Nifty ends below 8700, Sensex in red; HUL, TCS, HDFC Bank gain

3:30 pm Market closing: The market has ended lower. The Sensex was down 52.75 points or 0.2 percent at 28077.09, and the Nifty slipped 8 points at 8691.40. About 1450 shares have advanced, 1326 shares declined, and 248 shares are unchanged.

Dr Reddy's, HUL, TCS, HDFC Bank and GAIL were top gainers while Axis Bank, Reliance , Cipla, HDFC and Asian Paints were losers in the Sensex.

2:59 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate with the Sensex falling 67.25 points to 28062.59 and the Nifty down 11.25 points at 8688.15.

2:50 pm Steel output: India's steel production rose by almost 6 percent to 71.09 million tonnes (MT) in the first nine months of this year, even as the global output contracted by 0.5 percent to about 1.19 billion tonne.

According to the latest data by World Steel Association (World Steel), Asia was the only region where production of the metal registered an upward trend.

"In the first nine months of 2016, Asia produced 825.9 MT of crude steel, an increase of 0.6 percent over the first three quarters of 2015," it said in a statement.

The EU produced 121.3 MT of crude steel during the first nine months of 2016, down by 4.8 percent year-on-year, while output in North America's stood at 83.9 MT, a decrease of 1.4 percent over the same period.

2:35 pm Essar Ports performance: Essar Ports (EPL) today said its cargo handling grew by 35 percent to 18.27 million tonnes (MT) in the July-September quarter this fiscal from 13.55 MT in the year-ago period.

"Third-party cargo handling has risen by 106 percent to 1.03 MT in July-September compared to 0.5 MT in the same period a year-ago. Over the quarter, the various terminals of the company handled 209 ships as against 179 ships in the corresponding period last year," EPL said in a statement.

The robust performance in the quarter under review has been driven by significant operational improvements and better cargo support from anchor customers, it added.

2:20 pm Earnings: SBBJ has posted a loss of Rs 210 crore in July-September quarter against profit of Rs 180 crore in year-ago period. Higher provisions and lower net interest income impacted profitability but other income and tax write-back limited losses.

Net interest income during the quarter declined 5.1 percent to Rs 776.6 crore while treasury gains lifted non-interest income (other income) 37 percent to Rs 287.7 crore YoY. Operating profit grew by 2.5 percent to Rs 523.4 crore on yearly basis.

Asset quality deteriorated further in Q2 with gross non-performing assets (NPA) as as percentage of gross advances climbing 430 basis points QoQ to 10.5 percent and net NPA rising 352 bps to 7.17 percent.

In absolute terms, gross NPA shot up 67 percent to Rs 7,669.2 crore and net NPA 91.6 percent to Rs 5,032.8 crore compared with preceding quarter.

2:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmark indices remained rangebound with the Sensex hovering around 28000 level. Oil & gas, banks and infra stocks were under pressure but HDFC Bank, ITC and Infosys limited losses.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 123.59 points at 28006.25 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 27.90 points to 8671.50.

Force Motors, SpiceJet, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Endurance Technologies, NCC, HCL Technologies and Biocon were the most active shares on exchanges.

IDBI Bank was the biggest midcap gainer, up 3.12 percent followed by Tata Communications, SJVN, Biocon and Divis Labs whereas Torrent Pharma, Titan Company, MphasiS, LIC Housing Finance and Oriental Bank fell 2 percent each.

1:45 pm Result poll: Wipro is likely to see dollar revenue at USD 1923.5 million in July-September down 0.4 percent from USD 1930.8 million in last quarter. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, in rupee terms Q2 revenue may also slip 1.5 percent at Rs 12910 crore against Rs 13109 crore in quarter-ago period. In constant currency terms, growth is seen at 0.5-0.7 percent, which is within company's guided band of 0-1 percent at USD 1931 million-USD 1950 million. Cross currency headwind may to be 100-120 basis points. During the period, EBITDA may stand at Rs 2200 crore compared to Rs 2327 crore (QoQ). In percentage, EBITDA may come in at Rs 17.04 percent against 17.75 percent on sequential basis. Margins may fall 70 bps due to two month impact of wage hikes while Q3 onwards may see margin improvement.

