Sensex, Nifty end flat after a choppy session; broader markets outperform

All that happened in the market today

3:47 PM

Top Sectoral Gainer: Nifty Metal

Source: NSE

3:40 PM

Sectoral Trend

Source: NSE

3:37 PM

Top Sensex gainers and losers

Source: BSE

3:35 PM

Broader Markets

Broader market outperform benchmark indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap up 0.7% and 1.1% respectively

3:35 PM

Markets at Close

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 33,756, down 21 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,440, down 4 points

3:18 PM

2G verdict: There was no wrongdoing on our part, says Unitech M D Chandra

 

Within hours of acquittal in the 2G spectrum allocation case by a special court, Unitech M D Sanjay Chandra said there was no wrongdoing on his part but his company had to pay the price for the case foisted on him.

 

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group also welcomed the court verdict.

 

Former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi were today acquitted by a special court in the case. Fifteen other accused and three companies were also acquitted. READ MORE

3:06 PM

Trending

Reliance Infra gained 5.5% after the company signed definitive binding agreement with Adani Transmission for 100% Sale of its integrated Mumbai power business. Adani Transmission up 7% on the development

2:52 PM

Buzzing Stock

Shares of Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd jump as much as 4.8 pct to 287.9 rupees, highest since Nov 14 as CLSA started coverage with “buy”, TP of Rs 325

 

Brokerage says India’s third-largest asset manager should benefit from rising penetration and ability to leverage strong retail presence

2:37 PM

Wockhardt, Sun TV, KNR Constructions among 36 stocks hit 52-week highs

 

Wockhardt, Biocon, Manappuram Finance, Varun Beverages, Motilal Oswal Financial Services and Sun TV Network are among 36 stocks from the S&P BSE 500 index hitting their respective 52-week highs on the BSE on Thursday.

 

Eveready Industries, Future Consumer, Minda Industries, Raymond, Rallis India, NCC, SRF, Kansai Nerolac, Nava Bharat Ventures and Pidilite Industries too hit 52-week highs in intra-day trade today. READ MORE

2:22 PM

RBI's key policy rates to remain unchanged in 2018: Nomura

 

The Reserve Bank of India's policy rates are likely to remain unchanged in 2018 despite higher inflation, a recovering growth, and elevated oil prices, says a Nomura report.

 

According to the Japanese financial services major, strengthening of the growth recovery could push a few Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members towards a "tightening bias".

 

Minutes of the December 6 policy meeting show that despite upside risks to inflation, most MPC members voted for a pause because of growth concerns, Nomura said. READ MORE

1:58 PM

Interview of the day

 

Equity valuations are no longer undemanding: Harshad Patwardhan

 

Markets may deliver higher-than-historical long-term average returns over the next few years, says Harshad Patwardhan, chief investment officer-equities, Edelweiss Asset Management. He says that earnings growth might surprise the Street going forward as the economy accelerates from its current nominal levels. READ FULL INTERVIEW HERE

1:44 PM

Market Check

Index	Current	Pt. Change	% Change
S&P BSE SENSEX	33,750.45	-26.93	-0.08
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	10,892.38	-2.15	-0.02
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	36,464.34	+158.66	+0.44
S&P BSE 100	10,937.42	+6.08	+0.06
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,780.24	+17.43	+0.46

1:22 PM

Indian bonds hit near 1-1/2-year low on RBI officials' inflation warning

 

Indian bond prices fell to their lowest in nearly 1-1/2 years after minutes from the last Reserve Bank of India meeting showed some members issuing sharp warnings on inflation, though shares were largely flat after setting records in the previous session.

 

The yield for the benchmark 10-year bond rose as much as 4 basis points to 7.26%, the highest since late July 2016. It was last trading at 7.24%.

 

Minutes from the RBI’s Dec. 6 meeting showed two members, both central bank officials, specifically warning that India could no longer afford to being accommodative on inflation, which analysts saw as raising the prospect of rate hikes.

1:05 PM

Construction stocks gain 

 

Shares of construction companies were in focus with most of the stocks from the sector trading higher by up to 7% on the BSE in otherwise subdued market.

 

KNR Constructions, Sadbhav Engineering, Simplex Projects, MBL Infrastructure, Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), Punj Lloyd, Gayatri Projects and Ramky Infra were more than 2%. On comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down marginally by 0.03% at 33,766 points at 11:41 AM. READ FULL REPORT

12:51 PM

Motilal Oswal on L&T 

 

Larsen & Toubro enjoys several levers across its business/geographical segments. It has emerged as the E&C partner of choice in India, which provides a robust

foundation to capitalize on the next leg of investment cycle.

 

We maintain Buy with an SOTP-based TP of INR1,440 (E&C business at 22x FY20E EPS, to which we add INR450 for subsidiaries).The stock trades at 20x/17xits standalone business (ex. subsidiaries) vs. its historical average of 22x. Key risks to our rating include (a) sharp slowdown in government spending and (b) sharp fall in oil prices in the Middle East.