Nifty ends above 8100, Sensex down 201 points; Maruti falls 3%

3:30 pm Market closing: After severe cuts in afternoon trade, the market managed to pare some losses by closing. The Sensex was down 200.88 points or 0.7 percent at 26525.46, and the Nifty slipped 65.85 points or 0.8 percent at 8140.75. About 964 shares have advanced, 1628 shares declined, and 165 shares are unchanged.

Asian Paints, Wipro, GAIL, HUL and Tata Motors were gainers while ICICI Bank, Maruti, Bharti, NTPC and L&T were losers in the Sensex.

3:10 pm Monsoon woes: India's monsoon is expected to dump above-average rainfall on the South Asian nation after two years of drought, cutting its use of diesel for irrigation pumps and generators over the third quarter and potentially rejuvenating exports of the oil product.

India is a net exporter of diesel - which accounts for about 40 percent of its oil demand - but a jump in imports by state refiners since April helped erode an Asian surplus of the fuel, lifting its regional profit margins to the highest for the year so far at the end of May.

The state refiners ramped up diesel imports in the second quarter after supplies from private oil processors Reliance Industries and Essar Oil became too expensive in the absence of discounts on taxes and shipping.

2:59 pm Market Update: The Sensex pared some losses in last hour of trade, down 205.88 points or 0.77 percent to 26520.46 and the Nifty declined 67.95 points or 0.83 percent to 8138.65.

2:55 pm Moody's on Tata Power: Moody's Investors Service has revised to negative from stable the outlook on the Ba3 corporate family rating and senior unsecured rating of Tata Power, days after the company said it will buy Welspun Renewable Energy at an enterprise value of Rs 9,249 crore.

Moody's Corporate Family Ratings (CFRs) are long-term ratings that reflect the relative likelihood of a default on a corporate family's debt and debt-like obligations and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default.

"The change in outlook to negative reflects the combined effect of entirely debt-funded nature of the transaction, which reduces headroom within the ratings, uncertainty regarding the terms and structure of the bank debt that will be raised to fund the acquisition, and limited details about the quality of the assets being acquired," Moody's Vice President and senior analyst Abhishek Tyagi said.

With this acquisition, Tata Power's debt will increase by approximately 21 percent, thereby reducing the headroom within the rating, he said.

2:50 pm Buzzing: Premier Explosives (PEL) rallied 8 percent intraday ahead of listing of equity shares on the National Stock Exchange.

"..the list of securities further admitted to dealings on the National Stock Exchange (capital market segment) with effect from June 17, 2016," the exchange said in its circular on Wednesday.

The exchange further said shares of Premier Explosives shall be traded in the normal market segment (rolling settlement) in compulsory demat for all investors.

PEL manufactures the entire range of commercial explosives and accessories for the civil requirement.

2:35 pm Europe weak: European stocks traded lower as markets digest the latest monetary policy decisions from the US Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan (BOJ) and remain on edge over the upcoming referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.86 percent.

Global markets are reacting to the Federal Open Market Committee's decision to hold its interest rate target at 0.25-0.50 percent on Wednesday, after a two-day policy meeting.

2:20 pm Gold Update: Gold topped the USD 1,300 level for the first time since early May, after the US Federal Reserve indicated it could be less aggressive in tightening monetary policy next year.

The Fed kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and signalled it still planned to raise rates twice in 2016, though it said slower economic growth would crimp the pace of monetary policy tightening in future years.

Gold is sensitive to interest rate hikes, which increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-interest yielding metal.

Spot gold was up 0.7 percent at USD 1,300.20 an ounce as of 0401 GMT, after touching a peak of USD 1,301.40, its highest since May 3, earlier in the session.

US gold climbed 1.2 percent to USD 1,303.40.

2:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks recouped some losses in afternoon trade on short covering. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 241.70 points or 0.90 percent to 26484.64 and the 50-share NSE Nifty plunged 80.95 points or 0.99 percent to 8125.65 on uncertainty over Brexit.

The market breadth remained weak as about two shares declined for every share advancing on Bombay Stock Exchange.

State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur surged over 16 percent again after rising 20 percent in previous session as Cabinet has approved the merger of five associate banks with SBI.

1:55 pm Brexit woes for India? The Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India are assessing the possible fallouts if Britain votes to leave the European Union, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said on Thursday.

