Closing bell: Sensex, Nifty end mixed after consolidation; ONGC, Tata Motors rally

3:28 pm Earnings: Rural Electrification Corporation's Q2 gross NPA declined to 2.54 percent from 2.60 percent and net NPA fell to 1.66 percent from 1.73 percent on sequential basis.

Net interest margin dropped to 4.25 percent from 4.84 percent (YoY) and 4.39 percent (QoQ).

3:16 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices were off day's high in afternoon trade, with the Sensex rising 59.70 points to 33,745.26.

The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 3.50 points at 10,456.

About 1,394 shares advanced against 1,307 declining shares on the BSE.

3:15 pm Order Win: Sadbhav Engineering informed exchanges that the company has been declared the successful bidder (L1) in respect of the bids invited by Western Coal Fields, CIL, Maharashtra for the project/works worth Rs 674.20 crore.

3:05 pm Pledged shares: The value of shares pledged by promoters of BSE-listed companies reached Rs 2.8 lakh crore at the end of October, an increase of 9 percent from the preceding month.

The value of pledged shares stood at Rs 2.57 lakh crore at the end of September, according to the BSE data.

Till October this year, pledging of shares was seen in as many as 3,055 of total 5,138 BSE-listed companies. As on September 30, promoters had pledged shares in 3,060 firms.

Share pledging is typically done by promoters to raise funds either for the same company or for financing other projects.

2:55 pm HDIL up 4%: The meeting of board of directors of the company will be held on November 14 to consider unaudited financial results for the Quarter and six-months ended September 30, 2017.

The board will also consider issue of warrants on preferential basis to promoter of the company.

2:51 pm Results: Wheels India's second quarter profit more than doubled to Rs 26.4 crore, compared with Rs 12.4 crore in same quarter last year.

Revenue grew by 10.8 percent to Rs 604.8 crore from Rs 545.7 crore YoY.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) increased 13.5 percent to Rs 50.4 crore and margin expanded 20 bps to 8.3 percent YoY.

2:44 pm Earnings: Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) has reported profit at Rs 1,214.7 crore for quarter ended September 2017, which was far below analysts' estimates of Rs 1,527.9 crore.

Revenue also declined 7.8 percent year-on-year to Rs 5,493 crore in Q2.

The stock fell nearly 6 percent.

2:34 pm Crude rise impact: ONGC share price rallied nearly 4 percent after crude oil prices extended gains.

Brent crude futures increased 0.56 percent to USD 62.39 per barrel, the highest level since 2015.

2:24 pm Increase in FPIs: Over 1,000 fresh foreign investors were registered with Sebi in April-September 2017-18, primarily due to their continued interest in the Indian capital markets, latest data from the regulator showed.

This comes on top of close to 3,500 new foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) registering with Sebi in the past financial year.

According to Sebi data, the number of FPIs with the regulator's approval increased to 8,826 at the end of September 2017, from 7,807 at March-end, resulting in an addition of 1,019.

"The reason for increasing FPI registrations is continued interest in the Indian equity, bonds and real estate," said Arvind Chari, head, fixed income and alternatives, Quantum Advisors.

2:10 pm Earnings: PepsiCo's largest franchise bottler Varun Beverages today reported over two-fold jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 33.7 crore for the September quarter.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 12.9 crore during the same period of the previous fiscal, Varun Beverages said in a regulatory filing.

The equity shares of the company were listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange with effect from November 8, 2016.

Total income during the quarter stood at Rs 990.9 crore. It was Rs 1,055.7 crore in the July-September period last fiscal.

1:59 pm Buzzing: Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management share price was trading at Rs 290.70 per share on the National Stock Exchange, higher by 15.35 percent over issue price of Rs 252.

1:50 pm Green nod: The Centre today gave green nod to Torrent Pharmaceuticals' proposal to establish a bulk drug manufacturing unit in Gujarat with an investment of Rs 300 crore, as per an official document.

The Union Environment Ministry issued the environment clearance certificate for the proposed project saying that the approval has been given with certain riders.

The Ahmedabad-based firm's unit will cover 57,737 sq mt area in Kalol taluk. It would have a production capacity of 21,415 tonnes per annum.

The project is estimated to cost about Rs 300 crore and is expected to provide employment to 100 persons, as per the document.

1:45 pm Results: Nelcast hits fresh 52-week high of Rs 92 today after profit grew by 27.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 10 crore and revenue increased 28.2 percent to Rs 179.6 crore in Q2.

1:40 pm Earnings: Welspun Corp has reported consolidated net profit of Rs 40.4 crore in Q2FY18 against loss of Rs 34.8 crore in year-ago.

