Nifty ends near day's low, Sensex dips 430 points; all sectoral indices in the red

3:30 pm Market Closing: Benchmark indices closed sharply lower amid brutal sell-off in last hour of trade.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 429.58 points or 1.27 percent at 33,317.20 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 109.60 points or 1.06 percent to 10,249.30.

3:28 pm Market Update: The Sensex was down 427.80 points or 1.27 percent at 33,318.98, and the Nifty dropped 120.40 points or 1.16 percent at 10,238.50.
More than three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

3:27 pm Nifty50 Gainers:

3:24 pm Adani Group Stocks Slip: Adani Enterprises shares fell more than 8 percent while Adani Power and Adani Transmission were down 4 percent each.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone was down 1.5 percent.

3:20 pm Auto Stocks Skid: Among auto stocks, TVS Motor Company, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto and MRF were down 1-3 percent.

Tata Motors hit fresh 52-week low of Rs 345.25, falling nearly 2 percent.

3:17 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices were trading sharply lower as the Sensex was down 366.57 points or 1.09 percent at 33,380.21.

The Nifty hit fresh 2018 low, falling 101.10 points or 0.98 percent to 10,257.80.

3:15 pm Sectoral Performance: All sectoral indices traded in the red in late trade. PSU Bank index fell the most, down 2.5 percent after investigation deepened in the PNB fraud case.

Nifty Bank, Auto, FMCG, IT, Pharma and Realty indices were down more than 1 percent. Metal index outperformed, trading with mild losses.

3:12 pm Order Win: Ashoka Buildcon said its subsidiary Ashoka Concessions Limited has received a letter of award (LOA) from National Highways Authority of India for the project -- six laning of Khairatunda to Barwa Adda section of NH-2 -- in Jharkhand under NHDP Phase-V on Hybrid Annuity Mode.

The accepted bid project cost is Rs 860.10 crore.

3:10 pm Tech Deal: Shares of HCL Technologies rose more than 2 percent intraday after the company signed deal with Statkraft.

The company has signed a significant IT deal with the Norway based global energy company Statkraft, which is Europe's leading generator of renewable energy and Norway's largest.

Statkraft produces hydropower, wind power, solar power, gas-fired power and supplies district heating.

With this partnership the company will enable Statkraft to adopt market standard IT services globally in 18 countries, based on the principles of flexibility, automation and innovation.

3:05 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices extended losses due to further selling pressure in banks, especially after Serious Fraud Investigation Office summons ICICI Bank MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank MD Shikha Sharma in the Rs 12,700-crore PNB fraud case.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 325.01 points or 0.96 percent at 33,421.77 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 90.40 points or 0.87 percent to 10,268.50.

More than two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

3:00 pm Banking losers:

2:51 pm Market Update: The market extended losses in last hour of trade as the Sensex fell more than 150 points and the Nifty was trading below the 10,350 levels despite strong global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 173.97 points at 33,572.81 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 42.20 points to 10,316.70.

About two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

Banks remained under pressure after Serious Fraud Investigation Office summons ICICI Bank MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank MD Shikha Sharma in the Rs 12,700-crore PNB fraud case. ICICI Bank slipped 2.5 percent.

Nifty Bank index fell 1 percent and PSU bank index dropped 2 percent.

Meanwhile, metals have trimmed some of their gains, but continue to trade in the green.

2:41 pm CEO Appointment: Piramal group's real estate firm Piramal Realty announced the appointment of Naaman Atallah as its chief executive officer (CEO).

Atallah was formerly the CEO of Dubai Properties and was leading a portfolio of 144 projects worth USD 30 billion which included residential, commercial, retail and hospitality developments, the company said in a statement.

2:31 pm Bid for Oil field: ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), has signed a pact with Iran's IDRO Oil to jointly bid for a USD 1 billion contract for development of Susangerd oilfield in southern Iran.

The onland Susangerd field in the Khuzestan province is one of the newest finds, which Iran hopes will produce around 30,000 barrels per day of oil in two development phases.

