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

Nifty holds 8150 amid pressure; HDFC, Bharti, HUL plunge

10:40am Biocon reaction to Q4 nos: Biocon's fourth quarter profit after tax climbed 78 percent year-on-year to Rs 201 crore led by exceptional gains of Rs 105.06 crore (on account of sale of shares of Syngene).

Overall it was a pleasant surprise on earnings as the street was expecting another dismal quarter but numbers were better than expectations. Though the profit was fueled by exceptional inflow, the topline indicated pure organic improved performance.

Revenue grew by 14.5 percent to Rs 854 crore during January-March quarter compared to Rs 746 crore in the year-ago period and expectations of Rs 791.1 crore.

"Biocon closed the year with a stronger performance in Q4 on the back of a record quarterly performance by our Research Services subsidiary, Syngene and an improved performance of our Biopharma business," said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director. 

10:25am FII View: Sakthi Siva, Credit Suisse said, "In our recent client visits in Singapore, a question that is coming up often is whether foreign investors are selling India/ASEAN to buy North Asia. For April, foreigners are now net sellers of India, Indonesia & Philippines, while they are net buyers of Korea & Taiwan."

"Year to date, foreigners are now net sellers of Indonesia, Thailand & Malaysia," she added.

10:00am Market Check

The market remained under pressure on the day of expiry of Nifty April derivative contracts. The Sensex fell 234.98 points to 26990.95 and the Nifty declined 69.05 points to 8170.70, dragged by FMCG, banking & financials and technology stocks.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices outperformed benchmarks, down marginally. About 813 shares have advanced, 1045 shares declined, and 117 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Shares of HDFC, TCS, HUL, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy's Labs and Coal India topped the selling list, down 2-3 percent. ITC, HDFC Bank, Infosys and L&T declined over 1 percent.

However, Axis Bank bucked the trend, up 5 percent following good set of numbers in Q4. CLSA, which has maintained buy rating on the stock, expects earnings to grow at 21 percent CAGR over FY15-17. 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

Nifty races towards 8500, Sensex firm; Jet soars 3%

The market continues to maintain its uptrend boosted majorly by bank and metal stocks. The Sensex is up 165.48 points or 0.6 percent at 28055.61 and the Nifty is up 64.45 points or 0.8 percent at 8494.15. About 1384 shares have advanced, 418 shares declined, and 100 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, Tata Power, Coal India and Maruti Suzuki are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are M&M and Infosys.

Jet Airways rises 3 percent as it will seek shareholders' approval next month to raise up to USD 400 million (over Rs 2,500 crore) through issue of securities on private placement basis. The aviation company has also puts half of its wide-body fleet on sale to reduce debt and looking to sell 16 aircrafts, including long-haul ones due to slack demand.

Meanwhile, the rupee fell by 16 paise at 62.98 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to appreciation of the Greenback overseas on strong American housing sales data. Besides, fresh demand for the dollar from importers weighed on the local currency but a higher opening in the domestic equity market, limited the rupee's losses, forex dealers said. For More information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Sensex slips 134 pts, Nifty holds 8700; IT, FMCG drag

03:30pm Market Closing: The market continued to see selling pressure for the second consecutive session today. The Sensex fell 133.65 points to 28666.04 and the Nifty shed 43.50 points to 8706.70.

About 1091 shares have advanced, 1711 shares declined, and 170 shares are unchanged on the BSE. 

03:15pm TCS Earnings Poll: All eyes will be on IT bellwether TC when it reports quarterly earnings declaration today evening, in which investors will be keen to ascertain whether a stumble on revenue growth in the past two quarters was an aberration or a sign the firm’s high growth pace may be secularly slowing down due to size.

By being the first major company to report fourth-quarter numbers, TCS will for the first time also don the mantle of being the company that “unofficially kick-starts” the earnings season. For many years now till the last quarter, this job was done by Infosys, the company TCS has raced past by on revenues, valuation and brand metrics in the past few years (the former has said it would announce results on April 24).

For TCS, analysts will be keenly eyeing whether the company will be able to even meet the now-muted expectations on revenue growth and how much of a hit margins take due to forex movements and seasonality impact.

A poll of analysts has forecast the firm’s dollar revenue to grow 0.2 percent to USD 3940 million versus USD 3931 million in the previous quarter, while rupee revenue is seen declining 0.1 percent, from Rs 24,501 crore to Rs 24,456 crore.

Operating profit (earnings before interest and taxes) is seen falling 1.2 percent to Rs 6,540 crore while net profit may fall 0.6 percent to Rs 5,410 crore. The fall in profit may result in TCS’s EBIT margin coming off from 27.04 percent to 26.74 percent.

03:00pm Market Update: The market pared its losses led by banking & financials and oil stocks. The Sensex fell 98.77 points to 28700.92 and the Nifty declined 39.40 points to 8710.80.

About 1017 shares have advanced, 1726 shares declined, and 160 shares are unchanged on the BSE. 

02:45pm MMTC divestment: The government is planning to sell 15 percent stake in state-run trading firm MMTC in the current fiscal which would fetch about Rs 800 crore to the exchequer. "The government plans to divest 15 percent stake in the company. We are ready for it," MMTC Chairman Ved Prakash told reporters.

At the current market price of Rs 52.80 apiece, sale of about 15 crore shares would garner around Rs 800 crore for the exchequer.

The government currently holds 89.93 percent stake in the state-run trading giant and the stake sale would help the company meet Sebi's minimum public shareholding norm. Market regulator Sebi has made it mandatory to have a minimum public holding of 25 percent in all PSUs.

