The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened on a flat-to-cautious note on Friday. The BSE Sensex opened 20.19 points down at 26,284.01. Nifty opened 1.1 points up 7,956.55. (Photo: PTI)

1.33 pm: Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Friday reported 8 per cent rise in standalone net profit to Rs 621.03 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015-16. The bank had posted net profit of Rs 575.34 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year. The share price of PNB was up 1.74 per cent at Rs 131.85.

1.07 pm: The BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap index were down 0.32 per cent and 0.35 per cent, respectively. In the midcap index, shares of Reliance Power and Cadila Healthcare were down 5.25 per cent and 4.11 per cent at Rs 48.70 and Rs 411.50, respectively.

12.47 pm: Shares of Motherson Sumi jumped over 3 per cent after the company posted 174 per cent rise in its Q2 net profit figures at Rs 286.89 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

In a release the company said, “The growth was fueled by healthy second quarter sales across the geographies and business segments. In fact in Euro terms, SMR and SMP grew by 14 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively.”

12.33 pm: Meanwhile, State Bank of India announced its results for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015. During the quarter under review, the bank posted 25 per cent year-on-year rise in its standalone net profit figures at Rs 3879.07 crore. Shares of State Bank of India was up 3.82 per cent at Rs 243.15 apiece. Sensex was down 18 points at 26,285.

Analysts on average had expected the lender to report a net profit of Rs 3,639 crore, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.

11.53 am: Shares of Tata Steel were down by 2.79 per cent as investors reacted to the earning results of the company that were announced on Thursday post market hours.The earnings of Tata steel were hit by a flood of cheap imports from China in its key European and Indian markets. However the company’s profit rose 22 per cent, boosted by a one-time gain from the sale of its investments in group companies.

11.42 am: After recovering from day’s low, benchmark equity indices were holding their head above water and trading up with modest gains of around 0.11 per cent-0.18 per cent, on emergence of buying by funds and retail investors in select stocks. Sentiment on the street improved with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asserting that infrastructure could play a pivotal role in bolstering India’s economic growth, he has said that concerted efforts have led to rolling out of stuck projects worth Rs 4 lakh crore. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government has set the direction of the economy and restored confidence of both domestic and foreign investors in India, while promising steps to strengthen the economy’s base to ensure the impact of any global turmoil is transient. However, losses remained capped on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 991.87 crore on November 5, 2015. Sensex was up 21.34 points 26,325.

11.33 am: Shares of State Bank of India (SBI) were trading higher by 3.46 per cent at Rs 242.30 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in late afternoon trade ahead of its September quarter (Q2FY16) results scheduled for the day.

11.31 am: Dr Reddy’s Labs shares tanked over 13 per cent after the pharma major received a warning letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) over inadequate quality control procedures at three manufacturing plants in India. Sensex was up 48 points at 26,353.

10.51 am: Shares of power sector lender Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) declined as much as 12.83 per cent and 11.05 per cent on Friday after the government approved a turnaround plan for state electricity boards that is likely to impact the lenders’ margins. The BSE Power index was down 0.91 per cent at 1,880.83.

10.12 am: Brokers said market sentiments were influenced following exit polls at the end of five-phased polling in Bihar assembly elections predicted a close fight with majority of them giving an edge to the Grand Alliance of JDU-RJD-Congress over the BJP-led NDA grouping. Sensex was down 97 points at 26,206.

10.04 am: Meanwhile, shares of IDFC Bank which were demerged from IDFC, listed on Friday. The share price of IDFC Bank was trading 1.42 per cent up at Rs 71.50 on NSE. Sensex was up 30 points at 26,335.

9.42 am: The rupee weakened by another 12 paise to trade at a fresh one-month low of 65.87 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to sustained demand for the American currency from importers. Sensex was down 6 points at 26,297.31

9.19 am: Share price of Bank of Baroda was down over 5 per cent at Rs 151.35. The bank announced its Q2 results on Friday before market hours. Bank of Baroda posted a net profit of Rs 124.48 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 as compared to Rs 1,104.22 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2014. Sensex was up 123.72 points at 26472. Nifty was up 27.60 points at 7,983. Bank of Baroda shares fall as much as 10 per cent in the early trade on Friday.

9.15 am: The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened on a flat-to-cautious note on Friday. The BSE Sensex opened 20.19 points down at 26,284.01. Nifty opened 1.1 points up 7,956.55.

Asian shares slipped on Friday as investors braced for US employment data that is expected to bolster the case for a Federal Reserve interest rate increase as early as next month.