OVL signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate with IDRO Oil, which is a subsidiary of state-run Iranian Development and Renovation Organisation, in developing Susangerd field, official sources said.

2:20 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices erased gains despite strong global cues, with the Sensex falling 29.76 points to 33,717.02.

Nifty Bank index fell more than 100 points, weighed by ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI.

The market breadth also turned negative as about 1,371 shares declined against 1,139 advancing shares on the BSE.

2:14 pm Fundraising: Tata group retail arm Trent has raised Rs 100 crore from the market by issuing commercial papers to refinance its existing borrowings.

"The company has issued and allotted commercial paper of Rs 100 crore," Trent said in a regulatory filing.

The proceeds will be primarily used to refinance the existing borrowings, it added.

2:05 pm Disruption in Lok Sabha: The Lok Sabha failed to transact any legislative business for the second straight day as the Congress and the TMC sought the prime minister's response on frauds in the banking sector, while parties from Andhra Pradesh persisted on their demand for a special status.

Besides the major opposition parties, NDA ally Shiv Sena protested in the Well demanding classical language status for Marathi. The AIADMK demanded the creation of Cauvery Water Management Board and the TRS raised slogans, demanding a hike in Telangana's quota in reservation.

As the Lok Sabha continued to witness uproar, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the Government is ready for a discussion on the issue of alleged financial irregularities in the banking sector and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will reply to the debate.

1:58 pm Joint Venture: Jubilant FoodWorks shares gained 2 percent as the company has entered into a share subscription and shareholders' agreement for a joint venture with Golden Harvest QSR Limited for operating Domino's Pizza restaurants in Bangladesh.

Golden Harvest QSR is a part of Golden Harvest Group of Bangladesh.

The agreement was signed between the parties on March 6, 2018.

1:48 pm Europe Update: European markets opened higher despite uncertainty following Italy's parliamentary election on Sunday which produced a hung parliament.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.7 percent higher with every sector in positive territory. France CAC and Britain FTSE gained 0.8 percent each.

Political uncertainty continues in Italy following an inconclusive election result Monday. Two anti-establishment parties – the Five Star Movement and the League (formerly, the Northern League) – have stepped forward as candidates to lead the euro zone's third largest economy.

1:35 pm FinMin to coax Fitch for rating upgrade: The government will tomorrow pitch for a sovereign rating upgrade with global agency Fitch, highlighting reform push in taxation and PSU banks and its plans to gradually lower government debt.

According to sources, representatives from Fitch are scheduled to meet Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian and Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg and other finance ministry officials on March 7.

Fitch last year kept India's sovereign rating unchanged at 'BBB-', the lowest investment grade, with stable outlook.

It had last upgraded the rating from BB+ to BBB-with stable outlook on August 1, 2006. Later, it changed the outlook to negative in 2012 and then again to stable in the following year, though keeping the rating unchanged.

1:24 pm Sun Pharma in focus: Sun Pharma, India's largest drug maker, is well poised to resolve the US FDA's warning letter on its Halol site in Gujarat – as the three Form 483 observations the company received from the agency turned out to be minor in nature, according to analysts Moneycontrol spoke to.

The US FDA conducted Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) inspection of Sun Pharma's Halol facility from February 12 - 23.

The USFDA said written procedures for cleaning didn't include reassembling method in detail; written procedures for maintenance did not including reassembling method in detail; written procedures for sampling, testing & approval are lacking; and written procedures for rejection of product containers & closures are lacking.

1:15 pm IPO: Private sector lender Bandhan Bank has received markets regulator Sebi's go ahead to raise an estimated amount of over Rs 2,500 crore through an initial share sale.

The Kolkata-based bank had filed draft papers with Sebi on January 1 and obtained "observations" from the regulator on February 28, as per the latest update with the markets watchdog.

Sebi's "observations" are very important for any company to launch public issues like initial public offer (IPO) and rights issue.

According to the draft papers, Bandhan Bank's IPO comprises fresh issue of up to 9,76,63,910 equity shares and an offer for sale of up to 1,40,50,780 scrips by International Finance Corporation (IFC) and up to 75,65,804 shares by IFC FIG Investment Company.

