Donald Trump the `presumptive` White House nominee as Cruz crashes out

Donald Trump looked all-but-certain of carrying the Republican Party colors in the 2016 presidential election after the billionaire political novice sent his only serious challenger Ted Cruz crashing out of the race.

Addressing jubilant supporters at Trump Tower in New York after romping to his seventh straight state-wide victory in the Indiana primary, the real estate mogul promised them: "We`re going to win in November, and we`re going to win big, and it`s going to be America first."

Tuesday`s contest in the midwestern state was seen as a final firewall by the "stop Trump" movement seeking to prevent him from locking in the party nomination.

But as the race was called overwhelmingly in Trump`s favor, Cruz conceded to supporters in Indianapolis that he no longer had a viable path forwards.

"We left it all on the field in Indiana," Cruz said. "We gave it everything we`ve got, but the voters chose another path."

"And so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign."

It was a stunning denouement for the arch-conservative Texas senator who had insisted he would press on to the final day of the Republican race.

His departure leaves the low-polling Ohio Governor John Kasich as Trump`s only challenger for the nomination -- making it a virtual certainty that he will go head to head in a general election matchup with the likely Democratic flagbearer Hillary Clinton.

The top echelon of the Republican establishment said as much minutes after Cruz capitulated, with Republican Party chief Reince Priebus declaring Trump the "presumptive" nominee.

"Donald Trump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton," Priebus said, in an extraordinary move to embrace a candidate the party establishment fought tooth and nail to stop.

Clinton meanwhile suffered an upset in Indiana as her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders mounted a come-from-behind victory, denying the former secretary of state a feather in her cap as she seeks their party`s presidential nomination.

Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, beat Clinton by 53.2 percent to 46.8 percent with about three quarters of precincts reporting -- although Clinton remained well ahead in the overall delegate battle for the nomination.Cruz had been hoping to use the midwestern state to block Trump from receiving the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination ahead of the Republican convention in Cleveland in July.

But the bombastic real estate mogul -- who has thus far defied all political logic to lead the Republican race -- swept the arch-conservative senator aside.

Trump was leading Cruz by about 53 percent to 37 percent, with Kasich languished at less than eight percent.

"Lyin` Ted Cruz consistently said that he will, and must, win Indiana. If he doesn`t he should drop out of the race-stop wasting time & money," Trump taunted in a tweet.

With 1,002 delegates to his name, Trump was already in favorable position to reach the magic number needed to avoid a contested party convention. With Cruz out of the race, crossing the threshold is a foregone conclusion for Trump.

Even before the Indiana results, Trump and Clinton had pivoted toward one another.

"I`m really focused on moving into the general election," Clinton said confidently Tuesday in West Virginia.

"That`s where we have to be because we are going to have a tough campaign against a candidate who`ll literally say or do anything," she said of Trump. "We`re going to take him on at every turn."

Cruz`s exit comes after the primary battle took a nasty turn Tuesday when Trump cited a tabloid report linking Cruz`s father Rafael to John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

Trump raised the recent National Enquirer story in his interview with Fox News.

"This is just kooky," an irate Cruz shot back while stumping in Evansville, Indiana, branding Trump a "pathological liar."

"The man is utterly amoral," said Cruz, adding that "we are staring at the abyss" if Trump wins the White House. Source: http://zeenews.india.com

Will shoot policemen if they continue to harass BJP workers, warns BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj

BJP's loudmouth MP from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj, who has courted several controversies in past, has now threatened to shoot cops if they continue to harass his supporters and party workers.

According to Aaj Tak, Sakshi Maharaj has said that if UP policemen continued to threaten his party workers in Mainpuri they will be gunned down.

The controversial BJP MP issued the statement a day after visiting the house of Maidan Singh, BJP vice president of the Mainpuri district, who is being allegedly harassed by the local policemen.

Addressing his supporters, Sakshi Maharaj accused the Samajawadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav of failing to control the rising lawlessness in Uttar Pradesh and encouraging anti-social elements.

The Unnao MP said the local policemen have misbehaved with Maidan Singh's two daughters and entered his house without lady constables. Sorce:http://zeenews.india.com

Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justic KM Joseph, who quashed President's rule, transferred

The Uttarakhand High Court 's Chief Justice KM Joseph , who presided over the bench which quashed President's rule in the state, has been transferred to the Anhdra Pradesh High Court.