Revenue grew by 71.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,006 crore while EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) jumped nearly 3 times to Rs 185.4 crore from Rs 69.2 crore and margin expanded by 330 basis points to 9.2 percent YoY.

1:35 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended gains in afternoon, after seeing consolidation from opening trade.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 127.56 points at 33,813.12 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 26.70 points to 10,479.20.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.6 percent each. About 1,477 shares advanced against 1,129 declining shares on the BSE.

1:30 pm Management Interview: Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (RNAM) is the first asset management company getting listed on exchanges today.  The share price started off first trade at Rs 297.55 on the National Stock Exchange, a whopping premium of 18 percent over issue price of Rs 252.

In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18 Sundeep Sikka, ED & CEO, Reliance Nippon Life AMC and Kazuhide Toda, Head-Asia Pacific, Nippon Life shared their views on the outlook for the company post the successful IPO.

Happy with the listing response, Sikka said post demonetisation lot of money came into the financial sector which found its way into MF industry, so growth will only improve from the current levels.

The penetration of investors into mutual funds is still low, so there is expectation of that going up significantly, Sundeep Sikka, ED & CEO, Reliance Nippon Life AMC said in an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18.

1:15 pm Oil Update: Oil prices hit their highest levels since July 2015 today as markets tightened, while Saudi Arabia's crown prince cemented his power over the weekend through an anti-corruption crackdown that included high profile arrests.

Brent futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, hit USD 62.44 per barrel early today, their highest level since July 2015. This is over 40 percent above June's 2017 lows.

It was trading at USD 62.60 a barrel, up 0.85 percent.

1:05 pm Buzzing: Shares of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company added nearly 2 percent intraday as BofAML sees 20 percent potential upside in the stock.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) has initiated buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 810.

According to brokerage, there is a strong potential for profitable growth as the market is not pricing under penetration and regulatory catalyst.

It feels that Indian motor vehicle bill may act as significant catalyst for the motor insurance segment and third party motor insurance may positively impact earnings per share forecasts by 30-45 percent.

12:55 pm  Toll collection: CG Tollway, a wholly-owned subsidiary and a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of IRB Infrastructure Developers, has received appointed date from NHAI for its Chittorgarh to Gulabpura six laning highway project.

The SPV, in line with the NHAI’s appointed date, has started tolling as well as construction work on the 124.87 Kms corridor of NH-79 from 4th November 2017; thus, starting revenue generation from day one.

12:40 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks turned positive amid consolidation in afternoon, backed by auto, banking & financials stocks and ONGC that rallied 4 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 40.19 points at 33,725.75 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 1.40 points to 10,453.90.

About 1,430 shares advanced against 1,123 declining shares on the BSE.

12:30 pm Buzzing: Indian Bank share price gained more than 7 percent after its profit in Q2 increased 11.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 451.54 crore from Rs 405.13 crore YoY.

Net interest income grew by 20.8 percent to Rs 1,543.66 crore from Rs 1,278.25 crore YoY.

Provisioning coverage ratio improved to 65.4 percent for the quarter, compared with 61.7 percent in previous quarter.

At 12:30 hours IST, the stock price was quoting at Rs 367.00, up Rs 19.80, or 5.70 percent on the BSE.

12:15 pm Earnings: Poly Medicure's share price rallied more than 6 percent after its second quarter net profit grew by 53.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 18.6 crore.

Profit in the year-ago quarter stood at Rs 12.1 crore.

Revenue during the quarter increased 28.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 135 crore while EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) jumped 48.7 percent to Rs 34.2 crore and margin expanded by 340 basis points to 25.3 percent.

12:04 pm CLSA on PNB: CLSA has retained its buy call on Punjab National Bank with increased target price at Rs 250 from Rs 180 per share as September quarter profit was ahead of estimates due to lower staff cost and provisions.

Key positive was the moderation in slippages to 4.6 percent of past-year loans. Stable non-performing loans and strong CASA were key during the quarter.

Bank's CASA franchise is strong. "We retain earnings estimates," CLSA said.

11:58 am Staff cut: Sources told CNBC-TV18 that private sector lender Yes Bank has reduced notice period of employees to 30 days w.e.f November 1.

The bank has been scaling down staff strength as customers are switching to digital transaction, in result of which it has lately seen resignations at mid & senior levels.

It is learnt that retail sector employees at the bank are being reduced, sources said.

YES Bank, which has one of the lowest cost-to-income ratio amongst private banks, is yet to respond to CNBC-TV18’s query.

