Nifty ends above 7700; banks slide, infra & metals bleed

03:30 Market closing
The market has ended on a flat note but the Nifty held on to 7700 levels. The 50-share index closed up 12.50 points at 7739.55 while the Sensex is up 38.18 points at 25918.95. About 878 shares advanced, 2049 shares declined and 85 shares were unchanged.

FMCG stocks put up a great show in a weak market. ITC and HUL were up 2-3 percent while HDFC, Sun Pharma and Wipro were other gainers in the Sensex.  BHEL (down 7 percent) was the biggest loser, followed by Coal India, SBI and Axis Bank.

02:55pm Engineers India under pressure
Shares of Engineers India fell 14 percent after reporting poor set of results in the quarter ended June 2014. Profit after tax dropped 37.8 percent year-on-year to Rs 80.4 crore and operating profit margin declined 1,370 basis points to 12.6 percent in the quarter gone by, which both were also lower than analysts' expectations of Rs 110 crore and 21.5 percent, respectively.

The contraction was seen in segmental performance for both consulting and turnkey project segments. Earnings before interest and tax of both segments were down by 1,490 basis points and 110 basis points.

02:40pm Jammu and Kashmir Bank crashes 10%
Jammu and Kashmir Bank's earnings were very poor with the first quarter net profit falling 58 percent to Rs 130 crore from Rs 307.9 crore in the year-ago period, impacted by higher provisions.

Net interest income declined to Rs 637.7 crore from Rs 655 crore during the sam period. Net non-performing assets (NPA) jumped to 2.18 percent from 0.22 percent and gross NPA rose to 4.16 percent from 1.66 percent on sequential basis.

02:20pm Market Expert
Despite the recent volatility in the market, Sachin Shah, fund manager at Emkay Investment Managers says the undertone of the market continues to be buoyant, with positive net flows and a fairly good earnings season.

FII inflows were subdued, but there weren't any significant outflows. FII selling in the debt market was also not significant.

Another good thing that is working in favour of the market is the recovery in rainfall, which has been a positive trigger for the market. However, he cautions that the second half of the monsoon season is yet to play out. Also, some of the macro data points such as oil price sliding significantly - below USD 103/ bbl - are huge positives.

02:00pm The market remained marginally under pressure in afternoon trade weighed down by banks, capital goods, auto and metals & mining stocks. The Sensex slipped 42.59 points to 25838.18 and the Nifty fell 13.75 points to 7713.30.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices extended losses, down 2 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. About 745 shares have advanced, 2041 shares declined, and 87 shares are unchanged.

BHEL topped the selling list, down nearly 8 percent followed by L&T, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Hindalco Industries, Coal India, Tata Power and Hero Motocorp with 1-3 percent.

Tata Steel and ONGC lost about a percent ahead of first quarter earnings scheduled to be announced after market hours today.

However, the buying in shares of ITC, HDFC, Sun Pharma, TCS and Hindustan Unilever capped the downside, up 1-2.5 percent. Wipro and Infosys gained over 0.6 percent.

1:45 pm Big deal: Crompton Greaves has sold its Kanjurmarg land parcel to Runwal Group for Rs 1,015 crore. The 34-acre land parcel has been on the block for a while now. Many other leading builders were in the lace to buy the land parcel.

The deal pegs per acre land value at Rs 30 crore. This is a good deal for the Runwal Group as most experts were pegging the land value at around Rs 40 crore per acre.

Crompton Greaves has been looking for funds as its debt stands at Rs 2,200-2,500 crore.

1:20 pm Result: Siemens disappointed street with the third quarter (April-June) net profit at Rs 13 crore on lower revenue and weak operational performance. It had posted a loss of Rs 48.8 crore in the year-ago period.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts had expected the company to report net profit of Rs 90 crore on revenue of Rs 2,701 crore for the quarter.

The company follows October-September as its financial year.

Total income from operations declined 10 percent to Rs 2,374 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 from Rs 2,642 crore in same quarter last year.

After a slight consolidation, the market has started to give up its gains. The Sensex is down 47.05 points at 25833.72 and the Nifty is down 14.80 points at 7712.25. About 785 shares have advanced, 1863 shares declined, and 72 shares are unchanged.

