Market begins August series on subdued note, but Nifty still manages to end above 10K

3:30 pm Market at Close: The Indian market began the August series on a subdued note, with benchmark indices ending lower, but the Nifty closed above 10000 for the third straight session.

The Sensex closed down 73.42 points at 32309.88, while the Nifty ended lower 6.05 points at 10014.50. The market breadth was negative as 1265 shares advanced against a decline of 1374 shares, while 168 shares were unchanged.

HDFC, Infosys and Yes Bank gained the most on both indices, while Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Lupin were the top losers.

3:20 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks recovered sharply, driven by HDFC, Infosys and ITC.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 47.11 points at 32,336.19 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 1 point to 10,021.55.

The market breadth remained negative as about 1,367 shares declined against 1,233 advancing shares on the BSE.

3:05 pm HDFC at record high: Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) shares touched a fresh all-time high of Rs 1,798, up as much as 4 percent in afternoon trade. The rally was in addition to 5.83 percent upside seen in previous session.

It was driven by value buying, especially after June quarter earnings. Even analysts retained their positive stance on the stock.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its target price on the stock to Rs 1,925 (from Rs 1,791 earlier) and Deutsche Bank also upped target price by 2.2 percent to Rs 1,840 (from Rs 1,800 earlier). Both have maintained buy rating on it.

2:54 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks trimmed losses in last hour of trade as HDFC and Infosys extended gains to 2-3 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 138.43 points at 32,244.87 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 35.95 points to 9,984.60, dragged by private banks and pharma stocks.

2:35 pm Buzzing: LIC Housing Finance shares declined nearly a percent as profit missed analysts' expectations.

Net profit in Q1 increased 15.3 percent to Rs 470 crore from Rs 407.8 crore YoY, which was lower than CNBC-TV18 poll estimates of Rs 531.4 crore.

Revenue grew by 8.1 percent to Rs 3,633 crore from Rs 3,359.7 crore YoY.

Provisions/write-offs increased sequentially to Rs 104.4 crore from Rs 89.3 crore but declined year-on-year from Rs 116.4 crore.

2:20 pm Earnings: Heidelberg Cement shares fell more than 6 percent as profit dropped to Rs 16 crore in Q1 from Rs 26.3 crore in same quarter last fiscal and revenue also fell 6 percent to Rs 513.5 crore from Rs 546.1 crore YoY.

Operating profit slipped 23.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 67 crore and margin contracted by 340 basis points to 15.2 percent in Q1.

2:10 pm Interview: Talking about the quarterly performance and the outlook going forward, Jonathan Hunt, CEO, Syngene International told CNBC-TV18 that they ambition is to get back towards good teens growth for the year to 20 percent growth rate that the company has enjoyed historically.

However, as of now, he is happy to see revenue growth swing back to 6 percent from negative number.

The company continues to recover from the fire in third quarter of FY17, said Hunt, adding that they are rebuilding the infrastructure that was damaged. It could take most of this year and would be likely back on track at the beginning of the next fiscal, he said.

He is very upbeat with the progress of strategic relationship with Amgen. The company has also signed a multiyear contract with a Japanese firm to support NCE launch in Japan.

1:54 pm Earnings: NIIT shares surged 12 percent after Q1 net profit jumped to Rs 10.4 crore from Rs 0.8 crore, though revenue was flat at Rs 209.9 crore versus Rs 210 crore YoY.

NIIT said corporate learning group recorded constant currency growth of 14 percent and added MTS contracts from 2 Fortune 500 companies.

Net debt reduced sharply to Rs 40.2 crore from Rs 130.4 crore YoY.

1:41 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices extended losses in afternoon, with the Sensex down 277.30 points at 32,106 and the Nifty down 71 points at 9,949.55.

The broader markets also erased gains to trade flat as market breadth turned negative. About 1,400 shares declined against 1,084 advancing shares on the BSE.

Nifty Pharma (down 2 percent), Metal (down 1.7 percent) and Bank (down 0.94 percent) fell the most among sectoral indices.

1:30 pm Results: Private sector lender Karur Vysya Bank's profit growth limited to 1.1 percent in June quarter due to higher provisions, though there was sharp growth in other income and operating income.

Profit in Q1FY18 increased to Rs 148 crore from Rs 146.3 crore in year-ago quarter while net interest income jumped 11.9 percent to Rs 538.6 crore year-on-year.

Asset quality deteriorated further in the quarter ended June 2017, with gross non-performing assets (NPA) risnig 69 basis points sequentially to 4.27 percent and net NPA up 32 bps to 2.85 percent.

In absolute terms, gross NPAs jumped nearly 22 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 1,807 crore and net NPA increased 15.1 percent to Rs 1,189 crore in June quarter.

Provisions for bad loans increased sharply by 79.4 percent year-on-year and 7.3 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 233.4 crore in the quarter gone by.

1:15 pm Politics: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has won the trust vote in Bihar Assembly. 131 MLAs voted for the confidence motion, while 108 voted against the motion.

