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 slips below 8300, Sensex down; Bharti, M&M, SBI drag

The market is losing its grip as the Sensex is down 93.18 points at 27397.41 and the Nifty is down 33.15 points at 8298.80. About 1226 shares have advanced, 1256 shares declined, and 159 shares are unchanged.

Vedanta, Tata Steel, ONGC, Hindalco and TCS are top gainers in the gainers while Cipla, Bharti Airtel, M&M, NTPC and SBI are laggards.

Gulf oil exporters must reduce spending, including subsidies, and diversify their economies to cope with lower revenues caused by the sharp drop in crude prices, the International Monetary Fund said. Oil prices have shed half of their value since June 2014, and are expected to be lower than the breakeven point for Gulf countries in the next three to four years

Sensex, Nifty consolidate; Vedanta, Tata Steel top gainers

12:59pm Market Update: The Sensex rose 12.47 points to 27503.06 and the Nifty slipped 3.55 points to 8328.40. About 1273 shares have advanced, 1181 shares declined, and 152 shares are unchanged on the BSE. 12:55pm Tata Communications in News:  Tata Communications today announced that it has been chosen by Formula One Management (FOM) to provide broadcast services for the GP2, GP3 and Porsche Supercup racing series. It will provide a fully diverse end-to-end fibre and satellite solution to broadcasters from across the globe at the 12 race locations in 2015. With this agreement broadcasters will have access to a provider with knowledge and experience in motor racing and the infrastructure capability to provide specific media management and movement services that go above and beyond the core technology. 12:25pm IT companies growth: TV Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Universal said the key issues for IT are weakness in euro and pricing contamination. Adding to the discussion, Sudin Apte, CEO and Research Director, Offshore Insights said client decision making has slowed down over the past couple of months. He believes TCS is better placed to transform itself into new age technology. According to Pai, management transformation is the key to success for the IT companies now. Execution is a challenge Infosys has to face, he added. He expects the companies to grow in low double digits going forward. 12:00pm Market Check The market continued to consolidate above 8300 level in noon trade. Metals, select IT and oil stocks gained while banks and select auto stocks remained under pressure. The Sensex gained 2.64 points at 27493.23 while the Nifty slipped 5.45 points to 8326.50. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices outperformed, up 0.4-0.5 percent. Kotak Mahindra Bank gained 1.7 percent ahead of its Q4 numbers. A CNBC-TV18 poll sees 19 percent profit growth on a standalone basis helped by a low base. Asset quality is expected to be stable. ING Vysya Bank numbers will be merged into Kotak from Q1FY16 onwards. Metals stocks extended rally with the BSE Metal Index rising more than 2 percent. Vedanta surged over 5 percent and Tata Steel gained more than 4 percent followed by Hindalco with 2 percent upside. Realty stocks like Oberoi Realty, HDIL etc gained 1-2 percent as the Real Estate Bill is scheduled to be taken up by Rajya Sabha members. Sources suggest that the government may send Real Estate Bill to standing panel today. Also GST Bill is lined up for discussion in Lok Sabha today. Finance Minister said he is reasonably confident of passage of the GST Bill in the Budget session. He is bullish on the India growth story, saying issues like MAT need to be resolved at the earliest. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Bulls at D-St: Sensex, Nifty surge; Future Retail up 15%

1:30 am Buzzing: Shares of BHEL rose 2.5 percent intraday. The company has successfully commissioned a 195 MW thermal unit in Bihar. It says that this is the first 195 MW unit to be commissioned by BHEL at the 2X195 MW Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station (TPS) Plant of Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam (KBUNL), a joint venture of NTPC and MSPGCL, Bihar. The second 195 MW is expected to be commissioned in FY2015-16. Earlier, in the first week of March 2015, a 660 MW supercritical thermal unit was commissioned by BHEL at Barh in Bihar.

Don't miss: ONGC, OIL rise 4-5% as govt to bear entire fuel subsidy

The market is still on its northwards journey as the Sensex is up 343.83 points or 1 percent at 27355.14. The Nifty is up 107 points or 1 percent at 8288.50. About 1790 shares have advanced, 711 shares declined, and 139 shares are unchanged.

