Sensex, Nifty end down on profit booking; Reliance falls 1%

03:30 Market closing
The market has ended on a lower note after touching record high on Tuesday. The Sensex is down 106.38 points at 26314.29 and the Nifty is down 30.05 points at 7867.45. About 1690 shares have advanced, 1294 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma, Cipla, Dr Reddy's, Tata Power and BHEL were the top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were ONGC, Tata Motors, Axis Bnak, L&T and Reliance.

02:55pm Interview
Eros International's on-demand entertainment portal, Eros Now has acquired worldwide rights of Zee TV shows. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 about the deal, Kamal Jain, Group CFO –India, Eros International said the company is confident of seeing ad and subscription revenue from Zee worldwide model. Also, not much investment was required in Zee worldwide deal.

This partnership would allow Eros Now to showcase Zee's television content ranging from serials and soaps to reality shows.

02:25pm Market Expert
With the India story changing, Devesh Kumar, managing director, country head, CIMB Securities India sees Nifty in five digits – 10,000 plus – from a 12-months perspective.

He says near-term earnings will not give any positive surprise, but it should be looked at from a 1-2 years perspective. "India remains a long-term story for investors," he told CNBC-TV18. He sees a multi-sectoral rally ahead.

02:00pm Equity benchmarks extended losses in afternoon trade with the Sensex falling 108.63 points to 26312.04 and the Nifty declining 27.25 points to 7870.25 weighed down by profit booking in banking & financials, FMCG, auto and oil & gas stocks.

About 1538 shares have advanced, 1268 shares declined, and 108 shares are unchanged.

Rakesh Arora of Macquarie says the market remains tentative on global events and would likely continue to focus on geopolitics. The brokerage house remains positive on the market and recommends buying large cap quality stocks on any weakness.

ONGC topped the selling list, down 2.6 percent followed by HDFC with 1.8 percent. ITC, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, Larsen and Toubro, State Bank of India, Mahindra and Mahindra, HUL and Axis Bank declined 0.6-1 percent.

However, healthcare stocks saw hefty buying interest with the Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs rising 3-4 percent. Midcap pharma companies gained 4-15 percent.

Among others, Wipro rose 1.3 percent while Tata Power and NTPC climbed 1.7 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

Global markets were mixed with the European markets like France, Germany and UK falling less than 0.5 percent while Asian markets like Taiwan and Straits closed with minor gains. The pound has risen to 1.66 against US dollar after Bank of England minutes showed that two members of the rate setting committee voted to raise interest rates in August as pressure on central bank builds to raise rates.

2:00 pm Interview: Harsh Mariwala, chairman and whole-time director at Marico Kaya Enterprises believes he underestimated the learning curve for Kaya. He sees a viable business model in Kaya ahead. According to him, he shouldn't have shifted focus to the beauty side, instead continued with the cure side, which is what he plans to focus on now. He adds that Marico Kaya's business fundamentals are on a sound footing for now. The company has not deliberately increased the number of clinics in the last 2-3 years, he says. Mariwala believes there is a need to go in for higher capacity utilisation in existing Kaya clinics.

1:45 pm Market outlook: Within the emerging market basket, India remains the best bet and has the potential to deliver 18-20 percent equity returns believes Vikas Khemani, CEO - Wholesale Capital Markets at Edelweiss Financial Services. According to him India is an attractive market on all parameters and will continue to see FII flows. India remains in a sweet spot, feels Khemani.

The market currently is in a structural bull run and the positive trend will continue going forward, says Khemani in an interview to CNBC-TV18. However, one could see some consolidation, correction, which in turn could pose as a buying opportunity according to him. Moreover, the subdued oil prices have also aided Indian economy because it helps contain inflation and contain current account deficit.

1:20 pm Bullish: With the India story changing, Devesh Kumar, managing director, country head, CIMB Securities India Limited sees Nifty in five digits – 10,000 plus – from a 12-months perspective. He says near-term earnings will not give any positive surprise, but it should be looked at from a 1-2 years perspective. "India remains a long-term story for investors," he told CNBC-TV18. He sees a multi-sectoral rally ahead.

It's a rangebound day on Dalal Street. The Nifty consolidates around 7900. The Nifty is down 15.75 points at 7881.75 and the Sensex is down 71.01 points, at 26349.66. About 1526 shares have advanced, 1157 shares declined, and 112 shares are unchanged.

Midcaps and smallcaps are outperforming. Cipla, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Wipro and NTPC are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the top losers in the Sensex are ONGC, GAIL, HUL, M&M and SBI.

OBC tanks more than 3 percent on reports that one official in Mumbai misappro'priated funds to the tune of Rs 180 crore. OBC management tells CNBC-TV18 that they have Rs 110 crore have been recovered and the official has been suspended.

