Nifty ends above 8700, Sensex down 135 points; Bharti up 7%

3:30 Market close: The market ended on lower note. The Sensex was down 134.91 points at 28709.87 and the Nifty slipped 44.70 points at 8712.05. About 1261 shares have advanced, 1584 shares declined, and 200 shares are unchanged.

Bharti was up 7 percent, while Coal India, M&M, BHEL and Hero are top gainers inthe Sensex. Among the losers were HDFc, Hindalco, HUL, Sun Pharma and Tata Steel.

03:19 pm Market check: The Sensex is down 142.66 points or 0.5 percent at 28702.12, and the Nifty down 44.95 points or 0.5 percent at 8711.80. About 1228 shares have advanced, 1592 shares declined, and 201 shares are unchanged.

03:10 pm Air India, HMT to shut down? Five public sector undertakings (PSUs) will be closed down by the government, which has included some of the best known state-run enterprises like Air India, MTNL and Hindustan Shipyard, in the list of 65 sick PSUs, Lok Sabha was informed today. The five state-run organisations to be closed down include three HMT units whose brand of watches and tractors once ruled the market, Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete said during Question Hour, adding that their employees were being offered a "very good" VRS package. However, he did not name the other PSUs which are slated to be closed down.

02:50pm Gold schemes: Official says the government is likely to scrap existing gold deposit schemes as these schemes have not yielded desired results.

The government is likely to launch gold monetisation scheme by May with nominal interest and is likely to price gold bonds in line with gold metal rates.

02:35pm Market extends losses: The Sensex dropped 232.58 points to 28612.20 and the Nifty shed 68.55 points to 8688.20.

About 1144 shares have advanced, 1587 shares declined, and 211 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

02:30pm Mphasis in News: Homegrown IT/ITeS firm Mphasis is looking to hive off its domestic business process outsourcing (BPO) into a separate arm while it explores the option of selling it.

Sources have told CNBC-TV18 that the HP-owned company, which has likely appointed two investment bankers to conduct a sale for the business, is undertaking the move as part of its strategy to focus on high-margin businesses.

The consolidation strategy is part of Mphasis' own strategy before the US giant HP itself looks to sell its controlling stake in the company, sources said.

Mphasis' domestic business employs about 12,000 employees across four call centres in the country, and earns revenues of about Rs 1,200 crore.

Mphasis was owned by Barings Private Equity Partners till it was purchased by EDS in 2006, after which it fell in HP's lap after the latter acquired EDS in 2008.

But under HP, Mphasis has seen its revenues fall, with analysts citing the US company's struggle for strategic direction itself with respect to whether it should focus on services or products. Currently, HP owns a 60.5 percent stake in Mphasis.

02:00pm Market Check
The market extended losses in afternoon trade with the Sensex losing 136.87 points to 28707.91. The Nifty lost 45.65 points to 8711.10. Banking & financials, oil, metals, power and FMCG stocks led the market down while telecom and select technology stocks outperformed.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declined too, down 0.3-0.4 percent. About 1163 shares have advanced, 1524 shares declined, and 215 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Market is headed towards consolidation in the near term, cautions big bull Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. But there is nothing to worry until and unless Nifty moves below 8000.

In an exclusive conversation with Ramesh Damani and N Jayakumar, Jhunjhunwala says he expects the market to pause for a while after what has been a dream run for the bull market in the last one year.

Housing finance company HDFC topped the selling list, down 3.7 percent followed by HDFC Bank, L&T, Reliance Industries, ONGC, HUL, Wipro, Hindalco Industries, Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel with 1-2 percent loss.

However, Bharti Airtel shot up 7 percent. The stock saw a relief rally as the day on day jump in bid prices for 900 mhz has fallen to 2 percent versus 5 percent earlier raising hopes of some moderation in bidding.
 
Meanwhile, the rupee fell further today, trading at fresh 2-month low of 62.69 against close of 62.55 yesterday due to rise in dollar and increased demand for the dollar from importers.

On the global front, most of Asia had a weak session today. Hong Kong closed with more than 200 points cut while European markets too are trading in the red as Greek tensions grow.