ONGC, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Cipla and Hindalco are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the top losers are Tata Motors, L&T, Wipro and ICICI Bank.

Meanwhile, both Future Retail and Future Consumer Enterprise are up 15 percent each on hopes of a possible merger with Bharti Retail.

Meanwhile, Hartmut Issel, Head of Equity & Credit for Asia Pacific at UBS continues to feel India is on track and bases the premise of his optimism on oil prices. Issel, who is also CIO, the Wealth Management at UBS says low oil prices may have been good for the economy but also impacted corporate profits. A lot of earning downgrades is a result of that factor, Issel says.

He says oil prices have since moved up and expects that to firm up a bit more resulting in wiping out the main source of downgrades. Once that is taken care of, Issel sees the domestic story picking up again. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Nifty ends April series below 8200, Sensex skids 215 pts

03:30 pm Market check: After a volatile session, the market ended April F&O expiry below 8200-level. The 50-share index was down 58.25 points or 0.7 percent at 8181.50. The Sensex also slipped 214.62 points or 0.8 percent at 27011.31. About 1314 shares advanced, 1376 shares declined, and 193 shares were unchanged.

Axis Bank, BHEL, Reliance, Cipla and Vedanta were top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers, M&M, Tata Motors, Coal India, Tata Steel and ITC.

03:10 pm New kid in the block:  Shares of Bosch jumped 6 percent intraday as it will be soon added on the National Stock Exchange's benchmark index Nifty. Infrastructure financing firm IDFC will move out of the Nifty and will be replaced by auto component major Bosch.

The changes will come into effect from May 29, according to the changes announced today by India Index Services & Products Ltd (IISL), an NSE group firm which manages Nifty and other indices.

A host of changes have also been made in various other NSE indices such as CNX Nifty Junior Index, CNX 100 Index, CNX 200 Index CNX 500 Index and CNX Service Sector Index by its Index Maintenance Sub-Committee during a periodic review. The stocks being excluded from Nifty Junior index are Adani Enterprises and Bosch while Britannia Industries and MRF would be included in the index.

02:40pm Interview: Biocon's March quarter revenues rose 15 percent versus estimate of 6 percent growth and profits surged 78 percent. The bottomline was boosted by an exceptional inflow of Rs 105 crore from sale of Syngene. Speaking to, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon said the company delivered a robust earnings for Q4 and FY15.

The pharmaceutical company addressed all capacity constraints from last fiscal. It also got approvals from Mexican authorities for insulin drug. Biocon’s Malaysian facility has also commenced operations.

Shaw said the company deliberately took a hit on its topline in order to rationalize products. Biocon is focusing towards being a specialized products player.

Biocon strengthened its biopharma and contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) business and is seeing a lot of visibility in targets as the company advances in the biosimilar pipeline. The company has the largest potfolio of biosimilars globally, highlighted Shaw.

The company has increased its research and development (R&D) spends, which according to Shaw, is a positive signal for its growth. The R&D spend of the company is around 8-9 percent of its biopharma revenue and is sustainable. 

02:20pm Global markets: World stock markets and the dollar remained in a sharp sell-off mode today, having been jolted sharply lower by weak US growth data and cautious comments from the Federal Reserve.

Asian and European stocks continued a two-day decline for equity markets worldwide with Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.8 percent and heading for its worst week of the year.

The slide of more than 3.5 percent is being compounded by this week's jump in bond yields and a more than 2 percent surge in the euro to above USD 1.12, all of which are threatening to extinguish hopes for the region's recovery prospects.

Benchmark German Bund yields kept on climbing, having posted their biggest daily rise in two years on Wednesday on robust German inflation and a pick-up in ECB bank lending figures. Euro zone inflation data is due out at 0900 GMT.

02:00pm Market Check

The sell off continued on Dalal Street with the Sensex down more than 100 points in afternoon trade, though there was some recovery from day's low. The index lost 119.07 points to 27106.86 and the Nifty declined 31.60 points to 8208.15.

