Sensex, Nifty close lower after rangebound trade; Infosys loses shine

3:30 pm Market Closing: Equity benchmarks closed moderately lower after rangebound trade on Friday, dragged by technology, HDFC Group, metals and select auto stocks.

The 50-share NSE Nifty failed to hold 9,900 level, down 5.35 points at 9,886.35. The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 16.63 points at 32,020.75 on weak breadth.

About 1,685 shares declined against 1,006 advancing shares on the BSE.

Infosys lost ground in last hour of trade, down 0.6 percent after trading higher for most part of the session.

AU Small Finance Bank, CDSL, HUDCO, Avenue Supermarts, Eris Life and Tejas Networks fell up to 10 percent.

3:05 pm Market Outlook: ICICI Securities believes the Nifty is eventually moving towards 10500. However, this up move could see intermediate profit bookings, according to the research firm.

The current Nifty up move is primarily driven by private banking, NBFC and the FMCG space. As more than 65 percent contribution has come from these sectors, it is logical to have concern regarding some cool-off in their prices.

On the other hand, there are sectors like cement, PSU banking, telecom and auto, which have seen in line performance. Thus, the leadership baton may be passed on to other sectors in case of profit booking in the outperforming space, which is likely to restrict Nifty declines.

Hence, the current lower volatility period is also expected to continue, it feels.

2:45 pm CLSA on Infosys: Infosys has clearly put out stronger numbers compared to the disasters in Q3 and Q4. However, revenue momentum in core markets (US, FS, Retail) lacks conviction to suggest that this will continue.

While it was good to see healthy variable payouts across this quarter, the business appears to be operating under extreme cost control thanks to good work under CFO Ranga and Dy COO Ravi. Infosys needs revenue growth to pick up to sustain margins and retain the ability to invest in talent.

What's surprising is the relatively low margin increase despite flexing several levers. We are somewhat surprised that Infosys hasn't seen the benefit of FTE release on easing the utilisation pressures.

We fear that extremely high utilisation may constrain future growth and feel limited incremental margin levers to recover from wage hikes. With lack of conviction on sustaining growth, limited margin levers and likely pricing pressure from legacy contracts we remain unconvinced of differentiation and stay underperform.

2:15 pm Infosys Vs TCS: IT giants TCS and Infosys delivered their much awaited first quarter earnings, which were mixed in performance. Quantam wise both are not comparable but in growth terms Infosys beat TCS.

Infosys on Friday surprised the Street by reporting better-than-expected 2.7 percent growth in constant currency revenue and lower-than-expected 3.3 percent fall in profit.

At the same time, however, the Tata Group firm lagged Infosys as it posted 2 percent revenue growth in constant currency and 10 percent fall in bottomline.

1:45 pm Infosys attrition: Attrition rate at IT bellwether Infosys registered 21 percent increase on an annualised consolidated basis from 17.1 percent in March 2017 and the same on standalone basis rose to 16.9 percent from 13.5 percent QoQ.

Attrition in business can mean the reduction in staff and employees in a company through normal means, such as retirement and resignation, the loss of customers or clients to old age or growing out of the company's target demographic, investor education portal Investopedia explained.

Against 800 personnel added to its staff in March 2017, around 1800 people had quit the firm for the June quarter.

The company further added that utilisation (excluding trainees) grew by 2 percent to 84 percent and utilisation (including trainees) increased to 80.2 percent from 78.2 percent on sequential basis.

1:30 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained moderately under pressure in afternoon trade, with the Nifty struggling below 9900 level on profit booking.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 39.42 points at 31,997.96 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 18.05 points to 9,873.65 on weak breadth.

About 1,601 shares declined against 914 advancing shares on the BSE.

ITC, TCS, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Tata Motors were top contributors to Sensex' loss whereas Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and SBI outperformed.

1:10 pm Market Outlook: Sounding a caution on the global markets, Rahul Bhasin, Managing Partner at Baring Private Equity sees a real possibility of correction in these markets soon.

In that context, where do Indian markets stand? Bhasin told CNBC-TV18 that the Indian market at an aggregate level is better placed as the macro economic scenario is better. He explained that in terms of per capita income, we are crossing USD 1800 and historically, nations which have reached at this point have seen significant growth points from here.

12:55 pm Buzzing: Recent listings like AU Small Finance Bank, Eris Lifesciences, HUDCO and CDSL crashed 5-11 percent intraday after sharp rally in last few sessions that lifted these stocks to new highs.

