Sensex falls 135 points, Nifty above 8500; BHEL, Hero, SBI up

3:30 pm Market closing: After a steady rally through out the day, the market has ended lower. The Sensex is down 134.67 points or 0.5 percent at 28101.72, and the Nifty is down 39.00 points or 0.5 percent at 8525.60. About 1416 shares advanced, 1541 shares declined, and 149 shares were unchanged.

BHEL, Hero, Maruti, Bajaj Auto and SBI were top gainers while ONGC, Tata Motors, M&M, Hindalco and Vedanta were among major laggards.

03:20 pm Monsoon session update: Joint committee report on the Land Bill will be tabled in the winter session of the Parliament instead of the current session. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on Monday, put the blame on Congress for delay of the Land Bill as well as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.

Congress and TMC has asked for time to look into the proposed amendments. There has been no decision on the GST as well in the monsoon session.

03:10 PM Market check: The market is succumbing to selling pressure as the Sensex is down 177.11 points or 0.6 percent at 28059.28. The Nifty is down 52.95 points or 0.6 percent at 8511.65. About 1448 shares have advanced, 1447 shares declined, and 163 shares are unchanged.

02:58 pm Market Update: The Sensex gained 35.16 points at 28271.55 and the Nifty rose 9.10 points to 8573.70. About 1576 shares have advanced, 1315 shares declined, and 163 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

02:50 pm Earnings: Pharma company Wockhardt has registered a 5.7-fold growth in consolidated profit at Rs 114.2 crore for the quarter ended June compared to Rs 20 crore in same quarter last fiscal, supported by operational income and other income.

Net sales grew by 15.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,140.7 crore while other income nearly jumped 183 percent to Rs 23.30 crore in the quarter gone by.

Consolidated operating profit (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) increased 2.7 times to Rs 167.3 crore and margin expanded by 840 basis points to 14.7 percent compared to corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

02:25 pm LPG subsidy: Government has capped the subsidy payout on kerosene at Rs 12 per litre and domestic cooking gas (LPG) at Rs 18 per kg, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said today.

Kerosene through public distribution system (PDS) is sold at Rs 14.96 per litre against the actual cost of Rs 29.91.

The difference between the two, Rs 14.95 per litre, is termed as under-recovery or revenue loss.

While the government will provide Rs 12 to meet most of this, the remaining Rs 2.95 will be borne by oil producers ONGC and Oil India, he said.

Similarly, there is an under-recovery or loss of Rs 167.18 on sale of every 14.2-kg subsidised LPG cylinder at the current price of Rs 417.82.

Pradhan said, at present, the state-owned fuel retailers incur under-recoveries on sale of PDS kerosene and subsidised domestic LPG only as petrol and diesel have been deregulated (market-linked) with effect from June 2010 and October 2014 respectively.

02:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks continued to see buying interest supported by banking & financials, technology and metals stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 102.53 points to 28338.92 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 29.75 points to 8594.35.

About 1596 shares have advanced against 1215 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Shares of HDFC, BHEL and Hero Motocorp topped the buying list on Sensex, up 2 percent each followed by TCS, Lupin, State Bank of India and GAIL with a percent gain. However, Mahindra & Mahindra and ONGC plunged 2 percent each.

Chennai Petroleum surged 17 percent after reporting 153.3 percent growth in bottomline at Rs 923.5 crore on strong operational performance and 2.6 percent growth in revenue at Rs 9,053.4 crore in June quarter year-on-year.

1:30 pm Buzzing: Shares of Divis Labs soared 8 percent intraday riding on its April-June quarter results. Its  Q1 net profit jumped 44.8 percent to Rs 243.2 crore in April-June quarter from Rs  167.9 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal. The drug company pocketed forex gain of Rs 21 crore in Q1 against Rs 1 crore in year-ago period. During the quarter, its total income also grew 25.8 percent at Rs 808.8 crore compared to Rs 642.7 crore year-on-year.

Q1 EBITDA was up 27.5 percent at Rs 300 crore against Rs 235 crore while EBITDA margin stood at 37.1 percent versus 36.6 percent (Y-o-Y).

The market is steady with the Nifty holding 8600 level. The 50-share index is up 41.20 points or 0.5 percent at 8605.80 and the Sensex is up 131.21 points or 0.5 percent at 28367.60. About 1650 shares have advanced, 1088 shares declined, and 151 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, BHEL, Hero MotoCorp, Lupin and TCS are top gainers while ONGC, M&M, Sun Pharma, Coal India and NTPC are among laggards.

There is a strong rally in China with the Shanghai index up 5 percent on hopes of more stimulus following disappointing economic data. Kospi and Hang Seng end lower and Nikkei gains half a percent. European markets open on a mixed note.

Gold steadied not far above a 5-5.5year low on Monday, with a firm dollar after solid US job gains in July suggesting the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates as early as next month.

