- Indian benchmark indices ended marginally higher on Wednesday led by banking, IT and FMCG stocks. Gains in index heavyweights like Kotak Bank, Infosys, SBI, HDFC Bank and HUL also lifted the indices.

- The Sensex ended 85 points higher at 39,216 while the broader Nifty50 index added 25 points to end at 11,687. In broader markets, the Nifty Midcap and the Nifty Smallcap index fell 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

- Indiabulls Housing, UPL, Zee, Hindalco, and SBI were top gainers on the Nifty50 while YES Bank, Eicher Motors, GAIL, ONGC, and Maruti led the losses.

- All sectoral indices, except the Nifty Auto and the Nifty Pharma, ended higher for the day. The Nifty PSU Bank index gained 1.1 percent followed by the Nifty FMCG which was up 0.8 percent. Meanwhile, the Nifty IT advanced 0.6 percent, the Nifty Bank added 0.5 percent and the Nifty Fin Servcies rose 0.4 percent.

- Nifty Auto fell 1 percent, whereas, Nifty Pharma was down 0.2 percent. 

For Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers, 2019 has so far been a difficult year as many are finding it tough to comply with US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) norms. At the last count, there are at least four listed companies that have received warning letters in the span of five months. READ MORE

India has a chance to tell the World Trade Organisation to not set up a panel requested by Brazil on India's subsidies to sugarcane farmers, said Abinash Verma, Indian Sugar Mills Association. Brazil has alleged that in recent years, India has massively increased the level of domestic support under its support regime for sugarcane and sugar. “Brazil respectfully requests that the dispute settlement body establish a panel,” according to a communication submitted by the South American country to the Geneva-based WTO. READ MORE

Shares of Edelweiss Financial Services fell as much as 5 percent intraday on July 17 after reports of company's plan to offload part stake in its wealth business. According to a report in The Economic Times, the company is in advanced talks with US-based Kora Management to sell 20 percent stake in Edelweiss Wealth Management for a consideration of about Rs 2,000 crore. 

Growth in India's fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is slowing as households continue to squeeze spending,  market research firm Nielsen said, offering a gloomy barometer of the economy. The drop in GDP is driven by the weakening of household spending which forms nearly two-thirds of the GDP for the country. There is a looming concern on increasing inflationary pressure,” Nielsen said,  quoting its retail panel data. READ MORE

Shares of Cox & Kings were locked at 5 percent lower circuit for 16th consecutive session on Wednesday after defaulted on commercial paper and RattanIndia Finance's invocation of pledged shares. The travel company defaulted on payment of Rs 45 crore towards unsecured commercial paper due on July 16 and interest payment of Rs 41 lakh on secured redeemable non-convertible debentures of Rs 50 crore due July 15.

IT stocks are not likely to deliver significantly high returns from here, said Taher Badshah, CIO-Equities of Invesco Mutual Fund, adding that one could look at them with expectations of 10-15 percent returns. “I don’t think these are stocks which can deliver significantly high returns from here. If return expectations are more in the vicinity of between 10 percent and 15 percent, they are good for that," he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18. READ MORE

The bond market is getting more certain of a likely 50 basis points rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) going forward, said B Prasanna, head-global markets group, ICICI Bank. Bond yields appear to remain stubbornly below 6.5 percent after crashing 10 basis points yesterday to December 2016 lows on slowdown blues.

“It’s been a dream run for bond markets and bond traders. The move started post-budget when there was a relief that there is no fiscal slippage or there was no extra borrowing that the government is likely to do for the year...,” said Prasanna in an interview with CNBC-TV18. READ MORE

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it found adulteration and "significant violations" of current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations at Strides Pharma Sciences Ltd's plant in Puducherry in South India. Shares of Strides fell 8.1 percent to Rs 347.10 per share in early trades on the National Stock Exchange. The drugmaker was caught trying to dispose quality-control records, the FDA said in a letter made public on July 16. READ MORE

KNR Constructions shares rallied 4 percent intraday on July 17 after the company received work order from Navayuga Engineering. Company in its BSE filing on July 16 said it has received a work order for Rs 847.34 crore from Navayuga Engineering Company Limited, Hyderabad.

