Sensex surges over 400 pts, Nifty eyes 7150; ITC gains 6%

Moneycontrol Bureau9:50 am Business: The government's decision to exempt real estate investment trusts (REITs) from dividend distribution tax (DDT) has eliminated the one major stumbling block that was standing in the way for the securities, says DLF CFO Ashok Tyagi.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Tyagi said REITs should now take off in a big way and said he expects some listings to happen in the next few months.

REITs allow commercial real estate developers to turn their rent-yielding assets into securities that investors can buy into. REITs, which are listed on exchanges, thus help in securitization, better asset utilization and management of balance sheets.

9:45 am Market outlook: The Budget 2016 was not damaging and kept the course is the word coming in from Ridham Desai, Head-India Equity Research & India Equity Strategist, Morgan Stanley.With the world currently being in a challenging spot, the Budget chose not to take risks and retained its focus on fiscal prudence because fiscal expansion could have hurt India in case things turn for the worst in the world, says Desai.According to him the market volatility on the Budget day is not a new development, in fact yesterday it was less volatile. The selling in the market yesterday was more due to global factors and not because of Budget believes Desai, adding that there is selling happening all across the world especially with US economy still mixed and Europe on the brink of deflation.9:40 am Interview: The 1 percent increase in excise duty on jewellery articles proposed under the Union Budget on Monday comes as negative for the company and the sector, says Bhaskar Bhat, MD of Titan.
Speaking to CNBC-TV18, he said that this will widen the gap between the unorganized industry as the latter does not have to bear this additional duty.

He said that the company has been burdened by the imposition of duties and withdrawal of the gold harvest scheme in the past and now it will bear these regulations as well.

9:35 am FII View on Budget: Mahesh Nandurkar of CLSA says during the FY17 Budget, the Government chose fiscal discipline over capex growth, adding it is pragmatic that the focus is on rural infra creation and not overt populism.
According to him, despite unexpected cutback in allocation to roads, overall projected road capex still looks good, as it would be funded by incremental borrowing at the NHAI. This understates true fiscal deficit, he feels.

Top picks remain unchanged: HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Power Grid and Zee Entertainment, Nandurkar says.9:33 am Market check: The Sensex is up 415.64 points or 1.8 percent at 23417.64 and the Nifty is up 125.65 points or 1.8 percent at 7112.70. About 1035 shares have advanced, 259 shares declined, and 44 shares are unchanged. Also read - Jaitley unveils fire-fighting Budget to placate voters, sustain growth 9:15 am The market rebounded sharply after the market priced in Union Budget 2016 in previous session. The Sensex rose 247.60 points or 1.08 percent to 23249.60 and the Nifty climbed 69.85 points or 1 percent to 7056.90, led by ITC.

ITC rallied 6.46 percent post factoring in excise duty hike on cigarettes. ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys, SBI and PNB gained 1-3 percent while ONGC and Bharti Airtel fell more than 1 percent.The Indian rupee gained 17 paise in the early trade today. It has opened at 68.26 per dollar versus 68.43 Monday.Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "The fiscally prudent Budget and expectations of further monetary easing by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) helped both currency and bond markets.""The USD-INR pair will trade in the 67.50-68.50/dollar range in the near-term, with some appreciating bias," he added.The yen rose broadly as investors sought its safety following a statement from the group of 20 countries that offered no concrete action to address concerns about slow growth and low inflation.Globally, US markets closed lower while in Asia, Chinese shares rose after the PBOC eased monetary policy.Crude oil rose above USD 36 per barrel after Saudi Arabia pledged to work with other crude producers to limit market volatility.