1:05 pm Buzzing: Shares of Idea Cellular today dived by nearly 6 percent after the company posted a loss of Rs 815.9 crore in the first quarter ended June 30.

The telecom company yesterday posted a loss of Rs 815.9 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, impacted by sustained pressure from disruptive tariffs of Reliance Jio.

This is the third straight quarter loss for the Aditya Birla group firm as it has not been able to recover from the pressure of aggressive tariff war triggered by Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Idea Cellular had posted a profit of Rs 217.1 crore in the same period a year ago. Total revenue of Idea also declined by about 14 percent to Rs 8,181.7 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 9,552.4 crore in the corresponding period of 2016-17.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

12:58 pm Earnings: Tanla Solutions' first quarter consolidated profit jumped significantly to Rs 11.9 crore from Rs 4 crore and revenue grew by 89.3 percent to Rs 185.5 crore compared with year-ago quarter.

Operating profit surged 46.9 percent year-on-year to Rs 16.3 crore but margin contracted by 260 basis points to 8.8 percent in June quarter.

The stock rallied 7 percent.

12:40 pm Europe opening: European bourses opened lower after US tech shares retreated from recent highs and investors reacted to a deluge of earnings reports.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.67 percent lower shortly after the opening bell with all sectors and major bourses in negative territory.

12:20 pm Interview: Confirming the news that Wilmar Sugar would be infusing around Rs 813 crore into Shree Renuka Sugars via convertibles at Rs 16.27 per share, Managing Director Narendra Murkumbi told CNBC-TV18 said the main intention behind this to reduce the debt of the company.

The standalone debt currently is around Rs 3,600 crore and consolidated is around Rs 9700 crore. Post the deal, it is expected that the India debt would reduce to Rs 1500 crore (standalone) in addition to about Rs 580 crore of 0.01 percent interest coupon NCDs, said Murkumbi.

He further added that that the total debt would shrink to around Rs 2080 crore of which Rs 1500 crore will be regular interest paying debt.

Interest costs has been the problem area for the company and post this restructuring it is expected to fall to Rs 200 crore from Rs 400 crore, said Murkumbi.

The target is to turn profitable as soon as possible and the idea is to grow the company.

12:00 pm Shares sale: Indiabulls Real said IBL Scheme Trust sold its holding of 95 lakh shares in company for Rs 220.4 crore.

Sale is made by the company of its treasure shares and no share sale is done by the founder of the company.

"Sale proceeds would be used for meeting company's funding requirements," Indiabulls Real said.

11:45 am Earnings: Escorts' profit in June quarter increased sharply by 33.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 62.6 crore, driven by revenue and other income.

Revenue during the quarter grew by 11 percent to Rs 1,163 crore while operating profit increased 8.3 percent to Rs 97.5 crore but margin contracted by 20 basis points to 8.5 percent compared with year-ago quarter.

Other income doubled to Rs 20.5 crore from Rs 10.2 crore on YoY basis.

Agri Machinery revenue jumped 9.7 percent to Rs 942.1 crore, with its EBIT growing 5.2 percent at Rs 102 crore.

Escorts said orderbook of Rs 150 crore for railway products would be executed in 6-7 months.

11:30 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in morning trade, with the Sensex down 149.10 points at 32,234.20 but the broader markets outperformed.

The Nifty continued to struggle below 10,000 level, down 31.50 points at 9989.05 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.5 percent.

Dr Reddy's Labs was biggest loser among Sensex stocks, down more than 5 percent after disappointing earnings. Lupin, ICICI Bank, HUL and Sun Pharma were down 2-4 percent.

HDFC, Infosys, ITC, Maruti Suzuki and Adani Power were only gainers.

11:17 am Buzzing: Panacea Biotec shares rallied nearly 10 percent intraday on joint collaboration with the US firm for development of 7 complex generics.

"... has entered into joint collaboration for development, license, manufacturing, supply and sales of 7 complex generic pharmaceutical products with Bionpharma Inc, a generic pharmaceutical company based in the United States," the New Delhi-based pharma company said in its filing.

The seven abbreviated new drug applications are currently under development at Panacea Biotec, representing a total estimated market potential of more than USD 800 million.

11:02 am Porinju's take on the Nifty:

Nifty: 5,000 to 10,000 in 10 years, next 5000 points will take only 2.5 years - though not much relevant to stock-pickers. #ChangingIndia

- Porinju Veliyath (@porinju) July 28, 2017

10:44 am Goldman bearish on Blue Dart: Goldman Sachs remained bearish on Blue Dart Express and maintained sell rating after weak set of earnings for the quarter ended June 2017. The stock price fell more than 2 percent intraday.

The research house slashed its 12-month target price to Rs 4,160 (from Rs 4,500) after lowering FY17/18/19 EPS estimates by 27/13/6 percent on pricing pressure.

With continued pressure on pricing and the industry adjusting to prepare for GST, it expects near term profitability of the company to remain muted.

