Sensex, Nifty, Midcap rally ahead of marco data; Glenmark up 3%

Moneycontrol Bureau12:59 pm Market Update: The Sensex was up 280.69 points or 1.01 percent at 28140.29 and the Nifty up 73.55 points or 0.86 percent at 8665.70. About 1280 shares advanced against 1142 declining shares on the BSE.12:45 pm Earnings: State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender by asset size, said profit in Q1 fell 31.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,520.96 crore. Overall earnings met analysts' expectations and the major positive was that the bank managed to lower its slippages significantly on sequential basis.

Profit was supported by other income & operating profit and lower tax cost but remained impacted by higher provisions.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 4.2 percent to Rs 14,312.31 crore on yearly basis.

Asset quality more or less looked stable, though it weakened a bit on sequential basis. Gross NPA increased to 6.94 percent from 6.5 percent and net NPA to 4.05 percent from 3.8 percent.12:25 Marcro data poll: Retail inflation, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), for July is expected to harden for the fourth straight month to 6.03 percent from 5.77 percent in June largely led by food inflation, while industrial output, measured by index of industrial production (IIP) for June is expected at 2.0 percent versus 1.2 percent in May, as per a poll conducted by CNBC-TV18.

12:15 pm Earnings: Mumbai-based healthcare company Glenmark Pharma started off financial year 2016-17 on a strong note with earnings beating analysts' expectations on Friday. Consolidated profit surged 24 percent year-on-year to Rs 226.8 crore on strong revenue and other income but slow operational performance limited growth.

Consolidated revenue in Q1 grew by 18 percent to Rs 1,943 crore on yearly basis, led by good growth across all operating regions except Latin America and out-licensing income.

"The US business continues to perform well and the recent approvals for the business will ensure the growth momentum will continue. Europe business performed well due to strong growth witnessed by the UK subsidiary," Glenn Saldanha, chairman & MD said.

Also read - Sun Pharma Q1 net seen at Rs 1894 cr, US sales likely at $598 mn12:00 pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets continued to rally in noon trade ahead of major macro data & quarterly earnings (SBI and Sun Pharma) and supported by Asian peers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 232.45 points at 28092.05 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 61.10 points at 8653.25. The BSE Midcap rose 0.8 percent.

Asian markets traded mostly higher, with traders shrugging off a deluge of economic data from China that missed expectations, focusing instead on record finishes in the US markets and a rebound in oil prices.

Oil prices extended gains from the previous session on expectations that exporters could talk at an upcoming meeting about ways to prop up a market that continues to be dogged by a supply overhang. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at USD 46.18 per barrel, up 0.3 percent. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD 43.71 a barrel, up 0.51 percent.