The stake sale proceeds would help the government inch towards the disinvestment target of Rs 41,000 crore fixed for the current fiscal. So far, it has already raised Rs 1,550 crore through 5 percent stake dilution in REC. The government had last sold 9.33 percent stake in MMTC in June 2013 through which it had raised about Rs 570 crore.

02:25pm Earnings: IndusInd Bank matched street expectations on Thursday with the fourth quarter (January-March) net profit rising 25.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 495.3 crore. Asset quality of the bank improved too, during the quarter.

Net interest income was slightly lower than expectations at Rs 925.14 crore in quarter ended March 2015, up 18.4 percent compared to Rs 781.2 crore in the year-ago period. Net interest income is the difference between interest earned and interest expended. According to, NII was expected at Rs 941.5 crore for the quarter.

The profit was boosted by strong other income and lower provisions. Other income (non-interest income) jumped 26 percent year-on-year to Rs 658.48 crore crore while operating expenses climbed 25.3 percent to Rs 733.11 crore during January-March quarter. Other income was largely driven by fee income that jumped 29 percent.

Provisions for bad loans dropped 10.9 percent on yearly basis (up 9.6 percent sequentially) to Rs 107.44 crore in the fourth quarter of financial year 2014-15.

The bank reported good improvement in its asset quality performance as gross non-performing assets (NPA) declined to 0.81 percent in March quarter from 1.05 percent in previous quarter and 1.12 percent in the year-ago quarter. Net NPA stood at 0.31 percent during the quarter against 0.32 percent Q-o-Q and 0.33 percent Y-o-Y.

02:00pm Market Check: 

The market is completely in bear grip as capital goods and technology stocks shed heavily. The Sensex is down 168.45 points or 0.6 percent at 28631.24 and the Nifty is down 60.60 points or 0.7 percent at 8689.60.About 890 shares have advanced, 1766 shares declined, and 144 shares are unchanged.

Buoyed up by global oil prices hitting 2015 high, Oil & Gas index is in green, up 0.5 percent while rest of the indices are under selling pressure. ONGC, Bharti Airtel, M&M, SBI and HDFC are top gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, Sesa Sterlite, Cipla and Wipro.

Unilever reported better-than-expected sales for the first quarter on Thursday, showing improvement from the hammering it took last year from weak emerging markets including a slowdown in China. Unilever's full-year sales growth would probably come in at the upper end of its prior stated goal of 2 to 4 percent.

In the first quarter, underlying sales rose 2.8 percent, excluding the impact of currency moves, acquisitions and disposals.  The Anglo-Dutch maker of Dove soap, Lipton tea and Ben & Jerry's ice cream cited an improvement in China and an earlier Easter.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India has the potential to grow at nine to ten per cent growth rate, "a new normal" and asserted that high growth was essential to meet the challenges posed by the country's burgeoning young population.

Speaking at the day-long conference 'Deepening the US-India Commercial Partnership: The First Year of the Modi Government', Jaitley said in his keynote address that "India's own normal in terms of its growth rate has to target anything close to a double digit. India growing at five per cent, six per cent or even seven per cent is not an India that is going to face up this challenge (of large young population). For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Sensex, Nifty slide sharply; Hero loses 4%; sugar gains

01:45pm Rate cut likely in June?: Samiran Chakraborty, Head of Research, Standard Chartered Bank believes the WPI and CPI numbers alone won't charm the Reserve Bank to induce rate cuts in its June policy. But if conditions laid down by it show progress sans any untoward incidents and inflation stays in line with expectations, then there is quite a possibility that "in June we will see another 25 basis point of rate cut." He says the apex bank acts on the preconditions set by it in terms of certain domestic, global and weather factors. He adds that if world stays calm post Fed hike, then yet another rate cut post June won't be impossible. WPI based inflation fell to a record low of (-) 2.33 percent in March on account of cheaper food and fuel products as well as manufactured items. It was 6 percent in March 2014. 01:30pm BHEL in News: State-run power equipment maker BHEL today said it has fully commissioned 2,400 MW OP Jindal thermal power project in Chhattisgarh. "The unit has been commissioned at Jindal Power's  (JPL) OP Jindal 4X600 thermal power plant located at Tamnar in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh," BHEL said in a statement. The previous three units were commissioned by BHEL in the last three months. The scope of work in the contract includes design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection, testing and commissioning of steam turbines, generators and boilers, along with associated auxiliaries and electricals, besides controls & instrumentation and Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs). 01:00pm Market Check Selling pressure mounts on the market with the Sensex seeing a sharp slide. The 30-share index is down 239.57 points or 0.8 percent at 28560.12 and the Nifty is down 86.35 points or 0.9 percent at 8663.85. About 864 shares have advanced, 1702 shares declined, and 150 shares are unchanged. Hero MotoCorp slips 4 percent as the US company Erik Buell Racing in which it had invested USD 25 million, will cease its operations. The auto major had invested in Erik Buell Racing, a Delaware corporation, through a wholly owned subsidiary in Delaware, by the name of HMCL. EBR has a wholly owned subsidiary, Erik Buell Racing, a limited liability company organised in Wisconsin. Sesa Sterlite, Infosys, Cipla and L&T are major losers.  On the gaining side are ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, M&M and GAIL. Fear of a weak March quarter earnings seem to have worried investors. Rajat Rajgarhia, MD-Institutional Equities, Motilal Oswal Securities expects disappointing fourth quarter numbers to bring down full year earnings growth for FY15 around 4-5 percent from the earlier expectations of 14-15 percent. According to him, in the last six months there have been headwinds coming in from almost all quarters - with collapse in commodities, cross currency pains, lack of pick up in investment cycle, slowdown in rural consumption etc, so capital goods and cement companies are expected to report a decline in earnings. So the earnings growth for Q4 would be zero, while December was a negative number. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com