Markets start August series on a firm note

Markets finished the first session of the August series on a robust note on hopes on reform hopes after the cabinet gave approval to incorporation of changes in the GST bill as suggested by the Rajya Sabha select committee. Meanwhile, strength among the Asian peers lifted the sentiments.

Provisionally, the Sensex surged 384 points to end at 28,089 and the Nifty soared 109 points to close at 8,531 levels.

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(updated at 3:20 PM)

Benchmark Indices continue to climb higher in the afternoon session led by a stellar rally in the rate sensitive shares. Renewed buying is witnessed in ICICI Bank post its better-than-expected Q1 results.

The hopes for a rate cut have been raised ahead of the RBI monetary policy due the decline in crude prices, advancement of monsoon and neutral stance by the Federal Reserve.

At 3:20 PM, the Sensex was up 383 points at 28, 092 and the Nifty was up 106 points at 8,528.

The top gainers on the Sensex are SBI, ICICI Bank, Coal India, Hero Motocorp and Lupin , all up between 4-6% each.

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(updated 3:20PM)

Benchmark shares indices continued to trade firm in noon trades on Friday led by  ICICI Bank after the private lender posted better-than-expected profits while asset quality improved on a sequential basis.

At 1:10PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 340 points at 28,045 and the 50-share Nifty was up 91 points at 8,513.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 1.2% and Small-cap index was up 0.9%. Market breadth was strong with 1,642 gainers and 980 losers on the BSE.

The Indian rupee is trading marginally lower at 64.07 to the US dollar compared to the previous close of 64.04 due to appreciation of the American currency overseas.

RESULTS TODAY

Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank, CESC, Bharati Shipyard, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma, Mahindra Lifespace, Karur Vysya Bank, Sun TV, Suzlon Energy and Titan Inds are scheduled to announce their June quarter earnings today.

SECTORS & STOCKS

All sectoral indices were trading in the green. Rate sensitive shares were among the top gainers with BSE Realty index up 2.2% followed by Bankex, Auto and Healthcare indices among others.

The government of India on Thursday notified new norms, putting in place composite foreign investment limits for all sectors other than banking and defence. The decision will allow greater flexibility to foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in multi brand retail, allowing them to invest up to 49% without having to seek government approval, according to media report.

Retail stocks gained across the board. Future Retail, Trent, Shoppers Stop and Pantaloons Fashion and Retail were up 1.5-4.3% each.

ICICI Bank was the top Sensex gainer up nearly 6% after the private lender reported a better-than-expected 12% year-on-year (YoY) jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 2,976 crore, against an average analyst estimate of Rs 2,904 crore for the first quarter of current fiscal.The bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at 3.68% of gross advances, as on June 30, 2015 compared with 3.78% in March 2015 quarter.

Rate sensitives are trading higher ahead of the RBI monetary policy as the decli8ne in crude prices advancement of monsoon and neutral stance by the Federal Reserve have raised hopes of rate cut. In the realty space, Sobha, Prestige Estates, DLF, Godrej Properties are up between 1-6.5%.

In the auto pack, M&M, Hero Motocorp, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki are trading higher between 1.5-3.3%.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories reported a 13.7 per cent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 625.6 crore in the June quarter, on the back of improved gross profit margins. The net profit was much higher than Bloomberg consensus estimates of Rs 547 crore. The stock was up 2.9%.

Lupin announced has entered into a strategic asset purchase agreement with Germany based Temmler Pharma, a part of the Aenova Group. The stock was up 3.3%

Cipla extended gains and was marginally up after its partner Sandoz received a USFDA nod to launch a generic version of Pulmicort respules.

ITC was up 2.2% after the FMCG major posted 3.61% rise in net profit at Rs 2,265.44 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, as compared to Rs 2,186.39 crore during the same period of 2014-15 fiscal.

Among other shares, HSIL were down over 8% at Rs 307 after the company reported total income of Rs 412.85 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 compared with Rs 412.15 crore for the corresponding quarter last fiscal.