Nifty ends below 8600 on F&O expiry day; Sensex skids 224 points

3:30 pm Market closing: The market ended lower on F&O expiry day. The Nifty was down 58.10 points or 0.7 percent at 8592.20 while the Sensex slipped down 224.03 points or 0.8 percent at 27835.91

BHEL, GAIL, ITC, Dr Reddy's Labs and Lupin were top gainers in the Sensex while Adani Ports, Wipro, Tata Steel, Infosys and SBI were losers in the Sensex.

3:00 pm Market outlook: Raamdeo Agrawal said although globally there is gloom, India presents an interesting option. "We are just USD 2 trillion economy. We have a long way to go,'' he said. Talking about domestic investors, he said that there is a concern that the market is at a high level.

Stocks are expensive, he said, adding that he doesn't see any crash happening right now. People are in a mood to redeem.

He also spoke about State Bank of India, calling it a rock. As far as secular growth stories are concerned, this is a testing time for good franchies,'' he said.  He won't be selling his well-earning franchises for something that may turn good.

2:30 am Market skids: The Nifty breached 8600 briefly. The Nifty is down 42.30 points or 0.5 percent at 8608 while the Sensex is down 151.90 points or 0.5 percent at 27908.04.

The market has started to skid as F&O expiry is approaching. The Sensex is down 143.72 points or 0.5 percent at 27916.22 and the Nifty is down 38.90 points or 0.4 percent at 8611.40. About 1182 shares have advanced, 1419 shares declined, and 187 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, GAIL, ITC, Dr Reddy's and Axis Bank are top gainers. Adani Ports, Wipro, Tata Steel, Infosys and TCS are losers in the Sensex.

Indian economy is expected to clock 7.9 percent growth in the current fiscal driven by better monsoon, government pay hike, key reforms and FDI inflows, Goldman Sachs said today.

The global financial services major said the GDP is expected to improve gradually and for the April-June quarter it may slow a tad to 7.8 percent, in part due to unfavorable base. It had grown at 7.9 percent in the previous quarter.

"For the fiscal year 2016-17, we forecast real GDP to grow by 7.9 percent year-on-year, higher than consensus expectations of 7.5 percent and up from 7.6 percent in FY16," Goldman Sachs said in a research note.

1:55 pm Pharma: Strides Shasun said it has received an approval from the US health regulator for Polyethylene Elycol 3350 used for treating constipation.

In a BSE filing, Strides Shasun said: "It has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Polyethylene Glycol 3350, powder for solution 17 grams/capful and 17 grams/packet (OTC)".

1:35 pm Market update: The Sensex is down 89.85 points or 0.32 percent at 27970.09, and the Nifty down 18.15 points or 0.21 percent at 8632.15.

About 1241 shares have advanced, 1316 shares declined, and 175 shares are unchanged.

The market is absolutely flat with Sensex is up 11.44 points at 28071.38, and the Nifty is 8.65 points at 8658.95. About 1283 shares have advanced, 1238 shares declined, and 191 shares are unchanged.

ITC, BHEL, Cipla, Axis Bank and Dr Reddy's Labs are top gainers while Adani Ports, Wipro, Infosys, NTPC and Tata Steel are top losers in the Sensex.
 Even as many analysts believe that the Indian markets are among the most attractive in the world, thanks to the country's strong growth potential, Sanjay Mookim, India Equity Strategist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, is more circumspect.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Mookim said the share rally recently seen was mostly driven by liquidity sloshing around globally and that with valuations becoming pricey, investors should adopt a more cautious tone.

"We haven't distinguished ourselves by way of earnings," he said, even as he expects profits to rise about 15 percent this fiscal. The brokerage has a Sensex target of 26,000, predicated on a price-to-earnings multiple of 15.5 times.

