Sensex ends 77 pts down; April inflation, Greece woes weigh

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty closed lower for the fifth consecutive session on Monday due to weakening rupee, waning of rate cut hopes after higher-than-expected inflation for April. Europe turmoil also added to the fuel.

The BSE benchmark fell as much as 168 points to hit an intraday low of 16,124.82, before closing down 77.14 points or 0.47% at 16,215.84. The NSE benchmark managed to settle above the 4900 level after struggling a lot the same level; index dropped 21.10 points to 4,907.80.

According to Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com, trend of the market is down. He advised traders to maintain complete position on the short side.

Nifty futures on the National Stock Exchange stopped trading for around half an hour around 14 hours IST while trading in the cash markets continued as normal.

Higher-than-expected spike in inflation to 7.23% (from 6.89% MoM due to manufacturing and food inflation) for April faded hopes of further rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India.

Portfolio manager PN Vijay says this will further fuel the bearish trend for equities. ''The mood of the market is now governed by trading activity, so we will follow the global pattern with a bit of blips depending on domestic factors,'' he said.

European markets fell quite sharply ahead of Greek's politicians' last attempt to form government today. If they fail to form a coalition government, President will announce new elections. Experts feel that hope of government formation looks low now. Losing of elections by Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany's most populous state 'North Rhine-Westphalia' on Sunday (indicating a tough fight for winning forthcoming elections) also added fuel to the fire. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down around 2%.

The Indian rupee was off day's low at 53.79 to the dollar, down 16 paise. It was near to the 53.90 a dollar during the day.

Private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were down 2% and 1.7%, respectively. Axis Bank and State Bank of India lost 0.7% each.

Shares of Tata Motors, country's largest commercial vehicle maker tanked 2.4% while Maruti and M&M gained 0.5-0.8%. Bajaj Auto, two-wheeler producer rallied 1.8%.

Index heavyweight and oil & gas producer Reliance Industries tumbled 2.3% while its rival ONGC was down 1.3%.

Realty major DLF went down 2.6%. India's largest software services exporter TCS was down 0.3% whereas rival Infosys jumped over 1%.

Engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro shot up over 5% intraday after the company forecasted 15-20% growth in order inflows and topline in FY13. L&T reported a better than expected growth of 13.9% year-on-year in its profit after tax of Rs 1,920 crore for the fourth quarter of FY12 while its topline came in lower than expectations at Rs 18,461 crore, a growth of 21% YoY. Analysts on average had expected net profit at Rs 1,691 crore and total income at Rs 18,843 crore

Results reactions: IVRCL and Orchid Chemical crashed 12-13%. Adani Power and HeidelbergCement India were down 3.5-4%.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices tanked 1% each. About two shares declined for every share rising on the National Stock Exchange.

At 14:18 hours IST: Nifty struggles at 4900; L&T surges on strong FY13 outlook

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty fell over 0.5% due to further sell-off in European markets. The fall in banks, oil & gas and metal stocks weighed on the market. The Indian rupee too depreciated further, losing 22 paise to 53.85 a dollar.

The BSE benchmark was down 91 points or 0.56% to 16,202.25 and the NSE benchmark lost 32 points to 4,897.25.

For short period of time, NSE F&O was facing order execution issues. Futures of Nifty, Bank Nifty, FTSE and CNX IT were facing trading issues.

France's CAC tanked 2.5% while Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down around 2% due to Greece woes. Greek's politicians are making a last attempt to form government today. If they fail to form a coalition, President will announce new elections.

Back home, inflation was another factor that added fuel to the fire. Higher than expected inflation at 7.23% for April (as against 6.89% for March) waned hopes of further rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India. Analysts on average had expected it at 6.7%.

Index heavyweights and oil & gas producers Reliance Industries and ONGC were down 2% each.

Top lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank moved down 1-2%. Housing finance company HDFC was down 1%.

Among metals stocks, Jindal Steel and Hindalco tanked 2% each. Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries fell 0.5-1%.

Shares of Tata Motors, top commercial vehicle maker was down 2%.

However, Larsen & Toubro shot up nearly 2.7% as the company reported a better than expected growth of 31.6% year-on-year in its adjusted profit after tax of Rs 1,920 crore for the fourth quarter of FY12. L&T expects 15-20% growth for FY13 for order inflows and topline.

Infosys, ITC, Maruti, Bajaj Auto, NTPC and Sun Pharma gained 0.5-1%.

About two shares declined for every share rising on the National Stock Exchange.

At 12:49 hours IST: Sensex extends losses; European mkts lose over 1%

The BSE Sensex shed more than 100 points in afternoon trade due to higher than expected inflation for April and fall in European markets. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE opened 1.3-1.7% lower as Greek president failed to convince major parties to form a government last week. Experts feel that hope of government formation looks low now.

Even losing of elections by chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany's most populous state 'North Rhine-Westphalia' on Sunday added fuel to the fire.

The BSE benchmark was down 102.01 points to 16,190.97 and the NSE benchmark fell 37.55 points to 4,891.35.

Though most experts are worried about a further downturn, Neelkanth Mishra, head of equity strategy India at Credit Suisse holds a contrarian view. He is not expecting a very steep fall in the market, unless there is a crisis globally. However, he says, the slow grind down may continue for quite a while.

