Nifty takes a pit stop;Bharti at 4-yr low on more downgrade

The Indian market consolidated on Wednesday after hitting fresh 5 month highs in trade yesterday. In technical parlance, a consolidation after decent rally is always a healthy sign and signifies the underlying strength of the uptrend.
 
The Sensex closed at 17846.86, down 38.40 points or 0.21% and the Nifty ended at 5412.85 down 8.15 points or 0.15%. About 1292 shares advanced, 1475 shares declined, and 678 shares remain unchanged.

Pharma, IT and auto stocks were on buyer's list today. Realty, power and consumer durables witnessed some profit booking.

Bharti Airtel fell to its lowest intraday level since October 2008, after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock, citing prospects of Reliance Infotel entering the wireless voice market.

Credit Suisse cut its ratings on the stock to "underperform" from "neutral", while cutting its target price to Rs 220. Yesterday, investment bank Morgan Stanley downgraded the telecom major's stock to 'equal-weight' from 'overweight'. Morgan Stanley also cut the target price for the stock to Rs 280 from Rs 366 earlier.

Bharti Airtel was accompanied by Sesa Goa, Sterlite Industries, IDFC and PNB on the losing side. Top gainers on the Nifty were Ranbaxy Labs, BPCL, Bank of Baroda, Infosys and Dr Reddys Labs.

Top Headlines of the day

Sources indicate that Tata Sons is looking to hike stake in group companies, reports CNBC-TV18's Kritika Saxena. Now, four-five companies are top most on the agenda. This includes Tata Chemicals, Tata Steel, Indian Hotels and Tata Coffee.  

Ranbaxy Laboratories surged over 3% as analysts cited improved sales potential in key US markets.

The Supreme Court will hear final arguments from September 11 in a key patent dispute between Swiss drugmaker Novartis and India's patent office, a case that could curb India's global position as a supplier of cut-price generic medicines.

The hearing, which is expected to last for at least two months, had been scheduled to being on Wednesday.

Vedanta may offer 25% higher price for acquiring stake in Hindustan Zinc and Balco reports PTI. The news will have negative impact on Sterlite Industries and Sesa Goa. Hindustan Zinc may open in green tomorrow.

Indian tour operator Cox & Kings  Ltd announced today, Citigroup's venture capital arm will invest USD 137.75 million in its UK unit, sending its shares up 5%.

The funds will be used to retire the debt Prometheon Holdings, Cox & King's UK unit, raised when it bought British specialist travel company Holidaybreak last July.

The Finance Ministry approved foreign direct investment upto 49% in insurance and pension sector. Max India locked 2% gains.

Europe in red

European indices were also trading lower on profit-booking and some caution ahead of the meeting scheduled today between the Greek Prime Minister and Eurogroup Head.

Gold was steady on Wednesday near a 3-1/2 month high hit in the previous session as investors remained hopeful the European Central Bank would soon take action to contain the region's debt crisis.