Closing Bell: Nifty manages to hold 10,400, Sensex ends higher for 5th day

The MoU envisages both the companies to build up a strategic partnership, Kawanishi said.

2:50 pm Europe Lower: Equities in Europe moved lower as investors began to focus on earnings at the start of a new reporting season.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.21 percent lower with most sectors trading in negative territory.

2:44 am Market Update: The market continued to consolidate after four-day rally, as investors await corporate earnings which will start later in the week and macro data due tomorrow.

The market digested higher crude oil prices that hit four-year high. Brent crude oil price is trading above USD 70 a barrel.

The 30-share BSE Sensex is up 52.97 points at 33,933.22 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 8.20 points at 10,410.50.

PSU Bank is the biggest loser among sectoral indices, falling 2 percent while IT and Metal indices continued to trade higher by 1 percent each.

Oil retailers are biggest losers among Nifty50 stocks, falling 7 percent.

2:30 pm Digital Transformation: Digital transformation in the country is expected to contribute about USD 154 billion to India's GDP by 2021, tech giant Microsoft today said.

The study by Microsoft and IDC, titled “Unlocking the economic impact of digital transformation in Asia Pacific", said there has been a dramatic acceleration in the pace of digital transformation across India and Asia-Pacific economies.

"In 2017, about 4 percent of India's GDP was derived from digital products and services created directly through the use of digital technologies like mobility, cloud, internet of things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI)," Microsoft India President Anant Maheshwari told reporters here.

He added that within the next four years, it is estimated that nearly 60 per cent of India's GDP will have a strong connection to the digital transformation trends.

2:16 pm Inflation Poll: Indian retail inflation was expected to have eased to a five-month low in March as increases in food prices slowed once again but remained above the central bank's medium-term target, a Reuters poll found.

That, coupled with the latest data which showed Asia's third-largest economy beat China to regain top spot as the fastest growing major economy. That should give policymakers some relief as they seek to keep inflation under control without hurting growth.

Annual consumer price inflation was expected to have softened to 4.20 percent in March from February's 4.44 percent, according to a poll of 35 economists taken April 4-10.

Forecasts ranged from 3.90 to 5.10 percent.

If the consensus matches the actual release, it would be the smallest annual increase in retail prices since October. It would also mark the third consecutive month of easing after hitting a 17-month high in December.

2:02 pm Rating Downgrade: Ratings agency ICRA has downgraded Fortis Healthcare and its subsidiaries Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, Fortis Hospitals and Hiranandani Healthcare, citing stretched liquidity position of the company which led to delay in servicing of a loan.

The long term rating of Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL) for Rs 250 crore non-convertible debenture programme, Rs 105 crore fund-based limits, and Rs 195 crore term loans has been revised to 'C' from BBB, ICRA said in a statement.

'C' rating reflects very high risk of default regarding timely servicing of financial obligations as against moderate degree of safety regarding timely servicing of financial obligations for 'BBB', as per ICRA.

1:51 pm Petronet aims to partner for Qatar project: India's Petronet LNG Ltd wants to partner with ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas arm of India's biggest explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd, to pick up a stake in an upcoming exploration and liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Qatar, a company official said.

The project would be Petronet's maiden venture into the natural gas exploration and production business and overseas LNG terminals.

"We will be signing a non-confidentiality agreement with QatarGas in the next one week or so, and then evaluate the project," Prabhat Singh, managing director and chief executive officer of Petronet told Reuters at the International Energy Forum on Wednesday.

1:40 pm Earnings: Sanwaria Agro Oils has reported profit at Rs 35.7 crore for the quarter ended March 2018, which was more than doubled compared to Rs 15.3 crore in year-ago.

Operating profit margin also doubled to 4.2 percent from 2.1 percent on year-on-year basis. The stock price rallied more than 4 percent.

1:25 pm Fortis in focus: Manipal Hospitals Enterprises Private Ltd raised its offer to buy rival Fortis Healthcare Ltd's hospital business by about a fifth in an attempt to win over minority shareholders opposed to the deal.

The new offer values Fortis' hospital business about 21 percent higher at Rs 6,061 crore (USD 933.3 million), or Rs 116 per share, Manipal Hospitals said in a statement late on Tuesday.

Manipal first offered to buy Fortis last month in a deal that would combine its 14 hospitals with Fortis's portfolio of 34 hospitals, creating a 150 billion rupees company and formidable rival to Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd.

