Nifty ends below 7750, Sensex down; ITC gains 1% on Q4 results

3:30 pm Market closing: The market has ended with heavy losses. The Nifty ended below 7850, down 33.70 points or 0.4 percent. The Sensex is down 97.82 points or 0.4 percent at 25301.90. About 871 shares have advanced, 1679 shares declined, and 197 shares are unchanged.

ITC gained 1 percent after posting better-than-expected Q4 results. Adani Ports, ONGC, NTPC and Bajaj Autowere top gainers in the Sensex. Losers were Lupin (down 9 percent), ICICI Bank, Reliance, M&M and Tata Motors.

3:10 pm Result: ITC has posted net profit net profit of Rs 2495 crore in January-March quarter, up 5.7 percent from Rs 2361 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. During the quarter, its net income was at Rs 10,169 crore up 9.4 percent against Rs 9293 crore in year-ago period.

According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, the FMCG major's net profit was seen at Rs 2520 crore in Q4 up 6.7 percent while revenue was seen climbing 5 percent at Rs 9770 crore year-on-year.

2:59 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks fell in last hour of trade with the Sensex falling 90.87 points to 25308.85 and the Nifty down 30.90 points at 7752.50. About two shares declined for every share advancing on BSE.

Lupin (-8 percent), ICICI Bank (-2 percent), BPCL (-2 percent) and UltraTechCement (-2 percent) were the big losers in the Nifty.

Other laggards in the index were Grasim (-1 percent), Tech Mahindra (-1 percent), Cipla (-1 percent) and Bharti Infratel (-1 percent).

Gainers included Adani Ports (3 percent), Idea Cellular (2 percent), ONGC (2 percent) and Tata Power (2 percent).

In sectoral performance as reflected by the respective indices, healthcare (-1.2 percent), capital goods (-0.5 percent), metals (-0.3 percent) and oil & gas (-0.3 percent) were under pressure, while FMCG (0.2 percent) and power (0.1 percent) gained.    

European shares were trading firm with UK's FTSE up 72 points or 1.2 percent at 6125, France's CAC up 35 points at 4318, and Germany's DAX up 77 points at 9872.

2:40 pm Buzzing: SpiceJet's scrip today tumbled 9.5 percent even after the company reported a more than three-fold rise in net profit for the March quarter.

The company's results came in post market hours yesterday.

SpiceJet, whose net profit grew more than three times to Rs 73.2 crore in the March quarter, plans to induct over 100 narrow-body planes in the next few months as the budget carrier seeks to tap growing domestic demand.

Aided by higher revenues and lower fuel costs, SpiceJet remained profitable for the fifth straight quarter.

It registered a net profit of Rs 22.52 crore in the year-ago period.

In the latest March quarter, the airline took a "one-time expense of Rs 173 crore towards stabilising and improving the reliability of its fleet".

2:20 pm Interview: The company sees maximum potential and revenue coming in from the heavy duty segments, said Vinod Aggarwal, CEO, VE Commercial Vehicles.

VE Commercial Vehicles is a 50:50 joint venture between the Volvo Group (Volvo) and Eicher Motors .

It currently enjoys a market share of 4.2 percent in the heavy duty truck segment, but Aggarwal targets 15 percent market share going forward.

The company has already invested Rs 2,700 crore in the last four years and has earmarked Rs 4,000 crore for capital investment, he added.

The allocation of Rs 4,000 crore will also cater to the new emission norms, Aggarwal said.

The plant already has a capacity of 5,500 (number of trucks) per month and by the year end, the company plans to increase the target to 7,000 per month, and eventually to 8,000 per month in the next 2-3 years.

2:00 pm Market Check
The market continued to be choppy in afternoon trade due to lack of domestic and global cues. The Sensex rose 10.02 points to 25409.74 and the Nifty declined 1.70 points to 7781.70.

The market breadth remained weak as about 1443 shares declined against 982 advancing shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

European stocks rallied despite hawkish comments from a US Federal Reserve official and following April Fed minutes that raised the probability of a rate hike in June. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 1.1 percent.

Oil prices rose today as turmoil in Nigeria, shale bankruptcies in the United States and crisis in Venezuela all contributed to tightening supplies. Despite this, brimming inventories across the world were preventing supply shortfalls and sharper price spikes, traders said.

International Brent crude futures were trading at USD 49.26 per barrel, up 0.84 percent from their last settlement.

1:30 pm Macro outlook: The high point of the Budget for 2016-17 was its adherence to the road map for fiscal consolidation by fixing the fiscal deficit at 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Taimur Baig of Deutsche Bank said there is still a lot of work to be done in revitalising the economy.

India's debt-to-GDP is high, he said, adding that it is a challenging road ahead for India.

The Goods and Services Tax Bill which has been hanging fire owing to Congress' stalling tactics, will hopefully see the light of day. It is just a matter of time before Rajya Sabha in which the BJP is in a minority falls in line, said Taimur.

