Sensex ends 71 points down, Nifty below 8050; ITC falls 3%

03:30 pm Market closing Even after trying hard to chase the bears away, the market ended on a lower note. The Sensex was down 71.31 points at 26710.13 while the Nifty slips 37.80 points at 8029.80. About 1038 shares have advanced, 1780 shares declined, and 97 shares are unchanged. Hero Moto, ITC, Cipla, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma were major losers in the Sensex. Among the gainers were Sesa Sterlite, SBI, ONGC, Hindalco and Tata Steel.

03:10 pm MSCI exclusion for Russia? Index provider MSCI said it may exclude Russia from its emerging markets benchmark if authorities introduced capital or foreign exchange controls. Around USD 1.4 trillion are benchmarked against MSCI's Emerging Markets share index , which are used by many investment funds to determine their weightings. "The introduction of restrictive measures, such as capital or foreign exchange controls, which may lead to a material deterioration of Russian equity market accessibility, may lead to the exclusion of the MSCI Russia Index from the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and a reclassification proposal of such market to Standalone Market status," the index provider said in a statement.

02:40pm Cox & Kings in News PGL, a subsidiary of Holidaybreak, the European Education and Leisure specialist group adds its second site, Camp Rumbug in Australia, as part of its plan to expand in Australia. Holidaybreak is a subsidiary of Prometheon Holdings (UK), which is a part of Cox & Kings. PGL has been operating school camps, adventure centres and retreats in the UK and Europe since 1957. PGL operates 25 centres in the UK, Europe and Australia.

02:20pm Market Expert Amisha Vora, Joint MD, Prabhudas Lilladher is advising to buy post further correction. She expects more trading sessions filled with volatility but it is still a good time to buy, backed by improving macros, given the trader has the appetite to face more volatility. "I don't think it is all just over as of now but anything one gets 8,000 and below maybe till 7,850 or maybe a little lower are the timings to buy," says Vora.

02:00pm Market Check Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate after showing recovery from day's low. The Sensex declined 6.73 points to 26774.71 and the Nifty fell 19.05 points to 8048.55. The rupee also recovered from its 13-month low of 63.85 a dollar, down 6 paise to 63.59 a dollar. About 967 shares have advanced while 1680 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Sesa Sterlite topped the buying list on the Sensex, up 3.6 percent followed by State Bank of India with 3 percent gains. ICICI Bank, HDFC, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries climbed 1-2 percent. However, cigarette major ITC and drug maker Cipla plunged 3 percent each. Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Hero Motocorp, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto and Tata Power were other prominent losers, down 1-2 percent. In the midcap space, GE Shipping, BEML, Gateway Distriparks, Puravankara Projects and Godrej Industries gained 6 percent each while Tilak Finance, PMC Fincorp, Hindustan National Glass, BF Utilities and Bombay Rayon slipped 7-11 percent.

1:50 pm SpiceJet woes: With troubled SpiceJet having grounded its flights, oil companies have made it clear the budget carrier will get fuel only on immediate payments, as the airline is on 'cash and carry' mode. The carrier had till yesterday bought some jet fuel but it has not made any request for cash purchase since last evening and so no aircraft of SpiceJet has been refuelled, industry sources said. SpiceJet had been put on cash-and-carry about six months back, which meant fuel will be supplied to the aircraft only if they pay for it, they said. SpiceJet used to buy about Rs 5.5 crore worth of fuel daily from Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) but six months back it shifted some purchases to Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and Reliance Industries. The daily offtake had since then fallen due to grounding of several of its aircraft and SpiceJet cutting back its fleet.