But the previous bid, which offered shareholders 10.83 shares in the combined company for every 100 Fortis shares held, was panned by investors. It knocked Fortis stock down 14 percent on the day the deal was announced and prompted Chief Executive Bhavdeep Singh to make conciliatory comments about keeping minority shareholders' concerns in mind.

1:15 pm Bid for Air India: India's steel-to-autos conglomerate Tata Group, widely seen as a potential suitor for Air India, is unlikely to consider a bid for the state-run carrier as the government's terms are just too onerous, two sources familiar with the matter said.

India, keen to sell the loss-making, debt-ridden airline, finalised plans in late March to divest a 76 percent stake and offload about USD 5.1 billion of its debt.

But the government has stipulated the winning bidder cannot merge the airline with existing businesses as long as the government holds a stake. The winner may also be required to list Air India and would need to abide by conditions designed to safeguard employee interests, restricting its ability to cut staff.

Since the terms were disclosed, no company has come forward to say it is interested or to reaffirm previous interest, while Jet Airways and rival IndiGo, have already publicly opted out of the race, reports Reuters.

1:01 pm Iran Oil Minister on Crude Oil Prices: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said that USD 60 a barrel is a good price for oil currently as the market should avoid volatility.

"I believe in this situation around 60 (dollars per barrel) is a good price," said Zangeneh, who was attending the International Energy Forum.

"I think we should look at the market not for short-term, long-term, mid-term is important for us," he said. "It is very important for producers and consumers not to have volatility in the market."

When asked if global benchmark Brent oil trading at USD 70 a barrel were too high, Zangeneh answered, "Yes."

Zangeneh added that he hopes India and Iran can finalise the main issue on the development of the Farzad B natural gas field in the next two months, reports Reuters.

Here are the top headlines at 1 pm from Moneycontrol News' Sakshi Batra

12:50 pm Market Update: The market continued to consolidate after showing upside in previous four consecutive sessions, as investors look for corporate earnings, macro data and crude oil prices movement.

Vedanta is the biggest gainer among Nifty50 stocks, rising nearly 4 percent followed by Hindalco, Reliance Industries, Infosys, TCS, Sun Pharma that gained 1-2 percent.

Oil retailers HPCL, BPCL and IOC extended fall to 8 percent after crude oil prices crossed USD 70 a barrel

12:40 pm Vedanta's Expansion on Track: Vedanta Resources said its plans for capacity expansion at the Thootukudi copper smelting plant in Tamil Nadu were on track, a day after its application to renew operations was rejected by the state pollution regulator.

Vedanta said on Tuesday its application for renewal of consent to operate its copper smelting plant, one of India's biggest, was rejected by the state pollution control board.

People in Thootukudi have been protesting against the proposed expansion of the smelter, thronging the streets and shutting shops to press their demand for closure of the plant.

Vedanta says the protests are based on "false allegations" and the company has been providing "regular information through various media on the truth". The company plans to double capacity at the smelter to 800,000 tonnes per year.

12:30 pm Stake Buy: Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, will buy 50 percent stake in the mega USD 44-billion oil refinery in Maharashtra.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed on sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF) conference here.

Saudi Oil Minister, Khalid A. Al-Falih, said India is a priority destination for Saudi investment and Aramco will continue to scout for opportunities beyond the west coast refinery.

Saudi Arabia will supply half of the 60 million tonne capacity, he said.

State-owned IOC, BPCL and HPCL will hold the remaining 50 percent stake in the project.

12:20 pm Economic Growth: India's economic growth will rise to 7.3 percent this fiscal and further to 7.6 percent in the next financial year, retaining the fastest-growing Asian economy tag, on back of GST and banking reforms.

In its Asian Development Outlook (ADO), 2018, Manila-based ADB said, "risks to trade are high" and retaliatory actions could dent growth in the Asian region going forward.

Indian economy grew 6.6 percent in the last fiscal as it battled the lingering effects of demonetisation in 2016, businesses adjusting to goods and services tax (GST) in 2017, and a subdued agriculture. The country's economic growth was 7.1 percent in 2016-17.

With 7.3 percent growth projected for this fiscal, India would be reversing the two-year declining trend.

12:10 pm Buzzing: Mahanagar Gas scrip price fell 3 percent after big block deals in opening which were worth more than Rs 800 crore.

More than 90.5 lakh shares traded on the National Stock Exchange at an average price of Rs 911.10 per share through block deals in opening.

11:58 am Acquisition: Narendra Investments (Delhi) informed exchange the completion of acquisition of 51 percent stake in Fudkor India (FUDKOR) and 100 percent stake in Vegico Foods (VEGICO). With this acquisition, both the companies have become 51 percent and 100 percent subsidiaries of Narendra Investments (Delhi), respectively.

