that the US could now face a worst case scenario, where Congress fails to address the debt ceiling and the country defaults. Japan's equity market led the downfall in Asia on the final trading day of the week, after a sell-off was seen on Wall Street on the fourth day of the governmnet shutdown. Nikkei hit a new one-month low as Australia and Seoul closed lower. Chinese markets were shut. European markets closed mixed The euro trades above 1.362 against the dollar, within striking distance of its 2013 peak of 1.37. Pushing higher for a second session as the dollar remains pinned at 8-month lows. In commodities, crude prices are flat too as concerns about the economic impact of the US Government shutdown offset constructive Chinese data and dollar weakness. From precious metals space, gold prices tick higher in early Asia trade on the prevalent risk-off sentiment. Trading was above USD 1315 per ounce.