The market is still struggling under selling pressure. The Sensex is down 121.60 points or 0.4 percent at 28008.24 and the Nifty is down 30.50 points or 0.3 percent at 8668.90. About 1350 shares have advanced, 1237 shares declined, and 228 shares are unchanged.

Dr Reddy's Labs, HUL, Wipro, TCS and HDFC Bank are top gainers while Cipla, Reliance, Axis Bank, HDFC and Asian Paints are losers in the Sensex.

European stocks opened higher on Friday after the European Central Bank (ECB) quashed talk regarding its future monetary policy, sending the euro to its lowest point since March and dampening risk appetite.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.17 percent.

The dollar index was a beneficiary of the euro's slide which occurred in reaction to ECB President Mario Draghi's refusal to given any legs to recent speculation policymakers may opt to begin tapering of the bank's 1.7 trillion-euro asset purchase program in the near-term.

Draghi made clear that all decisions would be deferred to the ECB's December 8 meeting.

12:59 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices continued to see selling pressure. The Sensex was down 118.56 points at 28011.28 and the Nifty down 29.50 points at 8669.90.

12:50 pm Outlook: Corporate earnings may not turn around this year, says S Naren, Chief Information Officer of ICICI Prudential AMC. He believes earnings will pick up gradually over the next two years. Earnings will accelerate once we have a private capex cycle, he says.

He expects a private capex cycle by 2018. His oulook for the market is positive for the next two years.

12:40 pm Europe opens: European stocks opened higher after the European Central Bank (ECB) quashed talk regarding its future monetary policy, sending the euro to its lowest point since March and dampening risk appetite.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.17 percent.

The dollar index was a beneficiary of the euro's slide which occurred in reaction to ECB President Mario Draghi's refusal to given any legs to recent speculation policymakers may opt to begin tapering of the bank's 1.7 trillion-euro asset purchase program in the near-term.

Draghi made clear that all decisions would be deferred to the ECB's December 8 meeting.

12:20 pm Boardroom: A hike in wages is going to impact HCL Tech's FY17 third quarter EBITDA margins by 70 basis points and the fourth quarter by 10 basis points, says C Vijayakumar, President and Chief Executive Officer, HCL Tech. The second quarter margins declined 80 bps due to wage hike.

Vijayajumar is concerned about the clients' IT spending. He says the spending has remained static or has only marginally improved.

The IT giant will be the industry leader in organic growth once it acquires the Butler America Aerospace. The acquisition will be completed by December 31, 2016.

12:00 pm Market Check
Benchmark indices continued to fall in noon trade with the Nifty struggling below 8700 level from early trade, following weakness in Asia.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 136.81 points at 27993.03 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 35.25 points to 8664.15.

Reliance Industries, HDFC, Axis Bank and Cipla drove the market lower, which declined 1.5-3 percent.

Markets in Asia were lower across the board, while traders digested China's latest home prices data and as a typhoon shut down the Hong Kong market and caused casualties and destruction in the Philippines and an earthquake struck Japan.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 edged lower, falling 0.30 percent, after reports a magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck Western Japan. The yen, considered a safe haven, also climbed after the reports.

Oil prices were stable, weighed down by a stronger dollar but supported by signs fuel markets are balancing after two years of oversupply.

11:45 am Exclusive: RBI could be mulling a few tweaks to the S4A of Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets, says CNBC-TV18 quoting sources.

Banks have requested the regulator to consider their plea for a more watered-down version of the scheme which splits a loan into sustainable and unsustainable parts.

The sceheme is meant for restructuring huge loans where the project is up and running.  However, the lenders now say they want the S4A to be applicable for non-project loans as well.

Banks say a lower provision requirement is needed for the unsustainable portion of debt.

11:30 am OFS: State-owned NBCC's share sale today garnered 1.54 times subscription from institutional buyers, who put in bids totalling more than Rs 2,700 crore.