Global policymakers have raised alarm over the June 23 British referendum as fears of a Brexit has rattled financial markets. The pound and the euro have lost value on fears a Brexit could tip the 28-member bloc into recession.

Sinha said the RBI was trying to ensure sufficient liquidity in local markets as a defence against Brexit.

1:45 pm Upgrade: Morgan Stanley has upgraded Indian Hotels to overweight with an increased target price of Rs 160 per share, stating that it is on the cusp of an uptrend. The stock gained 4 percent intraday on Thursday. Share of the group which runs the Taj chain of hotels jumped 14 percent in a month's time. The brokerage firm says that the increase in target price reflects scenario value increases of 30-83 percent driven by estimate changes and sale of Taj Boston and higher bull case probability of 30 percent. The company is planning to sell the Taj Boston hotel for at least USD 125 million.

1:30 pm FII view: The Indian economy is unlikely to witness a broad-based recovery, as a stressed banking system continues to be unable to fund a turn in the investment cycle, says Pramod Gubbi of Ambit Singapore. That said, there are other sectors that exhibit signs of strength, such as automobiles, consumption and cement and investors would do well to be on these, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. Ambit recently upgraded its Sensex target from 22,000 to 29,500 on the assumption that recent steps by the government and the central bank to resurrect banks will have an impact. (This was primarly driven by an upward revision in Ambit's PE multiple forecast for the Sensex from 14 to 19. Its EPS forecast continues to stay at Rs 1,550.)

Selling pressure continues on Dalal Street with benchmark indices dragging. The Sensex is down 297.44 points or 1.1 percent at 26428.90, and the Nifty is down 96.20 points or 1.2 percent at 8110.40. About 718 shares have advanced, 1667 shares declined, and 134 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and ITC are top losers while GAIL, Lupin, Asian Paints & Wipro are gainers in the Sensex.

Gold topped the USD 1,300 level for the first time since early May on Thursday, after the US Federal Reserve indicated it could be less aggressive in tightening monetary policy next year.

The Fed kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and signalled it still planned to raise rates twice in 2016, though it said slower economic growth would crimp the pace of monetary policy tightening in future years.

Gold is sensitive to interest rate hikes, which increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-interest yielding metal.

12:50 pm Market recovers a bit: Short covering helped the market recover a bit in afternoon trade. The Sensex fell 305.94 points or 1.14 percent to 26420.40 and the Nifty declined 100.60 points or 1.23 percent to 8106.

About three shares declined for every share advancing on BSE.

12:40 pm Europe opens: European stocks opened sharply lower as markets digest the latest monetary policy decisions from the US Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan (BOJ) and remain on edge over the upcoming referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 1.09 percent.

Global markets are reacting to the Federal Open Market Committee's decision to hold its interest rate target at 0.25-0.50 percent on Wednesday, after a two-day policy meeting.

12:30 pm Market Expert: A serious risk to global markets has emerged in the form of the British referendum slated for next week, says Arvind Sanger of New York-based Geosphere Capital.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Sanger said should Britian choose to exit the Eurozone, it would create a flight of capital into safe havens.

But should the stay camp prevail, risk assets will make a comeback and India will be a beneficiary, according to Sanger.

"Once we get past Brexit vote, India is a no-brainer," Sanger said, àdding that he was positive on cement, commercial vehicles and road companies in the country.

12:15 pm Interview: NCC  is hoping to garner fresh orders worth Rs 1000 crore in FY17, with an eye on increasing the road projects, says the company's Executive VP - Finance YD Murthy.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Murthy said the company is bidding not only for NHAI orders but also road projects at state government level. "We would be looking at hybrid models of build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects," he said.

Murthy also expects their international business to do well this fiscal.

NCC is a billion dollar multinational infrastructure conglomerate, which is into various infrastructure segments like roads, housing, irrigation, railways, power etc.

12:00 pm Market Check
Bears have taken complete control over Dalal Street as equity benchmarks fell 1.5 percent and broader markets lost 1 percent in afternoon trade. Investors looked more cautious ahead of Britain's referendum that scheduled to be June 23 after digesting Fed event.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 403.67 points or 1.51 percent to 26322.67 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 128.70 points or 1.57 percent to 8077.90. About three shares declined for every share advancing on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Asian markets extended sell-off with the Nikkei falling over 3 percent on yen gains and Hang Seng declining over 2 percent.