US nonfarm payrolls increased 215,000 in July, less than the 223,000 rise that economists had expected, although still seen in line with a tightening labour market. Payrolls data for May and June was revised to show 14,000 more jobs created than previously reported.

12:59 pm Market Update: The Sensex rose 134.17 points or 0.48 percent to 28370.56 and the Nifty advanced 40.45 points or 0.47 percent to 8605.05.

About 1650 shares have advanced, 1090 shares declined, and 148 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

12:40 pm Earnings: Jammu and Kashmir Bank (J&K Bank) has registered a 22 percent growth in first quarter profit at Rs 158.8 crore compared to year-ago period, driven by lower provisions but asset quality deteriorated further.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 9 percent to Rs 694.84 crore in June quarter compared to Rs 637.7 crore in the same quarter last year.

Other income or non-interest income increased 3.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 135.6 crore and operating profit climbed 2.4 percent to Rs 458.3 crore in the quarter gone by.

The bank said provisions for bad loans dropped 13.7 percent year-on-year (down 44 percent sequentially) to Rs 212.9 crore in the quarter gone by.

Asset quality weakened further with the gross non-performing assets (NPA) rising 66 basis points quarter-on-quarter and 247 bps year-on-year to 6.63 percent. Net NPA increased 18 bps Y-o-Y and 77 bps Q-o-Q to 2.95 percent during the quarter.

12:20 pm Market Expert: The market is currently entering an earnings upgrade cycle and investors' confidence can be guaged by the unprecedented mutual fund inflows seen recently, says Ganeshram Jayaraman, Head-Institutional Equities, SPARK Capital Advisors.

He says the brokerage company is betting big on  automotive industry and expects it to be the biggest beneficiary of an improving economy. Furthermore, he says the banking and non-banking finance companies will see a good interest playing on deposit rates. Another good space to be in right now is road toll operators and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies, he advises.

12:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks maintained uptrend in noon trade with the Nifty holding the 8600-mark led by HDFC twins, technology and banks stocks. BSE Midcap marginally outperformed benchmarks, up 0.80 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 141.79 points at 28378.18 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 46.20 points to 8610.80. About 1609 shares have advanced, 996 shares declined, and 141 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Housing finance company HDFC topped the buying list on Sensex, up 2.5 percent followed by HDFC Bank, TCS and Lupin with 1 percent upside. However, ONGC and Coal India fell over a percent.

Tata Motors lost 0.7 percent after its consolidated net profit declined 49 percent year-on-year. UBS downgraded the stock to neutral from buy and reduced the target price to Rs 424.

Meanwhile, this is the last week of the monsoon session of parliament and the deadlock continued. Congress moved adjournment motion on the Vyapam scam and the Lalit Modi row. Also joint panel will adopt Land Bill report today.

Globally, Asian markets traded mixed, but China's Shanghai index rallied 4 percent despite disappointing economic data on hopes of further stimulus measures.

11:50 am FII view: Schemes investing in midcap stocks have been witnessing significant inflows, Anand Radhakrishnan, CIO-Equity, Franklin Templeton Investments says.

Radhakrishnan says there are enough stocks in the IT sector available at reasonable valuations. He is looking to increase allocation to the auto sector.

In the banking sector, Radhakrishnan says he is taking a measured exposure to state-owned banks. He is bullish on private sector banks, which according to him have managed risks well and increased market share.

11:30 am Small stock, big buzzing: Shares of Mukta Arts were locked at 20 percent upper circuit intraday on hopes of a new investor. According to media reports, Foxconn Technology, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronic gadgets, may pick up a stake either in listed Mukta Arts or one of its arms, as the Taiwanese firm seeks to branch out beyond its established forte of hardware products.

Foxconn has already ytied up with Mukta Arts subsidiary WhistlingWoods International (WWI) for co-creation of content which can be used across media platforms.

Mukta Arts promoter and filmmaker Subhash Ghai said there are many possibilities for the tie-up and that Foxconn may look at taking stake in either Mukta Arts or WWI, which is engaged in teaching film making.

The market keeps uptrend intact as IT and banks shares lead. The Sensex is up 144.04 points or 0.5 percent at 28380.43, and the Nifty is up 45.05 points or 0.5 percent at 8609.65. About 1545 shares have advanced, 851 shares declined, and 143 shares are unchanged.

HDFC twins, Hindalco, Lupin and TCS are top gainers while Sun Pharma, Coal India, ONGC, Tata Motors and Tata Steel are losers in the Sensex.

Oil prices fell in Asian trade, extending weeks of losses after a US report stoked expectations of a global glut of suppliers.

A glut in crude oil supply is seen as the main driver for a sharp decline in oil prices that has seen crude slump to almost a third of its mid-2014 peaks.

News of rising US production comes as top producing cartel OPEC has refused to cut output, and as investors wait for Iran to ramp up exports after a major deal over its nuclear programme last month.  In exchange for curbing its nuclear activities, Tehran will see the lifting of sanctions, which have slashed its oil exports.

