3:30 pm Market close
The market ended higher with some last minute
buying. The Nifty closed above 8700-level. The 50-share index was up 84.15
points or 0.9 percent at 8711.55. The Sensex ended up 271.13 points or 0.9
percent at 28805.10
3:20 pm Big deal?
Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering Co
denied it was in talks to sell a stake to Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, after a
media report said it was close to clinching a deal.
A media report said techonology-to-automative
conglomerate Mahindra would purchase a stake in Pipavav for about Rs 3000 crore
(USD 481.15 million), in a phased transaction that would eventually see it own
a majority share.
"There are no negotiations/agreements which
the company has entered into which requires disclosure under clause 36 of the
listing agreement," Pipavav said in a regulatory statement.
03:10 pm Market check
The market is clenching back its gains. The Nifty
is above 8700-level. The 50-share index is up 87.35 points or 1 percent at
8714.75. The Sensex is up 241.93 points or 0.8 percent at 28775.90. About 1582
shares have advanced, 1190 shares declined, and 233 shares are unchanged.
Dr Reddy's Labs, BHEL, Cipla, GAIL and Maruti are
up 2-5 percent each while HUL, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, Coal India and SBI
are losers.
02:40pm Interview
Escorts posted
a 21.5 percent decline in its third quarter net profit to Rs 35.7 crore
impacted by lower revenue and operating income in tractor business. Total
income fell 9.8 percent to Rs 1,046.4 crore during October-December quarter
from Rs 1,159.6 crore in the year-ago period due to 16.6 percent drop in
tractor sales volumes.
Discussing the earnings, Bharat Madan, Group
Financial Controller at Escorts, said some cost-cutting exercises in the
company have been bearing fruit. He feels a normal monsoon prediction this year
will be positive for the industry. However, he does not see major jump in
tractor sales in the near-term.
Escorts is bullish on construction. The company
is hopeful that a revival in the infrastructure sector will actually push
demand. “We are expecting the topline to grow on the construction side
definitely,” Madan said.
02:20pm FII View
Dismissing the recent market correction as a “bit
of a reality check”, Richard Gibbs of Macquarie said the India economy had
several positives going for it and added that foreign investors were now
looking for strong leadership in the Union Budget that takes later this month.
In an interview Sumaira Abidi, Gibbs said he was
not worried by the recent defeat of the BJP and said the central government
still had a lot of political capital left with which to push its reforms
agenda.
02:00pm Market Check
The market picked up pace in the last half hour
as the Nifty climbed over 8650 level again led by gains in select pharma and
auto stocks. The broader markets continued to outperform with the BSE Midcap
and Smallcap indices rising 0.9 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
The Sensex rose 151.14 points to 28685.11 and the
Nifty advanced 49.75 points to 8677.15. About 1537 shares have advanced, 1197
shares declined, and 244 shares are unchanged on the BSE.
Geoffrey Dennis of UBS is betting on India and
China in 2015. As UBS moves to a more defensive position in Europe due to
Grexit fears, he says the most secure EPS forecasts over 2015 are likely to be
in India and China.
Global markets traded mixed. Investors remain
cautious as concerns over Greece linger after euro zone finance ministers
failed to reach a deal with Greece yesterday.
The rupee continued to trade above 62 a dollar
and is headed for a fourth consecutive fall against the dollar. Bond yields
remained largely unchanged ahead of the January CPI and December IIP data later
today.
Dr Reddy's Labs and Cipla topped the buying list,
up over 3 percent followed by Maruti Suzuki with 2.5 percent gains. Hindalco
Industries climbed 2 percent after the company maintained its operating
performance in Q3. Operating profit jumped 46.7 percent to Rs 923 crore and
margin expanded 200 basis points to 10.7 percent in Q3 on yearly basis.
HDFC Bank, L&T, Axis Bank, Hero Motocorp,
NTPC, GAIL, BHEL and Tata Power gained more than percent. However, ITC, State
Bank of India, HUL, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Coal India and Tata Steel were
down 0.4-1.4 percent.