Nifty ends at 8244, Sensex falls 119 points; IT index sheds 3%

3:30 pm Market Closing: Benchmark indices erased some previous day's gains on profit booking and further correction in technology stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 119.01 points at 26759.23 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 30 points to 8243.80.

About 1512 shares declined against 1202 advancing shares on the BSE.

3:15 pm CARE on MFIs: CARE Ratings says post demonetisation, micro finance institutions are increasingly looking for cashless disbursement and collection through Jan-Dhan accounts by leveraging technology.

With 8 NBFC-MFIs converting into small finance banks (SFBs) by March 2017, the competitive environment is bound to undergo a major shift within the microfinance industry as a whole. As these entities are expected to remain focused on microfinance, cashless disbursement and collection of loans is bound to increase in the future, the rating agency says.

Even though the collections are less, many MFIs are conducting center / group meetings to make borrowers aware of the impact on their credit profile due to default on repayment and the role credit bureaus. These meetings are also used to educate the borrowers to overcome any kind of slowdown in their business activities and to encourage banking habits in order to move towards non-cash based model.

CARE feels MFIs with high financial leverage and low collections efficiencies are expected to face deterioration in their credit profile.

3:03 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks extended losses in late trade with the Sensex falling 117.30 points to 26760.94. The Nifty breached 8250 level, down 32.05 points at 8241.75.

About 1557 shares declined against 1108 advancing shares on the BSE.

2:55 pm BoAML on Idea: Bank of America Merrill Lynch has downgraded Idea Cellular to underperform from neutral as it expects sustained weakness in Idea's revenues led by slowing revenue growth and negative operational leverage.

The brokerage house also expects the near-term earnings to be materially hit by combined effect of demonetisation and Jio's free offering.

It now expects 10 percent/20 percent QoQ decline in voice RPM and data
ARMB in Q3 (versus 1-4 percent decline before) when Idea report and estimate continued weakness to flow in subsequent quarters as well.

BoAML sees limited visibility of any re-rating in next 12 months as
market would likely witness further tariff declines before things stabilise.

2:45 pm Buyback: Apar Industries says the board of directors of the company has approved the buyback up to 4.5 lakh fully paid-up equity shares, representing up to 1.17 percent of the outstanding equity shares, at a price of Rs 660 per share payable in cash for an aggregate amount of up to Rs 29.7 crore.

2:35 pm NTPC chairman says he expects to commission projects of 8,000-10,000 MW by March 2019.

FY18 investment target is pegged at Rs 8,000 crore and FY17 was at Rs 30,000 crore, he adds.

2:20 pm Order win: Wind turbine maker Suzlon Group today said that it has bagged 105 mega watt (MW) order from Axis Energy Group in Andhra Pradesh.

"The project consists of 50 units of S111 90 metre tubular tower, each with a capacity of 2.1 MW. Located in Andhra Pradesh, the project is scheduled for completion in two phases," the company said in a BSE filing.

While, the first phase will be completed in March 2017 and the second phase will be completed in June 2017, it said.

2:00 pm Market Check
Benchmark indices remained directionless in afternoon due to lack of domestic and global cues. Investors awaited quarterly earnings that will begin next week with TCS and Infosys.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 8.38 points at 26869.86 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 0.30 points to 8273.50.

The main European bourses were moving south on the last day of trading of the first week of 2017. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.27 percent lower with most sectors trading in negative territory.

Yes Bank was the biggest gainer among Nifty 50 stocks as Motilal Oswal expects the outperformance to continue even in CY17, with its return on equities best placed among peers at over 20 percent.

HCL Technologies shed nearly 4 percent on US immigration fears. Even other technology stocks too were under pressure after the immigration reform re-introduced in the US House of Representatives by Congressmen.

Natco Pharma surged over 4 percent following the approval from US Food and Drug Administration for its generic version of Bendamustine Hydrochloride powder for injection, 25 mg/Vial and 100 mg/Vial (Singe-Dose Vial), which it will launch on November 1, 2019 or earlier in USA market.

1:25 pm Interview: The Protect and Grow American Jobs Bill has been re-introduced in the US Congress by two Republicans. But Vineet Nayyar, Vice Chairman of Tech Mahindra says there is nothing to be overly concerned about.

Nayyar says the company has only 4,000 employees, which is around 4 percent of the workforce in the US, working on an H1-B visa. So he feels the Bill will not have a major impact on the company and it will be able to absorb the pain.

The Bill also asks the minimum wages to be increased to USD 100,000. The average wage of employees working for Tech Mahindra, says Nayyar, is around USD 60,000.

Nayyar is of the opinion that everyone acts for their self-interest, and, this move may not be in keeping with US companies. So, its approval for now seems difficult.

Even if it is passed, he feels the US may take more than a year to pass the Immigration Bill.

1:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks remained rangebound in afternoon trade, especially after hitting psychological levels in morning. Banking & financial and PSU oil & gas stocks continued to support the market while the selling was seen in index heavyweights Infosys and ITC.