11:48 am Market Update: The market is mildly lower amid mixed Asian cues, as investors look for corporate earnings that will start later in the week, macro data due tomorrow and crude oil prices that hit four-year high.

PSU Bank is the biggest loser among sectoral indices, falling 2 percent while IT and Metal indices gain 1 percent each

11:38 am Deutsche Bank bets big on property developers: Property developers are among the worst-performing industry group in India’s equity market this year, but Deutsche Bank said it is time to bet on the big players.

There are early signs of recovery in the commercial and residential segments as the after-effects of policy measures that hurt demand are fading, Bijay Kumar, an analyst at Deutsche Equities India Pvt, wrote in an April 9 note. It advises buying Godrej Properties and Oberoi Realty, while recommending investors hold DLF.

11:25 am MF houses keeping a close eye on banks: Fund managers at domestic mutual funds are closely watching the developments at ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, as the two major private sector lenders grapple with leadership issues.

As on December 31, 2017, domestic mutual funds owned 22.62 percent in ICICI Bank and 9.5 percent in Axis Bank.

Fund managers who spoke to Moneycontrol on conditions of anonymity said there was no cause for panic at the moment. They, however, would wait for clarity before investing further in both stocks.

11:05 am Market Outlook: The expectations run high as India Inc. starts declaring numbers for the quarter ended March 31, and if earnings fails to surprise on the upside, the valuations of Indian markets will look expensive, suggest experts.

“We expect decent earnings this quarter and for Sensex, we see a 10 percent earnings growth for the quarter ended March 31. However, there should be high-teens earnings growth, else valuations will be expensive,” Sanjeev Prasad of Kotak Institutional Equities told Moneycontrol.

Commenting on the macros, Prasad said that India has a lot of macro variables that are to be tracked closely such as higher oil prices which could impact bond yields.

10:49 am Order Win: Generic Engineering Construction & Projects Limited said it has been awarded orders worth Rs 101.53 crore from many reputed clients.

10:38 am Market Update: Benchmark indices were off their day's lows after cool off in crude oil prices from four-year high.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 41.72 points at 33,838.53 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 25.80 points to 10,376.50.

About three shares declined for every two shares rising on the BSE.

Technology, metals and oil exploration companies' share prices supported the market whereas oil retailers and banks were under pressure.

10:20 am Order Win: Va Tech Wabag, a leading pure play water technology Indian multinational company has been awarded an order for Rs 147 crore
by Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, under the Namami Gange scheme (National Mission for Clean Ganga — NMCG) towards design, build and operate 60 MLD sewage treatment plant at Patna.

The project will be jointly financed by World Bank and NMCG.

WABAG has won a repeat order for Rs 83 crore towards design, build and operation of 124 MLD water treatment plant (WTP) at Rajpur-Sonarpur in Kolkata from Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.

The plant will be designed using space saving plate settler technology with rapid gravity filters. The project has been awarded under the AMRUT scheme and includes operation and maintenance of 12 months.

10:10 am Buzzing: Himachal Futuristic Communications share price rallied 5 percent after the telecom equipment maker has received advance purchase order worth Rs 579 crore from state-run firm BSNL for building 2G network in Assam.

"... the company has received an advance purchase order worth Rs 579 crore approximately from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited ..for survey, planning, supply, intsallation, testing, commissioning..maintenance for five years of 2G GSM BSS network," Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd said in a BSE filing.

The company will deploy the network through mircowave radio and VSAT backhaul in uncovered villages of Karbi Anglong and Dima Haso dsitricts of Assam. "The network will include 924 BTS (base station) sites and cater to 1,313 villages," the filing said.

9:59 am Crude Oil Update: Oil prices eased away from 2014 highs reached the previous session as escalating Middle East tensions were offset by increasing inventories and production in the United States.

Brent crude futures rose to USD 70.75 per barrel, down 0.41 percent, from their last close. Brent surged more than 3 percent on Tuesday to hit its highest level since late 2014, at USD 71.34 a barrel.

US WTI crude futures were at USD 65.35 a barrel, down 0.24 percent from their last settlement.

9:50 am Market Update: The market extended its losses after rising crude oil prices pushed 10-year bond yield higher and rupee lower in morning.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 106.53 points to 33,773.72 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 30.40 points to 10,371.90.

The rupee depreciated 15 paise to 65.15 against the US dollar ahead of the release of US Fed meeting minutes scheduled later in the day.