AU Small Finance Bank shares shot up more than 100 percent (from issue price) since the listing on July 10, which means in just five sessions.

The reasons behind this rally could be - first is that the market momentum remained strong in these sessions and second is that it is the first small finance bank to list on exchanges so the appetite was warranted.

AU Small Finance received a license from the Reserve Bank of India to set up small finance bank in December 2016 and commenced SFB operations in April 2017

The rally was also spilled over to other non-banking finance companies like Equitas Holdings, Bharat Financial, Ujjivan Financial etc.

Second largest depository CDSL, which was the first one among depositories to list on exchanges, shot up more than 200 percent (from issue price) since the listing on June 30.

12.26 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in afternoon, though the losses trimmed as Nifty Bank gained strength after WPI inflation eased significantly to 0.9 percent in June from 2.17 percent in previous month.

The fall in WPI as well as CPI inflation raised hopes for rate cut by RBI in August monetary policy.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 39.33 points at 31,998.05 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 19 points to 9,872.70. About two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

12:05 pm Inflation: WPI inflation fell to 0.9 percent in June (the lowest level since July 2016) compared with 2.17 percent in previous month.

It was also lower than a CNBC-TV18 poll of 1.28 percent.

Manufactured products inflation declined to 2.27 percent from 2.55 percent and fuel & power inflation eased to 5.28 percent from 11.69 percent on month-on-month basis.

12:00 pm Interview: ''We were engaging with everybody in the market to see why we aren't seeing the growth that we were hoping to see. The general feedback that we had was stocking levels were low, people were waiting for goods and services tax (GST) implementation and once GST went through, we would see an uptick. First ten days of July were heartening for us. GST went through very well with us, at the same time the volumes have gone up'' Mrugank M Paranjape, MD & CEO of Multi Commodity Exchange of India said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

The whole market was waiting for the rollout of GST, to end the uncertainty and with the smooth rollout, volumes will start coming back, he added.

11:46 am New services performance: Infosys said revenues contribution from new services and new software launched from April 2015 were at 8.3 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

New services include cloud ecosystem, big data and analytics, API and micro services, data and mainframe modernization, cyber security and IoT engineering services while new software included Edge, NIA, Panaya and Skava.

11:30 am Infosys CEO says: While addressing press conference, Infosys CEO and MD Vishal Sikka said the company delivered strong overall performance in Q1 and improved revenue per employee over the last 6 quarters.

He further said Infosys has 6 categories of new high-growth services that contributed 8.3 percent to revenue.

Half of the revenue in last 2 years has come from new services areas, he added.

He said hi-tech segment continued to be soft during the quarter as there is tremendous focus on cost take outs. The company has seen moderate growth in manufacturing segment.

"Relentless focus stayed on execution," he said.

11.15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in morning with the Nifty falling below 9900 level on profit booking after four-day rally.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 79.36 points at 31,958.02 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 29.50 points to 9,862.20.

The broader markets also caught in bear grip, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down 0.2 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. More than two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

11:05 am US Fed chair says: The United States has greatly increased its monitoring of the financial system for a broader range of risks following the last economic crisis in 2008, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said today.

"I believe we have done a great deal, since the financial crisis, to strengthen the financial system and to make it more resilient," Yellen told members of the Senate Finance Committee during a Congressional hearing.

The 70-year-old US economist was responding to a question on American financial institutions' readiness on facing next economic crisis.

"I think we can never be confident that there won't be another financial crisis. But we have acted, in the aftermath of that crisis, to put in place much stronger capital and liquidity requirements for systemic banking organisations and the banking system more generally," Yellen said.

10:44 am Silver update: Silver prices dropped by Rs 214 per kg to Rs 37,021 per kg in futures trade today as speculators trimmed their holdings amid a weak trend in global markets.

In futures trading, silver for delivery in far-month December was trading lower by Rs 214, or 0.57 per cent, at Rs 37,021 per kg, in a business turnover of 13 lots at the Multi Commodity Exchange.

10:32 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of GVK Power & Infrastructure gained nearly 7 percent intraday Friday as it sold stake in the BIAL.

The company has announced the completion of sale of its residual stake of 10 percent in Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) to Fairfax India
Holdings Corporation for a consideration of Rs 1290 crore.

The company held these shares through its subsidiary, Bangalore Airport Infrastructure Developers.