The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 26.58 points to 26851.66 and the 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 6.25 points to 8267.55. The market breadth was in favour of declines.

About 1320 shares declined against 1191 advancing shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Infosys and Wockhardt were most active shares.

The clean chit from the German health regulator to Ankleshwar unit lifted Wockhardt higher by 7 percent while US immigration concerns dragged Infosys over 2 percent.

Oil India gained more than 2 percent after shareholders approved the issue of bonus shares in the proportion of one bonus equity share for every three shares held.

Meanwhile, gold slipped from the one-month high touched in the previous session, with traders waiting for US jobs data later in the day for clues on the pace of possible US interest rate hikes this year.

12:35 pm Coal production: State-owned Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, is expected to raise its production to 660 million tonnes in 2017/18 fiscal year, the coal secretary said.

The miner is expected to achieve its 2016/17 production target of 575 million tonnes and aims to raise output to 1 billion tonnes by 2020, Susheel Kumar told television news channel CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

With coal accounting for about 70 percent of India's power generation, the country is the world's third-biggest producer and importer of the fuel, and government wants to boost domestic output to cut imports.

Coal India, however, has failed to meet its output targets for years due to several reasons including strikes, accidents and protests.

During April-December, Coal India produced 378 million tonnes, lagging behind its target for this financial year ending in March.

12:20 pm Tata Sons EGM: After ousting him as Chairman, Tata Sons has called a shareholders' meeting on February 6 to remove Cyrus Mistry as director of the holding company of the USD 103-billion Tata Group.

Tata Sons had abruptly removed Mistry as its Chairman on October 24 and sought his ouster from operating companies like Tata Motors and TCS. Mistry subsequently resigned from the board of six companies, but dragged Tata Sons and his interim successor Ratan Tata to the National Company Law Tribunal.

After the board meeting of October 24, 2016, Tata Sons had resolved that Mistry shall, notwithstanding his ceasing to be the Chairman, continue as a director of the company.

"Subsequent to his replacement, Mistry has made certain unsubstantiated allegations, which cast aspersions not only on Tata Sons Limited and its board of directors, but also on the Tata group as a whole. Internal communications, including confidential, were made public. Mistry's conduct has caused enormous harm to the Tata group and its stakeholders, including employees and shareholders," Tata Sons said in a note for extraordinary general meeting (EGM).

12:00 pm Market Check
The volatility continued in noon trade after the Nifty reclaimed 8300 level. Oil and banking & financials stocks continued to support the market but the sell-off in technology stocks weighed.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 1.31 points at 26879.55 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 0.50 points to 8274.30.

ONGC and Dr Reddy's Labs were the biggest gainers among Sensex 30 stocks, up 2-3 percent while TCS and Infosys were down over 2 percent on US immigration fears.

Citi remains cautious on technology sector, saying the recent re-introduction of the Protect and Grow American Jobs Act reaffirms its view that immigration reform remains an overhang to watch and likely a key theme for the sector in 2017.

Asian markets traded mixed, with Japanese automakers coming under pressure following a tweet by President-elect Donald Trump directed at Toyota, as well as due to a stronger yen.

Oil prices were little changed on Friday after gaining nearly 1 percent the day before on news that Saudi Arabia had cut production to meet OPEC's agreement to reduce output.

11:45 am Interview: Jagran Prakashan's board has approved a buyback of 4.74 percent equity shares at Rs 195.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, RK Agarwal, CFO of Jagran Prakashan said that the company did not declare a dividend this year.

Jagran Prakashan is sensing an inorganic expansion in the market, said Agarwal. However, constantly evaluating acquisition opportunities, he added.

He further said that the company has filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for Radio City.

Speaking about advertisement, he said Uttar Pradesh (UP) contributes around 45 percent to company's revenue. Hence, may see a growth in ad spends in wake of the UP election.

11:25 am FII View: Sakthi Siva of Credit Suisse says while demonetisation and high valuations may explain net foreign selling in India of USD 507 million over the past six days, Korea continues to attract the lion's share of net foreign buying of USD 655 million over the past six days.

She believes this resumption of net foreign buying admittedly tentative and in baby steps supports MSCI Asia Ex-Japan year-end target of 580 which offers potential upside of 12 percent.

As suggested in 2017 Outlook, she believes that Dollar Index strength and rising US bond yields at least partly reflect better US growth expectations rather than just risk aversion/rising inflation.

11:00 am Market Check
Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets erased gains due to consistent selling pressure in technology stocks. However, banking & financials and oil stocks continued to support the market.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 25.08 points at 26903.32 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 3.20 points at 8277.

Infosys and TCS were the biggest losers among Sensex 30 stocks, down 2.6 percent each on US immigration bill overhang. The bill has been re-introduced in the US Congress by two Republicans, which seek to raise the minimum wage on H1B to USD 100,000 against USD 60,000 currently.

Wockhardt surged nearly 7 percent as German regulator issued European Union good manufacturing practices certificate to company's Ankleshwar API unit in Gujarat.

