Nifty struggles below 8450; banks gain, HUL & Maruti lose

11:35am Market Update : The market is sluggish. The Sensex is down 9.45 points at 27876.76 and the Nifty is down 3.70 points at 8444.40. About 1057 shares have advanced, 1056 shares declined, and 155 shares are unchanged.

Banks are lending major support to the indices with gainers like Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. M&M, Coal India and Tata Steel are also up 1 percent each. Sun Pharma is still down 9 percent while Maruti, Dr Reddy's, HUL and Hindalco are losers in the Sensex.

The rupee plunged by another 24 paise to hit a new one-month low of Rs 63.15 against the dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to sustained demand for dollars from importers and bankers. Dealers said a lower opening in the domestic equity markets also weighed on the Indian currency. They attributed the rupee's fall to dollar gains against other currencies overseas.

10:35am Market Update: Equity benchmarks extended losses with the Nifty falling below 8400. The Sensex lost 188.02 points to 27698.19 and the Nifty slipped 61.35 points to 8386.75. About 881 shares have advanced, 1098 shares declined, and 137 shares are unchanged on the BSE. Banks are weak. Credit Suisse recommended reducing weight on Indian Banks and selling corporate lenders including SBI and PNB. They have cut the target price of the likes of Axis Bank and ICICI Bank and downgraded Bank of Baroda and Yes Bank to neutral. SBI, HDFC Bank and HDFC fell 0.8-1.5 percent. In the broader space, Lanco Infratech climbed 5.5 percent as the company has successfully completed sale of 1200 MW Udupi power plant to Adani Power. However, Ramco Systems cracked 5 percent as the company reported revenue growth of 4 percent with EBITDA declining 14 percent, margin at 19 percent (against 23 percent Y-o-Y) and profit down 46 percent Y-o-Y to Rs 43.5 crore. Meanwhile, the rupee breached 63-mark, down 13 paise to 63.04 a dollar. 10:25am Market Expert: The political tussle taking place in the parliament over important business-evolving Bills like the Land Acquisition Bill is taking its toll on the market, says Sandeep Bhatia, Executive Director & Head Of Sales at Kotak Institutional Equities. In an interview, Bhatia says the Indian industry should be allowed to expand by easy acquisition of land and the ongoings in the parliament act as a huge headwind for the Nifty. The other headwind, he adds, is the Q4 earnings that are on the expected lines of a slowdown. But if the earnings continue to lag growth, then information technology will be the best sector to be in, he says. 10:00am Market Check The market remained under pressure amid volatility. The Sensex fell 126.43 points to 27759.78 and the Nifty declined 46.25 points to 8401.85. About 855 shares have advanced, 991 shares declined, and 131 shares are unchanged on the BSE. Sun Pharma topped the selling list on Sensex, down nearly 10 percent as the compnay saw multiple blocks on BSE and NSE at Rs 930-Rs 968 per share with Daiichi Sankyo as the likely seller. HCL Technologies reacted negatively to its third quarter earnings. The stock fell 7 percent as the company reported a miss on all counts with dollar revenue at USD 1.49 billion against estimates of USD 1.5 billion and rupee revenue down 0.2 percent Q-o-Q for the quarter. The constant currency growth was 2.7 percent Q-o-Q against estimates of 3 percent and the margin decline was sharper than estimates with EBIT margins declining to 21.33 percent against estimates of 22.58 percent with profit down 12.1 percent to Rs 1,683 crore. Wipro too slipped 3 percent ahead of its numbers today. The street is expecting a dollar revenue to decline 0.2 percent with EBIT margins at 20.74 percent against 21.77 percent Q-o-Q. Tata Sponge Iron plunged over 8 percent after the company reported a decline of 25 percent in total income to Rs 160.3 crore with EBITDA down 105 percent to Rs 1.7 crore and profit down 79 percent to Rs 8.57 crore Y-o-Y. For More information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Sensex crashes 556 pts, Nifty slips 1.8%; Reliance falls 4%

03:30 pm Market close: The Sensex is down 555.89 points or 1.9 percent at 27886.21 and the Nifty is down 157.90 points or 1.8 percent at 8448.10. About 897 shares have advanced, 1951 shares declined, and 155 shares are unchanged.

Reliance lost 5 percent and Hero Motocorp fell 4 percent. Other laggards were HDFC, Cipla and M&M. Top gainers are ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma.

03:10 pm Warning: Earnings disappointments in the first few results and already low expectations could result in further market correction, says Sanjeev Prasad, Kotak Equities. Other global events (Grexit) and domestic issues (tax notices to FIIs for past income) could also affect sentiment. He sees potential correction in the high-growth quality stocks if investors start questioning Street’s earnings assumptions. In an interview , Prasad says valuations would remain heady even with a 15-20 percent correction.

The Sensex is down 532.49 points or 1.9 percent at 27909.61 and the Nifty is down 148.30 points or 1.7 percent at 8457.70. About 788 shares have advanced, 1992 shares declined, and 158 shares are unchanged.