1:52 pm Market falls: The market is slipping away with the Nifty sinking below 8700. The 50-share index is down 54.00 points or 0.6 percent at 8702.75. The Sensex is down 156.51 points or 0.5 percent at 28688.27. About 1234 shares have advanced, 1416 shares declined, and 221 shares are unchanged.

1:45 pm Telecom stocks rally: Telecom stocks see a relief rally as the day on day jump in bid prices for 900 mhz has moderated to 2 percent. Shares of Bharti Airtel jumped 10.5 percent while Idea and Reliance Communication gained 3-4 percent.

According to CNBC-TV18, spectrum auction has reached last leg while bidding has closed for 900 mhz spectrum. However, bidding activity is seen for 800 mhz spectrum and auction to continue even if bids are only in one circle.

The government has already received bids worth Rs 94,000 crores after 31 rounds of bidding at the end of day five.

1:30 pm Market news: The Finance Bill recommendation giving money market control to Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has come as a surprise, said Justice BN Srikrishna, Chairman, Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC). The government has recently proposed to amend the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act to take away money market regulatory powers from the central bank and bring it under the purview of market regulator Sebi. Though the proposal wasn't mentioned in Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Budget speech, the Finance Bill proposes to amend Sections 45U and 45W of the RBI Act, which take away the apex bank's powers to regulate government securities and other money market instruments

The market is flat as the Sensex is up 8.38 points at 28853.16 and the Nifty is down 3.20 points at 8753.55. About 1366 shares have advanced, 1209 shares declined, and 202 shares are unchanged.

Bharti Airtel, Coal India, M&M, Bajaj Auto and ICICI Bank are top gainers while HDFC, HUL, ONGC and Wipro are among losers in the Sensex.

Domestic passenger car sales grew by 6.85 percent to 1,71,727 units in February this year as compared to 1,60,717 units in the same month of 2014.

According to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), motorcycle sales in last month were down by 8.22 percent to 7,74,122 units from 8,43,436 units in the same month previous year. Total two-wheeler sales in February 2015 were down by 0.99 percent to 12,08,084 units from 12,20,141 units in the same period a year ago.

Japanese stocks turned lower afternoon, erasing all of the earlier gains as banks were hit hard by a report saying that the Basel Committee may ask banks to boost capital as a sufficient cushion in case of spikes in interest rates. Japan's opposition stems from its banks holding massive quantities of government bonds: 128 trillion yen worth in January, the Nikkei said.

12:30pm Ace Investor Jhunjhunwala view: Market is headed towards consolidation in the near term, cautions big bull Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. But there is nothing to worry until and unless Nifty moves below 8000.

Jhunjhunwala says he expects the market to pause for a while after what has been a dream run for the bull market in the last one year.

"There is lower quality which is available but for that lower quality we have to have lot of patience. Since the market had a run up from 5,200 to 9,000, I think it would consolidate here at these levels rather than run away."

Jhunjhunwala further adds that the kind of volumes seen in individual stocks is an indicator that we are going to pause. As the market moves higher, the rise gets faster, he asserts. "I do not think that it will make a top which will be a top for a year or two years. However, we could surely consolidate."

12:00pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to move in a tight range from early trade while the broader markets marginally outperformed. The Sensex declined 4.89 points to 28839.89 and the Nifty slipped 7.90 points to 8748.85.

About 1354 shares have advanced, 1127 shares declined, and 205 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

The rupee continued to fall today on fears that the US Fed will hike rates in their upcoming monetary policy meet, down 8 paise to 62.63 a dollar. The dollar index hit a fresh 11.5-year high.

Bharti Airtel surged 4 percent. The stock saw a relief rally as the day on day jump in bid prices for 900 mhz has fallen to 2 percent versus 5 percent earlier raising hopes of some moderation in bidding.

BF Utilities, Sun Pharma Advanced Research (SPARC), Wockhardt, Titagarh Wagons, Advanta, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank were most active shares on exchanges. BF Utilities rallied 8 percent in addition to 14 percent upside in previous session while SPARC climbed over a percent after rising 15 percent on Monday.