11:48 am Credit Suisse on Hindalco: Hindalco’s shares fell around 3 percent intraday as investors digested the company’s September quarter performance.

The aluminium major’s second quarter profit missed analyst expectations on Friday, falling 10.7 percent year-on-year due to one-time loss but operational numbers beat estimates led by Novelis earnings.

Revenue from operations in Q2 increased 14.4 percent to Rs 10,308 crore, compared with Rs 9,012 crore in corresponding period, led by aluminium volumes & improved realisation in copper as well as aluminium segments, Hindalco said.

Credit Suisse maintained an outperform stance on the stock and raised the target to Rs 310. It observed that the company’s Q2 standalone earnings were in-line with estimates. Further, it increased Novelis FY18 EBITDA & slightly increased volume for domestic operations. It also raised EPS estimates due to cash settlement in Q2 Novelis-Kobe JV.

11:38 am Buzzing: Shares of various firms, led by Jindal Steel, today fell by up to 2.3 percent amid reports that their names have cropped up in the leaked list of 'Paradise Papers' of companies.

The scrip of Jindal Steel & Power went down by 2.32 percent, Essar Shipping lost 2 percent and Videocon Industries fell by 1.82 percent on BSE.

Also, shares of Sun TV Network fell by 1.74 percent, GMR Infrastructure declined by 1.57 percent and Apollo Tyres dipped 0.88 percent.

As per reports, in all, there are 714 Indians in the tally.

The Paradise Papers is an investigation into offshore and banking assets carried out by the Indian Express with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

11:22 am Auto sales: Force Motors said it has sold 2,539 units in October month, lower by 13 percent compared with 2,935 units sold in corresponding month.

11:12 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks recovered losses in last morning deals, backed by banks, FMCG and auto stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 19.86 points at 33,705.42 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 3.10 points to 10,449.40.

About 1,360 shares advanced against 1,018 declining shares on the BSE.

10:58 am Rupee Trade: The rupee dropped by 18 paise to 64.72 against the dollar at the interbank forex market today amid fresh foreign fund outflows.

Traders said fresh demand for the US currency from importers and a lower opening of the domestic equity market weighed on the rupee.

The dollar's weakness against some currencies overseas, however, restricted the rupee fall, they added.

Foreign investors pulled out around Rs 9,690.84 crore from equity markets on Friday.

10:48 am Asia Update: Most major Asian indexes edged down today as investors digested earnings reports and President Donald Trump's tour of the region got underway.

Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 0.05 percent as markets re-opened for trade after a long weekend. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi came under pressure. The index declined 0.6 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 percent.

10:38 am APL Apollo in focus: APL Apollo Tubes share price rallied as much as 8 percent to hit a life-time high of Rs 1,962.10 after research firm Emkay has initiated coverage with a buy call on the stock on strong earnings growth.

The brokerage house has set a target price for the stock at Rs 2,812 per share, implying potential upside of 52 percent, as it feels the company would double its profits & improve its return on capital employed to 30.5 percent from 20.6 percent by FY20.

Return on equity is expected to improve to 27 percent by March 2020, compared to 23 percent in the financial year ending March 2017, it said.

Emkay expects revenue, operating income and earnings per share to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17 percent, 23 percent and 31 percent respectively, over the three financial years till March 2020.

10:28 am Buzzing: Capacite Infraprojects share price rallied 4 percent as the building constuction company has bagged a contract worth Rs 825.01 crore from Arihant Abode, a subsidiary of Arihant Superstructures.

The order is for affordable housing project christened "Arihant Aspire" situated at Panvel, Maharashtra.

The scope includes construction of civil & structural, finishing & MEP works to be executed in phases for 8 residential buildings of 42 floors each.

"With this order, we have achieved a significant milestone of crossing Rs 5,000 crore in order backlog," Rahul Katyal, Managing Director said.

10:20 am Management Interview: Bharat Electronics (BEL) has posted an extremely strong set of earning this quarter.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, MV Gowtama, CMD of BEL said compared to last year's Q1 and Q2, this year we were able to do strongly. Therefore, he expects revenue growth of more than 15 percent and growth in EBITDA of 20 percent in FY18.

Talking about order inflow, he said we are maintaining order inflow target of Rs 13,000-15,000 crore for FY18. However, Akash seven squadrons and LR-SAM orders are under negotiation, he added.

He expects Akash order to get finalised by Q3 and LR-SAM orders to get finalised before end of FY18.

According to him, uptick in army spend is positive for BEL.

