Nifty above 8250, Sensex flat; Bharat slips 2%, ITC drags

9:55 am Buzzing: Shares of KPIT Technologies tanked 20 percent intraday, hitting lower circuit at Rs 124.05 per share on poor March quarter results. Its disappointing Q4FY1 earnings were dragged by revenue de-growth and a sharp drop in margins. Revenue de-growth was led by the US, manufacturing, energy & utilities, IES and SAP SBU, says ICICIdirect.com.

Also, what led to the drag is management’s mis-matched outlook. In March, the management had indicated that dollar revenue in January-March quarter to be flat quarter-on-quarter due to cross currency but it reported a 3.5 percent decline in the period. KPIT Technologies' Q4FY15 result was bleak, with revenues declining 3.2 percent Q-o-Q to USD 122 million

Antique has downgraded the stock to sell with a target price of Rs 113 per share.

9:40 am Market check: The Sensex is up 15.04 points at 27411.42 and the Nifty is up 0.05 points at 8285.65.  About 1015 shares have advanced, 463 shares declined, and 113 shares are unchanged.

Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and HUL are top gainers while Vedanta, ITC, TCS, Infosys and Tata Motors are laggards in the Sensex.

9:30 am FII view: Geoffrey Dennis, Head-Global Emerging Market Strategy at UBS expects the US Fed to start raising rates in September. He remains invested in emerging markets and feels the India story stays intact in long-term. However, he sees some profit-taking. According to Dennis, India is unlikely to give 35 percent returns as other countries like Korea and China are attracting some money out of the country. He, however, advises Indian investors to put money into market now and expects a 10-15 percent upside in the market by 2015-end.

Don't miss: HDFC Q4 profit seen up 7.2%, NII may grow 16.5%: Poll

The market has once again opened in negative terrain. The Sensex is down 39.55 points at 27356.83 and the Nifty is down 10.80 points at 8274.80. About 309 shares have advanced, 121 shares declined, and 77 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma, Maruti, Wipro, Bajaj Auto and ICICI Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Bharti Airtel, HUL, Vedanta, Cipla and Tata Motors.

Bharti Airtel's earnings disappointed after profits and revenues missed estimates. The Indian operations of the company remain steady while Africa continues to drag.

The Indian rupee opened marginally lower at 63.22 per dollar against 63.15 Tuesday. The dollar dropped to an eight-week low after a weak US consumer confidence report, with investors cautious about a Federal Reserve meeting.

Himanshu Arora of Religare said, "The USD-INR pair is expected to trade lower today on expectations that Greece will reach a bailout agreement soon. Improved risk appetite along with surging equities may dampen demand of dollar. Further, World Bank's statement that India is less vulnerable now than it was in 2013, may also support the rupee in the short term.”

Among global markets, US markets close mixed as investors digested the raft of earnings and awaited the Federal Reserve's statement due later today.

In Europe, equities closed lower as investors took a breather from a stellar rally in the previous session and looked ahead to meeting by the US Federal reserve policymakers.

Among commodities, Brent crude prices hovered near USD 64 per barrel on expectations that US crude stockpiles could be at record highs for the 16th consecutive week. Gold prices rise to USD 1210 an ounce on soft dollar. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

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

Sensex falls 245 pts, Nifty ends at 8750; auto, banks drag

03:30pm Market Closing: The market saw steep fall in late trade with the Sensex losing 244.75 points to 28799.69 and the Nifty declining 83.80 points to 8750.20. Even the broader markets snapped 10-day winning streak, falling more than half a percent.

About 1376 shares have advanced, 1492 shares declined, and 151 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Shares of Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, BHEL, Hero Motocorp, Wipro and Bharti Airtel plunged 2-4 percent. However, ITC, SBI, ONGC and Sesa Sterlite bucked the trend, rising 1-2.5 percent.

03:10pm Info Edge rallies: Info Edge has corrected in the past few months. UBS thinks its risk-reward profile is attractive at the current level.

The brokerage upgraded the stock from neutral to buy and raised its price target from Rs 950 to Rs 1,000.

Info Edge is a major company in the online classifieds market. Naukri, India's No 1 job portal, remains its key revenue and earnings source. The company has been investing aggressively in 99acres, given big upside potential in online real estate classifieds. Zomato, its food portal, is also doing well.

Amid increasing competition in the online food discovery and ordering segment in India, Zomato is set to launch its food ordering application for restaurants in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, as per media articles.

UBS said this is a positive for Info Edge, as it indicates a robust monetisation strategy on top of strong business growth. It expects proceeds from the recent round of capital-raising to fund the required expenditure.

03:00pm Market Update: The market extended losses in late trade with the Nifty breaking 8750 level, dragged by technology, private banks, capital goods, pharma and auto stocks.

The Sensex is down 236.93 points or 0.82 percent at 28807.51, and the Nifty down 80.25 points or 0.91 percent at 8753.75. About 1398 shares have advanced, 1409 shares declined, and 155 shares are unchanged on the BSE. 

02:45pm Oil companies in focus: Sources told that the government has paid Rs 5,300 crore to oil companies as subsidy for the January-March quarter of financial year 2014-15.

The government exempted upstream companies from sharing Q4 under-recovery burden and will also exempt upstream oil companies from any burden sharing for LPG under direct benefit transfer for FY16, said sources.