The two-day share sale, wherein the government is offloading 15 percent of its equity, attracted bids for over 11.08 crore shares as against 7.20 crore offered to institutional investors on the first day, according to the stock exchange data.

Most of the bids came at Rs 246.73 per share, slightly higher than the floor or minimum bid price of Rs 246.50. At this price, subscription of over 11.08 crore shares totalled over Rs 2,700 crore.

The offer for sale (OFS) will open tomorrow for retail subscribers.

The market is still under pressure with the Sensex is down 137.85 points or 0.5 percent at 27991.99. The Nifty is down 37.95 points or 0.4 percent at 8661.45. About 1137 shares have advanced, 1198 shares declined, and 185 shares are unchanged.

Dr Reddy's Labs, GAIL, Bajaj Auto, ITC and TCS are top gainers while Cipla, Axis Bank, Reliance, HDFC and ONGC are losers in the Sensex.

Oil prices were stable, weighed down by a stronger dollar but supported by signs fuel markets are balancing after two years of oversupply. The dollar rose to its highest level since March against a basket of other leading currencies on Thursday, potentially crimping demand as fuel becomes more expensive for countries using other currencies.

Despite the falls, overall sentiment in oil markets was confident as financial investors are still keen to pour more money into crude futures, and there are also mounting signs of a tightening physical oil market.

10:57 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained under pressure with the Sensex falling 136.78 points to 27993.06 and the Nifty declining 35.25 points to 8664.15.

10:50 am Boardroom: Media firm DB Corp reported 55.9 percent increase YoY in consolidated net profit at Rs 88.51 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2016.

With good monsoon and positive market response the company expects the momentum to continue over the next six months, said Girish Agarwaal, Director, DB Corp.

DB Corp's other expenses reduced by 14 percent in the second quarter on account of gains made from radio business and from provisions taken in the previous years, Agarwaal added.

10:35 am Acquisition: IT services major HCL Technologies today said today it will acquire Butler America Aerospace for USD 85 million in cash, a move aimed at strengthening its position in the aerospace and defence engineering services space.

Butler Aerospace provides engineering, design services and aftermarket engineering services to US aerospace and defence customers, providing them services in areas of mechanical and structural design, electrical design, tool design and aftermarket engineering services.

"The consideration for the proposed transaction is USD 85 million to be paid in cash. The proposed acquisition will exclude the staffing business of Butler America Inc," the country's fourth largest IT company said in a statement.

Butler America Aerospace had revenues of USD 85.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. The transaction, when consummated, is likely to be EPS accretive, it added.

10:20 am Earnings estimates: Cement maker ACC's third quarter (July-September) profit is seen rising 46 percent at Rs 168 crore due to better operational performance and lower depreciation expenses, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Total income from operations fell 5 percent to Rs 2,639 crore on yearly basis due to weak volumes and weak realisations.

ACC, which has Pan-India presence, may see lower volumes due to monsoon and a decline in market share. Cement sales Volumes may fall 3.6 percent at 5.4 million tonnes against 5.61 million tonnes YoY.

Operating profit during the quarter is seen rising 12 percent to Rs 350 crore and margin may expand 210 basis points to 13.3 percent YoY due to low base.

10:00 am Market Check
Equity benchmarks wiped out its previous day's gains, with the Sensex falling over 100 points on profit booking.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 133.65 points at 27996.19 and the Nifty fell 35 points to 8664.40.

Overall the market has been in a range of 8500-8800 as investors awaited corporate earnings, US elections and Federal Reserve meeting.

Reliance Industries, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, SBI and ONGC were down 1-2 percent whereas GAIL was the biggest gainer on Sensex, up 1.7 percent followed by TCS, ITC, HDFC Bank and Dr Reddy's Labs with marginal gains.

Biocon gained 3.6 percent and Nucleus Software surged 16 percent after quarterly earnings.

