Nifty holds 8000 ahead of F&O expiry; infra, banks drag

The 50-share NSE Nifty saw consolidation on Wednesday ahead of expiry for September derivative contracts (on Thursday) though it continued fall for the second consecutive session. Supreme Court's verdict on coal scam dragged the index as much as 67.5 points to hit an intraday low of 7950.05, but in late trade it showed smart recovery to manage to close above the 8000 level, down 15.15 points at 8002.40.

The 30-share BSE Sensex shed as much as 215.7 points intraday, before closing at 26744.69, down 31 points. Meanwhile, the broader markets continued to see huge selling pressure with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices falling 1.2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

The ongoing correction is a healthy sign and the market needs to consolidate before resuming the bull run, said Nirmal Jain, Chairman, IIFL.

Jain feels the markets have been looking for reasons to correct and sees sharp corrections in midcaps and smallcaps. He said that one should be prepared for a 5-10 percent downside in the broader markets and 10-15 percent in midcaps.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court announced verdict on coal block allocation case. It cancelled 214 coal blocks, and exempted four blocks including allocations to Sasan UMPP and NTPC and SAIL.

The apex court gave six months time for government to make alternate arrangements. Attorney General said Rs 295 per tonne penalty was imposed on all cancelled block holders.

Jindal Steel and Power was the top loser in the Nifty, down 10 percent post coal verdict. JSPL's penalty amounted to Rs 3,000 crore due to cancellation of coal blocks, said Rakesh Arora of Macquarie, adding the impact on Hindalco Industries will be minimal. The stock was down 0.5 percent.

Supreme Court added that the government is free to auction all cancelled blocks post March 2015, which may be beneficial to Coal India, the largest coal mining company. The stock was up 5 percent. Attorney General said Coal India will carry out mining activity till auctions held. Reliance Power too surged 5 percent post exemption for Sasan UMPP.

Shares of TCS, L&T, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto and BHEL were prominent losers, down 1-2.7 percent.

However, the buying in FMCG, healthcare, power and select technology stocks capped the downside. ITC, Infosys, HUL, ONGC, Cipla and Wipro gained 1-3 percent.

About 1019 shares advanced while 1946 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

03:30pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks recouped losses in late trade on support by FMCG, healthcare, power, mining and select technology stocks. The Sensex fell 31 points to 26744.69 (which had shed more than 200 points intraday), while the Nifty declined 15.15 points to 8002.40 ahead of September series expiry.

About 1031 shares have advanced, 1928 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged.

Jindal Steel and Power tanked 10 percent after Supreme Court's verdict on coal block allcoation cast. The apex court cancelled 214 coal blocks and four exempted. Exempted blocks include allocation to Sasan UMPP and allocations to NTPC and SAIL, SC said. Reliance Power was up 5 percent.

Supreme Court added that the government is free to auction all cancelled blocks post March 2015, which is a beneficial to Coal India, the largest coal mining company. The stock was up 5 percent. Attorney General said Coal India will carry out mining activity till auctions held.

L&T, SBI, TCS, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, BHEL and Hero Motocorp were down 1-3 percent while ITC, HUL, Infosys, ONGC, Cipla and Wipro gained 1-3 percent.

03:25pm Reaction on SC verdict on coal scam
SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said, "We believe that uncertainty is possibly the worst enemy of growth. We are glad that this is over with the SC verdict on coal blocks allocation. We now look forward for a quick plan of action for ensuring that coal supplies are not disrupted and thereafter a swift and transparent bidding process for reallocation."

03:20pm Crompton bags order
Avantha Group Company Crompton Greaves announced a USD 25 million new contract win for the design, construction and delivery of 16 mobile substations. The order was placed by the General Directorate for Transmission, Upper Euphrates Region, Ministry of Electricity in Iraq.

The key deliverables are engineering and supply of 16 mobile substations containing 31.5 MVA transformers delivered by CG's power transformer factory in Hungary, auxiliary/earthing units manufactured in the distribution transformer factory in Belgium and control and protection equipment provided by CG's automation arm ZIV.

03:15pm Titan shares in demand
Titan Company says the board of directors of the company has taken an in-principle decision to spin off the precision engineering division of the company as a wholly owned subsidiary, subject to applicable approvals.

The board also approved the invitation and acceptance of deposits from customers for jewelry purchases under the Companies (Acceptance of Deposits) Rules, 2014.

03:10pm Ranbaxy Labs in News
Ranbaxy Labs says shareholders approve merger of company with Sun Pharma.