1:05 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices traded higher with mild gains in afternoon, backed by metals and oil retailers. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries and HDFC, too, supported the market but the weakness in ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and ITC capped gains.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 60.78 points at 33,807.56 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 34.40 points at 10,393.30.

12:50 pm PSU Bank Stocks Update:

12:40 pm Record Date for Dividend: NLC India informed exchanges that the company has fixed March 27, 2018 as the record date for payment of interim dividend, if declared.

12:30 pm Arbitration Award: The Delhi High Court has upheld the arbitration award of Rs 2,950 crore as compensation along with interest to Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL), a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra), by a three-member Arbitration Tribunal, Reliance Infra said in its filing.

Reliance Infrastructure stands to get Rs 5,060 crore from the award, which it shall entirely utilise to reduce its consolidated debt. This amount is arbitration award amount plus interest till March 31, 2018.

12:20 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices continued to trade higher, but were off day's high due to volatility in banks stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 100.18 points at 33,846.96 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 38.60 points at 10,397.50 while the Nifty Midcap index was up 0.4 percent.

IOC, HDFC, Vedanta, Yes Bank, HPCL, Tata Steel, BPCL, HCL Technologies and Aurobindo Pharma gained 1-3 percent while Bharti Infratel was the biggest loser among Nifty50 stocks, down 2.5 percent.

ICICI Bank and SBI continued to trade with half a percent loss.

12:05 pm Buzzing: Pritika Auto Industries announced the signing of agreement with Amrit Duraparts to buy assets (land, building, and machinery) of their unit No 2 in Punjab. The stock price gained 5 percent.

The newly acquired foundry has a capacity of 12,000 tons per annum.

"With this agreement, the total installed capacity of the company will increase to 50,000 tonnes per annum," forging company Pritika Auto said.

11:55 am Stake Sale: DSP BlackRock Trustee Co has trimmed its stake in apparel brand Indian Terrain Fashions by 1.70 percent after selling 6.46 lakh shares in the open market.

As per a BSE filing, DSP BlackRock Trustee Co, on behalf of various schemes of DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund, decreased its shareholding in the company on March 1.

Before the transaction, the schemes of DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund held 18.66 lakh shares amounting to 4.92 percent stake which has been brought down to 3.22 percent after the open market sale, it added.

11:45 am Crude Oil Update: Oil prices extended gains for the fifth straight day, underpinned by robust demand forecasts and prospects for informal contacts sought by OPEC with US shale oil producers at a key industry meeting in Houston this week.

International benchmark Brent crude futures climbed to USD 65.66 per barrel, up 12 cents, or 0.18 percent.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures advanced to USD 62.72 a barrel, up 15 cents, or 0.24 percent.

11:33 am Buzzing: Nifty Bank index turned negative as Canara Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were down 1-2 percent after investigation deepened in the PNB fraud case.

11:21 am Market Update: Benchmark indices lost more than half of gains in late morning deals due to correction in select banks stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 95.30 points at 33,842.08 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 35.50 points to 10,394.40.

ICICI Bank and SBI were down half a percent each.

11:10 am Acquisition: JSW Steel shares rallied 3.7 percent intraday after sources told CNBC-TV18 that the company has signed memorandum of understanding to acquire Italy's second largest steelmaker Aferpi.

MoU between JSW & Aferpi guaranteed exclusive talks between the two players. The deal is pegged at Rs 600 crore.

11:02 am PNB Fraud Case: Serious Fraud Investigation Office has summoned ICICI Bank CMD Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank MD Shikha Sharma in the PNB fraud case, a CNN-News18 report said.

10:45 am Buzzing: Shares of Gitanjali Gems cracked another 5 percent after the Central Bureau of Investigation has detained Vipul Chitalia, Vice President (Banking Operations) of Gitanjali Group, in Mumbai in the Rs 12,700 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case.

The CBI yesterday said the violation of norms for issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) to benefit billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had been going on since 2010.

This is the 14th straight session of fall for the stock. It has lost as as much as 75 percent since February 14, the day the PNB fraud came to light.

