Nifty closes above 8,600-mark; Sensex up over 300 points

Domestic markets end bullish ahead of Annual Budget which is set to present by Finance Minister on February 1. On Wednesday, Sensex closed at 27,708.14, up 332.56 points or 1.21%, while, Nifty at 8,602.75, up 126.95 points or 1.50%. 

At 1509 Nifty was trading at 8,600.90, up 125.10 points or 1.48%, while, Sensex was at 27,715.08, up 339.50 points or 1.24%.

Kotak Mahindra Bank share price jumped after the bank reported 39% rise in net profit to Rs 880 crore during the quarter ended on December 31. 

At 1323 hours the shares of the bank were trading at Rs 779.10 per piece, up 4.88% or Rs 36.25 on BSE. 

Shares of Indian Bank jumped after the bank surpassed analysts estimates by reporting a whopping 671% year-on-year (yoy) rise in net profit for its third quarter ended December 31, 2016. 

The bank reported net profit of Rs 373.47 crore, registering growth of 670.51% compared to Rs 48.47 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. 

At 1249 hours the shares of the bank were trading at Rs 272.05 per piece, up 5.59% or Rs 14.40 on BSE. 

Shares of Inox Leisure dropped after a media report titled 'INOX top bidder for SRS Cinemas'. Soon, exchange has sought clarification from the company and the reply is awaited. 

At 1157 hours the shares of Inox Leisure were trading at Rs 235.25 per piece, down 1.51% or Rs 3.60 on BSE. 

Shares of Sona Koyo Steering Systems surged 13% after a media report which said 'Kapurs likely to steer away from Sona Koyo'. Soon, the exchange sought clarification from the company.

Though the reply from the company is awaited, the shares of the company jumped. At 1104 hours the shares of the company were trading at Rs 82.25 per piece, up 12.59% or Rs 9.20 on BSE. 

Wockhardt Ltd on Tuesday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 53.91 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2016. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 72.04 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

At 1048 hours the shares of the company were trading at Rs 667.25 per piece, down 2.22% or Rs 15.15 on BSE. 

Shares of ITC climbed nearly 1% after the company on Tuesday announced that it is taking steps to elevate its COO Sanjiv Puri as Chief Executive Officer and plans to split the post of Executive Chairman and CEO after incumbent Y C Deveshwar steps aside on February 5.

At 1027 hours the shares of the company were trading at Rs 262.05 per piece, up 0.89% or Rs 2.30 on BSE. 

Maruti Suzuki is set to announce its financial result for the quarter ended on December 31. In the previous quarter the company had reported 60% jump in net profit to Rs 2,398 crore. 

Ahead of its announcement, at 1012 hours the shares of the company were trading at Rs 5,770, up 0.54% or Rs 30.85 on BSE. 

At 1007, on 30-share benchmark, among top gainers were Tata Steel (1.99%), HDFC (1.73%), Axis Bank (1.39%), HDFC Bank (0.99%) and Adani Ports (0.94%). Among losers were Bharti Airtel (-2.51%), Bajaj Auto (-0.63%), Mahindra & Mahindra (-0.53%), Infosys (-0.51%) and Reliance Industries (-0.42%). 

At 1001 hours the shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank were trading at Rs 749.20 per piece, up 0.85% or Rs 6.35 on BSE. The bank will be announcing its financial result for the quarter on December 31.

In the previous quarter the bank had reported a 42.6% rise in net profit to Rs 813 crore on year-on-year basis. On net basis, NPAs stood at 1.20% in Q2FY17. 

Shares of Wipro trade flat ahead of its financial result announcement for the quarter ended on December 31. In the previous quarter the company had reported a decline of nearly 8% in its consolidated net profit for Q2FY17. It had registered a consolidated net profit of Rs 2070.4 crore during the quarter. 

At 0933 hours the shares of the company were trading at Rs 481.85 per piece, up 0.16%. 

Shares of Bharti Airtel plunged nearly 3% after the company reported 55% drop in net profit during the quarter ended on December 31.

At 0925 hours the shares of the company were trading at Rs 307.15 per piece, down 2.91% or Rs 9.20.

Domestic markets on Wednesday trade firm. At 0918 hours Sensex was trading at 27,453.27, up 77.69 points or 0.28%, while, Nifty was trading at 8,498.95, 23.15 points or 0.27%. Within a minute after the market opened, Nifty touched 8,500-mark but again it slipped to 8,498. 

Sensex, Nifty trade in green during the pre-open market session. Sensex was at 27,452.07, up 76.49 points or 0.28%, while, Nifty was trading at 8484.05, up 8.25 points or 0.10%.