03:05pm Jaiprakash Power Ventures tanks 6%
Jaiprakash Power Ventures said the company's the draft scheme of arrangement for hiving off Baspa-II and Karcham Wangtoo Hydro Electric Projects of the company to two separate wholly owned subsidiaries, for which approval of the exchanges was obtained on June 13, 2014, has been dropped.

03:00pm Godrej Properties in focus
Godrej Properties says it has sold over 250 apartments, with an area over 400,000 square feet. in just three weeks at the launch of its residential project, Godrej Aria, in Sector 79, Gurgaon.

Spread over 7 acres, Godrej Aria consists of 6 high rise towers and offers 386 apartments across approximately 650,000 sq. ft. of space, it adds.

02:55pm Losers
Shares ICICI Bank, Larsen and Toubro, HDFC, TCS, State Bank of India, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto, BHEL and Hindalco Industries fell 1-2.5 percent followed by Axis Bank, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel with over 0.5 percent loss.

02:50pm Leaders
IT, FMCG and healthcare (so called defensives) supported the market. ITC, Infosys, Wipro and Hindustan Unilever spiked 1.5-2.5 percent. Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs and Cipla rose 0.4-0.7 percent. HDFC Bank gained 0.9 percent.

Coal India topped the buying list, up 4.5 percent. Mahindra and Mahindra, NTPC, ONGC and Tata Power climbed 0.8-1.5 percent.

02:45pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks recovered. The Sensex fell 7.54 points to 26768.15 and the Nifty declined 12.70 points to 8004.85. About 868 shares have advanced, 2028 shares declined, and 75 shares are unchanged.

02:40pm SC exempts 4 coal blocks
Supreme Court said there is no reason to save these blocks, allocation was arbitrary, adding out of 218 blocks, only four are exempted.

Exempted blocks include allocation to Sasan UMPP and allocations to NTPC and SAIL, SC said.

The court asked holders of 46 operational blocks to file reply in 6 months. CBI enquiry into coal block allocation case will continue, SC said.

02:35pm Stocks Impact
Jindal Steel & Power crashed 10 percent, Usha Martin down 12 percent, Sarda Energy down 3 percent, Jayaswal Neco down 7 percent, Monnet Ispat down 6 percent, SAIL down 1.5 percent, GMR Infrastructure down 10 percent and Prakash Industries down 6 percent.

Reliance Power jumped 6.5 percent. Coal India surged 5 percent and NTPC was up 1.5 percent.

02:30pm Analyst on Verdict
Rakesh Arora of Macquarie told CNBC-TV18 that Jindal Steel and Power's penalty amounts to Rs 3,000 crore after Attorney General said Rs 295 per tonne penalty is imposed on all cancelled block holders.

However, he said the impact on Hindalco Industries will be minimal.

02:25pm SC Verdict
Supreme Court order will become operational after 6 months. Attorney General said companies will have to stop production on March 31, 2015. SC says six months period is given for government to make alternate arrangements.

Attorney General said Rs 295 per tonne penalty is imposed on all cancelled block holders. Supreme Court says the government is free to auction all cancelled blocks post March 2015, which is a beneficial to Coal India, the largest coal mining company.

Attorney General says Coal India will carry out mining activity till auctions held

02:20pm Gainers post Coal Verdict
Coal India surged 5 percent after the Supreme Court cancelled category-1 coal blocks except government-run non-joint venture operational blocks. NTPC gained over a percent.

02:15pm Market check: The Sensex is down 134.56 points at 26641.13 and the Nifty is down 47.20 points at 7970.35. About 788 shares have advanced, 2065 shares declined, and 75 shares are unchanged. Hindalco is down 4 percent and JSPL sinks 10 percent.

02:10pm Breaking: Coal Block Allocation: Supreme Court cancels category-1 coal blocks stating there is no reason to save these blocks and allocation are arbitrary. It adds of 218 blocks, only four are exempted.

The market is under pressure. The Sensex is down 45.52 points at 26730.17 and the Nifty down 17.75 points at 7999.80. About 838 shares have advanced, 1979 shares declined, and 82 shares are unchanged.

HUL, Coal India, Wipro, ITC and Hindalco are up 2 percent each. On the losing side are L&T, Tata Power, BHEL, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto.

Brent crude fell for a third day, slipping further below USD 97 a barrel as inflated supplies and weak economic data from Europe outweighed rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

The European economic data and a rise in oil exports from Iraq and Nigeria overshadowed a boost from China with Tuesday's release of a better-than-expected flash Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for September. US air strikes on militants in Syria also failed to lift prices.

