Sensex skids over 261 pts, Nifty ends at 8214; Maruti up 3%

3:30 pm Market close: Dragged sharply by oil & gas, pharma, FMCG and banking stocks the market ended with severe losses. The Sensex closed down 260.95 points or 0.9 percent at 27176.99 and the Nifty ended at 8213.80, down 91.45 points or 1 percent at 8213.80. About 667 shares have advanced, 2063 shares declined, and 144 shares are unchanged.  SBI, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy's Labs, BHEL and HDFC fell around 3 percent each. Maruti gained over 3 percent after posting firm March quarter results while Vedanta, Wipro, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors were top gainers in the Sensex. BSE Midcap index slipped over 2 percent from previous close. 3:00 pm Market check: The Sensex is down 256.48 points or 0.9 percent at 27181.46 and the Nifty is down 86.25 points or 1 pecent at 8219. About 622 shares have advanced, 2039 shares declined, and 143 shares are unchanged. Maruti and Vedanta are up around 3 percent while Wipro, Coal India and Tata Motors are other top gainers in the Sensex. BHEL, SBI, Dr Reddy's Labs & HDFC lose 3 percent. ICICI Bank falls 2 percent. 2:30 pm ICICI Bank: ICICI Bank matched street expectations on Monday with the profit rising 10.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,922 crore in the quarter ended March 2015. Strong net interest income, other income and operating profit boosted the profit but asset quality worsens during the quarter. Asset quality has worsened with the gross non-performing assets (NPA) rising 75 basis points year-on-year (up 38 bps sequentially) to 3.78 percent and net NPA climbing 64 bps Y-o-Y (up 34 bps Q-o-Q) to 1.61 percent in the quarter gone by. Don't miss: Maruti Suzuki Q4 profit jumps 60.5% to Rs 1284 cr; dividend at Rs 25/sh Bears continued to keep tight control on Dalal Street as the Sensex fell 156.82 points to 27281.12 and the Nifty declined 60.95 points to 8244.30. Pharma, capital goods, FMCG and select banking & financials led the fall today. The market breadth also remained weak as about 1959 shares have declined against 616 shares advanced on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices dropped 1.5 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively. Maruti Suzuki gained 3.6 percent in afternoon trade after its Q4 earnings beat street expectations on every parameter. Profit climbed a whopping 60.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,284 crore, supported by higher volumes and favorable foreign exchange. "Higher volumes, material cost reduction initiatives, favorable foreign exchange and lower sales promotion expenses contributed to the bottomline during the quarter," said the car maker in its filing to the exchange. Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Wipro and Vedanta gained 1-2.5 percent whereas HDFC, SBI, Infosys, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sun Pharma, ONGC, HUL, Hero Motocorp and BHEL dropped 1-3 percent. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com