Shares of MCX India surged nearly 8 percent on Wednesday after the company reported a near 500 percent growth in net profit at Rs 43.70 crore in the first quarter as against Rs 7.33 crore for the corresponding quarter a year ago. The company's total income increased 30 percent to Rs 110.84 crore in Q1 from Rs 85.43 crore YoY.  EBITDA rose 58 percent to Rs 59.09 crore from Rs 37.47 crore YoY and EBIDTA margin stood at 53 percent.

HDFC Asset Management Company surged nearly 7 percent intraday after the company reported robust June quarterly earnings. The AMC reported a 42 percent YoY increase in net profit to Rs 291.79 crore for Q1FY20. Its total income increased by 10.28 percent YoY to Rs 552.75 crore as compared to Rs 501.19 crore in the year-earlier quarter.

Suzlon Energy shares declined about 9 percent on Wednesday after the wind turbine maker defaulted on a payment of $ 172 million worth of principal amount related to outstanding bonds. Suzlon energy shares fell as much as 8.9 percent to Rs 4.25 per share intraday on the National Stock Exchange. "The company has not made the payment of the principal amount of the outstanding bonds, being $172,000,000 (about Rs 1,180 crore), which was due on July 16, 2019, (Tuesday) in accordance with the terms and conditions of the bonds," Suzlon Energy said in a statement.

The cryptocurrency market took a beating with bitcoin losing over 10% in value after U.S. lawmakers grilled Facebook on its cryptocurrency plans, as political and regulatory scrutiny of digital coins intensifies. The social media giant is fighting to get Washington onside after it shocked regulators and lawmakers with its announcement on June 18 that it was hoping to launch its own digital coin called Libra in 2020.

Shares of DCB Bank fell 14 percent on Wednesday on asset quality detoriation in Q1. Reporing first-quarter results on Tuesday, the lender announced that an uptick in its bad loan proportion, with the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rising to 1.96 percent as against 1.86 percent in the corresponding period of 2018. The stock fell as much as 14 percent to Rs 205.30 per share on BSE. 

- Indian benchmark indices opened flat on Wednesday, tracking subdues Asian peers, amid continued selling by FIIs. Foreign investors have sold Rs 4,520 crore in the last 11 sessions. The ongoing first-quarter earnings season also kept the market cautious. 

- At 9:20 AM, the Sensex was trading 38 points lower at 39,092 while the broader Nifty50 index lost 10 points to trade at 11,652. 

- Yes Bank, IOC, BPCL, Adani Ports, and UPL were top gainers on the Nifty50 while Hero MotoCorp, GAIL, Indiabulls Housing, Dr Reddy's, and JSW Steel led the losses.

- Sectoral indices were trading mixed in opening trade. The Nifty Pharma index lost 0.6 percent followed by the Nifty Auto and Nifty IT, which were down 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, the Media index advanced 0.8 percent, the Nifty Metal added 0.3 percent and the banking indices were also positive.

- Buy Lupin with a stop loss of Rs 770, target at Rs 805

- Buy Biocon with a stop loss of Rs 254, target at Rs 268

- Buy PowerGrid with a stop loss of Rs 205, target at Rs 218

- Buy Dabur India with a stop loss of Rs 420, target at Rs 435

- Buy Tata Global Beverage with a stop loss of Rs 254, target at Rs 271

Click here for stock recos by Sudarshan Sukhani and Prakash Gaba

Jefferies on Federal Bank: The brokerage maintained a 'buy' call on the stock and raised the target to Rs 125 per share from Rs 114 earlier. It said that Q1 earnings are in-line with estimates and promise a steady improvement.

Citi on Federal Bank: The brokerage maintained 'neutral' call on the stock and raised the target to Rs 120 per share from Rs 110 earlier. It noted that the company's loan growth slowed a bit to 19 percent YoY but retail was strong.

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The lenders to the bankrupt Jet Airways, who met in Mumbai on Tuesday for the first time since the carrier was sent to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT,) have decided to raise $10 million as interim financing, sources privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18. Also, lenders are understood to have decided to call for expressions of interest to sell the meager assets of the airline by Saturday (July 20). READ MORE