Asian markets closed mixed while Europe is trading flat as concerns on global growth and unrest in Syria dominate sentiment.

01:40 pm Interview: Gautam Malhotra, MD, Amtek Auto and director Ahmednagar Forging says the company has shifted its focus to non-auto businesses like mining, oil and gas, and pumps and valves. "The key levers of our non-auto strategy are segments are going to be tractors, construction equipment and going forward it is going to be railways, oil and gas and the new entrants are going to be pumps, valves and mining segment," he adds On the auto front, he says, currently the slowdown in the commercial vehicle side seems to have been arrested.

The industry is seeing significant consolidation driven by supply chain as well as OEMs, which has helped growth in order book position, adds Malhotra. There is signifcant traction on the tractor side. Contribution from railways business too has improved. He expects a contributing to increase from 10 to 18 percent from railways.

01:20 pm Market Expert
Market Analyst Satish Ramanathan believes that global negativity –like the growth concerns in China, the slowdown in Europe and the widespread fall in commodity prices is a positive for the Indian market in the short-term, but is a medium-term negative.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Ramanathan says Indian investors should have a decent coverage of largecap companies as the animal spirit in the market isn't going away easily.

01:00pm Market Check
It is a choppy trade on Dalal Street today with the Nifty hovering around the 8,000 level. Capital goods, banking and financials, auto and steel stocks are under pressure while FMCG, select technology and healthcare stocks gained strength.

The Sensex slipped 39.92 points to 26735.77 and the Nifty fell 18.40 points to 7999.15 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap shed nearly 1.5 percent. About 813 shares have advanced, 1938 shares declined, and 67 shares are unchanged.

Asian markets closed mixed while European markets are trading flat as concerns on global growth and unrest in Syria dominate sentiment while commodities continued to be in focus; copper continued to trade at 3-month lows and Brent crude is trading below USD 97 per barrel.

JSPL and Hindalco are key stocks in focus as the Supreme Court will announce its verdict in the coal block allocation case later today; Both stocks bounce back from session lows, up 3 percent each.

Educomp Solutions rose over 3 percent on reports that Birla, Varkey are eyeing Educomp schools and that the acquisition is in early stages. Reports suggest that Educomp may attract about USD 250 million valuation for its 50 schools.

12:59pm Interview
Gautam Malhotra, MD, Amtek Auto and director Ahmednagar Forging says the company has shifted its focus to non-auto businesses like mining, oil and gas, and pumps and valves.

"The key levers of our non-auto strategy are segments are going to be tractors, construction equipment and going forward it is going to be railways, oil and gas and the new entrants are going to be pumps, valves and mining segment," he adds.

On the auto front, he says, currently the slowdown in the commercial vehicle side seems to have been arrested. The industry is seeing significant consolidation driven by supply chain as well as OEMs, which has helped growth in order book position, adds Malhotra.

There is signifcant traction on the tractor side. Contribution from railways business too has improved. He expects a contributing to increase from 10 to 18 percent from railways.

Malhotra expects a double-digit growth for the group in the next fiscal.

12:40pm Skipper locked at 5% upper circuit
Skipper Limited, which is amongst India's largest manufacturers of EHV Transmission Towers, has commenced the engineering activities for supplies to two prestigious 500 KV Transmission projects in the high - growth Latin American regions of Peru and Chile.

Last year, Skipper entered into a 3-year Alliance agreement with one of South America's leading transmission operators for exclusive supply rights to all their current and future power transmission projects. The value of the awarded contracts under the agreement so far is approximately 85 million USD, says the company in its filing.

12:20pm Sasken under pressure

Shares of Sasken Communication Technologies are locked at 20 percent lower circuit on Wednesday after the company's chief executive resigned yesterday.

"Anjan Lahiri, whole time director and CEO has resigned from the services of the company and consequently from the board of directors effective September 23, 2014," said the software services provider in its filing.

Rajiv C Mody, currently the chairman and managing director, will be stepping in as the CEO for now. He founded the company in 1989, at San Jose along with two other co-founders.

Mody does not see much change in business with CEO stepping down. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he says his emphasis is on growing revenue. "We will continue to build expertise in IT business," he adds.

Anjan Lahiri had completed his one year in the company in previous month. Anjan, who co-founded MindTree in 1999, joined Sasken in August 2013. Prior to co-founding MindTree, Anjan was a consulting director with Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) in New Jersey.