Wall Street marked modest losses after a mixed spate of earnings, as investors waited for the non-farm payrolls report. Dow Jones Industrial Average index on Thursday closed 0.02 per cent down at 17,863.43

Sensex and Nifty closed at five-week lows on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve Governor reiterated the possibility of raising interest rates in December, while caution ahead of Bihar state exit polls accelerated the selloff. Sensex ended 248.72 points down at 26,304.20. NSE Nifty closed 84.75 points down at 7,955.45.

Shreyash Devalkar, fund manager, equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund, said, “The next trigger for the market could very well be influenced by the outcome of the Bihar elections and could hinge upon a BJP victory in the state.”

Some of the companies like Aurobindo Pharma, Vimal Oil, Astec, Tata Motors, Tata Invest, Paper Products, Eicher Motors, Godrej Industries, Aarti Drugs, IGL, Punj Lloyd, Motherson Sumi, Lumax Tech, Voltas, TD Power, Ramco Cem, Union Bank, Essar Oil, Tata Chemicals and Great Eastern Shipping may announce their earnings on Friday.

(With inputs from agencies)

Adani Ports and SEZ’s (APSEZ) Q2FY16 consolidated PAT at R670 crore came in line with our estimate, boosted by ~R310 crore SEZ revenue,  negating the impact of lower volumes—37MT versus ~42MT estimate.  Management reiterated impact of lower coal imports on cargo volumes  to be mitigated largely by coastal shipping as well as imports by coastal  power plants (AEL coal trading volume growth vindicates this). We  continue to believe that APSEZ will not only leverage its strong asset-based balance sheet, but also its expertise to pursue growth  opportunities.

We believe APSEZ will leverage its asset portfolio and  balance sheet to pursue growth opportunities, especially inorganic, which are not  factored in our valuations.

Factoring in gradual cargo ramp up in some of the subsidiaries, we have cut FY16E and FY17E earnings 8.5% and 6.0%, respectively,  resulting in revised SoTP-based target price of R351.

APSEZ’s consolidated cargo volume at ~36.5MT grew 4% YoY, but fell 8% QoQ due to lower coal volumes and slow ramp up at Dahej. Mundra container volumes at 732k  TEUs grew 10% YoY despite tepid ExIm container market, which grew mere ~2%. Apart  from gaining market share, transshipment cargo (~140k TEUs) handled at Mundra  helped the company sustain such growth rates.

We cut our earnings estimates by 3-9% in FY16-18e as we factor in slower sales from Exquisite and slower sales of high ticket projects in Worli. We also roll forward our NAV to September 2016 from June 2016 previously, and increase our target price to R290 (up from R285) based on a 16% discount (unchanged) at 0.5SD above the historical mean from our NAV of R368 (down from R370).

Oberoi’s presence is limited to Mumbai currently. We remain negative on this market, as inventory levels are high with more than 40 months; however, Oberoi’s projects command premia and better offtake. We think the response to its newly launched Prisma and Mulund projects is testimony to its brand strength. Launches in Borivili, Mulund, Goregaon, Worli and Maxima would support continued sales momentum and enthusiasm.

The company launched its long-awaited Borivali project (25 acres) in the quarter, which received good response. The construction commencement certificate for Enigma (Mulund) has been received and construction has already begun.

On the Goregaon projects, Exquisite will likely not be fully monetised until 1QFY17 (versus earlier expectations of 4QFY16) and Esquire is likely to come for revenue recognition by 3QFY16.

In a bid to expand the reach of insurance and promote financial inclusion, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) will soon come out with a draft exposure on e-commerce portals selling insurance policies. The regulator will also release norms on management expenses that an insurance company can charge on premuims.

Speaking at the CII Financial Distribution Summit, 2015, Nilesh Sathe, wholetime member-Life-Irdai, said: “We are working on it (the norms). An expsoure draft will be made public soon. World over, commissions aren’t regulated; it’s only management expenses that are regulated. So, we have to look at whether there will be a ceiling on management expenses similar to mutual funds, or a threshold of commission.”

Among other things, Irdai will take up the issue of tax imposed by the Centre on insurance products on maturity, said a senior official. As per Section 10 (10)D of Income Tax Act, insurers deduct TDS at 2% from maturity proceeds of a life policy if the premium paid is more than 10% of the sum assured. If the investor doesn’t have PAN, the rate goes up to 20%.

Six life insurance companies have approached the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to hike FDI to 49%.

“My personal view is that insurance companies should go public as quickly as possible because we need involvement of retail investors,” said Sathe. He said Irdai has received proposals from several reinsurance companies to open branches in India.

Commenting on the Sumit Bose committee report recently submitted to the government, Sathe said the Life Insurance Council has written to the Centre seeking differentiation between ‘push’ and ‘pull’ products.