Nifty closes in red but holds 6200; midcap, smallcap gain

The market has seen some consolidation with a negative bias on Tuesday after a 447-point rally seen in earlier three sessions. It may be waiting for near term trigger i.e. five state assembly elections results due on December 8 followed by November inflation, RBI policy, FOMC meet and winter parliament session.

Equity benchmarks snapped three-day winning streak with the Sensex falling 43.09 points to close at 20,854.92 and the Nifty declining 16 points to hold the 6,200 level at 6,201.85.

''The election outcome will be one of the biggest trigger,'' Deven Choksey, MD, KR Choksey Securities said. If the outcome is positive then the inflow of money will be more positive, he adds.

According to him, Nifty's downside is now protected and it is likely to hold 6,000-6,050 whereas it is unlikely to break 6,350-6,400 on the upside. ''Huge liquidity gush and sustained buying can only help Nifty to break above this range.''

Meanwhile, the broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining more than 0.2 percent.

There was profit booking in financials, FMCG, healthcare and auto stocks while IT and metals bucked the trend.

Larsen & Toubro, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sesa Sterlite, NTPC and Coal India fell more than 1 percent. ITC, HDFC Bank, HDFC and Hindustan Unilever declined over 0.5 percent.

However, GAIL, Jindal Steel and BHEL gained nearly 3 percent. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rose 0.8 percent while TCS and Infosys added 0.3 percent.

In the broader space, Shree Renuka Sugars rallied 5 percent on source-based reports that the company is in advanced talks with Wilmar for stake sale.

3:50 pm Market closing: It was a consolidation day at the Dalal Street with the Nifty holding above 6200 amid volatility. The Nifty ended at 6201.85, down 16.00 points while the Sensex slipped 43.09 points to close at 20854.92. About 1237 shares advanced, 1231 shares declined, and 166 shares were unchanged.

Most of the stocks were under pressure while realty, small cap and midcap stocks outperformed peers. Force Motors, Patel Engineering, Ganesh Housing, Unno Industries and Inox Leisure are top gainers among the midcaps.

3:40 pm Update: HeroMoto Corp has entered into a joint venture with Milan-based Magneti Marelli for manufacture of new generation powertrains. Both partners will be investing a total of USD 8.5 million in the JV firm - HMC-MM Auto Ltd - in the next three years and around USD 27 million over the next ten years.

The JV company would start manufacturing by the end of 2014 and is targeting USD 200 million in turnover in the next ten years.

Hero MotoCorp will hold 60 percent in the JV while the Italian firm will have 40 percent stake.

3:30 pm Market outlook: Even as the market is consolidating its gains of the past couple of months, sentiment remains positive , says Anup Bagchi of ICICI Securities.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said the Nifty could face resistance at 6300. He is overweight on IT, likes large cap capital goods names like Larsen and Toubro and BHEL, but will trim exposure to pharma stocks, which he feels are fairly valued at this point. He expects some volatility in the market near term around the results of the assembly elections.

The market declined further in the last trading hour of the day. The Sensex is down 62.38 points at 20835.63, and the Nifty is down 21.05 points at 6196.80. About 1180 shares have advanced, 1211 shares declined, and 148 shares are unchanged.

A few metal stocks fared well. Hindalco, Jindal Steel, GAIL, BHEL and Reliance are big gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Sesa Sterlite, Dr Reddy's Labs, L&T, Coal India and NTPC.

Singapore based agri company Wilmar is close to purchasing a substantial stake in Shree Renuka Sugars. CNBC-TV18 learns the deal, designed to reduce the Indian sugar company's debt burden, is expected to close by month-end.

Brent crude held steady above USD 111 a barrel, just off an 11-week high hit the previous day, on an improving demand outlook after recent strong global economic numbers and also worries of lower supplies, reports Reuters.

Oil prices surged 1.6 percent on Monday after data showed US factory activity expanded last month at its fastest pace in 2-2.5 years.

03:05pm Market update
The market extended fall in last hour of trade. The Sensex declined 62.20 points to 20,835.81, and the Nifty fell 21.35 points to at 6,196.50.