Brent crude futures steadied near 14-month lows above USD 101 a barrel with ample supplies putting prices at risk of further losses as worries over geopolitical tensions ease.

The oil benchmark has fallen more than 12 percent from this year's peak of USD 115.71 reached in June due to the turmoil in Iraq. While the conflict there continues, there has been no significant disruption to oil supply from the No. 2 OPEC producer, giving space for a sustained retreat in prices.

Lukoil, Russia's second biggest oil producer, said on Tuesday it had shipped 1 million barrels of oil produced from southern Iraq's giant West Qurna-2 oilfield, its first shipment from the field, despite a surge of violence in the country.In Libya, a spokesman for National Oil Corp said the country's total oil production had risen to 562,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 535,000 bpd at the weekend.

12:55pm Cadila Healthcare at new high
Cadila Healthcare shares hit a record high of Rs 1,239 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday after getting approval from US Food and Drug Administration for anti-viral drug Acyclovir.

"Zydus Cadila has received the final approval from the USFDA to market Acyclovir tablets in the strenths of 400 mg and 800 mg," said the company in its filing.

The estimated sales of this drug in 2014 is USD 55.8 million, as per IMS.

12:25pm Market Expert
Within the emerging market basket, India remains the best bet and has the potential to deliver 18-20 percent equity returns, believes Vikas Khemani, CEO - Wholesale Capital Markets at Edelweiss Financial Services.

According to him, India is an attractive market on all parameters and will continue to see FII flows. India remains in a sweet spot, feels Khemani.

The market currently is in a structural bull run and the positive trend will continue going forward, says Khemani in an interview to CNBC-TV18. However, one could see some consolidation, correction, which in turn could pose as a buying opportunity, he adds.

12:00pm The market remained lacklustre in noon trade with the Sensex falling 31.09 points to 26389.58 and the Nifty declining 7.95 points to 7889.55. Healthcare stocks saw buying interest while auto and FMCG stocks saw profit booking.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1456 to 1091 on the BSE.

Sun Pharma and Cipla kept top positions in the buying list, up nearly 3 percent followed by Dr Reddy's Labs with 1.8 percent. Wipro and Tata Steel were other gainers, rising over a percent.

However, the selling continued in ONGC, ITC, HDFC, L&T, SBI, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, HUL, M&M, Maruti Suzuki and GAIL, which lost 0.6-2 percent.

In the midcap space, FDC rallied 12 percent followed by Eros International, Arvind, BASF and Alembic Pharma with over 6 percent whereas Bhushan Steel, Rashtriya Chemical, Muthoot Finance, Sadbhav Engineering and Hindustan National Glass fell 3-5 percent.

11:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Glenmark Pharma touched record high at Rs 749.05 per share, up over 4 percent intraday on Wednesday as it forays into oncology with discovery and initiation of an innovative bispecific antibody, GBR 1302 molecule.

''GBR 1302 is the first clinical development candidate based on the BEAT technology. The company expects to obtain approval for the initiation of clinical studies during this fiscal,'' it said in a press statement to the exchanges.

GBR 1302 was discovered and developed by Glenmark Biologics Research Centre located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland and would be first molecule to could become a patented molecule or drug for the company once it goes through multiple stages of research and development.

The GBR 1302 molecule will focus on treatment of breast cancer better than Herceptin, which could target only 25-30 percent of the market.

After a spectacular rally, the market is taking some breather. The Sensex is down 76.03 points at 26344.64 and the Nifty is down 21.00 points at 7876.50. About 1252 shares have advanced, 1046 shares declined, and 93 shares are unchanged.

ONGC, Axis Bank, GAIL, SBI and M&M are major laggards. Among the gainers are Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Wipro, Cipla and Tata Steel.

Brent crude futures steadied near 14-month lows above USD 101 a barrel, with ample supplies putting prices at risk of further losses as worries over geopolitical tensions ease.

The oil benchmark has fallen more than 12 percent from this year's peak of USD 115.71 reached in June due to the turmoil in Iraq. While the conflict there continues, there has been no significant disruption to oil supply from the No. 2 OPEC producer, giving space for a sustained retreat in prices.

Lukoil, Russia's second biggest oil producer, said on Tuesday it had shipped 1 million barrels of oil produced from southern Iraq's giant West Qurna-2 oilfield, its first shipment from the field, despite a surge of violence in the country.In Libya, a spokesman for National Oil Corp said the country's total oil production had risen to 562,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 535,000 bpd at the weekend.

10:55am HCL Technologies on buyers' radar
The buying interest continued in HCL Technologies after Credit Suisse maintains outperform rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,850 apiece. The stock advanced over a percent.