1:30 pm Growth outlook: Declining oil prices represent a golden opportunity for many beneficial reforms, says a recent report by Asia Development Bank (ADB). It noted that the growth outlook for developing Asia and the Pacific remains steady primarily due to falling crude, even though momentum slowed in the second half of 2014 . The report, titled Cheap Oil Can Benefit Asia mentions that India is on track to grow 5.5 percent in 2014 (ending 31 March 2015) after expanding by 5.7% in the first quarter and 5.3% in the second quarter. "By eliminating diesel fuel subsidies, the government has demonstrated its willingness to tackle contentious reforms, but it must extend its efforts to reach the forecast 6.3% growth in FY2015," the report said.

The market recovers early losses with support from metals, oil & gas and bank stocks. The Sensex is up 7.89 points at 26789.33 and the Nifty is down 10.60 points at 8057.00. About 902 shares have advanced, 1676 shares declined, and 78 shares are unchanged. Metal index is up over 1 percent led by Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel and Hindalco. SBI and ONGC are up 2-3 percent each. ITC is still down 3 percent while Tata Power, Cipla, Hero Moto and Sun Pharma are still dragging 2 percent each. Japanese stocks rose moving away from a 6-1/2-week low as hopes of a continuation of the US Federal Reserve's dovish stance helped sentiment recover, while Japan Tobacco Inc tumbled. The Nikkei benchmark ended 0.4 percent higher at 16,819.73, moving away from 16,672.94 hit earlier in the day, the lowest level since October 31. The broader Topix shed 0.1 percent to 1,352.01, while the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 dropped 0.2 percent to 12,259.36.

12:58pm Market Update The Sensex declined 93.52 points to 26687.92 and the Nifty fell 41.35 points to 8026.25. About 825 shares have advanced, 1721 shares declined, and 73 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange. FMCG, capital goods, power, auto and select pharma stocks continued to see selling pressure while oil, metals and select banks stocks gained. In early trade, Russian ruble gained 3 percent to 70.5 per US dollar and Russian equity market climbed 0.6 percent to 633.16 after seeing two-day rout.

12:50pm Emami in News Home grown FMCG firm Emami has enetered into a partnership with German homoeopathic firm Hevert-Arzneimittel for manufacturing and marketing of select Hevert formulations in India. Emami through its homoeopathy arms M Bhattacharyya & Co and King & Co (Homoeo Chemist) has forged alliance with the German firm Hevert-Arzneimittel for "distribution & marketing, GMP Consultancy and licence for manufacturing select Hevert  formulations in India", the firm said in a statement. As per the agreement, Hevert-Arzneimittel products will be available in 400 homoeopathy medicine retail outlets across diverse distribution channels, reports PTI. Commenting on it Emami Group Founder & Joint Chairman R S Agarwal said: "We were always open for strategic technical collaboration with international homoeopathic firms and I am confident that our partnership with Hevert is going to benefit the consumers in India immensely."

12:40pm Nikkei ends higher Japanese stocks rose today, moving away from a 6-1/2-week low as hopes of a continuation of the US Federal Reserve's dovish stance helped sentiment recover, while Japan Tobacco Inc tumbled. Japan Tobacco, which is highly exposed to crisis-hit Russia, dived 7.8 percent on heavy volume and contributed a hefty negative 10 points to the Nikkei. It was the fourth most traded stock by turnover. Goldman Sachs said Russia contributes 20-25 percent of its operating profits, and a 1 percent rouble depreciation reduces its profit by almost 3 billion yen. The rouble has fallen 20 percent since the start of the week and more than 50 percent this year. The Nikkei benchmark ended 0.4 percent higher at 16,819.73, moving away from 16,672.94 hit earlier in the day, the lowest level since Oct. 31. The broader Topix shed 0.1 percent to 1,352.01, while the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 dropped 0.2 percent to 12,259.36, reports Reuters.