Shares of Larsen & Toubro and HDFC Bank lost 1 percent each followed by HDFC, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and ITC with 0.4-0.8 percent loss.

03:00pm Tata Motors and Asian Paints in focus
Tata Motors gained 0.7 percent as its US subsidiary Jaguar has signed pound 4.5 billion agreement for sale of 1,00,000 units in China.

According to source-based reports, Asian Paints hiked industrial paints' prices by 10 percent. The stock is flat at Rs 505.60.

02:55pm Sun TV Network on fire post six block deals

Shares of Sun TV Network gained more than 4 percent as more than Rs 57 crore worth of equity shares changed hands on exchanges.

More than 15 lakh shares exchanged hands at an average price of Rs 373.

02:51pm Sabero Organics extends upmove on block deals

Shares of Sabero Organics rallied 4.5 percent as more than Rs 11 crore worth of shares changed hands via two block deals.

Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), subsequent to its visit and inspection of the company's unit, has revoked its closure order for a period of 3 months during which period company will ensure adherence of guidelines stipulated by GPCB.

Consequent to the revocation order, company continues to operate the plant without any disruption, according to a release.

GPCB on November 15 sent a notice to Sabero asking to close the operations at Sarigam unit within 15 days, citing alleged non-conformance of certain environmental norms.

02:41pm Show cause notices likely to auditors of NSEL

Forward Markets Commission (FMC) will issue show cause notices to auditors of NSEL, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

It is learnt that FMC is unlikely to give Financial Technologies any more time for cross-examination. FMC asked oversight committee to look into Jignesh Shah-nominated members in MCX, say sources.

02:31pm Kotak Securities expects auto sales in December 2013 to stay weak

November 2013 wholesale dispatches reported by the auto manufacturers were on the weaker side.

"As expected, companies reported sharp decline in volumes on a sequential basis. Majority of the companies reported Y-o-Y dip (ranging between high single digit to high double digit) in volumes which was partly due to early onset of festive season (as compared with last year) and also due to subdued  demand in the domestic market. Exports gained momentum in 2QFY14, but the same seems to have slowed down in absolute terms, so far in 3QFY14," Kotak Securities in its report said.

The brokerage house believes Maruti Suzuki suffered on account of weak exports leading to double digit Y-o-Y drop in volumes. "TVS Motor's weak moped dispatches led to the company reporting 6 percent lower volumes as against last November. Weakness in demand continued to persist for utility vehicles' hampering M&M's dispatches and Tata Motors continued with weak show across all segments."

Going ahead, Kotak expects auto sales in December 2013 to stay weak and expect pick-up in volumes from 4QFY13.

02:21pm ICICIdirect prefers private banks
ICICIdirect believes owing to the huge capital requirement, going ahead, there would be the risk of continuous dilution, which would put pressure on return ratios of banks. This could be a major overhang in case of PSU banks due to their distressed valuations (most of them at below P/ABV of 1x), the report adds.

"Further, asset quality risks have not peaked yet as indicated in various management commentaries. With the inflation trajectory expected to move northwards, we believe cost of funds will stay high for the next two quarters, keeping margins under pressure. Also as staff costs remain elevated, earnings growth of banks will be lower than witnessed in the past," ICICIdirect report said.

02:11pm The market is lacklustre in trade ahead of state elections results due on December 8. The Sensex declined 29.65 points to 20,868.36, and the Nifty is down 12.45 points to 6,205.40.

Jai Bala, cashthechaos.com feels that this is a treacherous market and is equally poised to either take out 6,358, the all time high or go below 5,970. He cautions of a choppiness and believes that the market could surprise on the downside, so one should stick to strong sectors.

''Even if it goes above 6,358, I do not see it sustaining for too long. I need to see more strength in the market in terms of broader participation from front-line stocks and broad market stocks,'' he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

Shares of ITC, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India and Larsen & Toubro slipped between 0.3-1 percent. Dr Reddy's Labs is the biggest loser in the Sensex, falling 1.5 percent on profit booking.

However, Jindal Steel surged 4.5 percent followed by GAIL, Hindalco Industries and BHEL with 2-2.5 percent gains. Reliance Industries and TCS gained over 0.7 percent.