02:56pm Rupee Check: The rupee slumped to its weakest in over a month after a spurt in dollar outflows triggered by the greenback's strength globally as well as weaker shares, traders said.

The rupee was trading at 62.8450/8550 to the dollar, compared with 62.36/37 on Friday. The rupee had fallen to as much as 62.86 to the dollar, its lowest since March 16.

Shares were also headed for their biggest single-day fall in nearly a month on worries over retrospective taxation for foreign institutional investors.

02:50pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks extended losses in last hour of trade, falling more than 2 percent. The Sensex crashed 621.91 points to 27820.19 and the Nifty plunged 179.20 points to 8426.80.

About 740 shares have advanced, 2016 shares declined, and 148 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

02:45pm Chinese shares retreat: 

A cut in banks' reserve requirements announced by the People's Bank of China on Sunday was the largest since the global financial crisis, but markets reacted half-heartedly as traders focused on moves by the securities regulator which they feared could pop a gravity-defying, six-month rally.

Money market rates fell but corporate bond yields were largely flat, while the yuan weakened about 0.9 percent to 6.203 to the dollar by late afternoon.

Stocks had rallied early and at one point touched fresh seven-year highs, with the CSI300 of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen closing the morning session up 1.2 percent.

But those gains quickly evaporated in the afternoon on concerns that regulators want to slow the pace of gains in a market that has already bolted more than 80 percent since late November, thanks in large part to borrowed money.

Securities regulators announced on Friday they would allow fund managers to lend shares for short-selling, and ban margin financing through unregulated accounts.

Both the CSI300 index and the Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks all stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, ended down 1.6 percent.

02:35pm Market Update: The Sensex fell more than 950 points and the Nifty cracked over 320 points in last four consecutive sessions.

Today, shares of ITC, Infosys, L&T, ONGC, HUL, M&M, Hero Motocorp, Cipla, Dr Reddy's Labs, Wipro and NTPC plunged 2-4 percent followed by HDFC, TCS, Axis Bank and Tata Motors with over 1 percent loss.

However, ICICI Bank bucked the trend, up 1.6 percent. Sun Pharma gained nearly a percent.

02:15pm Oil Check: 

"I have said many times we will always be happy to supply to our customers with what they want. Now they want 10 million," Naimi told Reuters on Monday in South Korea's capital Seoul, where he is due to attend a board meeting of the state oil firm Saudi Aramco.

Naimi earlier this month said Saudi Arabia produced 10.3 million bpd of crude in March, eclipsing a previous record of 10.2 million bpd, in what is seen as a move to defend market share against non-OPEC competition, including the United States.

US oil drilling rigs fell for a record 19th straight week to the lowest since 2010, data from Baker Hughes showed, which has helped lift prices from six-year lows reached in January.

Since the beginning of April, oil prices have risen around 17 percent, pushed up by reports of a possible dip in US output, but Morgan Stanley warned on Monday that Saudi production could be more important than developments in the United States.

02:00pm Market Check

The market extended losses in afternoon trade on concerns over tax-related issues for foreign investors. The Sensex plunged 429.71 points or 1.51 percent to 28012.39 and the Nifty slipped 124.25 points or 1.44 percent to 8481.75, dragged by oil, technology and FMCG stocks.

The broader markets continued to underperform benchmarks. The BSE Midcap Index dropped 1.6 percent and Smallcap lost 1.9 percent. More than two shares declined for every share advancing on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Mahesh Nandurkar, CLSA said the 2015 Budget made it clear that the FIIs don't have to pay minimum alternate tax (MAT) on capital gains from April 2015 onwards. But, media reports indicate that the income tax authorities have issued notices to several foreign institutional investors pertaining to their MAT liabilities for prior years, he added.

According to him, clearly, India is not completely out of the 'tax claims pertaining to prior years' syndrome yet.

Reliance Industries was the biggest contributor to Sensex's fall, down 4.5 percent on profit booking post strong Q4 earnings. For More information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Sensex weak as foreign investors seek clarity on taxation

Selling pressure continues on Dalal Street as foreign investors are awaiting clarity on tax-related issues. The Nifty is down 66.50 points or 0.8 percent at 8539.50 while the Sensex is down 248.44 points or 0.9 percent at 28193.66. About 944 shares have advanced, 1636 shares declined, and 150 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank and SBI are major gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are Hero MotoCorp, Reliance, Infosys, HUL and Coal India. Technology stocks are still laggards with losers like TCS, Infosys and Wipro.

Asian shares slipped and Chinese stock markets erased their earlier sharp gains made after Beijing's latest stimulus steps, which still underpinned sentiment and helped limit losses.

Oil prices rose in Asia, fuelled by sustained unrest in the crude-rich Middle East, while also gaining support on hopes that declining US production will ease a global supply glut, analysts said.