The 10-year bond yield rose 10 basis points to 7.48 percent after Brent crude crossed USD 70 a barrel.

HPCL, BPCL and IOC lost up to 3 percent while ONGC gained 2 percent after higher crude oil prices.

9:40 am Rupee Trade: The rupee depreciated 15 paise to 65.15 against the US dollar ahead of the release of US Fed meeting minutes scheduled later in the day.

However, weakness in the US dollar against select currencies overseas and a higher opening in domestic equities capped the losses.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities worth Rs 684.99 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Yesterday, The rupee had ended higher by 3 paise at 64.99 against the American currency amid easing US-China trade war fears.

9:30 am USFDA Nod: Sun Pharma, one of the country's largest drug makers, has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for Paliperidone tablets, which will be available in 1.5-9 mg strength.

Paliperidone is indicated for the treatment of Schizophrenia, amongst others.

9:27 am Listing of Indian Equity Derivative Products: The Singapore Exchange on Wednesday said it would list Indian equity derivative products in June, nearly two months after India's three main bourses announced they would stop licensing their indexes to overseas exchanges.

The announcement comes after the Singapore bourse said it would launch successor products to its flagship Indian equity index derivatives before the bourse's license agreement with the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) expires in August 2018.

In Wednesday's statement, the Singapore exchange said it is continuing to evaluate a joint trading and clearing model in Gujarat International Finance Tech city between the NSE and SGX, reports Reuters.

9:21 am Market Update: Benchmark indices erased all opening gains to trade mildly lower amid mixed Asian cues, as higher crude oil prices and bond yields hit investors sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 20.68 points at 33,859.57 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 9.20 points to 10,393.10.

About 617 shares advanced against 563 declining shares on the BSE.

9:18 am State Buy: Tata Steel entered into definitive agreements to subscribe to additional equity shares in Subarnarekha Port Private Limited (SPPL) to acquire an aggregate of approximately 7 percent share capital of SPPL.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended gains in opening on Wednesday, following positive lead from Wall Street.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 90.78 points to 33,971.03 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 21.10 points at 10,423.40.

ICICI Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank were early losers while ONGC, Hindalco, Nalco, Tata Steel, Infosys, L&T, Dr Reddy's Labs and Titan Company gained.

Mahanagar Gas lost nearly 4 percent after big block deals in opening.

Aban Offshore, Fortis Healthcare, Jaypee Infratech, AU Small Finance, Indiabulls Real, Phoenix Mills, Federal Mogul, Voltas, Blue Star, Amber, Jaiprakash Associates, Oil India and Nalco gained up to 4 percent.

Jet Airways and Andhra Bank are under pressure.

9:14 am Market Outlook: Shitij Gandhi of SMC Global Securities said on technical charts, 10,400-10,450 should act as crucial resistance for the index and moving forward the range of 10,300-10,500 levels will remain crucial as indicated by option open interest concentration.

Post expiry, we have seen some short covering in Index futures & stock futures but on the whole overall data still remains negative.

Though, if Nifty manages to move above the 10,500 mark, then we can further see short covering towards 10,650 levels as well. On the downside, 10,250-10,200 should act as key support levels.

9:10 am Pre-Opening settlement: Benchmark indices settled higher in pre-opening trade, with the Sensex rising 90.10 points to 33,970.35 and the Nifty gaining 25.90 points at 10,428.20.

9:03 am Rupee Opens: The Indian rupee has opened at 64.99 against the US dollar, which was flat compared to previous closing.

9:02 am Bond Yield: The 7.17% 2028 10-year bond yield opened at 7.42 percent, higher by 4 basis points against previous close of 7.38 percent, following the crude oil prices crossed USD 70 a barrel levels.

9:00 am Market Check: Benchmark indices opened higher despite mixed Asian cues, with the Sensex rising 112.27 points to 33,992.52 and the Nifty climbing 41.80 points to 10,444.10.

US stocks climbed on Tuesday with Dow rising above 400 points as investor concerns about rising trade tensions between the United States and China eased after Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to cut import tariffs, Reuters reported.

Asian stocks were firm on Wednesday as investors lapped up the positive mood in markets after China’s President Xi Jinping helped ease fears over a US-China trade row, while the euro hovered near two-week highs, Reuters reported.

Also Watch - Markets@Moneycontrol: Nifty likely to open higher; 3 stocks which can give up to 12% return

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent. Australian stocks added 0.1 percent and Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.15 percent.