Shares of Shree Renuka Sugars are on buyers' radar as the stock rallied more than 6 percent in intraday trade. The Karnataka-based sugar company is in advanced talks with Wilmar for stake sale that is likely to be announced before month-end, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

2:00 pm Stock in news: Shares of Shree Renuka Sugars rallied more than 6 percent in intraday trade. The Karnataka-based sugar company is in advanced talks with Wilmar for stake sale that is likely to be announced by month-end, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

It is learnt that the company may issue fresh equity shares to Wilmar, a Singapore-based agribusiness group having market cap of Singapore dollar 23 billion. Wilmar deal is likely to trigger an open offer, say sources.

Promoters, who hold 38.36 percent stake in Shree Renuka, are trying hard to retain minority stake in company.

1:50 pm Exclusive: The quantum of slippages in the current quarter is likely to be Rs 1500-2000 crore , roughly the same as that in the second quarter, says SS Mundra, chairman and managing director of Bank of Baroda.

Slippages are when borrowers fail to meet the revised payment schedule after the restructuring of those loans.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Mundra said he expects a more stable quarter in terms of asset quality.The bank's capital adequacy ratio was 12.7 percent during the first half of the year, and he expects to maintain it at 12 percent through out the year.

1:40 pm Buzzer: Shares in motorcycle maker Eicher Motors jumps as much as 6.8 percent to an all-time high of Rs 5340, heading towards a seventh consecutive day of gains as dealers cite speculation of increased buying from overseas investors, reports Reuters.

Foreign institutional investors held a 19.1 percent stake in Eicher, which makes the popular Royal Enfield motorcyle, as of the end of September quarter, marking a second consecutive quarterly increase in overseas holding.

1:30 pm RBI norms: The RBI released a draft of the new guidelines late on Monday, the same day as it issued proposals for counter-cyclical buffers, which would require banks to build reserves during periods of stability in order to weather more difficult times.

Domestic brokerage Motilal Oswal estimated the RBI could class at least 15 domestic banks, including ICICI Bank and Axis Bank See rupee in 60-62 range over next 1 year, says Credit Suisse

The market looks directionless as it refuses to budge anywhere. The Sensex is down 31.57 points at 20866.44, and the Nifty is down 11.45 points at 6206.40.

About 1102 shares have advanced, 1082 shares declined, and 144 shares are unchanged.

Jitendra Sriram, MD and Head of Research, HSBC India is not bullish on the market. "Oddly we would be much more positioned towards defensives IT, healthcare again continue to be some of the names we continue to like. We would be much more cautious on State owned banks, discretionary areas like autos etc," he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Most auto stocks are under pressure on lower-than-expected November sales. Rajiv Bajaj of Bajaj Auto tells CNBC-TV18 weak sales in the domestic segment is likely to continue into December, with domestic sales seen below 2 lakh units for the month.

Jindal Steel is up 5 percent, while GAIL, Hindalco, BHEL and Tata Power are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the top losers are Dr Reddy's Labs, NTPC, M&M, ONGC and HDFC.

The rupee is trading a tad lower as the strong US manufacturing numbers lifts the dollar against most currencies. Dealers also anticipate more than normal demand for dollars from oil companies. Bond yields are higher tracking the US yields and the lower rupee.

01:00pm Market Update
The market continued to be rangebound at 6200-6210 levels on the Nifty. The Sensex is down 33.55 points at 20,864.46, and the Nifty declined 13.65 points to 6,204.20.

Deven Choksey, MD of KR Choksey Securities feels Nifty's downside is now protected and it is likely to hold 6,000-6,050. However, on the upside, it is unlikely to break 6,350-6,400.

According to him, huge liquidity gush and sustained buying can only help Nifty to break above this range.

12:55pm Hero Motocorp in JV with Magneti Marelli

Two-wheeler maker Hero Motocorp signed joint venture agreement with Magneti Marelli for development of 2-wheeler fuelling systems.

While addressing press conference, Hero says it will hold 60 percent stake in JV and has planned USD 8.5 million equity investment in JV over three years.

Total investment in joint venture will be around USD 27 million over next 10 years, Hero adds.