12:00pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks remained rangebound in noon trade but the broader markets fell more than a percent. The Sensex declined 14.14 points to 26761.55 and the Nifty fell 6.45 points to 8011.10.

The market breadth was negative. About two shares declined for every share advancing on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
 
The ongoing correction is a healthy sign and the market needs to consolidate before resuming the bull run, says Nirmal Jain, Chairman, IIFL.

Jain feels the markets have been looking for reasons to correct and sees sharp corrections in midcaps and smallcaps. He says that one should be prepared for a 5-10 percent downside in the broader markets and 10-15 percent in midcaps.

BHEL and Tata Power tumbled over 2 percent each followed by TCS, HDFC, Larsen and Toubro, Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp and Bharti Airtel with 1-1.8 percent loss. However, Hindustan Unilever, Wipro and Coal India gained 2 percent. ITC and Infosys climbed over a percent.

In the midcap space, Sintex Industries, Sanofi India, Va Tech Wabag, Thermax and IFCI gained 3.5-4 percent while CARE, Prestige Estate, Bhushan Steel, Amtek Auto and Trinity Trade lost 4.5-6 percent.

Among smallcaps, Educomp Solutions, Sarda Energy, KGN Enterprises, Speciality Restaurants and NRB Bearings surged 5-6 percent whereas Sasken Communications, PFL Infotech, PC Jeweller, GOL Offshore and La Opala RG declined 8-20 percent.

11:45 am In and out? Sasken Communication chief executive officer Anjan Lahiri stepped down from his position with effect from September 23. Lahiri was one of the co-founders of Mindtree, and has worked there for 14 years. He joined Sasken in August 2013 and was expected to turnaround the company.

The company has seen declining revenues for three consecutive years. It saw a revenue decline of 4.4 percent CAGR from FY11-14.

Rajiv C Mody will be stepping in as the CEO for now. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Mody said the company will continue to build expertise in IT business.

11:30 am Market outlook: The ongoing correction is a healthy sign and the market needs to consolidate before resuming the bull run, says Nirmal Jain, Chairman, IIFL . T

Jain feels the market has been looking for reasons to correct and sees sharp corrections in midcaps and smallcaps. He says that one should be prepared for a 5-10 percent downside in the broader markets and 10-15 percent in midcaps. Betting on midcaps, Jain feels that one should invest in them over a longer period of time, keeping at least 3 years of timeframe in the mind, as they are volatile. He likes midcap names in the auto ancillary and cement sector.

The market is struggling to hold its feet firm. The Sensex is down 34.43 points at 26741.26 and the Nifty slips 12.50 points at 8005.05. About 721 shares have advanced, 1652 shares declined, and 60 shares are unchanged.

HUL, Coal India, Wipro, M&M and ITC are top gainers in the Sensex while Tata Power, BHEL, L&T, Tata Steel and HDFC.

JSPL and Hindalco are key stocks in focus as the Supreme Court will announce its verdict in the coal block allocation case today. Hindalco has also been downgraded by Macquarie to neutral from outperform as it sees no near term catalyst.

Gold clung to overnight gains as Asian shares retreated, but investors remained cautious amid a firmer dollar and upbeat US manufacturing data that kept prices near their lowest since January.

US-led strikes against militants in Syria failed to spur follow-through safe-haven demand for gold after small gains. Gold is traditionally seen as a safer bet during times of political uncertainty. The tensions in Syria, however, curbed appetite for risky assets, sending Asian shares lower.

10:50am Market Check
The Sensex declined 34.43 points to 26741.26 and the Nifty fell 12.50 points to 8005.05.
About 721 shares have advanced, 1652 shares declined, and 60 shares are unchanged.

10:40am Interview
Shares of Kitex Garments gained 1.3 percent. The third largest supplier of infant garments globally derives 85 percent of revenue from sale of infant garments and 15 percent from fabric to Kitex Childrenwear.

The company aims to be the number one player in infant wear market over the next few years. It derives 100 percent of garment revenue from exports, with 90 percent coming from the US and the rest 10 percent from Europe.

The company witnessed 40 percent growth in the year gone by and Sabu Jacob, chairman and managing director of Kitex Garments says it came on the back of capacity expansion. It plans to double capacity over the next three years.

The company expects to maintain 20-25 percent growth on a sustainable basis going forward. Jacob expects to see rise in margins on account of better efficiencies. He expects to improve efficiencies on both automation (production) and labour front.