Dilip B Bhosale, the acting Chief Justice of the Hyderabad High Court, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

The 57-year-old Joseph took charge of the Uttarakhand High Court in 2014. He passed out of the Government Law College in Ernakulam and enrolled himself as an advocate in Delhi in 1982. He practised in Kerala as well.

Last month, a bench of Uttarakhand High Court, presided over by Joseph, had quashed the Centre's decision to impose President's rule in the state.

Uttarakhand crisis: SC grants Centre time till May 6 to clear stand on holding floor test


Uttarakhand crisis: SC grants Centre time till May 6 to clear stand on holding floor test

In his judgement, which admonished the NDA government, Justice Joseph has said that the Centre should act 'impartial'.

However, the ruling was stayed by the Supreme Court. Source: http://zeenews.india.com

Sensex & Nifty sluggish, Brent rises; Bharti falls 2%

1:55 pm Result: Pharmaceutical firm Wockhardt's third consolidated net profit increased 14 percent year-on-year to Rs 347 crore led by strong operational income and other income.

Consolidated total income rose 11.8 percent to Rs 1,382 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 1,236.4 crore in the year-ago period.

Operating profit (EBITDA) surged 92.4 percent on yearly basis to Rs 463 crore and operating profit margin spiked a whopping 1400 basis points to 33.5 percent in the quarter ended December 2014.

Other income jumped 4.5 times year-on-year to Rs 28.5 crore while finance cost declined to Rs 12 crore from Rs 30.5 crore during the same period.

1:45 pm Growth: India needs to grow at 7-8 percent a year to create more job opportunities for young people and double the size of the economy in 10 years, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said.

"We want to put India on sustainable non-inflationary growth trajectory of 7-8 percent growth. We need to have 7-8 percent growth to provide employment to young people that join workforce every year," Sinha said at 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit today.

"7-8 percent growth will double size of economy in the next 10 years. For this we need to build our productive capacity, but also need to ensure that our growth is sustainable," he added. The minister also stressed upon need to protect the environment.

1:30 pm Result: Canara Bank's third quarter net profit climbed 60.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 656 crore boosted by higher other income and lower provisions.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew 6.9 percent to Rs 2,380.5 crore during October-December quarter compared to Rs 2,227 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

Provisions for bad loans declined 20 percent year-on-year (up 3.4 percent sequentially) to Rs 841.3 crore during the quarter with the provision coverage ratio at 59.44 percent at the end of December 2014.

Asset quality weakened a bit during the quarter as gross non-performing assets (NPA) increased 56 basis points Y-o-Y (up 43 bps Q-o-Q to 3.35 percent and net NPA rose 3 bps year-on-year (up 11 bps sequentially) to 2.42 percent.

Don't miss: Crompton Greaves slips 6%; Why are analysts still bullish?

The market is still flat with the Nifty managing to hold above 8750 marginally. The 50-share index is up 5.20 points at 8761.75. The Sensex is up 25.39 points at 29025.53, and the Nifty About 1323 shares have advanced, 1319 shares declined, and 242 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite is up 4 percent while ONGC gain 4 percent, Hindalco, Coal India and Tata Steel are other gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Axis Bank, BHEL, TCS, Bharti and Tata Motors.

Crude oil futures prices rose 0.96 percent to Rs 3,257 per barrel today as speculators engaged in enlarging positions, tracking a firming trend in Asian cues. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in February traded Rs 31, or 0.96 percent, higher at Rs 3,257 per barrel, with a business turnover of 19,103 lots. The oil for March also moved up by Rs 30, or 0.90 per cent, to Rs 3.334 per barrel, with a business volume of 1,040 lots.

Analysts attributed the rise in crude oil futures to a firming trend in Asia, extending gains from the previous day due to a significant decline in US drilling activity. Crude also gained strength with the dollar dropping to a one week low after some weak US factory orders data in December.

Sensex, Nifty consolidate; Sun Pharma, Ranbaxy, Jet rally

10:30am Manufacturing PMI

Despite falling from December’s two-year record of 54.5 to 52.9, the headline HSBC India Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) remained consistent with a solid improvement in business conditions in January.

PMI is a seasonally adjusted indicator designed to give an accurate overview of manufacturing operating conditions.