10:25 am Rupee Trade: The rupee rose by 11 paise to 64.99 against the US dollar on mild selling of the greenback by exporters and a higher opening in the domestic equity market.

Meanwhile, the dollar gained against most major global currencies as concerns over a global trade war eased after investors saw Trump's proposed tariffs as more of a negotiating tactic than a hard policy proposal.

Investors sentiment was supported by the US non-manufacturing sector growth and improved risk appetite for the dollar, currency traders said.

10:15 am Market Update: Benchmark indices were off their opening highs despite strong global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 159.14 points or 0.47 percent at 33,905.92 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 47 points or 0.45 percent at 10,405.90.

The Nifty Midcap was also off its opening high, rising half a percent. About 1,470 shares advanced against 579 declining shares on the BSE.

10:10 am Order Win: Share price of Jain Irrigation Systems rose 2.5 percent as the company bagged an order worth Rs 287.66 crore.

The company has bagged order for integrated irrigation solution project in Karnataka. Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam, a division of water resources department of Karnataka, has placed this order on the company through national competitive bidding, company said in release.

The company is expecting to complete the said project in 24 months.

10:00 am Acquisition: Share price of JSW Energy added 3 percent on acquisition of JSW Electric Vehicles.

The company has acquired 100 percent stake in JSW Electric Vehicles and post this acquisition, JSW Electric Vehicles has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

The acquisition falls within related party transaction.

The acquired entity has been set up to, manufacture electric motor vehicles, all types of parts, spare parts, engines, appliances and apparatus, equipment, etc.

It is part of diversification strategy of JSW Energy to foray into electric vehicles, energy storage systems and charging infrastructure which will be housed under the acquired entity-JSW Electric Vehicles.

9:53 am Buzzing: Shares of Bharat Wire Ropes gained 4 percent as company to consider fund raising plan on March 9.

The company's board meeting is scheduled to be held on March 9, to consider and approve raising of funds by way of issue of securities.

It will consider fundraising via equity shares and/or american depository receipts (ADR) and/ or global depository receipts (GDR) and/or any other securities convertible into equity shares and/or non-convertible debentures with or without warrants, through further public offer (FPO)/ qualified institutions placement (QIP)/ preferential issue (PI)/ right issue (RI) or through, any other permissible mode or a combination thereof.

9:42 am Market Update: The market continued to trade higher, with the Sensex rising more than 200 points and the Nifty trading above 10,400 levels on positive global cues.
All sectoral indices are in the green, with Metal index rising 2 percent.

9:29 am Asia Update: Asian stocks rallied, tracking gains seen in the US and Europe in the last session as concerns over a potential trade war faded.

Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 2.28 percent, with the dollar extending gains against the yen as trade-related fears abated.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Australia's ASX 200 and South Korea's Kospi gained more than 1 percent.

9:21 am PNB Fraud: Violation of norms for issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) to benefit billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had been going on since 2010, the CBI told a court.

The agency, which secured a 12-day remand of four accused arrested on Sunday, explained the modus operandi involved in the alleged Rs 12,636-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud before the special CBI court.

An LoU would be issued to one of the firms of Modi and Choksi, and after the money was credited to the applicants' account, a new LoU would be obtained to "adjust" the earlier one, the CBI lawyer said.

This had been going on since 2010, the lawyer said, while seeking remand of four accused including Aniyath Shiv Raman Nair, Director of Gitanjali Group of Companies of Choksi.

9:15 am Market Check: Benchmark indices opened sharply higher on Tuesday after falling for previous four consecutive sessions, aided by positive global cues and short covering.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 213.48 points or 0.63 percent at 33,960.26 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 65.30 points or 0.63 percent at 10,424.20.

NMDC, Tata Steel, SAIL, JSW Steel, JSPL, Hindalco and Vedanta rebounded with 1-4 percent gains.

About four shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE. Nifty Midcap index was up 166 points or 0.86 percent.

JSW Energy, IDBI Bank, Godrej Agrovet, VST Tillers and Ashok Leyland gained more than 1 percent while PFC and Idea Cellular were under pressure.