Gloomy days are seen ahead for the auto sector as SIAM forecasts, at best, a single-digit growth for passenger vehicles and motorcycles in FY16. The industry body, however, expects an increase in demand for medium and heavy commercial vehicles due to government's infra push.

Asian markets remained weak overlooking the better than expected Chinese inflation data and positive lead from Wall Street. Crude gave up most of its early gains to settle near USD 58.50 a barrel.

11:30am Market Expert: Indian equities are headed lower near term because of the nervousness in global markets as well subdued corporate earnings growth, says Andrew Holland, CEO, Ambit Investment Advisors.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Holland says he expects global equities to correct 5-10 percent in the short term and sees upheaval in currency markets because of the conflicting monetary policies being followed by central banks of the major economies.

He says the easy money has already been made and investors should brace for some tough months ahead. He sees little scope for an expansion in the forward price to earning multiple of the Indian market beyond 17, and does not expect the Nifty to top 9000 anytime soon.

11:00am Market Check:
The market continued to consolidate today after yesterday's steep fall. The broader markets managed to outperform benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.5-0.7 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 24.10 points to 28868.88 and the 50-share NSE Nifty advanced 7.30 points to 8764.05. About 1393 shares have advanced, 890 shares declined, and 187 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Bharti Airtel and Coal India topped the buying list on Sensex, up 2.5 percent each. Bharti may be reacting to some moderation in bidding in the telecom auctions. On day 5, the jump in bid price on a day on day basis was only 2 percent for 900 MHZ against 5 percent in previous day raising hopes of some moderation in bidding.

CLSA maintains buy rating on Coal India with a target price of Rs 435 apiece. The brokerage believes that the aggressive bids in the coal mine auctions by non-power companies has created a case for a sharp hike in Coal India's fuel supply agreement (FSA) prices for non-power customers.

"In fact, the coal ministry is already contemplating a possible auction of Coal India's old FSAs. Coal India has not taken a price hike since May-13 and has seen earnings decline for two successive years. We see a decent possibility of a large price hike for non-power consumers in FY16, which would be a catalyst for the stock. Improving production growth and potential price hikes underpin our positive stance," CLSA explains.

Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, Cipla, Bajaj Auto and BHEL gained 1-2 percent whereas HDFC, TCS, HUL, ONGC, Wipro and GAIL fell 1-2 percent.

Monnet Ispat climbed over 9 percent as the company is looking to sell stake in its power and sponge business. Additionally the company won the Utkal C block for a negative bid price of Rs 770 per tonne.

Dish TV gained 3 percent as CLSA maintains its buy on the stock. According to the report, the company is in a sweet spot as its scale and content deals imply margins should strengthen driving a rerating and ARPUs are moving up faster than expected.

Asian markets are mostly weak overlooking the better-than-expected Chinese inflation data and positive lead from Wall Street. Dollar index hit a 3-month high with gold near 3-month lows and Brent below USD 60 a barrel.

10:45 am Market outlook: Indian equities are headed lower near term because of the nervousness in global markets as well subdued corporate earnings growth, says Andrew Holland, CEO, Ambit Investment Advisors.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Holland says he expects global equities to correct 5-10 percent in the short term and sees upheaval in currency markets because of the conflicting monetary policies being followed by central banks of the major economies.

He says the easy money has already been made and investors should brace for some tough months ahead. He sees little scope for an expansion in the forward price to earning multiple of the Indian market beyond 17, and does not expect the Nifty to top 9000 anytime soon.

Holland is bearish on IT, saying valuations are expensive. He expects earnings downgrades in the sector, and sees pharma as emerging as the preferred defensive play.

10:30 am IPO open: The Rs 470 crore-public issue of Adlabs Entertainment has opened for subscription today. The company, which runs an amusement park - Adlabs Imagica, is going to issue 203.26 lakh equity shares at a price band of Rs 221-230 apiece. The issue, which will close on March 12, consists of a fresh issue of 183.26 lakh shares and an offer for sale of 20 lakh shares by Thrill Park. Adlabs, promoted by Manmohan Shetty (the former promoter of Adlabs Films) and Thrill Park, intends to utilise the net proceeds (fresh issue money) for partial repayment or pre-payment of the consortium loan and general corporate purposes. Consortium loan stood at Rs 1,100 crore and the company will use Rs 330 crore for repayment of this loan.