The market is very volatile with the Nifty hovering around 7800. The 50-share index is up 24.90 points or 0.3 percent at 7808.30 and the Sensex is up 98.36 points or 0.4 percent at 25498.08. About 1054 shares have advanced, 1255 shares declined, and 201 shares are unchanged.

Adani Ports, ONGC, ITC, BHEL and HDFC are top gainers while Lupin, Cipla, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel are losers in the Sensex.

Nearly 50,000 employees of five associate banks of State Bank of India have gone on a day-long nationwide strike today to protest the proposed merger with their parent bank.

The employees of all the associate banks of SBI are protesting under the banner of All India Bank Employees Association.

Brent crude powered back above USD 49 a barrel in Asia as oil prices resumed their rise after the dollar eased and militants blew up another pipeline in African producer Nigeria.

A rally that pushed oil prices to a series of 2016 highs since last week had taken a breather over the past two days after minutes of an April meeting showed that the US Fed kept the door open to raising interest rates in June, sending the dollar higher.

12:55 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks were trading higher amid volatility. The Sensex rose 79.36 points to 25479.08 and the Nifty advanced 17.50 points to 7800.90.

The market breadth remained weak as about 1261 shares declined against 1052 advancing shares on BSE.

12:40 pm SBI staff to go on strike: Nearly 50,000 employees of five associate banks of State Bank of India have gone on a day-long nationwide strike today to protest the proposed merger with their parent bank.

The employees of all the associate banks of SBI are protesting under the banner of All India Bank Employees Association.

"We are protesting against the plan of SBI management to merge 5 large associate banks into it," a statement issued by the union said.

The employees will also stage a demonstration against the proposal at Azad Maidan here today.

SBI has five associate banks -- State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank Of Travancore.

12:20 pm FII View: The current quarter (January-March FY16) earnings in India has seen a growth trajectory unlike the previous ones, said Hartmut Issel of UBS.

But rising oil prices will affect the current account of India, he added.

Issel maintained his earlier stance on two Fed rate hikes. He expects the first one as early as June to sensitise the Street by giving them a wake-up call. 

If not in June, the rate hike will come in September, followed by a second one in December, he added.

12:00 pm Market Check
The market remained rangebound with the Nifty moving in a tight range of 7770-7800 after a sharp cut in previous session priced in Fed rate hike fears.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 37.66 points to 25437.38 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 8.35 points at 7791.75. The BSE Midcap index gained 0.14 percent but Smallcap declined 0.3 percent.

The market breadth remained weak as about 1235 shares declined against 961 advancing shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

SpiceJet, the most active stock, crashed nearly 7 percent after fourth quarter earnings. Profit increased 3-fold year-on-year to Rs 73 crore during the quarter, largely led by one-time gain of Rs 63.7 crore. Its other income halved to Rs 40.3 crore from Rs 87.1 crore, though revenue increased 86.5 percent to Rs 1,475 crore in same period. Even it had one-time expenses of Rs 173 crore on stabilising & improving fleet reliability.
 
Lupin lost 7 percent as brokerages are worried about earnings due to resolution to Goa plant and higher R&D spend despite strong fourth quarter results. The company reduced its sales guidance for FY18 to USD 3.5 billion from USD 5 billion.

11:45 am Boardroom: Parag Shah, Managing Director, Man Infraconstruction said the projects in the pipeline will start booking revenues from the second and third quarter of FY17.

The company currently has Rs 150 crore cash on books.

The profits in Q4 of the last fiscal year were actually higher at Rs 7 crore but we had to pay the pending CSR (corporate social responsibility) donation of Rs 2 crore and make provisions for Rs 4 crore, said Shah. However, there are no pending bad debts on the book now, he said.

The consolidated year-on-year FY16 revenues stood at Rs 277 crore versus Rs 275 crore. YoY EBITDA came in at Rs 36 crore versus Rs 25 crore and margins were at 15.9 percent as against 9 percent.

11:30 am Exclusive: Piramal Enterprises is in the process of setting up a fund to invest in distressed assets and it will be with the backing of a marquee global partner.

According to CNBC-TV18 sources reports that the company is looking to tie up with TPG Capital for a stressed asset fund.

In this deal, both of the companies together will aim at launching a USD 1 billion fund to invest in debt-laden companies and ease the non-performing asset (NPA) in the banking space. The venture together will hire new management to run the fund.

The market is completely with no immediate triggers seen today. The Sensex is up 10.92 points at 25410.64 and the Nifty is down 2.35 points at 7781.05. About 815 shares have advanced, 1035 shares declined, and 122 shares are unchanged.

Adani Ports, NTPC, HDFC, Tata Motors and GAIL are top gainers while Lupin, ICICI Bank, Cipla, Bharti and Maruti are losers in the Sensex.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) tightened participatory notes (P-Notes) norms by imposing limits on the transfer of p-notes and seeking more disclosure.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Samir Arora, founder and fund manager of Helios Capital Management, said this won't be a genuine issue for regular investors because foreign institutional investors (FII) using P-Notes meet the norms.

