Closing Bell: Sensex ends with 300 point-gain, Nifty nears 10,900-mark; Kotak Mahindra loses over 3% after Bombay HC refuses stay on plea

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Closing Bell: Sensex ends with 300 point-gain, Nifty nears 10,900-mark; Kotak Mahindra loses over 3%##Closing Bell: Sensex ends with 300 point-gain, Nifty nears 10,900-mark; Kotak Mahindra loses over 3%  

The Indian market remained upbeat throughout the session on Monday, supported by financial stocks.

The BSE Sensex closed 311 points higher at 36,263 while the NSE Nifty closed 79 points higher at 10,885.

The BSE Sensex opened 187 points higher at 36,179 points while the NSE Nifty opened 46 points higher at 10,851 points.

Vedanta surged in trade and was gaining 3 percent in after the NGT order allowing the reopening of its Tuticorin plant. 

Kotak Mahindra lost 2.5% after the Bombay High Court refused to stay on the plea.

Miner NMDC challenges Karnataka's demand for higher iron ore revenue##Miner NMDC challenges Karnataka's demand for higher iron ore revenue

India's biggest iron ore miner NMDC Ltd on Monday sued Karnataka to block demands for a bigger share of revenue from the sale of iron ore from a local mine, said a senior state-level official.

Rajender Kataria, the state's mining secretary, told Reuters on Monday a court will hear the matter on Jan. 10.

Karnataka plans to auction the Donimalai iron ore mine as NMDC, majority owned by the Indian government, refused to pay an additional levy on ore sales from the mine, he said.

NMDC, which has suspended its operations at the site due to the dispute, did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Karnataka levied the additional fee when it renewed NMDC's license for the Donimalai mine last month, and the state-owned miner contested it, according to a company letter reviewed by Reuters.

Following the miner's objection, the state government had threatened to cancel its lease. The mine primarily supplies ore to India's biggest domestic steelmaker JSW Steel Ltd.

"NMDC has approached the high Court for an urgent hearing," Kataria told Reuters. Karnataka state was mulling auctioning the mine next month, he said.

"We had sent a letter and a reminder last month to NMDC saying if they did not agree to our terms, our recourse will be to auction the mine in January," he said.

Until the court hearing, however, the state government will not be able to make a formal decision, he said.

(From Reuters)

DoT expects to complete due process for 5G spectrum auction by August##DoT expects to complete due process for 5G spectrum auction by August

The government expects to complete processes for 5G spectrum auction by August and the services will be rolled out by 2020, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said Monday. "Trai has given a preliminary set of recommendations, which the working committee at the Department of Telecommunications is looking at. Task force has also given broader set of (spectrum) bands on which we have to work. Everybody has said that since ecosystem is not ready, 5G will be ready after july-August next year," Sundararajan told reporters on the sidelines of a workshop with states and Union territories.

Amid a raging financial crisis in the industry, India's largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea has urged the telecom department not to hold spectrum auction till 2020 on the grounds that fresh need for quality radio waves will arise only once the 5G ecosystem is ready.

(From PTI)

Just in: Nifty hits 10,900-mark for the first time since December 3.

Rajashekar Iyer shares tips on how he generates investing ideas##Rajashekar Iyer shares tips on how he generates investing ideas

The following excerpts feature an interview with Iyer:

I used to look at lots of companies. The initial names are generated either from screens, by someone else telling us that a company is interesting, through news reports/ advertisement that triggers interest, and multiple other sources.

After quickly scanning relevant information like annual reports, management interviews, presentations etc; I would have a mental picture of the business and company, and decide whether it was worth spending more time on. 

Read more

Just in: NCLAT defers the hearing on IL&FS case to December 20.

Government meddling in RBI could undermine India's financial stability: S&P Global##Government meddling in RBI could undermine India's financial stability: S&P Global

The increasing involvement of the Indian government in the affairs of the country's central bank is a negative for the ratings of giant Asian economy's banking system, S&P Global said on Monday.