10:55 am Market Update: The Sensex gained 129.41 points or 0.46 percent at 28365.80 and the Nifty rose 41.50 points or 0.48 percent to 8606.10.

About 1544 shares have advanced, 834 shares declined, and 144 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

10:40 am Earnings estimates: Power Grid Corporation of India's first quarter net profit is seen rising 21.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,377 crore and revenue may increase 20.8 percent to Rs 4,761 crore, driven by healthy capitalisation.

Operating profit in June quarter is likely to jump 22.7 percent to Rs 4,139 crore and margin may expand 40 basis points to 86 percent compared to same quarter last fiscal.

Analysts expect the state-run power company to report strong numbers yet again. Revenue and earnings growth may be led by strong pace of capitalisation seen over the past 1 year.

They expect capitalisation of Rs 6,000 crore, up 22-23 percent Y-o-Y compared to Rs 4,900 crore in Q1FY15.

Healthy capitalisation during the past four quarters (Q2FY15 to Q1FY16e) at Rs 20,880 crore is expected to drive strong earnings growth of over 20 percent Y-o-Y.

10:15 am Buzzing: Divis Labs rallied more than 6 percent as its net profit in Q1 grew by 44.8 percent to Rs 243.2 crore and revenue climbed 25.8 percent to Rs 808.8 crore year-on-year.

10:00 am Market Check
The market gained strength after early consolidation. The Sensex gained 136.16 points at 28372.55 and the Nifty rose 41.35 points to 8605.95. The BSE Midcap outperformed benchmarks, up 0.7 percent.

More than two shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Banking & financials and technology stocks led the market higher. HDFC, TCS, Infosys, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Axis Bank and Dr Reddy's Labs rose 0.5-1.5 percent.

However, Tata Motors topped the selling list on Sensex, down more than a percent after disappointing set of numbers in Q1. Profit plunged nearly 49 percent and JLR's profit dropped 29 percent, impacted by China sales.

9:53 am Market check: The market is surging ahead after initial hiccup. The Sensex is up 173.96 points or 0.6 percent at 28410.35, and the Nifty is up 54.70 points or 0.6 percent at 8619.30. About 1340 shares have advanced, 601 shares declined, and 105 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Dr Reddy's Labs, TCS, SBI and ICICI Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Tata Motors, ONGC, NTPC, Sun Pharma and M&M.

9:45 am Houseview: Maintaining a buy rating on Tata Motors, CLSA says that While FY16 will be a weak year, FY17 should see a strong rebound in JLR's volumes and profits as the 'transition effect' fades and platform rationalisation benefits start flowing through.

It has set a target price of Rs 550 per share but slashed FY16-18 earnings per share (EPS) by 9-19 percent. It says that JLR's FY16 margins will be under pressure due to lower share of China in UK volumes, weaker product-mix, new model launch costs and China pricing pressures. Margins are expected to improve in FY17 on platform rationalisation benefits, weak commodity price, operating leverage benefits from higher volumes in engine plant and lower new model launch spend.

9:30 am FII view: Rakesh Arora, Macquarie said after a smart rally, the market is looking for further triggers. "RBI kept interest rates unchanged which somewhat dampened spirits. The ongoing Parliament tussle is also not adding to confidence," he added.

According to him, on a positive note, monsoon is on track to be normal and India may be in for a likely bumper crop.

Arora said earnings season, too, is delivering on muted expectations. Overall, there's nowhere to go, except to follow liquidity, he feels.

The market has kick-started the week on flat note. The Sensex is down 5.02 points at 28231.37 and the Nifty is up 2.85 points at 8567.45. About 677 shares have advanced, 306 shares declined, and 78 shares are unchanged.

Hindalco, GAIL, Dr Reddy's Labs, Vedanta and Tata Steel are top gainers in the Sensex. Tata Motors loses 1 percent while BHEL, ITC, ICICI Bank and L&T are among laggards.

The Indian rupee has opened marginally higher at 63.75 per dollar against Friday's close of 63.81.

Agam Gupta of Standard Chartered Bank said, "We expect USD-INR to trade in 63.70-63.90/dollar range. We anticipate demand for dollar to emerge from local government banks on any dips to 63.75/dollar."

The dollar remained firm near four-month high against major currencies after solid US jobs data backed expectations that the US Fed will raise interest rates as early as September.

While mainland stocks were unshaken by less-than-stellar economic indicators over the weekend, the rest of Asian indices slid early Monday tracking offshore losses and amid worries surrounding China.

Wall Street ended lower on Friday on the back of declines in oil prices and upbeat job growth data that was seen as putting the Federal Reserve on course for a potential rate hike in September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.27 percent to chalk up its seven straight session of declines, the worst losing streak since the summer of 2011.

In China, fresh disappointing data heightened pressure for Beijing to roll out further stimulus measures to support the world's second-largest economy.