12:20pm Market Expert Rishav Dev, Equity Strategist at Quant Capital - Institutional Equities, sees some outflow from debt funds due to rupee depreciation. He however had expected equity funds to pick up in the last few weeks of November, which has not happened. ''USD 17 billion inflow into India this calendar year is not bad but I had expected it to cross USD 20 billion,'' he told CNBC-TV18. According to Dev, the outflow has been largely driven by ETFs. ''In the last couple of days we have seen Indian funds domiciled in US booking profits here. At this point in time, it is largely driven by hot money, which has gone out of the market in the last 5-6 days,'' he said, adding that he sees the trend continuing in the last few trading sessions in December.

12:00pm Market Check The Nifty recovered some lost ground after slipping below the 8,000 level in early trade supported by banks and oil stocks. The index slipped for the fifth consecutive session today as select realty, pharma, FMCG and auto stocks dragged. The rupee too recovered from its 13-month low, down 5 paise to 63.58 a dollar. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 26.13 points to 26755.31 and the 50-share NSE Nifty plummeted 17.05 points to 8050.55. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slipped 0.4 percent and 1 percent, respectively. About 737 shares have advanced, 1692 shares declined, and 70 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Tata Steel saw a smart uptick, up more than 3 percent as the company received interim relief from the Odisha High Court and can resume iron ore mining operations in Odisha till January 28. Shares of HDFC, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sesa Sterlite and Gail India gained 1-2 percent. SpiceJet lost 6 percent as it got grounded after oil companies stopped fuel supply to the troubled airline. Management told CNBC-TV18 that they urgently need Rs 600 crore for survival. Meanwhile Sun TV recovered, up 2.5 percent after the management told the channel that the Marans will not leverage any of its Sun group assets to fund SpiceJet. Jagran Prakashan is in focus today after the company made a foray into the radio business with the acquisition of Radio City 91.1 FM. Financials of the deal did not disclose but reports suggest that it is likely to be around Rs 500 crore.   Globally, Asian markets traded mixed as Brent continued to trade below the 60 dollar per barrel mark. Caution also prevailed ahead of the outcome of the two-day FOMC meet this evening.

11:55 am Warning! Regulator Sebi cautioned investors against putting their hard earned money in unregulated schemes floated by companies illegally raising funds with promise of exorbitant rates of return. Such companies are also indulging in issuance of Cumulative Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) and Cumulative Redeemable Preference Shares (CRPS) without having necessary authorisations or regulatory approvals, the capital markets watchdog said. Sebi, which has been given powers to take action against all unregulated money pooling schemes worth over Rs 100 crore besides all public issuances of securities, has issued this fresh caution notice at a time when a large number of people have been duped by numerous schemes in various states and enforcement action is underway against such operators.

11:45 am Market outlook: According to Anand Tandon, the global macros have turned decisively negative with oil prices falling the way they have. ''One of the correlations that we have seen in the market is that when oil prices fall, Sensex falls as well. At Sensex level, you may still find some downside but there may be some stocks that you may want to look at, though I would say there is not any particular hurry right now,'' he said. In the currency market, he expects to see dollar going out from the debt market on carry trade but expect it to be replaced to some extent by yen. Amit Gupta of ICICI Direct, feels certain indicators in the market still suggest that short-term weakness is here to stay for some more time. He expects more of such weakness towards the end of the expiry, however does not see an immediate sharp pullback.

11:30 am SpiceJet grounded? The uncertainity on the extension of credit-line to SpiceJet continues as oil marketing companies like IOC, BPCL, HPCL (OMCs) said they haven't heard anything from the government. OMC sources told CNBC-TV18 that neither the aviation ministry nor the petroleum ministry have put in a word for companies to supply fuel to beleaguered low-cost airline SpiceJet. Flight operations of the company were grounded today due to non-supply of jet fuel by oil marketing companies. The state-run oil marketing firms have not yet taken a decision on the resumption of jet fuel supply to SpiceJet on a two-weeks credit facility, they said.

