Sensex gains for third day, outlook cautious
3:42 p.m. Sensex ends 170 points higher at 20,634. Metal stocks gained on firm global prices, with JSPL rising 6.8 per cent. Among banks, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank rose over 4 per cent each.
Analysts are cautious after Indian markets gaining for the third day.
Gaurang Shah, assistant vice president of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, says he does not see major upside for Indian markets from current levels. Nifty is expected to see profit-taking close to 6200 levels and trade between 5980-6220, he adds.
Gaurang Shah says the excise duty cut will give some breather for auto manufacturers. His pick from auto sector: Tata Motors and TVS Motor
In the telecom space, Bharti and Idea remain Mr Shah's long-term picks and in the IT space HCl Tech, Tech Mahindra, and Persistent Systems.
3:30 p.m. Sensex rises for third day, ends 145 points higher at 20,609 (provisional). Analysts are cautious after Indian markets gaining for the third day.
Gaurang Shah, assistant vice president of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, says he does not see major upside for Indian markets from current levels. Nifty is expected to see profit-taking close to 6200 levels and trade between 5980-6220, he adds.
Gaurang Shah says the excise duty cut will give some breather for auto manufacturers. His pick from auto sector: Tata Motors and TVS Motor
In the telecom space, Bharti and Idea remain Mr Shah's long-term picks and in the IT space HCl Tech, Tech Mahindra, and Persistent Systems.
2.50 p.m. Gujarat Pipavav Port soars 9 per cent to 52-week high on Q3 beat. Revenues up 22 per cent YoY at Rs 145 crore were ahead of estimates. EBITDA margins, including other operating income, at 57.5 per cent were almost 700 basis points better than estimates. (Track stock)
2.35 p.m. ABB soars 14 per cent on strong quarterly earnings. Revenues rose 6 per cent YoY at Rs 2,204 crore ahead of estimates, while profits rose to Rs 58.6 crore. Sales came ahead of estimates on higher than expected revenue in power business. Overall EBITDA margin at 6.8 per cent beat estimates. (Track stock)
2:20 p.m. Markets are a tad lower than their day's high. The Sensex is up 186 points at 20,650 while Nifty rises 58 points to 6,131. ((Track markets)
Bank Nifty advances 2.2 per cent adding to Monday's 1.2 per cent rise. Metal stocks are up on value-buying as investors bet on higher global prices and a spurt in Chinese buying. Tata Steel is up 1.8 per cent, Hindalco Industries gains 1.9 per cent while Jindal Steel and Power surges 6.2 percent.
(Read: Metal stocks gain on firm global prices).
1.20 p.m. Gautam Chhaochharia, head of India research at UBS Securities, said the excise duty cut would be positive for the auto sector. BSE Auto index is up 0.8 per cent to 12,153, with Maruti up 1.8 per cent at Rs 1,696, Tata Motors rising 1.1 per cent to Rs 390 and M&M advancing 0.68 per cent at Rs 934.45. (Track auto stocks)
Mr Chhaochharia does not the interim budget to have much impact on markets. He says the IT stocks are likely to perform well and valuation-wise some IT stocks could get re-rated. The BSE IT index is marginally higher today, up 0.17 per cent. (Track IT stocks)
1:10 p.m. Markets near three-week high with BSE Sensex and the Nifty gaining nearly 1 per cent. BSE Nifty gains 2.5 per cent adding to Monday's 1.2 percent rise after the finance minister announced a fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of the GDP, its lowest since 2007/08, and a gross market borrowing of Rs 5.97 lakh crore, below market expectations. (Track banking stocks)
HDFC Bank up 1.9 per cent while ICICI Bank surges 3.14 per cent. Pharmaceutical shares gained on defensive buying. Ranbaxy Laboratories rose 1.6 per cent while Lupin gained 1.2 per cent.
12:50 p.m. Markets extend gains. Sensex up 200 points at 20,664 while Nifty rises 61.60 points to 6,134.90.
12: 10 p.m. Market update: Sensex, Nifty hold on to gains. Sensex up 165 points at 20,629 while Nifty rises 52 points to 6,125. Banking stocks power the rise in markets today with Bank Nifty up 2.4 per cent.
SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, PNB, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Axis Bank are up between 2.2 per cent and 3.3 per cent. (Track banking stocks)
Bharti Airtel trades 1 per cent lower at Rs 302. Earlier in the day, the telecom operator said it has reached an agreement to acquire Loop Mobile, a deal which will make Bharti the biggest operator by users in Mumbai. Analysts say though Bharti's debt will increase because of the Loop deal, the deal is positive for the company. ICICI Direct has a buy call on Bharti Airtel with a target of Rs 385. (Read: Airtel to buy Loop Mobile, to get 3 million users)
11:28 a.m. Market update: Sensex, Nifty extend gains with banking sector driving the rise. The Sensex is up 163 points at 20,627 while Nifty adds 50 points to 6,124 (Track markets).