Moreover, the latest expansion was the fifteenth in as many months. Sector data highlighted consumer goods as the best performing of the three market groups for the third month in a row, says HSBC in its report.

"Manufacturing activity continued to signal improvement in January, though the rate of growth slipped to a three-month low. The slip can partly be attributed to consolidation after two months of impressive upticks," said Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC.

"New orders, both from domestic and international sources, also continued to grow, though at a slower pace than in December. New orders were strongest in the consumer goods sector. On the inflation front, growth in input and output prices moderated further due to cheaper commodity prices," he added.

"Sluggish growth and falling inflation further reinforces our view that the RBI should deliver upfront rate cuts. We expect the repo rate to be lowered by 75bp in the first half of 2015," said Pranjul.

10:00am Market Check

The market remained under pressure amid consolidation following weakness in Asian equities post China data. The Sensex fell 73.99 points to 29108.96 and the Nifty declined 16.30 points at 8792.60.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 0.6 percent each. About 1230 shares have advanced, 708 shares declined, and 195 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma gained more than 2 percent and Ranbaxy jumped over 3.5 percent to hit record highs. The US Federal Trade Commission approved the pharma major’s plan to buy Ranbaxy on the condition that it divests one antibiotic product to avoid anti-competitive impact in the US market. Torrent Pharma will acquire Ranbaxy's minocycline business in the US.

Jet Airways and SpiceJet rallied more than 4 percent as aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is slashed by a steep 11.3 percent which now costs lesser than diesel. The price of ATF, or jet fuel, in Delhi was cut by Rs 5,909.9 per kilolitre, or 11.27 per cent, to Rs 46,513.02 per kl, oil companies announced. 

Sensex, Nifty continue to drag over 1%; NTPC, BHEL gainers

1:50 pm Market outlook: A combination of low inflation, declining interest rates and strong corporate earnings growth will support the ongoing rally, feels Jeff Chowdhry, Senior Portfolio Manager, LGM.

In an interview Chowdhry says India’s macro economic fundamentals have improved significantly over the last year.

He says he is not worried about the market levels and basis his investment decisions on whether the outlook on fundamentals is positive and what are the other alternatives?

Art this point, very few emerging market stories are as good as that of India, Chowdhry says. He is bullish on private sector banks and select consumer names, and sees the rupee strengthening as the outlook on corporate earnings improves.

1:30 pm Result: Bank of Baroda disappointed street on Friday by reporting a 68 percent (Y-o-Y) decline in profit at Rs 334 crore for quarter ended December 2014. Higher provisions and tax rate impacted the bottomline. Profit of the public sector lender was expected at Rs 1,243.6 crore and net interest income at Rs 3,501 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts. Net interest income grew 7.5 percent to Rs 3,286 crore in the quarter ended December 2014 from Rs 3,057.1 crore in same quarter last fiscal. Net interest income is the difference between interest earned and interest expended.

Don't miss: Coal India slips 4% as OFS opens; brokerages bet on it

The market continues to be under sharp selling pressure. The Sensex is down 413.87 points or 1.4 percent at 29267.90, and the Nifty slips 118.35 points or 1.3 percent at 8834.

About 1139 shares have advanced, 1501 shares declined, and 251 shares are unchanged.

NTPC is up 2 percent while BHEL, Tata Power, Wipro and Hero are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are SBI, HDFC, Coal India, Dr Reddy's Labs and TCS.

Overseas investors have remained the backbone of the rally, with net purchases of USD 2.1 billion so far this month till Thursday, provisional exchange and regulatory data showed.

Gold prices rose by Rs 73 to Rs 27,482 per 10 gram in futures trade as speculators engaged in enlarging positions amid a better trend overseas. Analysts said the rise in gold prices at futures trade was mostly in line with a firming trend overseas where the precious metals advanced from a two-week low on easing of selling pressure. Meanwhile, gold rose as much as 0.4 per cent to USD 1,262.07 an ounce in Singapore. 

New high: Nifty ends Jan expiry at 8952, Sensex up 123 pts

03:30 pm Market close

The market ended at record closing high on expiry of January F&O series. The Nifty ended at 8952, up 38.05 points while the Sensex was up 122.59 points at 29681.77. Top gainers in January series were DLF (up 26.6 percent), Tata Motors (up 24 percent) and Axis Bank (up 21 percent). Nifty gained 9.5 percent while Bank Nifty surged 10.7 percent in the series.