Profit booking continues on Dalal Street as the Sensex is down 95.62 points at 26685.82.  The Nifty slips 38.80 points at 8028.80. About 451 shares have advanced, 1843 shares declined, and 64 shares are unchanged.  Tata Steel is still up 3 percent followed by Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco, Axis Bank and Reliance. Top losers in the Sensex include Bharti Airtel, Hero, Tata Power, Cipla and Maruti. Auto, pharma and realty stocks are under heavy selling pressure. The rupee fell a 13-month low against the dollar while benchmark bond yields hit their highest level in two weeks as the brewing financial crisis in Russia continued to raise concerns about foreign fund outflows. The rupee falls were seen as having sparked intervention from the central bank, traders said. Overseas investors sold shares worth Rs 1247 crore on Tuesday, their biggest daily net sales since Oct. 17, according to data from exchange NSE. Meanwhile, they turned net sellers of debt for the first time in December on Monday, according to the latest available data. The benchmark 10-year bond yield was at 8.00 percent, after hitting as much as 8.01 percent, its highest level since December 2. The yield is up 17 basis points for the week.

10:45am Market Update The market halved losses with the Nifty getting back above the 8000 level supported by heavyweights like ITC, HDFC and Reliance Industries, and short covering. The Sensex fell 122.55 points to 26658.89 and the Nifty declined 49.65 points to 8017.95. About 395 shares have advanced, 1865 shares declined, and 50 shares are unchanged.

10:35am SpiceJet bleeds, down 5% Budget carrier SpiceJet's aircraft are currently grounded because oil companies have not refuelled any of its planes, a spokesman told Reuters today. Loss-making SpiceJet owes money to creditors including oil companies. On Tuesday, the civil aviation ministry said airport operators would be asked to give the airline 15 days to make payments, while state oil companies would be ask to give credit for up to 15 days. The measures, the ministry said, were aimed at avoiding a collapse which it said would be a "major setback" for the civil aviation sector.

10:25am Stocks under pressure Textiles stocks are losing threads. Alok Industries, Arvind, Century Textiles, Raymond and Welspun declined 3-7 percent while in pharma space, Dishman Pharma, Wockhardt, Aurobindo, Glenmark and Strides Arcolab went down 5-10 percent. Gati, JK Tyre, BF Utilities, Patel Integrated and Gulf Oil lost over 10 percent. The 50-share NSE Nifty fell more than 650 points from its all-time high of 8,626.95 hit on December 4. India Volatility Index hit intraday high of 19.06, the highest level since July 9, 2014. About 11 shares declined for every share advancing on the NSE.

10:15am Market Expert The market has seen the first serious crack after a very long time, says expert Anand Tandon. According to him, the global macros have turned decisively negative with oil prices falling the way they have. ''One of the correlations that we have seen in the market is that when oil prices fall, Sensex falls as well. At Sensex level, you may still find some downside but there may be some stocks that you may want to look at, though I would say there is not any particular hurry right now,'' he said. In the currency market, he expects to see dollar going out from the debt market on carry trade but expect it to be replaced to some extent by yen.

10:00am Market Check Equity benchmarks extended losses in morning trade with the Sensex falling 284.78 points or 1.06 percent to 26496.66 weighed by banks, healthcare, auto and capital goods stocks. The Nifty fell below the 8000 level, down 92.20 points or 1.14 percent at 7975.40. The broader markets saw major selling pressure with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declining 2 percent each. Nearly four shares declined for every share advancing on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Shares of ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Bharti Airtel and Hindalco Industries topped the selling list, falling 2-3 percent followed by L&T, SBI, Axis Bank, M&M, Hero Motocorp and Dr Reddy's Labs with more than a percent loss. However, Tata Steel bucked the trend, up over a percent after the Odisha government allowed the steel maker to resume mining operations in four iron ore mines in the state. HDFC, Reliance Industries, ITC and HUL saw marginal gains.