Capital goods stocks are the biggest losers. BHEL has tanked 8 percent, followed by Coal India, Hindalco, Tata power and L&T. Among the gainers are ITC, HUL, Sun Pharma, HDC and TCS.

Global investors remained cautious after downbeat data from China and Japan and as the crisis in Ukraine threatened a fragile economic recovery in Europe.Mainland Chinese shares were knocked off their highs by surprisingly weak loans data, and other data released later in the session also missed expectations.

Some economists believe further stimulus may be needed to sustain the recovery and offset the drag from the cooling property market. The cautious mood was seen extending into the European market, with financial spread betters expecting mixed starts around the region.

12:55pm Wockhardt under pressure
Investors are dumping shares of Wockhardt after its April-June quarter earnings disappointed the street. The stock fell 4 percent as the drugmaker's Q1 net profit plunged 94 percent mainly due to numerous US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bans.

Citi recommends to sell it, though it sees a potential for a strong bounce back once the issues are resolved. ''It has been a few quarters since its plants were put under import alert but we have yet to get a firm handle on where numbers would bottom out - with R&D spending staying high and US sales continuing to dip, driving negative operating leverage. It is prudent to stay away until at least some stability sets in on the financials front,'' it says in a report.

The brokerage has slashed its EPS estimates with a revised target of Rs 510 per share

12:40pm Eicher Motors at new record high
Investors continued to buy shares of Eicher Motors, the Royal Enfield maker, after Credit Suisse raised a target price on the stock to Rs 10,180 (from Rs 9,000 earlier), the highest among brokerages, due to strong earnings in April-June quarter. The stock gained as much as 7.7 percent to touch a fresh record high of Rs 9,995 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The brokerage said it maintains bullish thesis on the stock on the robust growth potential for the Royal Enfield motorcycle, along with healthy margin expansion at both the businesses (motorcycle and commercial vehicle).

12:20pm Gainers and Losers
FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever rallied 2.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Software services exporters TCS, Infosys and Wipro gained 1-2 percent. HDFC and HDFC Bank extended upmove further, rising 0.7-0.8 percent.

Sun Pharma rallied 1.6 percent after reporting profit of Rs 1,390 crore in Q1FY15 as against loss of Rs 1,276 crore (due to provision of Rs 2,517 crore on settlement on Protonix Generic with Nycomed and Pfizer Wyeth) in the year-ago period.

However, BHEL fell further, losing more than 7 percent after reporting disappointing numbers with margins coming in at 4.2 percent versus 6 percent Y-o-Y. Macquarie cut FY15/16 earnings per share by 4 percent/2 percent and also slashed target price to Rs 144/share from Rs 149/share.

Shares of Larsen and Toubro, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Tata Steel (ahead of Q1 earnings today), Hindalco, Coal India (post earnings) and Tata Power declined 1.5-2 percent.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks remained rangebound in noon trade but the broader markets fell more than a percent. The Sensex rose 31.82 points to 25912.59 and the Nifty gained 8.45 points at 7735.50.

Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 1659 to 885 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Among midcaps, Engineers India dropped 12.16 percent (post Q1 earnings) followed by Syndicate Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Den Networks and Unitech with 7-8 percent. However, Birla Corporation, Eicher Motors, Natco Pharma, JK Cement and Blue Dart gained 4-9 percent.

In the smallcap space, Prakash Industries, HCC, Ashiana Housing, Empire Industries and Bajaj Hindusthan tanked 7-10 percent whereas Minda Industries surged 20 percent followed by IFB Industries, Indian Metals, NOCIL and Hitachi Home with 6-9 percent.

11:55 am Boardroom: Margins are improving for bakery products manufacturer Britannia Industries due to better cost efficiencies. Sharing views on the company financial performance in Q1FY15 with CNBC-TV18, managing director Varun Berry said 'the sky is the limit as far as margins are concerned' and the all unproductive costs are being removed by the company. The company reported a 24.9 percent growth in its first quarter standalone net profit at Rs 107.8 crore compared to Rs 86.3 crore in the year-ago period, driven by strong revenue and operating performance despite higher raw material cost. Total income from operations grew by 15.4 percent to Rs 1,634.2 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 from Rs 1,416.3 crore in the year-ago period.