Hero Motocorp's stock was trading at Rs 2,056.30, down 0.32 percent on the BSE.

12:50pm Shree Renuka rallies 4%
Shree Renuka Sugars is in advanced talks with Wilmar for stake sale that is likely to be announced before month-end, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

It is learnt that the company may issue fresh equity shares to Wilmar. Wilmar deal is likely to trigger an open offer, say sources.

Promoters, who hold 38.36 percent stake in Shree Renuka, are trying hard to retain minority stake in company.

In a reply to query sent by CNBC-TV18, Shree Renuka denies plans of stake sale.

12:45pm Sun TV Network on fire post six block deals

Shares of Sun TV Network gained more than 4 percent as more than Rs 57 crore worth of equity shares changed hands on exchanges.

More than 15 lakh shares exchanged hands at an average price of Rs 373.

12:41pm Power Grid FPO opens
Retail investors hoping for annual returns of around 15 percent from Power Grid should certainly subscribe to the FPO says Harshvardhan Dole, VP-institutional equities at IIFL in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Even from a valuation perspective, it makes for a compelling buy, says Dole. According to him Power Grid would trade at 1.2 time books, post its listing at Rs 90.

The follow-on-public offer (FPO) for 17 percent stake sale in Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) hit markets today, which is expected to garner up to Rs 7,083 crore. The price band for the issue has been fixed at Rs 85-90 a share, PGCIL said in a filing to the BSE.

At present the company is sitting on Rs 40,000 crore of capital work-in-progress, which should suffice for the coming two and half year of project pipeline, says Dole.

He also expects internal cash flow generation for the company to be quite healthy.

12:31pm Sabero Organics up 3.4% on top of a 12% rally on Monday

Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), subsequent to its visit and inspection of the company's unit, has revoked its closure order for a period of 3 months during which period company will ensure adherence of guidelines stipulated by GPCB.

Consequent to the revocation order, company continues to operate the plant without any disruption, according to a release.

GPCB on November 15 sent a notice to Sabero asking to close the operations at Sarigam unit within 15 days, citing alleged non-conformance of certain environmental norms.

12:21pm CAD likely to widen in October-March FY14

HSBC said the current account deficit (CAD) narrowed in the July-September quarter due to a pick up in exports and a decline in imports.

However, the deficit will likely widen during the second half of the fiscal year as seasonal demand bring in more imports, feels the research house.

"Moreover, a gradual improvement in domestic demand will also lift imports, although solid exports will help contain the deficit. Despite the narrowing of the deficit in recent quarters and successful measures to attract capital inflows, policy makers have to continue their efforts to reduce India's vulnerability to external spill overs ahead of Fed tapering," HSBC report said.

12:11pm Uninor to become Telenor
Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has approved transfer of Unitech Wireless assets to Telewings that owned by Telenor, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

It is learnt that Telenor had sought transfer of Unitech Wireless assets, which will give uninterrupted operations to Uninor customers.

Asset Transfer, which was key to settlement between Unitech and Telenor, completed settlement agreement between companies that signed between these companies in October 2012, say sources.

Sources also say Telenor may also rebrand operations from Uninor to Telenor.

12:01pm The market consolidates at around 6,200 on the Nifty as it is looking for a trigger to get direction on either side. Near term triggers for the market are outcome of five state assembly elections, RBI's mid quarter policy review and Federal Reserve meeting.

The Sensex slipped 32.57 points to 20,865.44, and the Nifty dipped 13 points to 6,204.85, but the broader markets outperformed benchmarks. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 0.3 percent each.

Jitendra Sriram, MD & Head of Research, HSBC India, who is cautious on the Indian equity market at the moment, continues to stick to defensives. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, he said, the market is close to its peak and the broking firm is not bullish on it.

HSBC India has a year-end Sensex target of 20,250, which is much lower than the current 20,800 odd level. According to Sriram, street's estimate of 15 percent FY15 earnings growth is over optimistic and feels that realistic earnings growth expectation should be 8 percent.

He expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to announce one more rate hike. India's current account gap narrowed sharply to USD 5.2 billion , or 1.2 percent of GDP, in the July-September quarter of 2013-14 aided by turnaround in exports and decline in gold imports. Given the CAD data, one can consider investing in export oriented sectors, he recommended.

Top gainers are Jindal Steel (up 3.71 percent), GAIL (up 2.53 percent), Hindalco (up 1.4 percent), BHEL (up 1.10 percent) and TCS (up 0.66 percent).

However, the laggards are M&M, NTPC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma and HDFC.

12:00 pm Exclusive interview: Poor market conditions and production constraints led to weak November sales , says Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto .

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Bajaj says sales have been down about 10 percent but adds that November proved to be a good month in terms of exports, which grew by 8 percent.

However, Bajaj says poor sales (lower than 2 lakh units) are likely to continue even in December as the company will observe an annual shutdown.

11:50 am Market outlook: Jitendra Sriram, MD & Head of Research, HSBC India is cautious on the Indian equity market. HSBC India has a year-end Sensex target of 20,250, which is much lower than the current 20,800 odd level. According to Sriram, street's estimate of 15 percent FY15 earnings growth is over optimistic and feels that realistic earnings growth expectation should be 8 percent.

Meanwhile, he is betting his chips on IT and healthcare sectors and prefers to stay away from auto stocks and public sector lenders. From the consumption space, he is negative on HUL but likes ITC .

11:40 am In Focus: Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) stocks are in focus today. Shares of Reliance Communication fell around 1.5 percent in intraday trade on Tuesday as CNBC-TV18 reports quoting sources that telecom company and its subsidiaries have come under service tax scanner.

Reliance Telecom, a subsidiary of Reliance Communications has been slapped a tax order to the tune of Rs 200 crore for the years 2006-2011. Reliance Telecom operates in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Prasdes, Odisha, Bihar, Assam and the north east of India.

Meanwhile, Reliance Media jumped 10 percent intraday as it is looking for a go-ahead for its Rs 500 crore qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue at its annual general meeting on December 24.

11:30 am Update: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp ( ONGC ) today said it will appeal against the Gujarat High Court order asking it to pay up to Rs 10,000 crore in past royalty dues, saying it cannot pay the levy on a price it hasn't realised, reports PTI.

"We have seen the judgement but certainly we will go for appeal against the judgement (in the Supreme Court)," ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Sudhir Vasudeva said on sidelines of the 8th Asia Gas Partnership Summit.

The market seems to be taking a breather after a stellar start of December. The Sensex is down 28.61 points at 20869.40, and the Nifty is down 10.00 points at 6207.85. About 964 shares have advanced, 751 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged.

Among the gainers are Jindal Steel , Hindalco , GAIL , Maruti Suzuki and BHEL . Top losers in the Sensex include Dr Reddy's Lab, NTPC , HDFC , ITC and Sun Pharma .

In Asia, Nikkei has risen to a new six-month peak on supportive comments from the Bank of Japan, while the rest of the basket is trading soft on the back of a negative US lead.

In currencies, the yen remains on the back foot succumbing to further selling pressure on prospects of more stimulus from BoJ. The euro trades at 1.35/ USD and the dollar index inches towards 81 levels.

In commodities, Nymex prices gains in reaction to strong manufacturing data from both China and the United States. Brent is flat in early trade and gold prices continue weak now at USD 1220/oz levels.

11:00am Market update
The market consolidates at around 6200 level as it is looking for trigger to get direction on either side. Near term triggers for the market are state elections results due on December 8, RBI policy on December 18 and FOMC meet on December 17-18.

The Sensex lost 19.68 points to 20,878.33, and the Nifty fell 7.55 points to 6,210.30.

10:55am Bank of Baroda talks to CNBC-TV18 about asset quality

The quantum of slippages in the current quarter is likely to be Rs 1500-2000 crore, roughly the same as that in the second quarter, says SS Mundra, chairman and managing director of Bank of Baroda.

Slippages are when borrowers fail to meet the revised payment schedule after the restructuring of those loans.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Mundra said he expects a more stable quarter in terms of asset quality.