Positive Asian markets also aided the sentiment. Japan led Asian stock markets higher Tuesday after the country's central bank announced new measures to support growth. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 2.8 per cent at 14,795.92 after the Bank of Japan said it was doubling the size of its fund to support bank lending and its fund to support economic growth. The funds, which were due to expire shortly, were extended for another year.
10:35 a.m. Market update: Nifty holds above 6100 and is trading 39 points higher at 6,112. Sensex up 129 points at 20,593.24. BSE banking index up 1.56 per cent with PNB, HDFC, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank up between 1 per cent and 2 per cent.
Dr Tirthankar Patnaik, director and strategist for institutional research at Religare Capital Markets, said he expects emerging markets to stabilise. Indian markets are likely to remain volatile over next one month and a half with forthcoming elections hold big cues, he adds.
Rupee slips to 62.11 despite higher equities. Traders say US markets were closed on Monday, so pent-up dollar demand will come up. (Read: Rupee slips but stays in tight range)
09.55 a.m. Market update: Sensex jumps 130 points, Nifty rises over 40 points to edge past 6,100. Banking stocks lead.
09.35 a.m. Saumil Trivedi says volumes are not supporting the advances, so there is no case for betting on a sustainable rise. 5,980 is the immediate support, while 6,110 is the major hurdle for markets. M&M is the best bet to play the excise duty cut in interim budget. (Track stock)
09.30 a.m. Sensex up 6 points at 20,470; Nifty rises 2 points at 6,075. Markets are choppy. Auto and banking stocks in the green. (Track markets)
09.25 a.m. Karan Mittal, ICICI Direct on Bharti Airtel - Loop deal
It's a good move and points towards consolidation in the telecom industry. Bharti Airtel shares might have reacted negatively on rising debt, but it's a good buy and will help the company take on Vodafone in the Mumbai market. (Track stock)
Bharti Airtel will not only get subscribers, but also Loop's tower and optic fibres assets. Also, Loop's subscriber quality has been good and 33 per cent of its subscribers are post- paid users. Loop's average revenue per user in Mumbai is higher than Airtel's in Mumbai, so it's a good buy.
ICICI Direct has a buy call on Bharti Airtel with a target of Rs 385.
Technical call on Bharti Airtel: Independent analyst Saumil Trivedi says 299 is a strong floor for Bharti Airtel, while 320 is a major hurdle. Investors can go long with targets of 350 - 360 with a stop loss at around 295.
09.15 a.m. Bharti Airtel to acquire Loop Mobile in a deal that will make it Mumbai's largest telecom operator. Bharti shares fall after positive start. (Read story)
09.10 a.m. Market analyst Sarvendra Srivastava on Nifty: 6,000 remains a strong psychological support and a break and close above 6,130 will be positive for markets.
Top picks
1) Tata Chemicals: Buy with a target of 290 and a stop loss of 264.2.
2) LIC Housing Finance: Buy with a target of 217 and a stop loss of 194.8.
3) Voltas: Buy with a target of 135 and a stop loss of 114.8.
09.00 a.m. Rupee opens lower at 62.01 to a dollar against Monday's close of 61.84.
08.40 a.m. Auto stocks will continue to be in focus after the 3-6 per cent cut in excise duty on Monday. The cuts are valid till June 30, 2014. Analysts believe that sharp recovery in demand is possible post the excise duty cut.
08.35 a.m. FIIs bought shares worth Rs 523 crore in the cash market, while DIIs sold shares worth Rs 245 crore. FIIs have been buying stocks for the last four sessions.
08.30 a.m. Nifty futures traded 0.2 per cent or 13 points lower at 6,085 indicating a flat to weak start for markets on Tuesday. Asian share markets held steady after notching up solid gains in recent sessions. However, the dollar index stood at 80.114 near its lowest level so far this year.
While easing concerns over emerging market economies have underpinned risk assets in the past week, some analysts cautioned that share markets may be getting ahead of themselves in assessing the economic outlook.
"There is a bit of a fault line between the currency market and the stock market at the moment. US shares are riding on optimistic views on the US economy but the currency market is viewing the US economic fundamentals less favourably," said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank.
A run of weak US data, including an unexpected fall in January manufacturing output on Friday and an underwhelming report on payrolls in the last two months, has put the dollar under pressure.
8.00 a.m. The Sensex rose on Monday, with auto stocks leading the gains after the finance minister proposed excise duty cuts to boost sales hurt by a slowing economy. The gains were modest as the interim budget by P. Chidambaram largely stuck to expected lines, delivering on its fiscal deficit commitments by containing expenditure. It lacked any major policy announcements and limited itself to tax sops for some industries.
The Sensex closed 0.48 percent higher at 20,464.06, while the broader Nifty closed up 0.41 percent at 6,073.30.
The rupee rose to a near one-month high on Monday, helped by some late dollar selling by foreign banks, even as the finance minister presented a largely in-line budget, sticking to his fiscal deficit target while doling out sops to some sectors.