11:40 am Results: GVK Power and Infrastructure has reported a loss of Rs 281.3 crore in April-June quarter, increased from Rs 30.6 crore in the year-ago period due to loss on disposal of assets during the quarter. Even higher depreciation and amortisation cost, interest cost and other expenses impacted profitability.

The loss of Rs 286.8 during the quarter was due to demolition of old terminal at Mumbai airport, said the company in its filing.

Consolidated net sales of the company grew 1.9 percent to Rs 712.7 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 from Rs 699.5 crore in same quarter last year supported by airports and roads segments.

GVK Power said revenue from airports business increased by 3.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 568 crore with EBIT loss of Rs 271.09 crore (against EBIT profit of Rs 168.82 crore Y-o-Y) in the quarter gone by.

11:20 am Boardroom: Ashok Kumar Purwaha, chairman, Engineers India says the company is now focused on overseas orders in the consultancy space, which would be a high margin business.

For the first quarter ended June, 2014, the net sales for the company stood at Rs 435 crore versus Rs 443.2 crore year on year (Y-o-Y) and EBITDA was at Rs 55 crore versus Rs 116 crore Y-o-Y. EIL's margins halved in the first quarter to 12.5 percent versus 26.3 percent for the same quarter last year.

Purwaha expects new order wins from the international markets to lead to steady revenues post second and third quarters.

The current order book for the company is Rs 4100 crore.

The market is consolidating after a strong rally on Tuesday. The Sensex is up 51.39 points at 25932.16, and the Nifty up 16.30 points at 7743.35. About 994 shares have advanced, 1263 shares declined, and 71 shares are unchanged.

Capital goods, metals and realty stocks are laggards while FMCG led by HUL and ITC are leaders in the Sensex. Sun Pharma, TCS and Wipro are other top gainers. Among the losers are BHEL, Hindalco, Tata Power, L&T and Coal India.

Asian shares struggled after Wall Street snapped a two-day rally with the crisis in Ukraine sapping investor confidence as it threatens a fragile economic recovery in Europe.

Investors were wary as a convoy of 280 Russian trucks carrying humanitarian aid headed for eastern Ukraine, where government forces are closing in on pro-Russian rebels. While Western officials have voiced suspicions that Russia would use a humanitarian mission as a pretext for invading Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it would hand off the convoy to the Red Cross after crossing the border.

10:55am Interview
Orbit Corporation aims to reduce debt by Rs 300-400 crore by FY15 end. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, MD & CEO Pujit Aggarwal said that the company has incurred an exceptional loss of Rs 23 crore.

In Q1FY15, the company reported a net loss of Rs 32.91 crore versus loss of Rs 19.99 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Its EBITDA for the June quarter stood at Rs 20.94 crore as against Rs 9.6 crore, year-on-year.

Aggarwal added that the company is seeing positive EBIT margins after three-four quarters and will take another two-three quarters to report profit at net level.

10:40am FII View
Prabhat Awasthi, Nomura says the cyclical pick-up in growth is being ignored by the market obsessed with bold policy and reform moves by the new government.

''Our August-end 2015 Sensex target is 30,310, which offers a potential 20 percent upside from current levels based on a conservative 12 percent earnings CAGR for FY14-17, he adds.

10:15am IIP falls, CPI rises
The June IIP data has come in at 3.4 percent against 5 percent on a month-on-month basis. This is much below the CNBC-TV18 poll estimates of 5.8 percent.

The electricity sector grew at 15.7 percent against 6.3 percent, whereas the capital goods sector has shown a tremendous growth at 23 percent against 4.5 percent (M-o-M).

The mining sector growth came in at 4.3 percent against 2.7 percent, whereas the consumer goods contracted 10 percent versus 3.7 percent. Even the consumer durables contracted 23.4 percent against 3.2 percent. Manufacturing grew at 1.8 percent against 4.8 percent (M-o-M).

Data for basic goods came in at 9 percent against 6.3 percent, while the consumer non-durables stood at 0.1 percent vs 3.9 percent (M-o-M). Intermediate goods remained unchanged at 2.7 percent.