The bank's capital adequacy ratio was 12.7 percent during the first half of the year, and he expects to maintain it at 12 percent through out the year. He said there ws headroom available for Tier-I and Tier-II capital, and that he expected to maintain Tier-I capital above 9 percent.

10:50am L&T shares firm
L&T Construction, a brand of L&T, received orders worth Rs 1,471 crore in November and December.

Orders worth Rs 686 crore are in power transmission and distribution business and Rs 461 crore in building and factories business while water and renewable energy business bagged order worth Rs 142 crore and heavy civil infrastructure business Rs 182 crore.

The stock was trading at Rs 1,068.30, up 0.16 percent over previous close on the BSE.

10:40am Alstom gains for 4th day
Shares of Alstom T&D India see buying interest on Tuesday as the company received order worth Rs 79 crore from Power Grid Corporation. The stock gained 5.6 percent in intraday trade.

Alstom, which offers solutions for power transmission, will provide 14 shunt reactors for 765 kilovolt (KV) electrical substations at Kanpur and Jhatikara in UP. The products are due for delivery in 2015, the company said in its filing to the BSE.

Meanwhile, the company had raised more than Rs 279 crore through institutional placement programme (IPP) on Friday. Promoters sold 1.69 crore shares through this issue at Rs 165 apiece.

10:35am Bajaj Auto skids
Two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto's November sales dropped 19.5 percent sequentially to 3.10 lakh units, lower than expected due to market weakness.

Rajiv Bajaj of Bajaj Auto says overall sales declined around 10 percent for first eight months of the year. "We will continue to see weak sales in domestic segment in December," he adds.

He expects total domestic sales to be below two lakh units in December.

According to him, exports were reasonably good in November. Rajiv expects export sales run rate to get back to 1.5 lakh units next month.

Exports sales declined to 1.33 lakh units in November as against 1.38 lakh units in October.

The stock was trading at Rs 1,956.25, down 0.44 percent on the BSE.

10:25am Idea Cellular declines
Shares of Idea Cellular declined 0.4 percent to Rs 174.80 as the telecom operator received notice from Department of Telecommunication (DoT) of Rs 600 crore penalty on Spice acquisition.

Idea says it is preparing to take necessary steps to challenge DoT letter.

10:21am Power Grid FPO opens
Power Grid Corporation of India's follow-on public offer (FPO), which includes 13 percent of fresh issue of shares and 4 percent disinvestment of shares by Government of India, has opened for subscription today.

The issue will close on December 05 for institutional investors and December 06 for retail investors and employees. Retail and employees will get shares at 5 percent discount to final FPO price.

Ventura Securities recommends investors to subscribe to Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) FPO.

"Barring a stock price decline post announcement of the current FPO to factor in impending earnings dilution, PGCIL has underperformed the Sensex by ~6 percent over the last four years, despite a near doubling of earnings. However, with equity dilution overhang out of the way, the stock price movement should be more driven by fundamentals, which continue to remain robust. PGCIL's current regulated assets with assured return stands to be the best play in the Indian power sector. Further, strong capex guidance for the XIIth Plan, with approved investments of Rs 90,500 crore, provides strong revenue visibility over the long term. At the CMP of Rs 94, the stock is currently trading at a P/E multiple of 8.5x and 7.5x for FY14E and FY15E consensus earnings estimates, respectively," Ventura elaborated.

10:11am Wipro acquires Opus CMC
Shares of Wipro gained nearly 1 percent in early trade on Tuesday as the software firm announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Opus CMC (Opus Capital Markets Consultants LLC).

The company decided to buy US-based provider of mortgage due diligence and risk management services for USD 75 million.

"The acquisition will strengthen company's mortgage solutions and outsourcing business and complement its existing offerings in mortgage origination, servicing and secondary market," Wipro said in its release.

10:01am Equity benchmarks are marginally under pressure amid volatility in morning trade, weighed down by profit booking in financials, oil & gas and FMCG stocks.

The Sensex declined 15.10 points to 20,882.91, and the Nifty slipped 6.50 points to 6,211.35. Advancing shares outpaced declining ones by a ratio of 696 to 499 on the BSE.