About 1213 shares have advanced, 1346 shares declined, and 164 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

S Naren of ICICI Pru said this correction is healthy for the market. There is a compelling case to invest into markets now. However, the capex cycle is not expected to pick up for next 6 months.

It has been a weak day for most global equities. Nikkei ended with a whopping 540-point loss while markets in Europe also fell significantly. Brent crude prices continued to inch higher, now at 6-month highs of USD 66 a barrel.

Shares of ITC, HDFC, Tata Motors, HUL, Bharti Airtel, M&M, Dr Reddy's Labs, Coal India, Tata Steel and Hero Motocorp lost 1-2 percent while Axis Bank remained firm, up 3 percent post Q4 earnings. Reliance Industries, Cipla and Vedanta gained 1-1.5 percent followed by ICICI Bank and ONGC with 0.5 percent gains.

It was a stellar debut for VRL Logistics, listing at a 40 percent premium to its issue price of Rs 205 per share despite a weak market sentiment. The management expects margins to be at historic levels of 18 percent going ahead. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Sensex, Nifty drag 1%; rupee weak, infra & FMCG stocks skid

1:30 pm Big bull: The Indian stock market has corrected enough over the past few weeks and the thesis remains that local equities are in a sustainable long-term run, as compared to countries like China where shares have seen a ‘poor quality’ rally.

That’s the view of Samir Arora of Singapore-based Helios Capital, who has upped the net exposure of his long-short hedge fund by 5-7 percent. (Arora’s current net long exposure is not known but in February this year, he said his position then stood at 63-64 percent.)

“As opposed to 2014, which was a long-only year, we expect this year to be long-short,” he said, while maintaining that investors should expect 12-15-18 percent kind of returns from stocks this year.

On the issue that has had investors the most worried, Arora said that even if earnings were muted in the current fiscal year (at about 10-12 percent growth), they will likely make up for it in the following year and that on a 2016-17 basis, shares were priced at a reasonable 16-17 times earnings.

Don't miss: Axis Bank rises 5%, brokerages say 'buy' post Q4 nos

The market is slipping away, as the Sensex is down 295.90 points or 1 percent at 26930.03. The Nifty is down 85.35 points or 1 percent at 8154.40. About 1031 shares have advanced, 1369 shares declined, and 147 shares are unchanged.

Bharti, Tata Power, HDFC, Coal India and Dr Reddy's Labs are among major laggards while Axis Bank, Vedanta, Cipla, Reliance and ONGC are top gainers in the Sensex.

The rupee pared its initial losses, but was still down by 17 paise at 63.47 against the American currency in late morning trade on sustained bouts of month-end dollar demand from banks and importers amid weak equities.

The dollar was lower against its major rivals in early trade over the doubts about the strength of the US economic recovery. 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 ends 170 pts lower; Axis Bank up 5%, Bharti falls 4%

3:30 pm Market close: The market ended a volatile session on a weak note. The Sensex was down 170.45 points or 0.6 percent at 27225.93, and the Nifty slipped 45.85 points or 0.5 percent at 8239.75. About 1526 shares  advanced, 1186 shares declined and 157 shares were unchanged.

Bharti Airtel fell 4 percent while ITC, HDFC, Vedanta and Reliance were major laggards in the Sensex. Axis Bank gained 5 percent. Among the top gainers were Wipro, GAIL, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank.

3:10 pm Market chcek: The market is slipping away as the Sensex is down 180.62 points or 0.7 percent at 27215.76, and the Nifty slips 51.05 points or 0.6 percent at 8234.55. About 1504 shares have advanced, 1127 shares declined, and 165 shares are unchanged.

Bharti Airtel is down 4 percent while ITC falls 3 percent. Vedanta, HDFC and Tata Motors are top losers in the Sensex. Among the gainers are Axis Bank, GAIL, Wipro, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank.

1:50 pm Market outlook: Straddled with long positions, market participants are looking to exit at higher levels and "so we are seeing selling each time index moves up, says Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities. He sees further 3-5 percent downside from current levels.