"S&P Global Ratings views as credit negative the circumstances leading to the recent resignation of Urjit Patel, governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)," S&P analysts Michael Puli and Andrew Wood said in a note.

"Sustained and intense external pressure from the Indian government risks eroding these (central bank independence and prudent policy) settings over time, and could also undermine the long-term financial stability in the country."

S&P's lead global sovereign analyst said last week that India's 7 percent annual growth would be enough to keep the Indian government's investment grade BBB- rating stable.

(From Reuters)

Jet Airways drops over 4% on reports of Kardassis' exit##Jet Airways drops over 4% on reports of Kardassis' exit

Shares of Jet Airways declined over 4 per cent after the company's former CEO Nikos Kardassis, who made a comeback to the carrier in an advisory role, has once again parted ways with it.

The airline, after a negative opening on the BSE, further slipped 4.55 per cent to Rs 248.10 per share. At 1324 hrs, the scrip was trading at Rs 249.7, lower 3.94 per cent from the previous close.

On the National Stock Exchange, the stocks slumped 4.57 per cent to the low of Rs 248.

The Greek-American aviation veteran in his third comeback to Naresh Goyal-controlled Jet Airways in May was roped in to revive the fortunes of the full-service carrier following its dismal financial performance since January this year.

"Kardassis, whom Goyal roped in to help him in the airline's turnaround plan, had gone on leave to his native place in November but after that, he did not return," a source privy to the development told PTI on Sunday.

The former chief executive officer parted ways with the airline after Goyal initiated discussions with his investment partner Etihad Airways for further stake sale to garner funds, said another source.

(From PTI)

WATCH| Sanjay Nayar says that many banks under PCA are an obstruction to lending.

IMF says trade war already hurting Asia, may cut global growth forecasts##IMF says trade war already hurting Asia, may cut global growth forecasts

Trade frictions between China and the United States are already affecting business confidence and investment in Asia, a senior International Monetary Fund official said, warning that the fund could further cut its global growth forecasts in January.

Changyong Rhee, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, said Japan and South Korea could be among countries in the region hit hardest by the trade war given their reliance on exports to China.

"Investment is much weaker than expected. My interpretation is that the confidence channel is already affecting the global economy, particularly Asian economies," Rhee told Reuters.

"We see global growth a little bit slower than we forecast in October," he said on Monday.

Citing the potential fallout from the Sino-US trade war, the IMF cut its global growth forecast in October to 3.7 percent for both 2018 and 2019, down from 3.9 percent projected in July.

(From Reuters)

Rupee update: The rupee is currently trading at 71.67 against the US dollar.

Rewinding 2018: Sectors mutual funds bought into##Rewinding 2018: Sectors mutual funds bought into

The past year has seen the market take unexpected turns. Global events have kept it on its toes while domestic factors struggled to find stability. Different sectors have shown divergent performance. Some came as a surprise, like the revival of IT stocks which found solace in the weakening rupee and pharmaceutical stocks for a brief while. Some came as a support, like the steady growth of FMCG stocks. Here, we explore how mutual fund exposures have changed in this volatile year and where they have gone against the market.

Read the story here.

Just in:  Bank of Baroda to issue Tier-II capital bonds worth up to Rs 525 crore.

Credit Suisse says worried about lack of growth in NBFC space##Credit Suisse says worried about lack of growth in NBFC space

Global brokerage, Credit Suisse, on Monday said it's worried about the lack of growth in non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) space as balance sheets of several firms in this sector are smaller than they were in September.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Neelkanth Mishra, managing director and India Equity Strategist, said, "Indian NBFCs are very well capitalised. We are talking about assets to equity at 4.5 for the NBFCs and 7.5-8 percent for the housing finance companies (HFCs). So there is no risk of cascading defaults and the whole system shutting down."

Mishra said, "In our market, everyone is looking at investment stocks, investment revenues and it so happened that it coincided with decline in industrial earnings and price to earnings as well."

Catch the full interview here