Oil prices fell for sixth consecutive day, following a lower than expected draw on US stockpiles and amid worries Britain might leave the European Union. Front-month US crude futures were down 53 cents, or 1.1 percent, at USD 47.48 a barrel and Brent crude was 49 cents, or 1 percent, lower at USD 48.48 a barrel.

Oil prices have fallen everyday after June 8, losing about 8 percent of their value.

11:45 am Currency war: Nigeria's central bank will allow its currency value to be determined by market forces after removing 16-month peg which tied it to a fixed figure. The new policy will take effect from June 20 and will effectively devalue the Naira.

Nigeria's central bank previously pegged the naira at 197 to the US dollar but the currency trades at about half that on the black market as slump in oil revenues has hammered public finances and foreign currency reserves.

Meanwhile, The Japanese yen strengthened sharply to 104.1 per dollar against the dollar after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady as expected. Japanese yen is at strongest levels since September 2014.

11:25 am  FII view: A serious risk to global markets has emerged in the form of the British referendum slated for next week, says Arvind Sanger of New York-based Geosphere Capital. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Sanger said should Britian choose to exit the Eurozone, it would create a flight of capital into safe havens. But should the stay camp prevail, risk assets will make a comeback and India will be a beneficiary, according to Sanger. "Once we get past Brexit vote, India is a no-brainer," Sanger said, àdding that he was positive on cement, commercial vehicles and road companies in the country.

Intensified heavy selling dragged benchmark indices with the Nifty breaching crucial 8100 after both Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan held rates steady. The Sensex is down 324.83 points or 1 percent at 26401.51 and the Nifty is down 109.30 points or 1.3 percent at 8097.30. About 717 shares have advanced, 1361 shares declined, and 124 shares are unchanged.

ICICI Bank, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and ITC are major losers in the Sensex. GAIL is the only green stock in the BSE.

Weak Asian markets is hurting India. The Nikkei 225 extended losses, dropping 3.1 percent to 15,426.09. The Japanese yen strengthened sharply against the dollar and the Nikkei tumbled on Thursday after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady as was widely expected.

Oil prices sank for a sixth straight session today in Asia, tracking a sell-off across equities with an expected pick-up in output adding to worries about the global economy and a weaker-than-forecast fall in US stockpiles. After almost doubling between February and last week, WTI has plunged eight percent from an 11-month high, while Brent has lost more than six percent from an eight-month peak.

10:50 am Sell-off extends in Asia: Hang Seng slipped more than 400 points, trading below 100-DMA. Kospi trading below 100 and 200-DMA. Nikkei plunged nearly 500 points after yen surged against US dollar.

Uncertainty over Brexit spook global markets.

10:45 am Oil falls further: Oil prices sank for a sixth straight session today in Asia, tracking a sell-off across equities with an expected pick-up in output adding to worries about the global economy and a weaker-than-forecast fall in US stockpiles.

The Department of Energy said commercial inventories fell by 9,00,000 barrels in the week ending June 10, far fewer than the 2.33 million predicted in a Bloomberg survey, suggesting demand is easing in the world's top oil consumer.

The news sent the commodity tumbling and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate slipped 52 cents, or 1.08 percent, to USD 47.49 while Brent shed 41 cents, or 0.84 percent, to USD 48.56.

10:35 am Interview: IL&FS Transport Networks on Wednesday announced that it received Rs 110 crore from  the divestment of 15 percent stake in Gujarat and Infrastructure Company. The stake in the special purpose vehicle has been picked up by MAIF Investments India.

Last year, the company divested 41 percent in Gujarat and Infrastructure Company as part of strategic exercise and there are no divestment plans in near future, Dilip Bhatia, Chief Financial Officer, IL&FS Transport told CNBC-TV18.

The proceeds of the latest stake sale will go towards day-to-day operations, business initiatives and to service debt. IL&FS Transport is sitting on a debt of Rs 9,000 crore, he said.

Going ahead, the company is planning to come up with an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) and an application with the Securities and Exchange Board of India has been made, he said. The company is hopeful of coming out with an InvIT listing by the year-end, he said.