12:30 pm RBI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a clarification with respect to norms of its Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A), which allows bankers to restructure debt of companies in default. Sources have CNBC-TV18 that banks will now be allowed to waive accrued penal interest according to their own policy. This interest need not necessarily include aggregate bank exposure. Penal interest is the higher interest rate charged by banks once an account becomes a non-performing asset. These norms will be applicable to all entities excluding loans to projects that are still under implementation. In an earlier notification, RBI had said that S4A norms will be applicable on entities having Rs 500 crore plus debt.

The market is volatile as the Sensex is up 50.15 points or 0.2 percent at 28110.09 and the Nifty is up 18.00 points or 0.2 percent at 8668.30. About 1415 shares have advanced, 960 shares declined, and 171 shares are unchanged.

ITC, Axis Bank, Cipla, BHEL and Dr Reddy's Labs are top gainers while Adani Ports, Wipro, Infosys, TCS and NTPC are losers in the Sensex. Welspun, Jubilant Life are most active shares.

Oil prices edged down again in Asiana day after suffering hefty losses in response to data showing a surprise jump in US stockpiles, while hopes for a deal to limit output were dealt a blow.

The US energy department said that inventories soared 2.5 million barrels last week, confounding forecasts for a fall and fanning worries about a global supply glut.

11:30 pm Macro economy: While there are 10 more days to go before Urjit Patel is passed on the baton at Reserve Bank of India by Raghuram Rajan, the government is building a case in favour of a rate cut arguing the cost of credit in the country is very high.

At an event a few days ago, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Nitin Gadkari said cost of funding was very high in India and that he hoped for a 2 percent rate from the Reserve Bank, a call that was re-iterated today by Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Leading economists, however, believe this is just wishful thinking as the Ministry of Finance and RBI have already agreed on an inflation target and unless inflation comes off, there is no room for a rate cut. In an interview to CNBC-TV18 Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist of CARE Ratings said certain industries are hopeful of a rate cut as investment is facilitated with lower rates. "However, keeping current inflation rate in sight it seems unlikely RBI will deviate from its target," he said.

The market is still sluggish as the Sensex is up 68.99 points or 0.2 percent at 28128.93. The Nifty is up 23.90 points or 0.3 percent at 8674.20. About 1384 shares have advanced, 816 shares declined, and 156 shares are unchanged.

ITC, Cipla, Axis Bank, BHEL and Dr Reddy's Labs are gainers in the Sensex while Adani Ports, Wipro, Infosys, TCS and NTPC are losers in the Sensex.

Crude prices dipped on Thursday as brimming US and Asian fuel inventories returned investor attention to a large global supply overhang, cutting short a price-rally and restricting Brent crude futures to below the USD 50 a barrel mark.

Traders said price falls this week had truncated a rally that pushed crude up by more than 20 percent earlier in August on talk of a potential deal by oil producers to freeze output in an effort to rein in oversupply.

Hopes of a deal were dampened by record output from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and little prospect of voluntary restrictions.

10:55 am Buzzing: Monsanto has withdrawn an application seeking approval for its next generation of genetically modified cotton seeds in India, a major escalation in a long-running dispute between New Delhi and the world's biggest seed maker.
A letter sent by Monsanto's local partner in India, the conglomerate's biggest market outside the Americas, strongly objects to a government proposal that would force Monsanto to share its technology with local seed companies.

The company is also at loggerheads with India over how much it can charge for its genetically modified cotton seeds, costing it tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue every year.

10:30 am Cement price hike: Cement demand seems to be rising in southern states where the cement has seen a hike in price by 12-15 percent per bag. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, cement prices have risen by Rs 30-40 per bag in last two days. This is clear indicator of rise in demand for cement in these regions. Brokerage houses are anticipating rise in demand for the cement sector in coming months on back of infrastructure push by the government and good monsoon. While prices have increased, its sustainability will be closely watched. Stocks that will come in focus post this include Sagar Cement , NCL Industries , Rain Industries and KCP .

The market is rangebound but the Nifty is still above 8650. The 50-share index is up 23.90 points or 0.3 percent at 8674.20 and the Sensex is up 65.20 points or 0.2 percent at 28125.14. About 1214 shares have advanced, 612 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged.