In brokerage reaction, Yes Bank gained more than 2 percent as Motilal Oswal expects the outperpformance to continue even in CY17, with its return on equities best placed among peers at over 20 percent.

10:45 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks erased gains in morning trade. The Sensex was up 35.21 points at 26913.45 and the Nifty down 2.65 points at 8271.15.

About 1193 shares advanced against 948 declining shares on the BSE.

10:35 am Buzzing: Wockhardt shares rallied more than 8 percent intraday on getting clean chit for its Ankaleshwar unit from the German health regulator.

"Competent authority, Berlin, Germany has since issued European Union Good Manufacturing Practice Certificate confirming that company's manufacturing facility at 138, GIDC Estate, Ankaleshwar, Gujarat, complies with the principles and guidelines of Good Manufacturing Practices," the Mumbai-based healthcare company said in its filing.

The good manufacturing practice certificate issued for the plant is valid for three years; hence the company will continue to supply of APIs across European Union that contributed about 37 percent of company's revenue in FY16.

Three days back, the same active pharmaceutical ingredient plant had received a warning letter from the US Food and Drug Administration.

10:15 am Market Expert: Speaking to CNBC-TV18 Sandeep Bhatia, Head of Equity, India at Macquarie said that markets could trend down over the next couple of months. Any 10 percent correction from current levels will be reasonable, he maintained.

The big structural impact on tax revenues is one of the many imponderables, he said, adding that the tax revenue to GDP ratio should see a jump. For the month of November gross tax collections show a jump of 55 percent.

Rural India is still hurting from poor consumption levels, he said. He hopes that recovery comes through after June.

10:00 am Market check
Benchmark indices continued to trade higher, supported by banking & financials, FMCG and oil stocks but the selling pressure in technology stocks capped upside.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 83.31 points at 26961.55 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 18.75 points to 8292.55 while the broader markets outperform.

The BSE Midcap index gained 0.6 percent and Smallcap rose 0.4 percent on positive breadth. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the exchange.

ICICI Bank, HDFC, ITC, ONGC, HDFC Bank, SBI and Reliance Industries were leading gainers today, up 0.5-2.5 percent while technology stocks remained under pressure for the second consecutive session.

The Nifty IT index fell over 2 percent after a bill backing key changes in the H1-B programme that allows skilled workers from countries like India to fill high-tech jobs in the US has been re-introduced in the US Congress yesterday. HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS were down 1.5-3 percent.

9:40 am FII view: Mahesh Nandurkar of CLSA says a combination of gains from demonetisation (estimate Rs 75,000 crore) and a partial relaxation of the fiscal roadmap should enable the Government to raise its overall spend by Rs 2 lakh crore YoY in FY18, i.e. the same jump as the last year.

This higher spend would only be an internal re-allocation of funds and not a net boost to the economy as the overall fiscal deficit should still reduce YoY, he feels.

He believes consumer staple companies, two-wheeler makers, Mahindra & Mahindra and cement producers should benefit. A change in the definition of 'long term' for capital gains tax could impact sentiment for equities, Nandurkar says.

9:25 am Market gains: The market surged higher with the Nifty briefly touching 8300. The Sensex is up 91.62 points or 0.3 percent at 26969.86 and the Nifty is up 24.75 points or 0.3 percent at 8298.55. About 989 shares have advanced, 312 shares declined, and 423 shares are unchanged.

ONGC, Hero MotoCoro, Tata Motors, GAIL and NTPC are top gainers while TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Bharti and Axis Bank are losers in the Sensex.

The market has opened with strong gains with the Nifty nearing 8300. The 50-share index is up 16.95 points or 0.2 percent at 8290.75 and the Sensex is up 58.43 points or 0.22% at 26936.67. About 595 shares have advanced, 145 shares declined, and 380 shares are unchanged.

GAIL, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Bank and NTPC are top gainers while TCS, Wipro, Infosys, BHEL and Reliance are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee has strengthened further in early trade Friday. It has opened at 67.85 a dollar, up 11 paise compared with 67.96 a dollar in previous session.

Bhaskar Panda of HDFC Bank says economic data released in the US was better than expected but the Dollar index is still subdued.

The dollar retreated to the 101 handle against a basket of currencies, from levels above 103.60 reached earlier in the week.

Asian markets traded mixed, with Japanese automakers coming under pressure following a tweet by President-elect Donald Trump directed at Toyota, as well as due to a stronger yen.

The Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.56 percent. Shares of Toyota fell 2.03 percent. On Thursday, Trump rebuked Toyota on Twitter and threatened the automaker with a large border tax if it builds a new plant outside the US. Meanwhile, the yen strengthened to 115.66 against the dollar on Friday morning Asia time, from levels above 118.00 earlier in the week.

Dow Jones industrial average fell 42.87 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 19,899.29. The S&P 500 dropped 1.75 points, or 0.08 percent, to end at 2,269, while the Nasdaq rose 10.93 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 5,487.94.

Crude oil prices were steady in trade. A report that Saudi Arabia is cutting production as it implements an agreement to ease a global supply glut sparked the turnaround supports.