Inflation for April came in higher than expected at 7.23% as against 6.89% in March, fading hopes of further rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India in near term.

Private sector lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were down 2.4% and 1.5%, respectively. Publc sector lender State Bank of India tanked 1.7%.

State-owned ONGC and BHEL dropped 2% each. Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel declined 1.2% and top software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services was down 0.5%.

Shares of housing finance company HDFC and commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors were down 1-1.5%.

At 11:57 hours IST: Nifty at 4-month low, tests 4900 on higher April inflation

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty erased all early gains after spike in inflation for April. Banks turned lower on less hopes of further rate cut as inflation jumped to 7.23% in April as against 6.89% in previous month. Analysts on average had expected it at 6.7%.

According to government's statistical report, manufacturing products inflation increased at 5.12% versus 4.87% while food inflation moved up at 10.49% versus 9.94% during the same period. Inflation for February has been revised to 7.36% versus 6.95% (provisional).

The BSE Bankex fell more than 1% as country's largest lender State Bank of India tanked 1.6% while its rival HDFC Bank dropped 1.26%. ICICI Bank declined 0.6% and housing finance company HDFC was down 0.76%.

The BSE benchmark slipped 85 points to 16,208.14 and the NSE benchmark lost 32 points to 4,897.20.

Shares of oil & gas producers ONGC and Reliance Industries were down 2.4% and 0.4%, respectively.

Tata Motors, country's largest commercial vehicle maker tumbled 1.6% while other auto stocks like Bajaj Auto, M&M, Maruti and Hero Motocorp moved up 0.3-1.4%.

About 1007 shares advanced while 1302 shares declined on the BSE.

At 10:19 hours IST: Sensex, Nifty up; banks, metals, auto support

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty stayed higher due to consistent buying interest in metals, banks and auto stocks. However, the fall in ITC, ONGC, TCS and BHEL has limited the upside. Asian markets too trade higher after recovery from day's low.

The BSE benchmark rose 80 points or 0.5% to 16,372.85 after losing more than 6% in previous three weeks. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty touched 4950 level, which gained 22 points at 4,950.80.

Country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank moved up 1.3% and 1.6%, respectively.

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro was up 1.4% ahead of quarterly numbers today. Analysts on average expect the company to report a growth of 16% in its standalone adjusted profit after tax of Rs 1,691 crore for the fourth quarter of FY12.

Infosys, India's No. 2 software services exporter rose 0.75% while its rival Wipro went up 0.66%. Tata Consultancy Services was down 0.45%.

Reliance Industries, most valued stock, gained just 0.35% whereas state-owned oil & gas producer ONGC fell 1.4%.

Among auto stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki and Hero Motocorp were up 0.7-2%.

In the second line shares, Manappuram Finance, Jain Irrigation, Amtek Auto, Chambal Fertiliser and MindTree jumped 3.5-8%. However, Bombay Dyeing, Cox & Kings, AstraZeneca, KSK Energy Ventures and Godrej Industries were down 3-7%.

At 9:20 hours IST: Sensex, Nifty moderately higher; SBI, ICICI Bank gain

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty kickstarted the week's trade moderately higher amid volatility on Monday. Asian markets rebounded from day's low; Shanghai, Nikkei and Hang Seng (which were 0.2%) gained 0.2% each.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys led the market higher. Banks, metals, auto and capital goods stocks were supporting the market.

The BSE benchmark was up 54 points at 16,346.82 while the NSE benchmark rose 14.3 points to 4,943.20.

State Bank of India, PNB, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs, Bajaj Auto, Hindalco, SAIL, Sesa Goa, Infosys, Sterlite Industries, Bank of Baroda, Coal India, HDFC, Ranbaxy Labs, JP Associates and BPCL were witnessing buying interest.

However, ONGC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Power, ITC and TCS fell 0.7-1.5%.

Engineering and construcion major Larsen & Toubro was flat ahead of its quarterly numbers today.

The CNX Midcap Index was up 15 points at 7,000. About 476 shares advanced while 335 shares declined on the National Stock Exchange.

In the second line shares, Bombay Dyeing plunged nearly 6% as Bombay High Court asked the company to hand over 65000 sqft back to BMC and MHADA.

Results Reactions: Essar Oil lost over 4% after the company reported a loss of Rs 515 crore in Q4FY12 as against profit of Rs 321 crore YoY.

MTNL was down 1.5% as its loss in Q4 widened to Rs 1,374.4 crore from Rs 929.7 crore YoY.

Chamal Fertiliser was up over 4% as its net profit increased to Rs 93 crore in fourth quarter of FY12 from Rs 68 crore YoY. Deepak Fertiliser and RCF gained 2-3%.

Divis Labs and Manappuram Finance moved up over 4%.

S Kumars, Arvind, Jain Irrigations, Bajaj Hindusthan, VIP Industries, KPIT Cummins and Kingfisher were down 1-3%.

IRB Infrastructure tanked over 4%.

Ashok Leyland and IVRCL went down 1.5-2% ahead fourth quarter numbers today.