10:10 am Market Check: After seeing a positive opening, benchmark indices erased all of its gains, while the Nifty was off the 9900-mark.

The Sensex was down 47.71 points at 31989.67, while the Nifty was down 19.00 points at 9872.70. The market breadth was negative as 764 shares advanced against a decline of 1,237 shares, while 98 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, Cipla, Aurobindo Pharma and Bharti Infratel gained the most on both indices, while TCS and Tata Motors DVR were the top losers.

Also Read: Financial services, auto, oil & gas among top 5 sectors on radar of FPIs; here's why

9:45 am Buzzing Stock: Biocon's shares added over 9 percent intraday on Friday as investors cheered the possible regulatory approval to its breast cancer biosimilar going forward.

The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) has recommended an approval of the Mylan and Biocon's proposed biosimilar trastuzumab, Biocon informed the exchanges on Friday. The drug is used to treat metastatic (spread) breast cancer. It is effective against tumors that overexpress the HER2/neu protein, according to chemocare.com.

Mylan and Biocon are exclusive partners on a broad portfolio of biosimilar and insulin products. The proposed biosimilar trastuzumab is one of the six biologic products co-developed by Mylan and Biocon for the global marketplace, the company's release stated.

''The committee voted 16-0 in support of eligible indications of the reference product, Herceptin, which include HER2-positive breast cancer in the metastatic and adjuvant settings,'' the statement added.

9:30 am Infosys Q1 nos: Profit during the quarter fell 3.3 percent sequentially to Rs 3,483 crore and revenue declined 0.2 percent to Rs 17,078 crore.

Dollar revenue growth was 3.2 percent at USD 2,651 million against expectations of 2.6 percent increase and constant currency revenue growth came in at 2.7 percent against estimates of 2 percent.

"Our persistent focus on execution in Q1 is reflected in broad-based performance on multiple fronts revenue growth, resilient margins despite multiple headwinds, healthy cash generation and overall business results," Vishal Sikka, CEO & MD said.

The IT bellwether has maintained its constant currency revenue growth guidance at 6.5-8.5 percent (which was 8.3 percent in FY17 and 13.3 percent in FY16) and also retained operating margin guidance at 23-25 percent for the current financial year.

It raised its FY18 dollar revenue growth guidance to 7.1-9.1 percent from 6.1-8.1 percent earlier.

9:15 am Market Opens: Benchmark indices continued their bullish run on the market, with the Sensex and Nifty conquering fresh records. The latter opened above 9900 for the first time.

The Sensex was up 72.24 points at 32109.62, while the Nifty was up 12.70 points at 9904.40. The market breadth was positive as 369 shares advanced against a decline of 109 shares, while 22 shares were unchanged.

Midcaps outperformed in the opening tick along with pharma, while the IT and PSU bank indices on Nifty opened in the red.

Infosys, Adani Ports and Aurobindo Pharma gained the most on both indices, while TCS, HDFC and Asian Paints were the top losers.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 64.44 per dollar on Friday against previous close 64.44.

Meanwhile, The dollar index was largely steady against a basket of major currencies helped by upbeat economic data. The dollar edged upon against the yen though it's still below the highs hit earlier this week.

Bhaskar Panda of HDFC Bank said, "The USD-INR pair has been consolidating in a range and we expect it to trade in a range of 64.40-64.60 today. The lower than expected CPI data has brought the focus back on rate cut."

He further added, "We expect the 10-year benchmark bond yield to trade in a range of 6.44-6.46 percent for the day."

On the global front, stocks scaled record highs on Friday, with Asian equities rising for the fifth straight session, as signs the Federal Reserve will pursue a gradual rate tightening path and hopes of a strong earnings season lifted appetite for risk assets.

The MSCI World Index was marginally higher early on Friday, hitting a new all-time high. It is on track to end the week 1.6 percent higher.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.25 percent to its highest level in two years. It's set for a 3.2 percent gain for the week.

Japan's Nikkei added 0.2 percent, poised for a weekly rise of 1.05 percent.

Meanwhile, Wall Street posted slight gains on Thursday and the Dow hit another record high close, with financials rising ahead of profit reports due Friday from several big US banks.

The financial index was the best performer among the 11 major S&P sectors, ending up 0.61 percent.

Quarterly earnings kick off on Friday with three of the biggest US banks including JPMorgan Chase , Wells Fargo and Citigroup reporting results.