However, learnt that upstream companies may have to share only kerosene under-recovery burden in FY16.

According to sources, LPG subsidy for FY16 is likely to be Rs 22,000 crore and the government does not expect too much burden on kerosene under-recovery in FY16.

Shares of ONGC gained 3.5 percent and Oil India rallied nearly 7 percent.

02:20pm Europe Update: European shares hit a 14-year high today before a meeting at which the European Central Bank is expected to affirm its loose policy stance, as weak data from China raised prospects of monetary easing there too.

Financial markets remain driven by policy action from the world's major central banks, with Tuesday's softer US retail sales supporting the view that the Federal Reserve will not rush to raise interest rates in June.

The ECB is almost certain to keep rates unchanged at record lows at its meeting later in the day, and also tipped to quash talk it might scale down sooner than planned the 1 trillion euro quantitative easing scheme it launched last month.

A banking source told Reuters on Tuesday the ECB raised the cap on emergency liquidity assistance that Greek banks can draw from the country's central bank, taking some of the heat off Athens.

Data earlier in the day showed growth in China's economy slowed to a six-year low of 7 percent in the first quarter. That was better than many feared after a woeful trade performance in March.

But both retail sales and industrial output missed forecasts, with the latter expanding at the slowest pace since the global financial crisis in 2008, intensifying Beijing's struggle to find the right policy mix to shore up activity.

02:00pm Market Check

The market is flat, as the Sensex is down 8.44 points at 29036.00. The Nifty is down 3.65 points at 8830.35. About 1561 shares have advanced, 1173 shares declined and 149 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite, SBI, Tata Power, ITC and Maruti Suzuki are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are M&M, BHEL, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel.

India needs to take many policy measures over a period of time, including moving towards full capital account convertibility, to become a leading global economy, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha has said.

"There are many policy measures and many things that we have to do over a period of time, if indeed India has to become a leading global economy... We have to make it possible for our capital markets to be broader, deeper and for that to happen, capital account convertibility also becomes important," Sinha told reporters.

Crude oil prices climbed in Asia for a fifth-straight trading day today following forecasts that US shale production could decline and help ease a global supply glut, analysts said.

The US Energy Information Administration said on Monday that output from the country’s seven shale regions, which has driven production to a record high, looked set to fall by 57,000 barrels per day in May. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Sensex consolidates; Mid, Smallcap continue to outperform

10:25am Market Expert: Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS expects more consolidation in the market. According to him, the downside range for the Nifty is 8000-8300, while the index may hit 9,000 on the upside.

In an interview, Kapoor said that some major steps taken by the government may help revive the economy but feels the rural consumption may still take some time to improve.

He expects the US Fed to delay the hike in interest rates as employment numbers remain weak and sees more retail investors entering the domestic market through IPOs.

Kapoor sees earnings improving by the second half of the quarter if the monsoon is good. He, however, expects IT companies to post moderate Q4 earnings.

10:00am Market Check

The market entered into consolidation mode after rallying in last five consecutive sessions. Private banking & financials stocks declined whereas oil and PSU banks stocks gained.

The Sensex declined 7.82 points to 28877.39 and the Nifty fell 2.30 points to 8776.00. However, the broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained more than 0.5 percent. About 1157 shares have advanced, 684 shares declined, and 132 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

In the pharma sector, Cipla slipped over a percent as CLSA downgraded stock to a sell from underperform with a target price of Rs 619. Biocon gained 2 percent on approval for insulin glargine in Mexico.

IDFC gained more than 3 percent as shareholders approved scheme of arrangement between company and IDFC Bank. Rajiv Lall, CEO & MD of IDFC said banking operations will start on October 1, with the total balance-sheet size on October 1 will stand at Rs 70,000 crore. For More information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Sensex, Nifty volatile; Midcap, Smallcap outperform

11:25am PMI eases: Growth in India's pivotal services industry lost some momentum in March as input prices rose at the fastest pace in nearly a year, a business survey showed on Monday.

The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index eased to 53.0 in March from February's eight-month high of 53.9. A reading above 50 indicates growth, and March was the 11th straight month of expansion.

"India's service sector ended the first three months of 2015 with a strong performance, providing signals that much of the weakness seen in 2014 has been left behind," said Pollyanna De Lima, economist at Markit.

"Despite softening slightly since the prior month, growth of activity and new business in the country's dominant sector was robust," she said.

The input prices sub-index jumped to a nine-month high of 54.3 from February's 51.2 but as firms absorbed most of the added cost burden, they built up a bigger backlog of outstanding work.

11:00am: Market Expert

The market remained lacklustre but the broader markets continued their strong performance. The Sensex rose 18.67 points to 28278.81 and the Nifty advanced 3.10 points to 8589.35.

The BSE Midcap index gained 0.7 percent and Smallcap rallied over a percent. More than two shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The market scenario is likely to turn more benign over the next few months, said Sandip Sabharwal of asksandipsabharwal.com. “Three months ago we were looking at several global concerns like the possibility of an early rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, Greek Crisis which would become uncontrollable and several others. However, last week we saw some positive developments, which would play out over the next few months,” he said.

He feels the Iran situation is very positive from India’s perspective — both in terms of keeping crude prices down and opening up of the export market for India. For the immediate short term, Sabharwal sees the RBI policy slated Tuesday to play an important role. For More information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com