Even as the market is consolidating its gains of the past couple of months, sentiment remains positive, says Anup Bagchi of ICICI Securities.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said the Nifty could face resistance at 6300. He expects some volatility in the market near term around the results of the assembly elections.

Shares of ITC, HDFC, HDFC Bank, M&M, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy's Labs, ONGC, HUL and State Bank of India lost between 0.2-0.8 percent.

However, Hindalco Industries and Jindal Steel are stars today with more than 3 percent gains.

Capital goods stocks continued to see buying interest with the L&T and BHEL gaining 0.8 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

10:00 am Power Grid FPO: Follow-on-public offer (FPO) of Power Grid has opened today. The 17 percent stake sale in the state-run company is expected to garner up to Rs 7,083 crore. The price band for the issue has been fixed at Rs 85-90 a share, The company may garner close to Rs 5,717 crore, while the government will get around Rs 1,758 crore.

The issue closes on December 5 for institutional investors and December 6 for retail category of investors and employees.

The government will sell 18.51 crore shares of Power Grid, while the company will issue fresh 60.18 crore shares through the offer. Of the fresh shares, about 2.4 percent will be reserved for the employees. 50 percent of the net issue is allocated to Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs), 35 percent for retail category and 15 percent for High Network Investors (HNI).

9:50 am Opinion on the rupee: Ray Farris of Credit Suisse sees the rupee trading in a 60-62 range over the next 12 months. More specifically, he sees the rupee at 60 to the dollar from a three-month perspective, and at 62 to the dollar from a 12-month perspective.

India's current account deficit for the quarter ended September shrank to USD 5.2 billion, or 1.2 percent of the GDP, compared to USD 21 billion (5 percent of GDP) during the same period last year.

According to Farris, strong employment data could encourage the Fed to start the tapering process this month itself. Farris see the dollar strengthening further in the next couple of months.

9:40 am FII view: Adrian Mowat of JP Morgan feels that investors expect an absolute return for emerging markets (EM) equities in 2014. "They also agree that structural issues are priced in. Growth expectations are modest, although some feel that the 2014 estimated median earnings per share growth of 14.7 percent is too high, but we expect downgrades to be more modest than in the past few years," he said.

9:30 am Stock in news: Wipro will acquire US-based Opus Capital Market Consultants for USD 75 million (over Rs 467 crore) to strengthen its mortgage business in North America. The acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter (January-March) of 2013-14 fiscal, will aid Wipro in managing risks and identifying profitable growth opportunities in the existing loan portfolio as well as new originations.

The purchase agreement of USD 75 million includes a deferred earn-out component, Wipro said without giving further details of the deal with. It will also strengthen the company's mortgage (home loans) solutions and outsourcing business, Wipro said in a statement. The stock is flat at Rs 484.00 on the BSE.

The market has opened on a tepid note. The Sensex is down 35.92 points at 20862.09, and the Nifty down 13.60 points at 6204.25. About 163 shares have advanced, 154 shares declined, and 22 shares are unchanged.

Jindal Steel , GAIL , Wipro, Sun Pharma and TCS are early gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are HDFC twins, Hindalco , NTPC and Sesa Sterlite.
 
The rupee opened flat at 62.29 per dollar on Tuesday as against previous day's closing of 62.31 per dollar.

Tirthankar Patnaik of Religare feels a sharp relief in Q2 would translate into a sub-3 percent current account deficit (CAD) for the fiscal. "Receipt of FCNR (B) deposits worth USD 26 billion, so far, should also reverse the deficit seen on the capital account in Q3," he adds.

However, he remains cautious on India's balance of payment and the rupee, particularly after the RBI shut the dollar window for oil marketing companies.

Global equities slip with the Dow and S&P 500 retreating after an eight-week winning stretch ahead of the key jobs data this week. Europe too ended lower as Asian markets are soft. Nikkei, meanwhile, gained on supportive Bank of Japan comments.

In commodities, Nymex prices gain in reaction to strong manufacturing data from both China and the United States and extended gains on rumors of some Russian cancellations. Brent Crude is flat in early trade.

From precious metals space gold settled more than 2 percent lower on Monday after better-than-expected US manufacturing data prompted funds and speculators to increase bearish bets on bullion.