In today's trading session, Dr Reddy's Labs, HDFC Bank, BHEL, Reliance and ITC were top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were HDFC, SBI, M&M, Coal India and Maruti Suzuki.

03:10 Rights issue

Tata Motors intends to utilise Rs 7,500 crore, which it plans to raise via a rights issue, to fund various activities, including introduction of more than 100 new commercial vehicles over the next three years and passenger vehicles on a new modular platform from FY 2016-17.

The company, which is seeking shareholders’ approval through postal ballot for raising funds up to Rs 7,500 crore through a rights issue of ordinary shares, also intends to use the funds to expand in international markets.

“The rights issue proceeds are expected to be utilised to finance a portion of the ongoing capital expenditure, including product development expenses; invest in subsidiaries to support future growth opportunities in India and abroad,” Tata Motors said in a filing to the BSE.

2:55 pm Royalty restrictions?

The Finance Ministry has turned down a DIPP proposal seeking re-introduction of restrictions on royalty payments for preventing excessive outflow of foreign exchange, saying it would send a negative signal to overseas investors.

The ministry, according to sources, is of the view that imposing restrictions on royalty payments will be "retrograde step" and not in sync with the liberalised FDI policy environment. Worried over excessive outflow of foreign exchange as royalty and fees for technology transfer, and use of brand names, the Department of Industrial policy and Promotion (DIPP) had mooted a proposed to re-introduce restrictions on such payments by foreign companies to their parent entities.

02:40 pm Results

Commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland turned profitable in the quarter ended December 2014. Net profit for the quarter stood at Rs 32.1 crore against loss of Rs 167.2 crore in the year-ago period. Higher other income and lower finance cost supported the profitability but tax cost restricted profit growth.

Topline and operational performance beat street estimates while the bottomline slightly missed expectations. Profit was expected at Rs 35.8 crore on revenue of Rs 3,195 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimate of analysts.

Revenue shot up 72.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,361 crore, driven by strong sales volume growth.

Total volumes during the quarter grew 38 percent on yearly basis to 25,397 units led by medium and heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV) sales. MHCV volumes saw a solid 70 percent growth while light commercial vehicle sales declined 8 percent Y-o-Y.

02:30pm Adani Enterprises in focus

Adani Enterprises plans to announce a mega restructuring plan tomorrow reports’s Varinder Bansal quoting sources.

The restructuring is mainly to remove the holding structure and then focus on the core business of the left entity, which would be mining, trading, agri, logistics etc.

The current market cap of Adani Enterprises is Rs 65,000 crore because it owns 74.99 percent in Adani Ports and 68.99 percent in Adani Power.

Post the restructuring process, the company is also looking at raising funds.

Post restructuring, analysts do not expect a huge upside for the stock from current levels but it will undoubtedly be a clean structure.

02:00pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets continued to consolidate on expiry day for the January derivative contracts. Weak global cues and expiry factors kept markets subdued.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 101.55 points to 29457.63 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 31.95 points to 8882.35. About 1290 shares have advanced, 1475 shares declined, and 260 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Manish Gunwani of ICICI Prudential AMC expects a correction or minor consolidation in the near term. However, the market looks good with a 2-3 years perspective, he say.

Global markets are weak today. Asian markets like Shanghai closed with losses of more than 1 percent while European equities like FTSE traded down more than 0.5 percent as oil declined and Greece weighed. NYMEX crude traded at USD 44 a barrel, the lowest level since March 2009.

Telecom stocks like Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular are under pressure after the Cabinet approved 3G auction reserve price at Rs 3,705 crore which is 36 percent higher than the TRAI recommendation and 10.6 percent higher than the previous 3G auction held in 2010.

In key earnings reactions today, Asian Paints disappointed after Q3 profit rose 12 percent, lower than expectations of 30 percent growth. The stock fell 3 percent. HDFC dropped over 2 percent after the housing finance company reported 11.5 percent growth in profit, in line with estimates. However, Dr Reddy's Labs reported a 7 percent fall in profit in Q3, which is higher compared to expectations of 14 percent decline. In midcaps, VIP Industries and OBC tanked 7 percent after weak numbers.