Live: Telecom stocks closed at high as policy announced

3.30 p.m: Sensex closes at 16,584 higher by 352 points, Nifty closed at 4989, up by 100 points

MTNL and BSNL to continue penetration in rural area. MTNL is higher by 2.8 percent at Rs 31.20.

The minister aims to have 100 percent teledensity by 2020.

Spectrum availibility to increase under new telecom policy.

Telecom stocks Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communication trade higher as the minister of Telecommunication announces the policy.

Market based pricing for spectrum announced – to lead to moretransparencyas compared to auction.

Dual licensing announced – one for service and one for network.

The minister said he will work on giving telecommunication an infrastructure status. This move will help companies raise cheaper funds and get tax benefits.

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Free roaming under new policy and one nation one service policy…. this can hit cellular company. As per CNBC Bharti Airtel to be hit by 4-5 percent at operating level while Idea will be hit by 8-9 percent at the operating profit level in 2013.

Bharti trades at Rs 366, 3.2 percent higher. Idea trades at Rs 91.75 higher by 1.72 percent. Reliance Communication trades at Rs 74.05, higher by 1.7 percent.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors closed at Rs 169.4 up by 6.4 percent on 26 percent growth by JLR division. Tata Coffee was the star performer closing 10.8 percent higher at Rs 889.80 after it announced a tie-up with Starbucks.

Sun TV closed 9.38 percent higher despite Dayanidhi Maran’s premises being raided by CBI.

2.45 p.m: Sensex is trading 308 points higher at 16,541, while the Nifty trades at 4977, higher by 90 points.

Real estate and IT sector indices have moved up by nearly 3 percent.

Tata Motors is higher by 6.82 percent at Rs 170, while Coal India has recovered its losses and is currently trading at Rs 344.50, nearly 2 percent higher from its previous close. There is no development yet on the strike call given by the workers for higher bonus.

Tata Coffee trades 11.16 percent higher at Rs 892.70, while Educomp trades 7.93 percent higher at Rs 275. Eurokids, a division of Educomp, announced that it is planning to raise Rs 240 crore for its expansion plan.

TTK Prestige is trading 6.5 percent higher at Rs 2,795. The company posted a quarterly net profit of Rs 33 million, up from Rs 21 million a year ago.

2.00 p.m: Sensex continues to trade 16,472, higher by 240 points, while Nifty trades at 4954, higher by 65 points.

Against an expectation of moderating growth, auto sector stunned the markets after data showed that September domestic car sales posted a fall of 1.8 percent over the previous year. Indian automakers sold 165,925 cars in September 2011. Sales of buses and trucks however, continue to rise, growing by 18 percent to 70,634.Higher interest rates, high fuel prices and a strike at Maruti’s unit in Manesar resulted in the lower numbers.

Tata Coffee has shot up by 13 percent to Rs 909, while Tata Motors is up by 6.35 percent.

Pipavav Defence, which has been cleared by the defence ministry to set up a joint venture with Mazgaon Docks, trades 5 percent higher at Rs 83.90.

Sintex trades 0.65 percent lower at Rs 114.55 ahead of its results.

European markets continue to remain volatile and are presently 0.5 percent higher over Friday’s close.

1.30 p.m: Indian markets continue to trade higher: the Sensex is trading at 16,452, up by 220 points, while the Nifty is trading at 4950, up by 62 points.

Tata Coffee is the top gainer, rising by 10.81 percent to Rs 891.30 among the most liquid counters, followed by Tata Motors, which is trading higher by 6 percent at Rs 168.95.

Lupinis near its low for the day at Rs 453, down 1.31 percent, despite investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala increasing his stake in the company to 3 percent.

Telecom stocks traded sideways ahead of a Draft Telecom Policy, which is expected to be announced soon. Idea is trading at Rs 90.55 higher by 0.3 percent, while Bharti Airtel is at Rs 359, higher by 1.21 percent.

IT major Infosys trades near the high of the day, ahead of its results, which will be announced on Wednesday. The stock trades 2.76 percent higher at Rs 2,577.

12.30 p.m: Europe opens marginally higher; most major indice are 0.5 percent higher.

The Sensex is trading 229 points higher at 16,462 points, while the Nifty is 63 points higher at 4,950.

Hear Santosh Nair, Editor, Moneycontrol.com discuss the markets with Shishir Asthana, Investment Editor, Firstpost.com below:

Listen to podcast ….

[caption id=“attachment_103143” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Results season kicks off with Sintex and TTK Prestige. AFP”]  [/caption]

Tata Motorshas risen by 5.50 percent at Rs 168 as the company continues to eat into Maruti’s market share, which is being affected by the continuing strike at its Manesar unit. Maruti is 2.2 percent lower at Rs 1,088. Tata Motors has moved up on account of a robust 26 percent growth in JLR sales. JLR posted 60 percent growth in the Chinese markets. Meanwhile, Jaguar and Land Rover along with Chery Automobile has said that they are seeking regulatory approval for setting up a joint venture in China.

Coal India has recovered most of its losses and presently trades at Rs 338, higher by 0.12 percent.