He continues to believe that individuals should look at bargains rather than entering at specific Nifty levels to make hay. He suggests looking at stocks falling under capital goods, engineering and steel sectors. He actively suggests Reliance Industries is a definite largecap buy for the next two years.

Speaking of revenues of corporate India that have either shrunk or remain flat, Dutt says the rupee-dollar equation remain a critical parametre and is going to play out for next few weeks or months. The government is taking right steps but recovery of macro economics take time. He sees revenue picking up after two quarters when the festive season dawns.

1:30 pm Results: Housing Development Finance Corporation's (HDFC) standalone profit increased 8 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,862.43 crore in March quarter, impacted by deferred tax liability.

The housing finance company said the deferred tax liability during January-March quarter was Rs 119.77 crore against Rs 87.29 crore in December quarter and nil in the year-ago period.

Total income from operations grew by 12.5 percent to Rs 7,448 crore for the quarter ended March compared to Rs 6,620.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Don't miss: Investors dump Idea post firm Q4; analysts still bullish

The market continued to be choppy but the broader markets outperformed equity benchmarks. The Sensex fell 62.67 points to 27333.71 and the Nifty declined 9.80 points to 8275.80.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.5-1 percent. About 1535 shares have advanced, 1011 shares declined, and 167 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities said he sees another 3-4 percent downside from current levels. Sectors like capital goods and infra are a good bet right now, he believes.

Global markets remained mixed as investors are eyeing US Federal Reserve's statement. The dollar hovered near an 8-week low.

Axis Bank topped the buying list on Sensex, up 3 percent as a poll expects bank's net interest income growth at 18 percent and asset quality is expected to be better than FY15 total guidance. For HDFC, analysts expect gross NPAs to be steady this quarter.

Motherson Sumi climbed 3.5 percent as it got orders from Daimler to supply exterior & interior systems to Mercedes-Benz vehicle generations. The current orders will generate sales revenue of approximately Rs 15,400 crore and will support Daimler's expansion activities, the company said.

Sugar stocks like Bajaj Hindusthan, Dhampur Sugar, Dwarikesh Sugar, Rana Sugars, Triveni Engineering, Uttam Sugar and Shree Renuka gained 1-5 percent as the government will raise sugar import duty to 40 percent from 25 percent to prevent influx of cheap imports. Additionally, sources told that the government cleared waiving off 5 percent excise duty on ethanol for blending with petrol. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Nifty struggles below 8300; IT, pharma, bank stocks rise

1:30 pm Results: Ambuja Cements missed street expectations on Wednesday with the first quarter net profit falling 38.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 317.69 crore compared to Rs 520.01 crore in the year-ago period. A poll had expected profit of Rs 340 crore on revenue of Rs 2,565 crore for the quarter. Revenue declined 7 percent to Rs 2,463 crore for the quarter ended March against Rs 2,651.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. The company follows January-December as its financial year. Don't miss: Investors dump Idea post firm Q4; analysts still bullish The market is flat as the Sensex is up 8.67 points at 27405.05. The Nifty is up 6.15 points at 8291.75. About 1441 shares have advanced, 956 shares declined, and 144 shares are unchanged. IT, pharma and bank stocks are lending support to the benchmark indices. Axis Bank is up 3 percent while Wipro, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank and GAIL were top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were Vedanta, ITC, Tata Motors, Hindalco and HDFC. Gold prices fell by Rs 53 to Rs 27,326 per 10 gm in futures trade today largely in tandem with a weak trend overseas and profit-booking by speculators. Analysts said the fall in yellow metal prices at futures trade was mostly in tune with a weak trend overseas and profit-booking by speculators at prevailing levels. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Nifty holds 8200 amid pressure; ITC, GAIL, ONGC laggards

The market is still under pressure. The Sensex is down 56.25 points at 27120.74 and the Nifty is down 12.50 points at 8201.30. About 1264 shares have advanced, 1192 shares declined, and 157 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank and Maruti are up 3-4 percent while BHEL, Hero Motocorp and Tata Motors are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are ITC, GAIL, ONGC, L&T and Bharti Airtel.

