Sensex closes 182 points lower, Nifty ends below 9200; Infy falls, RIL gains

3:30 pm Market at Close: Equity benchmarks ended the week on a negative note, with the Nifty closing below the 9200-mark.

The Sensex closed down 182.03 points at 29461.45, while the Nifty ended lower by 52.65 points at 9150.80. The market breadth was very narrow as 1,456 shares advanced against a decline of 1,436 shares, while 151 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, Tata Steel and Hindalco were among the top losers, while Sun Pharma, Reliance, IOC and Indiabulls Housing gained the most.

3.10 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices extended losses in afternoon, with the Sensex down 168.14 points at 29,475.34 and the Nifty down 50.50 points at 9,152.95.

It was weighed by Infosys, Tata Motors, L&T, ITC and TCS that fell 1-4 percent while Reliance Industries and select banking & financials stocks continued to support the market.

About 1465 shares declined against 1392 advancing shares on the BSE.

2:46 pm Buzzing Stock: IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals share price was locked at 10 percent upper circuit at Rs 66.30 after company received approval from EU health regulator for products.

"The company has received European Union Good Manufacturing Practice Certification from National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition, Hungary, for its product Ibuprofen, Lamotrigine, Metformin Hydrochloride confirming compliance with principals of Good Manufacturing Practices as provided by European Union Legislation," the company said in its filing.

This will facilitate the company to expand its product portfolio in the European market, it added.

Established in 1986, IOC has wide presence across various therapeutic categories like, pain management, anti-diabetic, anti hypertensive, anti convulsants, etc

At 14:26 hours IST, there were pending buy orders of 150,657 shares, with no sellers available. However, in last three months, the stock tanked 34 percent and lost 19 percent in last one year.

2:30 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices remained rangebound, amid weak global cues and results for the March quarter from Infosys.

The Sensex was down 97.61 points at 29545.87, while the Nifty was down 26.70 points at 9176.75. About 1,476 shares advanced against a decline of 1,285 shares, while 156 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, Tata Steel and Hindalco were top gainers, while Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, IOC and BPCL were the top losers.

2:10 pm HDFC Bank on inflation & IIP data: India's CPI inflation in March rose to a five-month high of 3.81 percent and industrial production index declined 1.2 percent YoY in February compared to an expected rise of 1.3 percent and 3.3 percent growth in January (revised upwards).

Abheek Barua, Chief Economist at HDFC Bank says the gradual rise in inflation is in line with expectations and thus base-case scenario for a long pause in the policy rate still upholds.

"We are not reading too much into the negative IIP reading. For one, the IIP data continues to be a volatile indicator and we should focus on the overall trend. Apart from the IIP, we continue to focus on other high frequency indicators such as freight data, auto sales and PMI. In this regard, our domestic demand proxy seems to be highlighting a relatively better picture than the IIP measure. Two, in the last two years, back-to-back droughts have severely affected the cane crop in the top sugar producing states like Maharashtra and Karnataka. As a result, for the first time in seven years, the sugar output in India is running below consumption levels. Therefore, the near-term readings are likely to be distorted on account of decline in the sugar output and we should be looking at IIP-ex sugar to gauge the overall picture of the economy," he adds.

1:55 pm HC on State Bank of India: The Madras High Court has ordered status quo on service conditions linked to terminal benefits, pension and seniority of the migrant employees of the five banks which was merged with the State Bank of India recently.

Justice T Raja ordered the status quo on the service conditions of the migrant bank employees on a plea by 17 staffers of the erstwhile State Bank of Mysore who alleged that some of the service conditions-related provisions of the banks' merger order were arbitrary and discriminatory.

While ordering the State Bank of India and the Union Finance Ministry to maintain status quo on the service conditions of migrant bank employees, the court also sought their stands on the bank staffers' plea challenging clauses 7 and 8 of the SBI's February 22 order for 'Acquisition of the State Bank of Mysore.'

1:45 pm EPFO subscribers to get benefit: Retirement fund body EPFO's subscribers will get loyalty-cum-life benefit of up to Rs 50,000 at the time of retirement for contributing to the scheme for 20 years or more.

The benefit will also be provided in case of permanent disability even if the members have contributed for less than 20 years, the EPFO board has decided.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) apex decision making body, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), has recommended a minimum sum assured of Rs 2.5 lakh in the event of death of a subscriber.

"The CBT has recommended amending the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI) to provide for minimum benefit of Rs 2.5 lakh and loyalty-cum-life benefit of up to Rs 50,000 at a meeting held yesterday," a senior official said.

1:15 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices traded weak, amid weak global cues and lower-than-expected results from Infosys for the March quarter.

The Sensex was down 117.53 points at 29525.95, while the Nifty was down 26.70 points or 0.29% at 9176.75. The market breadth was narrowing as 1,465 shares advanced against a decline of 1,225 shares, while 135 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, Tata Steel and Hindalco were among top losers, while Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Indian Oil and BPCL gained the most on both the indices.

12:40 pm Europe opening: European markets edged lower as investors digested US President Donald Trump's comments that he would prefer the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low and suggested the dollar is too strong.

The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 opened down 0.21 percent, with most sectors and major bourses in negative territory.

12:30 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended losses in noon trade, with the Sensex falling more than 100 points, weighed by technology and metals stocks.