Now new P-Notes will be issued only after FII standards are complied with, he said. Further, Arora said money that leaves India is unlikely to come back soon.

10.58 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate. The Sensex rose 31.03 points to 25430.75 and the Nifty advanced 3.60 points to 7787. The market breadth was weak as about 1123 shares declined against 844 advancing shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Adani Ports (2.0 percent), ONGC (1.5 percent), NTPC (1.1 percent) and HDFC (1.1 percent) were the top gainers in Nifty. Among the losers were TCS (-0.4 percent), Hero Motocorp (-0.3 percent), Axis Bank (-0.2 percent) and Sun Pharma (-0.1 percent).

In sectoral performance as reflected by the respective indices, FMCG (1.0 percent), consumer durables (0.4 percent), power (0.2 percent) and auto (0.2 percent) gained, while IT (-1.0 percent), healthcare (-0.3 percent) and metals (-0.1 percent) were under pressure.

10:40 am Earnings Estimates: Britannia   is expected to increase its net profit in January-March quarter by 30 percent at Rs 217 crore in January-March quarter from Rs 167 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, the company's revenue may grow 10 percent at Rs 2273 crore against Rs 2064 crore in year-ago period.

During the quarter, EBITDA is seen up 27 percent at Rs 253 crore against Rs 321 crore while EBITDA margins may stand at 14.1 percent versus 12.3 percent year-on-year.

Analysts polled by CNBC-TV18 feel Britannia's steady revenues aided by volumes and price hikes.

10:20 am FII View: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday tightened participatory notes (P-Notes) norms by imposing limits on the transfer of p-notes and seeking more disclosure.

Samir Arora of Helios Capital Management said this won't be a genuine issue for regular investors because foreign institutional investors (FII) using P-Notes meet the norms.

Now new P-Notes will be issued only after FII standards are complied with, he said.

Further, Arora said money that leaves India is unlikely to come back soon.

10:00 am Market Check: The market saw marginal gains after yesterday's sell-off, supported by index heavyweights Infosys, ITC and HDFC group stocks.

The Sensex rose 52.62 points to 25452.34 and the Nifty advanced 11.80 points to 7795.20. The BSE Smallcap index underperformed benchmark, falling 0.25 percent.

HDFC, Infosys, ITC, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors and L&T were leading positive contributors to Sensex, up 0.5-1 percent while ICICI Bank and Cipla declined more than 1 percent.

Lupin topped selling list on Sensex, falling more than 7 percent after brokerages turned cautious on stock. CLSA says it sees uncertainty beyond 1HFY17 and Goa resolution/site transfers is key to FY18 earnings growth.

9:55 am Market check: The market is very volatile as the Sensex is up 51.65 points or 0.2 percent at 25451.37, and the Nifty up 11.25 points or 0.1 percent at 7794.65. About 826 shares have advanced, 712 shares declined, and 113 shares are unchanged.

Lupin is down 6 percent while Cipla and Bharti fall 1 percent.

9:45 am International markets: Geoffrey Dennis of UBS believes the Fed is likely to hike only by September and then later on in December --  two hikes by the end of this year. He is not surprised that the Fed has bought back the rate hike discussion on the table.

According to him, Fed hiking rates could have some impact on FII inflows into EMs because the dollar would strengthen but may not be too negative. Already there have been net outflows out of the EMs in the last 3-4 weeks, says Dennis but the impact of the Fed decision still remains to be seen.

On the tightening of P-Note rules in India, he says it could dampen the FII sentiment in the short-term but the increasing transparency could be good in the long-term.

9:30 am Market check: The market has slipped into red quickly. The Sensex is down 5.59 points at 25394.13 and the Nifty is down 5.30 points at 7778.10. About 608 shares have advanced, 603 shares declined, and 80 shares are unchanged. Lupin is down 5 percent while Bharti Airtel, Maruti, ICICI Bank and HUL are losers in the Sensex.

The market has opened marginally higher and the Nifty held 7800 briefly. The Sensex is up 35.74 points or 0.1 percent at 25435.46, and the Nifty up 9.15 points or 0.1 percent at 7792.55. About 437 shares have advanced, 229 shares declined, and 40 shares are unchanged. SEBI has tightend P-Notes for more transparency in compliance with norms and check misuse of P-Notes.

Sun Pharma, ONGC, ITC, BHEL and Axis Bank are top gainers while Lupin, Maruti, Infosys and Hero MotoCorp are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened marginally lower by 7 paise at 67.43 per dollar against previous close of 67.36.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank said, "The market continues to digest hawkish Fed Minutes with dollar gaining against all major and EM currencies and dollar Index touching 95.50."

The US dollar rose slightly against the euro and swiss franc as the hawkish tilt from the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting forced investors to re-examine their expectations for the timing of the next rate hike, but the greenback slipped against the safe-haven yen on risk aversion.

Asia markets wavered between positive and negative on Friday, in a muted reaction to a fresh stream of hawkish commentary from US Federal Reserve officials. Fed officials continued to send clear signals to the market on Thursday that a June interest rate hike could be on the cards.