Dealers are also reading a drop in US oil rig activity as a sign of a production slowdown that could alleviate global oversupply and push prices up, analysts said. The latest count by Baker Hughes showed rigs targeting US crude dropped by 26 to 734 last week, Bloomberg News reported. Oil prices rallied last week on news that US shale output may be on the cusp of easing. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com

Sensex slips 200 pts; Midcap, Smallcap decline too

10:45am Market Update: The Sensex dropped 190.04 points to 28252.06 and the Nifty fell 62.55 points to 8543.45.

About 830 shares have advanced, 1345 shares declined, and 141 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

10:25am New IPO: MEP Infrastructure Developers is going to open its initial public offer (IPO) of 5.14 crore equity shares for subscription on Tuesday, April 21, 2015.

The Mumbai-based toll management company has fixed price band of the issue at Rs 63-65 per share. The public issue will close on April 23.

Bids can be made for minimum 225 equity shares and in multiples of 225 equity shares thereafter.

MEP Infrastructure intends to utilise the net proceeds of the issue to repay loans availed by subsidiary MIPL and for general corporate purpose.

10:00am Market Check

Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets extended losses in morning trade today, dragged by technology, auto, FMCG and HDFC group stocks. The Sensex fell 129.45 points to 28312.65 and the Nifty declined 43.20 points to 8562.80.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices fell 0.9 percent each. About 797 shares have advanced, 1104 shares declined, and 127 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Markets could crack further from these levels, is the word coming in from Ajay Srivastava, CEO, Dimensions Consulting. He says oil was the best low-hanging fruit for the Indian market. But if it stays where it is or prices increase a bit, the Indian economy will suffer, he says. Besides, as things stand, the recovery on the ground is getting more and more delayed, he adds.

Infosys topped the selling list on Sensex, down 2.6 percent followed by TCS, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero Motocorp, Coal India and Sesa Sterlite with 1-2 percent losses.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries declined 0.7 percent despite strong earnings in Q4 with the profit rising over 22 percent and gross refining margin at USD 10.1 a barrel.

However, shares of Sun Pharma rebounded today with 2.6 percent upside. ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs, ONGC and Tata Steel gained 0.5-1 percent. 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

Nifty breaks 8700; TCS falls 1% ahead of Q4 earnings

10:45am HCC in Focus: HCC Concessions, the infrastructure development arm of the HCC Group, today announced the sale of its stake in Dhule Palesner Tollway to the Sadbhav Group, HCC’s JV partner in the project, for Rs 204 crore. HCC Concessions is also expected to realise an estimated amount of Rs 24 crore from additional claims to be made to the NHAI, towards this project. The deal is subject to receipt of necessary clearances and is expected to close shortly.

10:30am Market Update; The Sensex fell 131.97 points to 28667.72 and the Nifty dropped below 8700, down 51.40 points to 8698.80.

The broader markets also declined. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices fell over half a percent. About 802 shares have advanced, 1302 shares declined, and 127 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

10:20am Goldman on OMCs:  With clarity emerging on FY16 subsidy sharing, Goldman Sachs is upbeat on oil marketing companies (OMCs). The finance ministry on Wednesday communicated to the oil ministry that it will fully compensate oil marketing companies for Q4 under-recoveries of FY15.

The finance ministry has agreed to pay Rs 5300 crore for under-recoveries of OMCs, exempting upstream oil companies from sharing the burden.

Goldman Sachs expects another Rs 2,700 crore to come from the government towards direct transfer of LPG subsidy, taking the OMCs' total receipts to Rs 8,000 crore.

According to a report on Wednesday, the government will be paying the entire FY16 LPG subsidy through direct transfer, and upstream oil companies will be exempt from the same. But upstream PSU oil companies will have to share the entire under-recovery associated with kerosene.

This scenario is in line with Goldman Sach's estimates for upstream companies, improving the cashflow visibility for OMCs as it forecasts no subsidy payment in Q4 for OIL/ONGC and the FY16 realization is further based in line with its estimate of USD 50/bbl. "We believe the above scenario would be modestly positive for OMCs as direct transfer of cash by the government would further reduce working capital requirements for OMCs, thus improving earnings and cashflow visibility. Currently OMCs are transferring cash to customer accounts, for which they are reimbursed by the government," the report adds.

10:00am Market Check:

The market looks sluggish just as March quarter corporate earnings kick start in full steam from today. The Sensex is down 18.47 points at 28781.22 and the Nifty is down 16.70 points at 8733.50. About 913 shares have advanced, 910 shares declined, and 114 shares are unchanged.

ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Hindalco and Tata Steel are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Sesa Sterlite, Cipla, Dr Reddy's Labs, L&T and HUL.

TCS is down over 1 percent ahead of its Q4FY15 results expected to be announced in the evening. 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.

US crude futures dropped below USD 56 on disappointing US economic data and renewed concerns about global oversupply. Oil prices jumped steeply on Wednesday after US inventories built up more slowly than expected and talks between major oil producers this week triggered speculation of production cuts, although most analysts said these were currently unlikely.

Despite the dip, crude prices have risen around 15 percent since the beginning of April and are back to levels reached in February, which marked the 2015 highs. For more information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com