Sensex, Nifty maintain morning gains; Ajanta Pharma most active

Moneycontrol Bureau12:44 pm Earnings: HDFC Bank said its profit in third quarter grew by 15 percent to Rs 3,865.3 crore compared with Rs 3,356.84 crore in year-ago period.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, increased 17.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 8,309 crore in the quarter gone by.

Provisions for bad loans jumped 9.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 715.8 crore but declined 4.4 percent compared with previous quarter.

Asset quality was more or less stable in the quarter gone by. Gross non-performing assets as a percentage of gross advances increased to 1.05 percent (from 1.02 percent QoQ) and net NPA climbed to 0.32 percent (from 0.3 percent QoQ).12:32 pm Acquisition: IT firm Cyient, formerly known as Infotech Enterprises, today said its subsidiary has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 percent equity in the US-based Certon Software Inc. in an all-cash deal.

"Cyient Inc., USA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 per cent equity in Certon Software Inc., Melbourne, Florida, USA, in an all cash transaction," Cyient Ltd said in a BSE filing.

It also said: "This transaction will further strengthen the automation in its key vertical Aerospace and Defence in line with strategy for growth."12:20 pm Earnings estimates: HDFC Bank, the country's second largest private sector lender, is expected to report slowest earnings growth in October-December quarter.

Profit is likely to grow 12.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,770.7 crore and net interest income is seen rising 16.1 percent to Rs 8,203.8 crore in the quarter ended December 2016, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.Loan growth may take a hit due to FCNR (foreign currency non-repatriable) redemption & higher SME repayments while low cost deposit flow may remain strong due to demonetisation.Also read - Budget 2017: Jaitley may set FY18 disinvestment target at about Rs 60,000 cr12:00 pm Market Check:

Benchmark indices retained morning gains with the Nifty holding 8400 level ahead of expiry of January derivative contracts tomorrow and Union Budget that will be presented on February 1.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 128.68 points at 27246.02 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 45.30 points to 8436.80. The broader markets also gained half a percent on positive breadth.

About 1411 shares advanced against 925 declining shares on the exchange.

Ajanta Pharma was the most active share on the National Stock Exchange, down more than 4 percent after the company got an import alert from USFDA for selling an unapproved drug in the US from its Aurangabad facility. In this case, Ajanta was found marketing its erectile dysfunction drug Kamarga in United States without proper approvals. Kamarga uses an active ingredient Sildenafil Citrate (a.k.a Viagra).

HCL Technologies was also in active stock list, down over a percent after reporting in line earnings and maintaining FY17 revenue guidance.

ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and Tata Communications were other most active shares.