10:20 am FII View: The Indian economy is unlikely to witness a broad-based recovery, as a stressed banking system continues to be unable to fund a turn in the investment cycle, says Pramod Gubbi of Ambit Singapore.

Ambit recently upgraded its Sensex target from 22,000 to 29,500 on the assumption that recent steps by the government and the central bank to resurrect banks will have an impact. (This was primarly driven by an upward revision in Ambit's PE multiple forecast for the Sensex from 14 to 19. Its EPS forecast continues to stay at Rs 1,550.)

10:00 am Market Check
The market wiped out all its yesterday's gains on the back of weak global cues after investors digested Federal Reserve's meeting outcome to keep interest rates on hold. Asian markets were also under pressure with the Nikkei falling over 2 percent as yen surged against US dollar after Bank of Japan kept policy steady. Hang Seng shed 2 percent.

The Sensex fell 311.67 points or 1.17 percent to 26414.67 and the Nifty declined 99.75 points or 1.22 percent to 8106.85. The market breadth remained weak as about 1063 shares declined against 839 advancing shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

ITC, ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki shares slipped more than 2 percent followed by Infosys, TCS, L&T and Bharti Airtel with over a percent loss.

SBI outperformed again, up 0.3 percent while its subsidiaries State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore added another 20 percent rally after yesterday's 20 percent upside each. Cabinet yesterday approved merger of five associate banks with SBI.

9:55 am Monsoon? Gautam Chhaochharia of UBS says the market has reacted positively to forecasts of a good monsoon and the impact of monsoons on actual rural demand can be seen only post monsoons.

He continues to be underweight on two-wheelers as the industry structure remains unattractive, the incumbents' product portfolio is not geared to growing parts of the industry and a low operating leverage business model is implying no material impact of volumes uptick on earnings.

9:45 am Market slips again: The market has slipped further as the Nifty falls below 8150. The 50-share index is down 72.25 points or 0.9 percent at 8134.35. The Sensex is down 226.57 points or 0.8 percent at 26499.77. About 668 shares have advanced, 883 shares declined, and 74 shares are unchanged.

Bank Nifty is down over 1 percent while auto, capital goods, IT and FMCG are under pressure.

9:30 am FII view: A serious risk to global markets has emerged in the form of the British referendum slated for next week, says Arvind Sanger of New York-based Geosphere Capital.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Sanger said should Britian choose to exit the Eurozone, it would create a flight of capital into safe havens.

But should the stay camp prevail, risk assets will make a comeback and India will be a beneficiary, according to Sanger.

"Once we get past Brexit vote, India is a no-brainer," Sanger said, àdding that he was positive on cement, commercial vehicles and road companies in the country.

The market has opened lower dragged by weak global cues. The Sensex is down 162.69 points or 0.6 percent at 26563.65, and the Nifty down 51.40 points or 0.6 percent at 8155.20. About 410 shares have advanced, 454 shares declined, and 30 shares are unchanged.

Lupin, M&M and NTPC are top gainers while ICICI Bank, Maruti, HDFC, SBI, Tata Motors and Wipro are losers in the Sensex.

The rupee opened marginally higher at 67.12 per dollar on Thursday versus previous close of 67.15. Dollar added to losses after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as was widely expected. The greenback trades near its weakest level since October 2014 versus Japan's currency.

Tirthankar Patnaik of Mizuho Bank said, "Asian currencies are incrementally likely to benefit from the expected stimulus package from the Bank of Japan."

The Japanese yen strengthened sharply against the dollar on Thursday after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady as was widely expected.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 1.10 percent at 15,744.80 while rest of Asian markets mostly traded lower, as investors digested the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates on hold.

Meanwhile, the Federal Open Market Committee held its interest rate target at 0.25-0.50 percent after a two-day policy meeting.  Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in a press conference following the statement release that the Brexit vote, due on June 23, was also one of the factors in Wednesday's decision.

Wall Street fell for a fifth straight session after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and investors stewed over an impending vote in Britain on whether to leave the European Union.

Oil prices fell for a fifth straight day overnight amid global uncertainties, particularly around the prospect of the U.K. leaving the EU. It was the S&P 500's longest losing streak since the five-day decline that culminated in its 2016 low on February 11.