TTK Prestige has jumped after it announced better-than-expected results. The stock trades 3.7 percent up at Rs 2724.

M&M, meanwhile, has said that its unit in Rudrapur remains closed due to a curfew in the area. The stock is at Rs 805, 1.14 percent higher.

11.45 a.m: Sensex trades over 230 points higher from the previous day’s close at 16,46, while Nifty is higher by 66 points at 4955.

Real estate stocks are the major gainers, rising by 1.9 percent, followed by oil and gas stocks, which are trading 1.75 percent higher.

Coal Indiafalls sharply and trades 1.5 percent lower, at the day’s low of Rs 332 on a strike call by its workers. The workers are allegedly going on strike to demand a bonus of Rs 25,000 instead of the Rs 17,000 offered by the management. The bonus was Rs 15,000 per employee last year.

Reliance Industries has announced that they are signing a deal with Walt Disney to acquire content for its telecom venture. Reliance trades 2.6 percent higher at Rs 264. The move signals Reliance commencing its roll-out plan for 4G.

Meanwhile,Sesa Goa has sharply moved higher despite the company being accused of under invoicing its exports. The stock trades 2.15 percent higher at Rs 209.

11.00 a.m: Markets continue to trade higher with the Sensex trading at 16,419, higher by 187 points, while Nifty trades 49 points higher at 4,937.

Meanwhile, telecom counters have recovered sharply and are trading near the high of the day; Bharti is trading at Rs 357, 0.65 percent higher, while Idea is at Rs 90.75, higher by 0.5 percent.

Oil and gas sector stocks have risen the most: ONGC has climbed by 1.8 percent to Rs 269, while Reliance has moved higher by 1.95 percent to Rs 818.

Tata Coffee has moved up by 8.3 percent to Rs 870.85 on news that Starbucks will be tying up with the company to launch its (Starbucks’) cafe chain in India.

JP Morgan has upgraded Hindalco to ‘overweight’ with a price target of Rs 170. The stock trades 2.5 percent higher at Rs 129. The report says Hindalco is no longer an LME (London Metal Exchange) play as only 29 percent of its turnover is dependent on LME movement, down from 79 percent in 2009.

10.00 a.m: Markets are trading near their highs with the Sensex at 16,327, up by 94 points, while the Nifty is up by 25 points at 4,913.

IT stocks are the top gainers, rising around 1 percent over their previous close, ahead of Infosys’ results, which will be announced on Wednesday. Infosys trades 1.44 percent higher at Rs 2,544.

UBS, meanwhile, has downgraded Tata Steel to ’neutral’ with a price target of Rs 460. The stock currently trades at Rs 424.75, higher by 1.24 percent over the previous day’s close. Lower operating margins in Corus and lower sales in India are cited as the main reasons for the downgrade.

9.30 a.m: Market opened range bound, with the BSE Sensex trading 27 points higher at 16,260, and the NSE Nifty trading 2 points higher at 4,890.

On account of the ongoing CBI raids on Dayanidhi Maran, Sun TV has fallen by 7.75 percent to Rs 242.55, while SpiceJet is down by 1.18 percent to Rs 21.

Telecom stocks resumed their slide ahead of a telecom policy likely to be announced later in the day. Bharti Airtel trades 2.6 percent lower at Rs 345, while Idea is down by 3 percent at Rs 87.50.

Coal India, which has been included in the Nifty index from today, trades 1.8 percent higher at Rs 343.25.

Sesa Goa, which has been accused of under invoicing its exports is down 2.20 percent at Rs 200.50.

9.00 a.m: Despite a strong closing in the US on account of better than expectedunemployment numbers, markets are likely to remain subdued. Hang Seng is down by nearly 1 percent, while Shanghai is marginally in the green. Indian markets may trade flat; the European markets may, however, provide some direction.

Meanwhile, bad news continues trickle out of European markets, with rating agency Fitch downgrading both Italy and Spain.

In an early morning development, CBI is conducting raids on Dayanidhi Maran’s house, which can impact prices of Sun TV and Spice Jet, the companies owned by the family.

Results season kicks off with Sintex and TTK Prestige announcing their results. Analysts are awaiting Sintex’s results to see the provisioning it makes for its outstanding FCCBs, due to the sharp volatility in rupee in the previous quarter.

Labour troubles in Maruti’s Manesar plant just does not seem to be dying down. Employees have now resorted to violence, attacking co-workers and forcing them to join the strike.

Telecom stocks, which were in pressure on Friday, will see some action as the telecom policy is expected to be announced around 2.00 pm today.

Among other stocks that can see some action areKilitch Drugs, which, on late Friday evening announced selling its manufacturing and research unit in Paonta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh, to American company Akorn. The unit has been sold as a ‘slump sale’ for Rs 200 crore, which adjusted for its outstanding debt, works out to Rs 120 per share. The stock can move to at least Rs 100 based on this news.

Newspapers have said that Sesa Goa has been found guilty of under invoicing its exports to the tune of Rs 1,002 crore and over invoicing coking coal worth Rs 14.6 crore. The company has been in the midst of scams off late; this accusation will just add to the selling pressure on the counter.