Sensex ends 200 points higher, Nifty settles above 9,200; Adani Ports fall 4.85%

LIVE UPDATE

3.30 PM:

The Indian benchmark indices started off the day on a tepid note but rallied over 200 points in midday trade to end today's trading session at 29,788.35, 212.61 points higher.

The NSE Nifty Index reclaimed its 9,200-mark by late morning trade to end the day at 9,237.00, up 55.55 points.

The biggest laggard in today's trade was Adani Ports that plunged nearly 5 per cent in trade on the BSE after the Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside an order by the Appellate Tribunal For Electricity allowing compensatory tariff to Tata Power Ltd and Adani Power Ltd, sending down shares of both companies.

Shares of Tata Power fell nearly 2 per cent on the BSE.

The biggest movers on the bourses were ITC which logged over 3 per cent in trade on the BSE and NSE.

Among other gainers were Bank of Baroda and ICICI Bank on the 50-share index and Power Grid and Larsen and Toubro on the BSE Sensex.

Infosys is due to release its earnings report on Thursday.

In other news, tech major HP today said it has elevated Rajiv Srivastava to the newly created regional position of chief operating officer and head of sales strategy and operations for its Asia Pacific (APAC) and Japan operations.

India Ratings, the domestic subsidiary of Fitch Ratings, appointed Rohit Sawhney as the chief executive.

The Reserve Bank of India today fixed the reference rate of the rupee at 64.5438 against the US dollar and 68.3067 for the euro.

Passenger vehicle sales in India crossed the three million milestone for the first time in 2016-17, with the segment witnessing a growth of 9.23 per cent.

For the fiscal ended March 2017, domestic passenger vehicles (PV) sales were at 30,46,727 units as against 27,89,208 in the previous year, according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

3.07 PM:

Sensex soars to 222 points reaching its highest level of 29,804.

1.24 PM:

State-owned power major Bhel announced that it has bagged an order from Indian Railways for installing 2 MW roof-top solar photo voltaic systems at Diesel Locomotive Modernisation Works (DMW) in Patiala.

"Bhel has bagged one more order of 2 MW roof top SPV systems at Diesel Locomotive Modernisation Works (DMW), Patiala," the company said in a statement.

It envisages design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of grid connected roof top solar photo voltaic power plant with all electrical and associated equipment including civil works, Bhel said.

Bhel stock was trading at Rs 176.10, up 0.77 per cent, on BSE.

12.41 PM:

The shareholders of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd have agreed and approved the conglomerate's plan to merge with Grasim Industries Ltd that would create a $9 billion revenue earning entity.

83 per cent of Aditya Birla Nuvo's minority shareholder votes were cast in favour of a merger with Grasim, reported Livemint, while Grasim's minority shareholders had already voted their consent.

Shares of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd were 0.07 per cent down and Grasim was 0.06 per cent lower on Tuesday's trade on the BSE.

12.10 PM:

German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz reported its best ever quarterly sales in India at 3,650 units, albeit just a marginal increase from the year-ago period.

The sales growth in January-March period this calendar year has been driven by the E-Class sedan and SUV portfolio led by GLC, Mercedes Benz India said.

"After the lost opportunities in 2016, we are seeing growth momentum returning. What we saw in the first quarter of this year is as per our expectations," Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director & CEO Roland Folger told PTI.

So far, Mercedes Benz has launched four different new products, including the hot selling long wheel base E-Class.

In the first quarter of 2017, E-Class sedan has re-emerged as the highest selling model for Mercedes-Benz, the firm said.

Launched on February 28, the model had sold 500 units within six days.

12.02 PM:

Shares of Adani Ports dipped 2.66 per cent on the BSE.

11.57 AM:

Shares of ITC gains 2.23 per cent on the BSE after the company announced that it is planning on expanding its juice portfolio to 20 per cent of market share in five years.

Apart from adding new flavours and focusing on local fruits, the company is expanding its sales network to meet the target.

The Kolkata-based firm also plans to expand retail points of its luxury chocolate brand Fabelle and take it outside its hotel premises, where it is only available currently. "We are going to add 2 to 3 percent market share every year and in next five years. It should be around 18 to 20 per cent in the next five years," ITC Foods Division Divisional Chief Executive Hemant Malik told PTI.

10.25 AM:

Indian rupee

The cup of woes for the rupee seems to be brimming over as it weakened 13 paise more to 64.69 against the dollar in early session today as US rate hike fears come back to haunt participants.

Fed officials' highly hawkish comments mainly soured forex market sentiment.

Dealers said dollar flexing muscles overseas and its increased demand from importers put the squeeze on the rupee.

They said, however, a higher opening in the domestic stock market limited the rupee losses.

Yesterday, the rupee had retreated after a three-session winning run and lost 28 paise to end at 64.56 against the dollar with simmering geopolitical tensions taking the centre-stage at the global level.

10.23 AM:

The BSE Sensex reversed its tepid start of the day to trade at 29,693.66, suring 117.92 points.

The Nifty50 was ruling at 9,206.95, 25.50 points higher.

Sectoral indices such as IT, oil and gas, capital goods and technology were in the lead, giving the sentiment a lift.

Optimistic buying in blue-chip stocks ahead of industrial production (IIP) data for February and retail inflation for March tomorrow kept stocks on course.

Asian markets were muted over weak global cues.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.76 per cent and Japan's Nikkei fell 0.48 per cent while Shanghai Composite shed 0.36 per cent in early trade today.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.01 per cent higher yesterday.

9.22 AM:

The Indian benchmark indices opened flat on the green with a positive bias.

The S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,604.09, up 28.35 points while the Nifty50 was trading at 9,183.45, 2.00 points higher.

Infosys gained 1.11 per cent on the BSE after closing as the top loser on the bourse yesterday.

The company is expected to release their earning results on Thursday.

State Bank of India, Sun Pharma and ONGC were other gainers on the BSE.

BPCL and Infosys added over 1 per cent to the NSE Nifty Index in morning trade.