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Markets ended at record closing highs on Friday led by banks after whole-sale price inflation which eased further in October raised hopes of a rate cut by the central bank.
The 30-share Sensex ended up 106 points at 28,047 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 32 points at 8,390.
In the broader markets both the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices ended up 0.5% each.
Foreign institutional investors remained buyers after net purchases on Thursday stood at Rs 681 crore, as per provisional stock exchange data.
WPI-based inflation declined to 1.77% in October, down from 2.38% in September. Earlier during the week, the retail inflation eased to 5.52% in October and industrial production grew at 2.5% in September.
The Indian rupee fell further and was trading at 61.77 against the US dollar compared to the previous close of Rs 61.54.
Nikkei has retreated from the seven-year high mark as investors turned cautious ahead of the release of GDP data and is currently trading flat with a negative bias. The benchmark Nikkei ended up 0,6%. Chinese stocks are under pressure after the factory output data from China came below expectations. Shanghai Composite declined 0.3% while Hang Seng and Straits Times ended up 0.3% each.
European shares were trading mixed with FTSE-100 down 0.1% while CAC-40 and DAX were trading with marginal gains.
BSE Metal index was the top gainer up 2.5% followed by Realty, Auto, Capital Goods and Bankex among others. Healthcare index ended down 1.2% and FMCG index ended down 0.1%.
SBI ended up 2.5% after it reported 30.5% growth in Q2 net profit at Rs 3,100 crore as compared to Rs 2,375 crore in the year-ago quarter. Among other banks, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank ended up 0.6-1.4% each.
ONGC ended up 2% ahead of their second quarter earnings later today.
Sesa Sterlite ended up 1.6% after the company said it would invest $782 million over a three-year period in southern Africa to tap the region’s large undeveloped deposits of the metal and offset a fall in production volume from its mine in Ireland.
Hindalco gained 3.6% after revenues grew 36 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 8,554 crore and seven per cent sequentially. Before adjusting for the provisions for the coal block penalties, Hindalco's adjusted profit after tax during the quarter grew 43 per cent y-o-y to Rs 510 crore.
Cipla ended down 2.5% after September quarter earnings at Rs after the company posted 16% drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 299 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2014 compared with Rs 358 crore during the same period of last year. Meanwhile, analysts had estimated a net profit of around Rs 354 crore for the September quarter.
Sun Pharma ended down 2.4% after the company disappointed on net profit due to lower other income. It reported net profit of Rs 1,572 crore, up 15 per cent y-o-y, slightly lower than street expectation of Rs 1,594 crore.
BHEL ended 0.3% lower after profit fell 72.5% to Rs 125 crore from Rs 456 crore in the year-ago quarter. Net sales came in at Rs 6,027 crore compared to Rs 8,819 crore in the quarter ended September 30, 2014.
GAIL rose 2.8% after incorporating a new company, TAPI Pipeline Company in collaboration with state gas companies of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan to build, own and operate the 1,800 km TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India) natural gas pipeline.
Tata Motors ended down 0.5%. The company after market hours reported a 7% dip in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,291 crore for the quarter ended Septmeber 2014. It was Rs 3,542 crore in the smae period a year ago.
However, the consolidated revenue rose 9% to Rs 60,564 crore as against Rs 55,701 crore in September 2013.
Among other shares, Dynamatic Technologies ended up 10% after the company said it signs agreement with BELL Helicopter, a Textron Inc, company, as a single source supplier of major airframe assemblies for BELL 407 GX.
Simplex Infrastructures ended up 8% after Reliance Capital bought one million shares of construction and engineering company from the open market.
Shares of fertiliser companies, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers and National Fertilisers, ended up 5-8% each after reporting a strong set of numbers for the second quarter ended September 30, 2014 (Q2).
Balkrishna Industries dipped 16% after reporting 16.5% year on year (yoy) decline in net profit at Rs 90.16 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2014 (Q2) as compared to Rs 108 crore a year ago period.
Market breadth ended strong with 1,585 gainers and 1,447 losers on the BSE.