Blue Dart reported weak Q1FY18 earnings across parameters. Revenue growth remained subdued at 7 percent YoY (sixth straight quarter of less than 10 percent growth) at Rs 666.6 crore, which partially impacted by lower transportation activity in the June prior to the GST rollout.

A decline in margins resulted in consolidated profit declining by 52 percent YoY to Rs 21.1 crrore in June quarter.

10:28 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained under pressure in morning trade, with the Sensex falling over 100 points following weakness in global peers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 127.08 points at 32,256.22 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 30.65 points to 9,989.90.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.35 percent each on positive breadth.

About 1,057 shares advanced against 949 declining shares on the BSE.

HDFC extended gains today, hitting fresh record high of Rs 1,776.20, up 2.4 percent on top of 5.83 percent rally in previous session after strong earnings.

10:10 am Market Expert: S Krishna Kumar of Sundaram Mutual Fund said that the earnings have been pretty good and that retail private banks have seen strong delivery.

Even as the market soared to fresh record highs, there are questions on the next step for them going forward.

Fund houses such as Sundaram Mutual Fund believes that the Street could go through a consolidation phase going forward.

''In a long term growth phase of the economy, the market does go through a consolidation phase. Markets would be more reactive to results that come out this season, along with monsoon progress and the impact of GST,'' S Krishna Kumar, CIO-Equity, Sundaram Mutual Fund told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. These factors will now be the drivers for the market going forward, he added.

10:00 am Buzzing: Zenotech Laboratories shares rallied as much as 5 percent in morning trade after Sun Pharma raised its stake in the company to over 50 percent.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries raised its stake in Zenotech Labs to 57.56 percent from 46.85 percent, reports CNBC-TV18.

As per June quarter's shareholding pattern, Sun Pharma held 46.85 percent stake (representing 1.61 crore shares of total paid-up equity) and other promoter DaiiChi Sankyo had 20 percent stake in the company.

Meanwhile, on July 25, Zenotech Labs approved allotment of 2.66 crore shares at a price of Rs 45 per share issued on a rights basis, to all eligible applicants who have subscribed to the said issue.

9:54 am Deal: Shree Renuka Sugars announced a preferential issue of upto 50 crore 0.01 percent compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) of Rs 16.27 each, at par, to Wilmar Sugar Holdings Pte. Ltd. (WSH), Singapore.

The investment is subject to the successful completion of a debt restructuring package which would entail, among other things:
(i) WSH making an additional investment of Rs 783.96 crore in SRSL (infusion) for the purpose of up-front repayment and settlement of part of the debts and to fund working capital requirements of SRSL;
(ii) lenders converting part of the debts into equity shares and convertible securities of SRSL;
(iii) waiver of part of the debts; and
(iv) restructuring of the remaining Debts through changes in the repayment terms on the terms of a restructuring package.

"The company hopes that this exercise, once completed, would significantly pare its debt burden and interest cost in India and would also free the company of all guarantees and obligations related to its overseas subsidiaries," Shree Renuka said.

9:40 am Market Outlook: Though yet to face any unsettling events in 2017, rallying 27 percent till date, Nifty is likely to embark on a treacherous voyage from here on, grappling with multiple gann supply points, Pritesh Mehta, IIFL Private Wealth said.

Three-digit gann number of 101(00), four digit gann number of 1009(0) and multiplication of 360 degrees by applying a square of 9 from the significant low of 9,342 is also placed around 10,130.

On higher time frame charts, PRZ of potential ABCD pattern stands near 10,050 mark. So, the point of confluence is seen between 10,050-10,130.

9:25 am Earnings Impact: Cigarette-hotel-to-FMCG major ITC met analysts' expectations on earnings front as profit grew by 7.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,560.5 crore in Q1FY18, driven largely by tobacco business. The stock gained 1 percent.

Revenue during the quarter increased 4.1 percent to Rs 13,800.4 crore compared with year-ago quarter, largely aided by cigarette as well as FMCG others businesses.

"Revenue from cigarettes segment (which contributed 63.6 percent to total revenue) grew by 6.6 percent to Rs 8,774.18 crore in quarter ended June 2017 from Rs 8,230.80 crore in same quarter last year," ITC said in its filing.

Cigarettes' earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) jumped 9 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,274.14 crore, with margin expansion of 80 basis points for the quarter. The company hiked cigarettes prices by 6-7 percent in Q1.

9:15 am Market Check: The NSE Nifty started off the August series on a negative note, falling below 10,000-mark on correction in banks and healthcare stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 134.80 points at 32,248.50 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 33.45 points to 9,987.10.

ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs, HUL, Lupin, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, ONGC, Vedanta and Sun Pharma fell up to 5 percent while ITC and L&T gained.

Nifty Midcap was down 0.3 percent as about two shares declined for every share rising on the NSE.

Biocon, Idea Cellular, Redington, Balaji Amines, Blue Dart and Shree Renuka Sugars lost up to 4 percent.

Cineline India, Deccan Gold Mines, and Glenmark Pharma rallied up to 15 percent.