Infosys was the biggest loser among Sensex stocks, down nearly 3 percent after Q4 earnings and FY18 guidance missed analysts' expectations but change in capital allocation policy capped losses in the share price.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 108.19 points at 29,535.29 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 32.80 points to 9,170.65 while the BSE Midcap index was flat and Smallcap gained half a percent.

The market breadth was positive as about 1472 shares advanced against 1156 declining shares on the BSE.

11:30 am M&A deals: India Inc's M&A deal tally in March rose four-fold to USD 27.82 billion, led by the Vodafone-Idea merger, taking the overall figure to USD 31.54 billion in the first quarter of 2017, says a report.

Overall deal activity in the January-March quarter witnessed an unprecedented three-fold year-on-year rise in value terms, driven solely by the Vodafone-Idea mega merger, which accounted for 80 percent of the total values.

"The Indian deal activity was dominated by big-ticket mergers and acquisitions (M&As) this quarter. The quarter witnessed one of the largest deals in the country with Vodafone and Idea's merger, which is estimated at around USD 27 billion," Grant Thornton India LLP Partner Prashant Mehra said.

11:05 am Market Check: Benchmark indices were trading in the red zone, amid muted global cues and lower-than expected results of IT major Infosys.

The Sensex was down 57.64 points at 29585.84, while the Nifty was down 17.60 points at 9185.85. The market breadth was in the negative as 1,454 shares advanced against a decline of 937 shares, while 116 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, Adani Ports and Hindalco were top losers on both the indices, while ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, Bank of Baroda and IOC gained the most.

The Indian rupee recovered sharply after Wednesday's fall, at 64.31 against the US dollar, up 36 paise from previous close.

10:54 am Kotak on Infosys: Kotak Institutional Equities has an add recommendation for the stock. The research firm believes that key metrics were better than the headline numbers and that an increase in payouts was a positive. Overall, the business is moving in the right direction, but with interruptions. But the new deal signings were weak and needs close monitoring.

The company's constant currency guidance is below the estimate of 0.9 percent. its FY18 revenue growth guidance implies CQGR Of around 2.2-2.8 percent over Q1-Q4FY18. It also expects 4-6% cut in FY2018-19 earnings estimates.

10:25 am Board changes: Infosys today appointed Independent Director Ravi Venkatesan co-Chairman amid calls from founders to diversify the board.

The board expansion comes against the backdrop of an ongoing tussle between the founders and the management over contentious issues such as CEO salary hike, severance package to former employees and corporate governance standards.

"Ravi will help me enhance the board engagement in supporting the management in execution of the company's strategy," R Seshasayee, Infosys Chairman, said in a statement.

10:15 am Market Check: The markets is witnessing rangebound movement ahead of WPI data to be announced today.

The Sensex down 53.67 points at 29589.81, and the Nifty down 17.10 points at 9186.35.About 1360 shares have advanced, 863 shares declined, and 100 shares are unchanged.

India's retail inflation rate rose to 3.81 percent in March from February's 3.65 percent, mirroring a revival in household spending after months of waning demand triggered by a demonetisation-induced cash crunch.

9:40 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of Infosys fell nearly 3 percent intraday on Thursday as investors reacted negatively to the company's results.

The information technology major reported profit at Rs 3,603 crore for January-March quarter, degrowth of 2.8 percent against Rs 3,708 crore in previous quarter. Revenue fell 0.88 percent to Rs 17,120 crore compared with Rs 17,273 crore previous quarter.

According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, profit during the quarter was likely to decline 3.7 percent to Rs 3,570 crore, while revenue may fall 0.2 percent to Rs 17,235 crore compared with previous quarter.

9:30 am Infosys declares dividend: Information technology (IT) major Infosys on Thursday announced a dividend of Rs 14.75 per share for the financial year that ended on March 31, 2017.

The company also reviewed and approved a revised capital allocation policy of the company. As part of the plan, the payout of free cash flow has been hiked to 70 percent of free cash flow, including by way of dividend or share buyback.

Additionally, an amount of Rs 13,000 crore will be paid out to shareholders during the current financial year.

Dollar revenue during the quarter stood at USD 2569 million, a growth of 0.7 percent over USD 2551 million in December quarter, which was slightly lower than analysts' forecast of USD 2,584 million.

9:15 am Market Check: The benchmark indices opened marginally lower on Thursday on the back of weak global cues.

The Sensex down 46.92 points at 29596.56, and the Nifty down 18.35 points at 9185.10. About 673 shares have advanced, 441 shares declined, and 55 shares are unchanged.

Reliance Industries, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, GAIL, Bosch, Indiabulls Housing and Aurobindo Pharma are the top gainer on the indices, while Adani Ports, Infosys, Tata Steel, Larsen and Toubro, Tata Motors, Hindalco and Tata Power are the top losers.

Infosys has reported profit at Rs 3,603 crore for January-March quarter, degrowth of 2.8 percent against Rs 3,708 crore in previous quarter.

Revenue fell 0.88 percent to Rs 17,120 crore compared with Rs 17,273 crore previous quarter.

The Indian rupee opened higher by 24 paise at 64.44 per dollar on Thursday versus previous close 64.68.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "Geopolitical risks concerning North Korea and Syria have resulted in risk-off sentiment with the dollar losing ground against the yen in particular. Custodial flow has supported rupee in the past few weeks."

"We expect the USD-INR pair to trade in a range of 64.40-64.70/dollar for the day," he added.

The dollar slumped broadly - falling to a five-month low against the yen, after US President Donald Trump helped accelerate its recent decline by saying the currency was too strong and that he would prefer the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low.