Japan's Nikkei share average rose helped by hopes of better shareholder returns after Fanuc Corp doubled its dividend payout ratio, but gains were limited ahead of a two-day US Federal Reserve's policy meeting. The Nikkei 225 ended 0.4 percent higher to 20,058.95. Oil fell more than 1 percent ahead of weekly US crude inventory data that is expected to hit another high and as Saudi Arabia pledged to supply more oil to China if needed.

US commercial crude stockpiles were expected to have risen last week for the 16th straight week, up from a record 489 million barrels, even though drilling activity fell, a preliminary survey by Reuters showed on Monday.

Comments from top Saudi oil officials on Monday reiterated the country's position of keeping production high to meet demand as it maintains its market share. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Sensex down 155 pts, Nifty below 8400; Tata Steel up 5%

3:30 pm Market closing: After a choppy session, the market ended on lower levels. The Sensex was down 155.11 points or 0.6 percent at 27735.02 and the Nifty slipped 31.40 points or 0.4 percent at 8398.30. About 1370 shares have advanced, 1442 shares declined, and 155 shares are unchanged.

Cement and pharma stocks were under pressure while a weak rupee also added pressure on the indices. Sun Pharma, SBI, Tata Motors, NTPC and Wipro were major laggards in the Sensex. Tata Steel remained top gainer, adding 5 percent at day's end. Other gainers were Coal India, Maruti, BHEL and Cipla.

3:00 pm HDFC Bank Q4 results: HDFC Bank's net profit rose 20.6 percent to Rs 2807 crore in the quarter ended March 2015 as compared to Rs. 2326.52 crore year-on-year. During the quarter, its net interest income was up 21.4 percent at Rs 6013 crore versus Rs 4952 crore on a yearly basis. Net interest margin (NIM) was flat at 4.4 percent quarter-on-quarter.  

According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, profit was seen growing 20.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,812 crore and net interest income rising 20.6 percent to Rs 5971 crore in the quarter ended March 2015. 

Its gross non-performing assets (NPA) was at 0.9 percent versus 1 percent (Q-o-Q) while net NPA was at 0.2 percent. In absolute terms, gross NPA stood at Rs 3438.4 crore compared to Rs 3467.9 crore in the last quarter of the same fiscal. Net NPA was at Rs 896.3 crore.

2:30 pm Market outlook: Amit Dalal, executive director, Tata Investment Corp in an interview to CNBC-TV18 said it is not right time for long-term investors to exit. neither is it the best time to invest. "I would neither be a big seller nor be a big investor right now," he added. The house has a preference for private banks over public sector banks (PSUs) because the non performing asset (NPA) problem for the PSU banks according to Dalal could worsen if government regulations impose provisioning for bad debts. The house is upbeat on ICICI Bank and plans to stay invested in it. Dalal said: “Next three years would largely be positive for banks unless something goes wrong in the economy and we are stuck with paradigm we don’t have with us.”

Don't miss: Tata Steel surges 5% after BoAML reinstates coverage

The market is still under huge selling pressure. The Sensex is down 170.99 points or 0.6 percent at 27719.14 and the Nifty is down 38.75 points or 0.5 percent at 8390.95. About 1299 shares have advanced, 1336 shares declined, and 153 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and NTPC are down above 2 percent while SBI & M&M are other losers in the Sensex. Among the gainers are Tata Steel, Coal India, Cipla and Maruti Suzuki. Cairn India is down 2 percent ahead of its March quarter results.

Meanwhile, the government is considering clarificatory amendments to the rules relating to Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) for the benefit of foreign investors who have been battling tax demands worth Rs 40,000 crore.

"Clarificatory amendments to MAT rules are under consideration of the government," Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha, told reporters. Sinha, along with top government officials, had held meeting with Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) yesterday, pressing for government's Rs 40,000 crore tax demand, saying they should approach courts to get relief on these matters. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com