10:00 am Market check: The market slides further. The Sensex is down 184.92 points or 0.7 percent at 26596.52 and the Nifty slipped 83.65 points or 1 percent at 7983.95. About 469 shares have advanced, 1455 shares declined, and 58 shares are unchanged. Hindalco and Cipla are down 3 percent each. Sun Pharma,  ICICI Bank and Tata Motors are top losers in the Sensex. Tata Steel, TCS, Bajaj Auto, Reliance and HUL are among the gainers.

9:55 am  Asian business: Business sentiment among Asia's top companies rebounded in the fourth quarter to the second-highest level in almost three years, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed, helped by a stronger US economy and a plunge in oil prices. The Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asian Business Sentiment Index increased to 72 in the fourth quarter from 66 in the previous three months. The result was only slightly below the 74 reading of the second quarter which was the highest since early 2012. A reading above 50 indicates an overall positive outlook. Indian businesses provided the biggest boost to the index, with companies reporting a maximum score of 100 for the third consecutive quarter as they look to new Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speed up economic recovery.

9:45 pm Profit booking: Profit booking continues in market dragging the Sensex by 138 points or 0.5 percent at 26642.70. The Nifty slips 51.35 points at 8016.25. About 451 shares have advanced, 1316 shares declined, and 44 shares are unchanged. Hndalco, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Bhari Airtel and Tata Motors are top losers in the Sensex while Tata Steel, Infosys, TCS, ITC and Reliance are major gainers.

9:45 pm Profit booking: Profit booking continues in market dragging the Sensex by 138 points or 0.5 percent at 26642.70. The Nifty slips 51.35 points at 8016.25. About 451 shares have advanced, 1316 shares declined, and 44 shares are unchanged. Hndalco, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Bhari Airtel and Tata Motors are top losers in the Sensex while Tata Steel, Infosys, TCS, ITC and Reliance are major gainers.

9:30 am Tata Steel big relief: The Odisha government has allowed Tata Steel to operate its four iron ore mines in the state till January 28 as per an interim order of the Orissa High Court. "We have issued permission to Tata Steel to resume operations at its four mines in view of the high court order. The state government will take the final decision on the matter basing on the judgement of the high court on January 28," Deepak Kumar Mohanty, Director of Mines. Earlier, the state government had ordered Tata Steel to stop operations at four mines-- Bamebari, Katamati, Joda East and Joda West-- after the steel major failed to meet the November 15 deadline for forest and environment clearances. Tata Steel's six iron ore mines were among the 26 mines which were asked to suspend mining operations in view of a Supreme Court order on May 16 this year.

The market has opened on a weak note. The Sensex is down 50.39 points at 26731.05, and the Nifty slips 26.40 points at 8041.20. About 263 shares have advanced, 331 shares declined, and 23 shares are unchanged.  M&M, Dr Reddy's Labs, Bharti Airtel, Cipla and Hindalco are among the laggards. The gainers include Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Motors, Reliance and BHEL. The Indian rupee slipped further in the early trade. It has opened lower by 24 paise at 63.77 per dollar versus 63.53 Tuesday. The US dollar slipped against major currencies on expectations that the fed would take a cautious tone on monetary policy, while a slide in oil prices pushed the Russian rouble to new lows and boosted the safe-haven yen. Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "Currency markets will continue to take cues from the equity markets. The rupee is expected to trade rangebound with a slightly negative bias.

Range for the USD-INR is seen between 63.20-64/dollar." Global cues, meanwhile, are mixed as the US markets fell for the sixth session in seven days on the steep decline seen in oil prices. Investors are keenly awaiting the Federal Reserve's monthly policy meeting. The focus will remain on whether the fed reiterates its vow to maintain rates low for a considerable period. Asian markets gained despite a weak close on US markets as Russian markets continued to tumble. European shares too closed sharply higher on Tuesday reversing earlier losses. In other asset classes, Brent crude prices continued to decline trading below USD 60 dollars per barrel while the Nymex slipped to a fresh 5-and-a-half year lows. The slide in oil prices has pushed the Russian rouble to new lows. The dollar too fell against major currencies.