ACC, Cairn, Wipro, Equitas Holdings, Indiabulls Housing, Mindtree, Oberoi Realty, GHCL, Atul, V-guard, Zee learn, Tata Sponge, SBBJ, SKF India, Rane Engine, Zuari Agro and Unichem Labs will be in focus ahead of quarterly earnings today.

9:55 am Market outlook: Mutual Fund said that issues in the IT sector won't go away soon. ''Overall the sector is under pressure; growth and pricing are under pressure. We believe structural issues need to be addressed.'' Most IT companies are sitting on large cash reserves which is not helping their return ratios, he said. He said it will take some more time for banks to clean up their balance sheets. His positions are in stocks where the earnings growth is higher than in the market. The headline numbers as reflected in Sensex or Nifty won't give a complete picture, according to Upadhyaya.

9:45 am Result poll: Wipro is likely to see dollar revenue at USD 1923.5 million in July-September down 0.4 percent from USD 1930.8 million in last quarter. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, in rupee terms Q2 revenue may also slip 1.5 percent at Rs 12910 crore against Rs 13109 crore in quarter-ago period. In constant currency terms, growth is seen at 0.5-0.7 percent, which is within company's guided band of 0-1 percent at USD 1931 million-USD 1950 million. Cross currency headwind may to be 100-120 basis points. During the period, EBITDA may stand at Rs 2200 crore compared to Rs 2327 crore (QoQ). In percentage, EBITDA may come in at Rs 17.04 percent against 17.75 percent on sequential basis. Margins may fall 70 bps due to two month impact of wage hikes while Q3 onwards may see margin improvement.

9:30 am FII view: Chris Wood of CLSA says almost everyone is now assuming a Hillary Clinton victory with the debate more focused on what the fallout from the assumed disintegration of Donald Trump's high beta candidacy will mean for the ability of the Republicans to maintain control of the Senate and indeed the House of Representatives.

Such a loss of Republican control is certainly a prospect that cannot be dismissed out of hand given that committed Trump supporters may well opt not to vote for Republican Congressional candidates who have chosen not to back the Republican nominee, he feels.

Such a Democratic landslide would in Greed & Fear's view not be liked by the stock market given the likely increase in taxation and regulation it would entail, says Wood.

The market has started tepid on Friday. The Sensex is down 6.99 points at 28122.85 and the Nifty is up 9.20 points or 0.1 percent at 8708.60. About 397 shares have advanced, 115 shares declined, and 35 shares are unchanged.

Dr Reddy's Labs, Lupin, Bajaj Auto, TCS and Hero MotoCorp are top gainers. HCL Tech is up 3 percent after announcing its better-than-expected Q2 results.

ICICI, Axis Bank, HDFC, SBI and ONGC are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee has opened at 66.89 per dollar, down 8 paise compared with 66.81 a dollar in previous session. The dollar was boosted by a fall in the euro after the European Central Bank shot down talk it was contemplating tapering its monetary easing - sending the euro lower.

Ashutosh Raina, HDFC Bank says the US dollar continues to gain against most of its peers with the Dollar Index settling above 98 level. The USD/INR currency pair also came off from recent highs, in-line with other peer currencies.

The ECB left its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged but kept the door open to more stimulus in December, with ECB President Mario Draghi dousing recent market speculation that the central bank may begin tapering its 1.7 trillion euro asset-buying programme.

Asian stocks slipped with a fall in crude oil prices dampening investor risk sentiment. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2 percent.South Korea's Kospi lost 0.4 percent and Australian stocks shed 0.3 percent.

Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend and rose 0.2 percent , brushing a six-month high, as the yen weakened against the dollar.

US stocks ended a choppy session on Thursday slightly lower as investors digested the latest round of earnings, with a sharp drop in telecoms offset by gains in healthcare.

Crude oil fell more than 2 percent, wiping out the previous day's gains on profit-taking and after a run-up in the dollar, which weighed on prices of commodities denominated in the greenback.

Gold futures settled lower after posting gains over the past three sessions, with prices under pressure as the US dollar strengthened against the British pound in the wake of the ECB's rate decision.