After the deep slaughter on Monday, the market looks little calm today. The Sensex is down 38.52 points at 28806.26. The Nifty is down 18.55 points at 8738.20. About 1143 shares have advanced, 617 shares declined, and 146 shares are unchanged.

Coal India, BHEL, Bharti Airtel, M&M and Bajaj Auto are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are HDFC, Wipro, GAIL, Hindalco and TCS.

The US dollar held near multi-year highs on the yen and euro amid starkly different outlooks for global interest rates, while Asian investors braced for more economic news from China.
A lower yen is viewed as positive for exports and corporate profits, and Nikkei futures implied opening gains of around 100 points for the index.

Investors were waiting on Chinese inflation data, where a soft result would underline the scope for easier monetary and fiscal policies, but might also aggravate fears of deflation.

09:50am IPO opens: The Rs 470 crore public issue of Adlabs Entertainment has opened for subscription today. The company, which runs an amusement park - Adlabs Imagica, is going to issue 203.26 lakh equity shares at a price band of Rs 221-230 apiece.

The issue, which will close on March 12, consists of a fresh issue of 183.26 lakh shares and an offer for sale of 20 lakh shares by Thrill Park.

Adlabs, promoted by Manmohan Shetty (the former promoter of Adlabs Films) and Thrill Park, intends to utilise the net proceeds (fresh issue money) for partial repayment or pre-payment of the consortium loan and general corporate purposes. Consortium loan stood at Rs 1,100 crore and the company will use Rs 330 crore for repayment of this loan.

Adlabs on Monday raised Rs 60.16 crore by finalising allocation of 27,22,135 equity shares to anchor investors Daiwa India Stock Active Mother Fund, HDTC Infrastructure Fund, Axis Mutual Fund, L&T Mutual Fund and IL&FS Trust Co (Forefront Alternative Equity Scheme) at Rs 221 per equity share (at lower end of price band).

09:35am Market Expert: CK Narayan, MD, Growth Avenues said one should keep buying on dips in this kind of market.

He seeks support at 8750 and believes if market breaks that level, there is room for another 100 points correction.

Narayan recommends sticking to pharma and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) pack now as they are stable and most of them reported good set of earnings.

09:15am Market Check:
The market rebounded in opening trade but could not sustain those gains. Key indices are volatile after yesterday's 604 points fall on the Sensex. The Sensex fell 29.51 points to 28815.27 and the Nifty declined 15.35 points to 8741.40.

About 557 shares have advanced, 155 shares declined, and 98 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Infosys, HDFC, Axis Bank, TCS, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, GAIL and Wipro fell 0.3-2 percent. However, Tata Motors, L&T, Sun Pharma, Cipla, M&M, BHEL, SBI and Bajaj Auto gained 0.5-1.5 percent.

The Indian rupee slipped further today. It has opened lower by 25 paise at 62.80 per dollar versus 62.55 Monday.

The dollar fell marginally from multi-year highs as investors took profits from gains.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "Post the stupendous US jobs number, the rupee has slipped back into the 62.00-63.00/dollar range. As the pair is overvalued on trade weighted basis against a basket of currencies and dollar strength expected to continue, we expect the rupee to be under pressure and weaken further from current levels."

On the global front, the US stocks closed higher on, recovering from Friday's sharp decline as investors took a more positive outlook on the strong jobs report. Asia too is positive in morning trade.

Meanwhile the European Central Bank launched its 60 billion euro-a-month bond-buying program yesterday and euro zone finance ministers also discussed Greece's reform plans.

In the currency space-- the dollar fell marginally from multi-year highs as investors took profits from gains. In commodities, crude prices decline following geopolitical tensions and the threat of output cuts in Libya and Iraq. Brent trades below 59 dollars per barrel.

Goldman Sachs in its note said that oil prices would reverse recent gains on rising global inventories, with US crude expected to drop to around 40 dollars a barrel. From precious metals space, gold prices continue to trade near a three-month low.