The July CPI inflation came in at 7.96 percent against 7.46 percent on a month-on-month basis - close to CNBC-TV18 poll estimate of 7.6 percent.

10:00am Equity benchmarks rebounded with the Sensex rising 63.18 points to 25943.95 and the Nifty gaining 21.30 points to 7748.35 supported by oil & gas, FMCG, healthcare and HDFC twins.

About 921 shares have advanced, 923 shares declined, and 75 shares are unchanged.

Shares of ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel gained 1-2 percent. State-run oil and gas major ONGC climbed over a percent ahead of first quarter earnings, wherein analysts expect a 45 percent rise in net profit and 930 basis points jump in operating profit margin.

Sun Pharma gained 1 percent too after the company posted a profit of Rs 1,390 crore in Q1FY15 as against loss of Rs 1,276 crore (due to provision of Rs 2,517 crore on settlement on Protonix Generic with Nycomed and Pfizer Wyeth) in the year-ago period.

However, state-controlled power equipment maker BHEL remained under pressure, down 4 percent after weak earnings. L&T, Infosys, Axis Bank, Hindalco, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Power and Bajaj Auto fell 0.4-0.9 percent.

10:55am Interview
Orbit Corporation aims to reduce debt by Rs 300-400 crore by FY15 end. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, MD & CEO Pujit Aggarwal said that the company has incurred an exceptional loss of Rs 23 crore.

In Q1FY15, the company reported a net loss of Rs 32.91 crore versus loss of Rs 19.99 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Its EBITDA for the June quarter stood at Rs 20.94 crore as against Rs 9.6 crore, year-on-year.

Aggarwal added that the company is seeing positive EBIT margins after three-four quarters and will take another two-three quarters to report profit at net level.

10:40am FII View
Prabhat Awasthi, Nomura says the cyclical pick-up in growth is being ignored by the market obsessed with bold policy and reform moves by the new government.

''Our August-end 2015 Sensex target is 30,310, which offers a potential 20 percent upside from current levels based on a conservative 12 percent earnings CAGR for FY14-17, he adds.

10:15am IIP falls, CPI rises
The June IIP data has come in at 3.4 percent against 5 percent on a month-on-month basis. This is much below the CNBC-TV18 poll estimates of 5.8 percent.

The electricity sector grew at 15.7 percent against 6.3 percent, whereas the capital goods sector has shown a tremendous growth at 23 percent against 4.5 percent (M-o-M).

The mining sector growth came in at 4.3 percent against 2.7 percent, whereas the consumer goods contracted 10 percent versus 3.7 percent. Even the consumer durables contracted 23.4 percent against 3.2 percent. Manufacturing grew at 1.8 percent against 4.8 percent (M-o-M).

Data for basic goods came in at 9 percent against 6.3 percent, while the consumer non-durables stood at 0.1 percent vs 3.9 percent (M-o-M). Intermediate goods remained unchanged at 2.7 percent.

The July CPI inflation came in at 7.96 percent against 7.46 percent on a month-on-month basis - close to CNBC-TV18 poll estimate of 7.6 percent.

10:00am Equity benchmarks rebounded with the Sensex rising 63.18 points to 25943.95 and the Nifty gaining 21.30 points to 7748.35 supported by oil & gas, FMCG, healthcare and HDFC twins.

About 921 shares have advanced, 923 shares declined, and 75 shares are unchanged.

Shares of ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel gained 1-2 percent. State-run oil and gas major ONGC climbed over a percent ahead of first quarter earnings, wherein analysts expect a 45 percent rise in net profit and 930 basis points jump in operating profit margin.

Sun Pharma gained 1 percent too after the company posted a profit of Rs 1,390 crore in Q1FY15 as against loss of Rs 1,276 crore (due to provision of Rs 2,517 crore on settlement on Protonix Generic with Nycomed and Pfizer Wyeth) in the year-ago period.

However, state-controlled power equipment maker BHEL remained under pressure, down 4 percent after weak earnings. L&T, Infosys, Axis Bank, Hindalco, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Power and Bajaj Auto fell 0.4-0.9 percent.