Sensex, Nifty end lower amid volatility; metals surge

03:30pm Market ends: After a volatile session, the market has ended in negative terrain. The Sensex ended down 50.45 points at 27440.14 and the Nifty was down 11.25 points at 8320.70. Metal stocks jumped with top gainers like Vedanta and Tata Steel. ONGC, Hindalco and HUL were other gainers in the Sensex.

Among the losers were M&M, Bajaj Auto, HDFC, SBI and Coal India.

02:50pm South Indian Bank falls: South Indian Bank disappointed street on Tuesday with the fourth quarter net profit falling sharply to Rs 16.3 crore compared to Rs 124.6 crore in the year-ago period due to higher provisions.

Net interest income too declined 4.8 percent to Rs 347.1 crore from Rs 364.7 crore during the same period.

Provisions for bad loans jumped 4.9 times to Rs 137.7 crore during January-March quarter compared to Rs 28.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

02:25pm Welspun Projects in focus: Welspun Projects today said Merrill Lynch Capital has raised its stake in the company to 7.55 percent . Prior to acquisition, Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Espana's stake in the company was 3.80 percent , Welspun Projects said in a regulatory filing.

The mode of acquisition was market purchase, it further said, adding that the buyout of 15 lakh shares by Merrill Lynch Capital took place on April 30.

Welspun Projects (WPL), formerly known as MSK Projects (India) and part of the Welspun Group, is into engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects across sectors like roads, water and industrial structures. 

02:00pm Market Check

The market remained volatile with the Sensex falling 84.39 points to 27406.20 and the Nifty declining 21.90 points to 8310.05.

About 1237 shares have advanced, 1391 shares declined, and 182 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Neelkanth Mishra of Credit Suisse says their FY16/17 Nifty EPS estimates have been cut by 2 percent & 1.3 percent, respectively, with bulk of the cuts from energy stocks like Cairn, industrials like BHEL & cement. Second half of earnings season will be weaker than first half in FY16, he adds.

Asian market hit by weakness today. Shanghai closed with a 4 percent cut, its biggest loss in the last 4 months on news reports that several Chinese brokerages have tightened requirements for margin financing. Hang Seng lost more than 350 points today.

In stock action, Kotak Mahindra Bank surged 5 percent post reporting earnings better than estimates with profits of Rs 527 crore, a growth of 30 percent. The bank also announced bonus issue of 1:1. NIIT Technologies gained 4 percent on fourth quarter earnings. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com