Nifty eyes 8150, Sensex firm; Sun Pharma soars 4%, ITC down

Moneycontrol Bureau10:59 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained strong as the Sensex surged 192.53 points or 0.73 percent to 26559.21 and the Nifty jumped 64.80 points or 0.80 percent to 8134.45.About 1346 shares advanced against 697 declining shares on BSE.10:40 am Oil Update: Oil prices dipped in Asia today, pulling back further from the psychological USD 50 level as traders took profit and expectations of tighter global supply receded.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery was down 37 cents at USD 49.11 a barrel while Brent North Sea crude, the European standard, was 39 cents lower at USD 49.20.

Oil prices had topped USD 50 a barrel for the first time this year yesterday following production disruptions in Canada and Nigeria as well as a drop in US crude inventories.

The USD 50 level is an important point because it's the price that makes economic sense for suppliers to start pumping again, CMC Markets trader Alex Wijaya told AFP.10:20 am Earnings estimates: Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is likely to disappoint analysts with its fourth quarter earnings as pressure on asset quality may continue for the bank given the high rate of slippages. Earnings will be announced on May 27.

Overall slippages can be in the range of Rs 20,000-25,000 crore for the quarter, including likely slippages through asset quality review of Rs 15,000 crore, against Rs 20,692 crore in Q3FY16 and Rs 4,769 crore in Q4FY15.

Standalone net profit is expected to fall 48.8 percent to Rs 1,916 crore and net interest income is seen declining 5.4 percent to Rs 13,915.1 crore compared to year-ago period, according to CNBC-TV18's consensus estimates.

Analysts expect loan growth to remain around industry levels and treasury income to support other income.Also read - Green shoots visible but banks to remain under pressure: Centrum10:00 am Market Check

Equity benchmarks continued to see buying interest on first day of June series. The Nifty is inching towards 8150 level, up 55.65 points or 0.69 percent at 8125.30.

The Sensex rose 168.30 points or 0.64 percent to 26534.98, led by pharma, banks and technology stocks. The broader markets also participated in rally with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.7 percent each. The market breadth remained strong as about two shares advanced for every share declining on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Sun Pharma surged 4 percent after Taro earnings. Its subsidiary's profit declined 24.5 percent but operational performance was strong due to a 16.4 percent fall in R&D cost. Operating margin expanded by 400 basis points at 69 percent YoY.

Lupin gained nearly 3 percent after sources told CNBC-TV18 that Mandideep unit has received establishment inspection report from US FDA. It is the 2nd largest revenue contributor to US business after Goa unit.

ITC, Tata Motors, L&T and NTPC were marginally down on profit booking.