ITC, Cipla, BHEL, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's are top gainers while Adani Ports, Wipro, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and TCS are losers in the Sensex.

Meanwhile, there is some good news for aviation companies in India. Driven by a strong passenger traffic growth, India is poised to become one of the largest aviation markets in the world, according to a global body of airports. The Airports Council International (ACI) said that major commercial airports in China, India and Korea remained the major driving forces for the robust air passenger growth in the Asia-Pacific region. "India is also poised to be one of the largest aviation markets in the world in the years to come.

9:55 am Exclusive: In a big boost to infrastructure companies, NITI Aayog is preparing a Cabinet note for infra related ministries - road transport, urban development, petroleum - to ease arbitration norms and release stalled payments of infra companies.

This comes amid reports that about Rs 1.65 lakh crore of banks' Rs 3.65 lakh crore exposure to the construction sector is stressed.

CNBC-TV18 learns that the new arbitration law note will address norms on disputes that lead to delay in project payments. Project delays are largely due to reasons like environment clearance and land acquisition.

9:45 am Downgrade: Deutsche Bank has downgraded Axis Bank to hold but did not change target at Rs 590 per share. The brokerage firm warns that the stock lacks near-term triggers though it remains a structurally strong bank considering a weak transitionary phase coupled with somewhat premium valuations. The stock is up 51 percent in last six months outperforming Sensex (up 22 percent) and Bankex (up 42 percent).

Deutsche Bank is cautious that its stress is likely to remain elevated resulting in higher credit costs and expects recovery only in FY19. It expects slippages to rise to 3 percent in FY17 and will remain elevated in FY18 as well.

"Credit costs may rise to170 basis points (bps)/140bps in FY17/FY18 from an average of 90 bps over last five years," it says.

9:30 am FII view: Citi continues to expect sluggish global growth in 2016 and 2017 with relatively steady growth in advanced economies.

It says pickup in emerging market growth weak real investment particularly in emerging markets, has been among the reasons why global activity has been weak. Elevated global uncertainty and threats to globalisation are among the drivers of sluggish real investment.

''The upcoming US Presidential election is one - but not the only - contributor to elevated global uncertainty. Our base case is for a Clinton victory and continuity in policy. But there are major risks. On the upside, significant fiscal stimulus may follow, boosting both US and global growth. However, the election outcome (particularly a Trump win) could prolong and exacerbate uncertainties and trigger a slowdown in US and global growth,'' it says.

The market has opened in green on August Futures and Options expiry day. The Sensex is up 74.49 points or 0.3 percebt at 28134.43 and the Nifty is up 25.45 points or 0.3 percent at 8675.75. About 562 shares have advanced, 165 shares declined, and 26 shares are unchanged.

Cipla, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, Maruti and TCS are top gainers while Wipro, Infosys, BHEL, NTPC and HDFC are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 67.09 per dollar versus previous close of 67.11.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "Global currency markets are cautious and rangebound ahead of Yellen's Jackson Hole speech as it could give clues on US Fed rate hike."

Dollar held steady led by uncertainty ahead of a meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole on Friday.

Among global peers, Asian stocks slipped, taking their cue from an overnight drop on Wall Street, while the dollar marked time ahead of Friday's speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen at the global central bankers' meeting. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.3 percent. Australian stocks fell 0.1 percent, South Korea's Kospi shed 0.2 percent and Japan's Nikkei nudged down 0.3 percent.

Wall Street retreated, pulled lower by weakness in the materials and healthcare sectors, with the Dow losing 0.4 percent and S&P 500 falling 0.5 percent.

Recent hawkish comments from some Fed officials, including Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, have raised expectations that Yellen might signal a hike in September.

Crude dropped to a one-week low after a government report showed that US crude inventories unexpectedly rose last week. Meanwhile Iran's oil ministry said the country hasn't yet decided whether to join informal OPEC talks next month in Algiers. Gold prices slipped to a 4-week low as investors seemed to move from the sidelines ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen this weekend.