There are also plans to merge Kitex Garments and Kitex Childrenwear perhaps in FY16. Jacob says Kitex Childrenswear enjoys marginally higher capacity and its margin profile is similar to Kitex Garments.

10:20am Rupee Check
The rupee slipped 4 paise to 60.98 a dollar in morning trade.

Geoffrey Dennis, UBS says the rising dollar has played a key role in the latest pullback in MSCI GEMs. With dollar strength typically associated with falling emerging markets (EM) equity markets, the UBS view of further dollar gains by end-2015 is a headwind for EM equity markets and supports our ongoing cautious positioning, he adds.

''These dollar moves should be accompanied by further weakness of most EM currencies, with end-2015 forecasts for the rupee at 65/dollar, says Dennis.

10:00am Equity benchmarks extended losses with the Sensex falling 100 points and the Nifty breaking 8000 level ahead of Supreme Court's verdict on coal block allocation case today at 10.30 am. Jindal Steel, Sesa Sterlite and Hindalco dropped 1-3 percent.

The broader markets too slipped further with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices falling nearly a percent.

The Sensex declined 121.79 points to 26653.90 and the Nifty slipped 28.15 points to 7989.40. About 763 shares have advanced, 1386 shares declined, and 61 shares are unchanged.

Shares of L&T, TCS, Tata Motors, HDFC, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, BHEL and Maruti Suzuki plummeted 1-2 percent. However, ITC, HUL, Wipro, Sun Pharma, Coal India and M&M gained 0.3-1.3 percent.

9:55 am Buzzing: Shares of Thermax rallied as much as 6.9 percent in early trade after its joint venture company Thermax Babcock and Wilcox Energy Solutions (TBWES) received an export order from Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc.

The order is for detailed engineering, manufacturing and supply of selective items for two pulverised coal-fired boilers for an international project. The contract value is approximately Rs 339 crore, says the energy and environment solutions provider in its filing to BSE.

Detailed engineering and supply of material are scheduled to be completed within 21 months for the first unit and 24 months for the second unit.

9:35 am Market outlook: Indian market as well as other emerging markets are driven by global cues, is the word coming in from Ajay Bodke of Prabhudas Lilladher. He expects the Indian market to remain volatile.

Bodke says the rally in certain parts of the midcaps has gone too far and investors seem to be taking some money off the table. On the much-awaited Supreme Court decision on coal block de-allocation, he says if the apex court does not adhere to the government's plea to spare 46 coal blocks that are functioning or are about to start production, then the market will be under pressure.

9:30 am Proud moment for India: In its maiden attempt, India successfully placed Mars Orbiter Mission or Mangalyaan in the red planet's orbit. The Indian Space Research Organisation has created history and has entered the league of three other agencies which successfully launched Mars mission. As all the operations were on schedule, India is the first Asian country to reach Mars in its first attempt. ISRO said, "All engines are going strong. Burning of fuel happening."

All engines started burning as per the exact timeline. Prime Minister Modi and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah were at ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore to witness the crucial Mars Orbiter Insertion. Mangalyaan is primarily a technological mission and it has been configured to carry out observation of physical features of Mars and carry out limited study of the Martian atmosphere.

After the deep cuts yesterday, the market has opened on flat note Wednesday. The Sensex is up 24.52 points at 26800 and the Nifty is up 10.30 points at 8027.85. About 622 shares have advanced, 286 shares declined, and 33 shares are unchanged.

Wipro, Coal India, ICICI Bank, BHEL and SBI are top gainers while Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tata Motors and Tata Steel are major laggards in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened with a marginal loss at 61.03 per dollar versus 60.94.

The dollar held close to a four-year peak against a basket of major currencies, underpinned by safe-haven buying. The dollar dipped against the yen, a traditional safe-haven buy.

Himanshu Arora of Religare said, "USD-INR is expected to trade slightly higher today amid weakness in domestic equities and as banks cover their dollar positions. RBI monetary policy review on September 30 is expected to offer more cues. Range for the USD-INR is seen between 60.78-61.20/dollar.''

Globally, the US markets closed in the red on global growth concerns with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at five-week lows. European market too saw cuts of 1-2 percent and Asian equities are tracking global losses trading negative in morning trade.

And precious metal gold moved higher as the dollar eased after comments from a New York Federal Reserve's official that any increase in interest rates should be done cautiously, while US air strikes added to global tension and hence safe-asset demand.