At 13 times FY16 earnings, the brokerage continues to find the stock attractively valued. "Any recovery in software services (excluding infra and BPO) revenue should aid overall growth and help in re-rating the multiple somewhat as well. HCL is our Asia ex-Japan focus list stock," it said.

According to the brokerage, with the best-in-class infra management practice, traction in business process as a service (BPaaS), more reference ability in Europe, and an improving spending environment, HCL Technologies can sustain more than 20 percent growth in Financial services. This segment's growth is still accelerating and it overtook Cognizant's growth rate in June 2014, it added.

FS is a sizeable segment (28 percent of revenue) and with more than 20 percent growth, it contributes 40 percent of incremental growth.

10:25am FII View
Much of the near term positive news have already been discounted, feels Jitendra Sriram, Managing Director and Head of Research, HSBC Asset Management, who is neutral on India. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he says China and Indonesia appear more attractive in comparison to India.

Sriram is turning positive on domestic industrials and is selective on IT and tech plays. In the IT space, he likes TCS.

He says it will be another two to three quarters before corporate earnings start looking up. On the positive side, he says there are signs of a pick up in infra capex.

10:00am Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate after six-day of rally. The Sensex declined 3.92 points to 26416.75 and the Nifty fell 2.65 points to 7894.85 but the broader markets outperformed.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.3 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. About 1197 shares have advanced, 719 shares declined, and 75 shares are unchanged.

Drug makers Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's Labs rallied over 1.5 percent while rival Cipla climbed 0.6 percent. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries bounced back, up 0.6 percent while private sector lender HDFC Bank remained on buyers' radar, up 0.4 percent. Metal stocks like Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel and Sesa Sterlite gained 0.2-0.9 percent.

However, shares of ITC, HDFC, ONGC, State Bank of India, L&T, HUL, Hero Motocorp, M&M, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Maruti Suzuki fell 0.2-1 percent on profit booking.

10:00am Deepak Fertilizers in News
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Deepak Fertilizers' proposed additional stake buy in Vijay Mallya group firm Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers.

The approval from the fair trade watchdog paves the way for Deepak Fertilizers to make an open offer to acquire further 26 per cent stake in Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd (MCFL).

CCI said the deal "is not likely to have appreciable adverse effect on competition in India".
Under the deal, Deepak Fertilizers' subsidiary SCM Soilfert would acquire up to 26 per cent shareholding in MCFL through an open offer in addition to 0.8 per cent stake buy through open market. MCFL is part of Vijay Mallya's UB Group.

09:45am Eros at 33-month high
Shares of Eros International Media touched 33-month high of Rs 249.80, up as much as 9.6 percent after the company's on-demand entertainment portal ErosNow has acquired the worldwide rights of popular Zee TV shows.

"Content from Zee will be available to members with no extra subscription costs. This partnership allows ErosNow to showcase Zee's premier television content ranging from top rated serials and soaps to reality shows," said the company in its filing.

Titles like Ek Mutti Aasmaan, Pavitra Ristha, Fear Files, Jodha Akbar, Qubool Hai etc will be available to subscribers on this portal.

09:30am FII View
Rakesh Arora, Macquarie feels global newsflow may come back to dominate. ''The end of a decent earnings season was followed by a positive tone in the PM's speech on Independence Day,'' he adds.

''However, the market remains tentative on global events and would likely continue to focus on geopolitics. We remain positive on the market and recommend buying large cap quality stocks on any weakness,'' says Arora.

09:15am The market opened higher with marginal gains on Wednesday. The Sensex rose 35.81 points to 26456.48 and the Nifty advanced 8 points to 7905.50.

About 618 shares have advanced, 255 shares declined, and 36 shares are unchanged.

HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and Hindalco Industries topped the buying list, up 1-1.5 percent whereas ONGC, HDFC, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, L&T and ITC declined.

The Indian rupee slipped in early trade on Wednesday. It opened lower by 17 paise at 60.84 per dollar versus previous day's closing value of 60.67 a dollar.

Dollar hit nine-month highs against the euro and rose against a basket of major currencies after strong US housing data bolstered expectations for an earlier-than-expected rate hike from the Fed.

NS Venkatesh of IDBI Bank says today's cues will be based on details of the FOMC minutes and the proceedings of the Jackson Hole meeting. He expects continued custodial flows into the market, which will be balanced by demand from oil importers.

According to him, the rupee is expected to trade in a very narrow range of 60.5-60.75/dollar.

Global cues are positive as the US markets extended gains on Tuesday on optimism that the Federal Reserve will keep rates lower for longer. The S&P 500 is less than half a percent from its all-time high.

European shares closed in the green on Tuesday as Ukraine worries eased and companies posted robust earnings. Asian markets, meanwhile, were trading mixed over higher-than-expected Japan trade deficit and despite gains from the US markets.