10:10 am Buzzing: Reliance Communications' share price fell nearly 6 percent after the loss-making telecom operator said it would shut down voice call service from December 1 and its customers can move to other networks by the end of the year.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in direction to all telecom operators said that RCom on October 31, 2017 intimated it that "RCL (Reliance Communications Limited) shall provide only 4G data services to its customers and as a result will discontinue to provide voice services to the subscribers... with effect from 1st December 2017."

RCom informed Trai that it is providing 2G and 4G services in eight telecom circles of Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, UP East and West, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

10:00 am Listing: Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management started off first trade at Rs 297.55 on the National Stock Exchange, a premium of 18 percent over issue price.

9:55 am Road developers in focus: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has terminated 20 road development contracts citing default. NHAI has also barred some major infra players from bidding for highway projects in the next 2-3 years for public-private partnership (PPP) projects and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) projects, which received major funding from the government.

The companies that are barred include L&T, Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), Essel Infra Projects, MBL Infra, JKM Infra, Madhucon Toll Highways, Supreme Infra, Transtroy India and others. These firms have been given time till November 6 to make representation before NHAI.

The regulator said that these companies have failed to fulfil the criteria and were unable to execute the projects awarded to them between 2015 and 2017. These companies won’t be able to compete for PPP, EPC, tolls and road ministry’s projects till 2019.

9:45 am Pre-opening: Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management's share price settled at Rs 295.90 in pre-opening trade on the National Stock Exchange, up 17.4 percent over issue price of Rs 252 per share.

9:35 am Listing: Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (RNAM), which successfully concluded its initial public offer last week, will make its stock market debut today.

The company's IPO was oversubscribed 81.54 times during October 25-27, data available with the NSE showed.

The Rs 1,540-crore offering saw healthy demand in all three investor categories.

This was also the first IPO from the Reliance group after Reliance Power in 2008. Other listed firms of the group include Reliance Capital, Reliance Home Finance, Reliance Communications, Reliance Naval and Engineering and Reliance Infra. Promoters Reliance Capital and Nippon Life collectively sold 36.72 million shares.

Reliance Capital and Japan's Nippon Life sold shares worth up to Rs 283 crore and Rs 642 crore, respectively in the IPO.

9:25 am Buzzing: Titan Company rallied nearly 25 percent in early trade after the Jewellery-to-watch maker reported robust performance for the quarter ended September 2017 as consolidated profit showed a whopping 67.4 percent growth, driven by jewellery business.

Its profit for the quarter increased to Rs 278 crore, from Rs 166 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal.

At 09:20 am, Titan Company pared some gains but was still trading 17% higher at Rs772. It hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs824.65.

Revenue from operations during the quarter grew by 29.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,473 crore, the company said.

Jewellery segment, which contributed 79 percent to total revenue, has registered a solid 37 percent growth at Rs 2,748.20 crore on year-on-year basis, with its EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) growing 66.4 percent YoY.

"Jewellery business was impacted by the new PMLA regulations at the beginning of the quarter but the roll back, just before the festive season provided a boost to the business," Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director said.

9:20 am Pharma deal: Shares of Torrent Pharmaceuticals gained over 3 percent in morning as investors reacted to the acquisition of Unichem Labs by the firm.

The company on Friday said that it has entered into a definitive binding agreement with Unichem to acquire its branded business of India and Nepal for a consideration of Rs 3,600 crore.

Unichem's India business comprises a portfolio of more than 120 brands in India and Nepal, a manufacturing plant at Sikkim catering to these markets and all the employees engaged in the said business.

The deal values Unichem domestic formulation business at little over four times of its turnover in FY17.

Brokerages were upbeat about the buyout, while adding that it could be EPS accretive in a few fiscals from now. The deal also pushes the firm to number 2 position in cardiac segment, they added.

9:15 an Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened the week mildly lower on Monday, tracking weakness in Asian peers. The broader markets outperformed benchmarks, with Midcap and Smallcap rising 0.2 percent each on positive breadth.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 39.69 points at 33,645.87 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 17.50 points to 10,435.

About 730 shares advanced against 525 declining shares on the BSE.

Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, HPCL and Dr Reddy's Labs were early losers while M&M, Indiabulls Housing, Bharti Infratel and ONGC were gainers.

Titan Company jumped 20 percent post strong Q2 numbers

PC Jeweller, Amtek Auto, Kitex Garments and VRL Logistics gained 2-13 percent.

SCI, Sical Logistics, UCO Bank, Inox Wind and MBL Infra were losers in early trade.

The Indian rupee slipped in early trade today. It has opened lower by 10 paise at 64.65 per dollar versus 64.55 Friday.