Sensex drops 250 points, Nifty ends below 11,050; all sectoral indices dip

3:30 pm Market Closing: Benchmark indices closed lower on profit booking, tracking weakness in global peers. Midcaps also caught in bear trap, with the Nifty Midcap index falling 0.8 percent.

All sectoral indices close in the red.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 249.52 points or 0.69 percent at 36,033.73 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 80.70 points or 0.73 percent to 11,049.70.

About three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

Oil marketing companies share prices gained 3-5 percent after IOC's stellar Q3 earnings and further fall in crude oil prices.

Amber Enterprises ended 44 percent higher on Day 1.

All eyes are on two-day FOMC meet that will begin tonight.

3:24 pm Oil Prices Update: US oil slipped, extending losses into a second session, as a strengthening dollar sapped demand for crude, while rising US output helped dampen prices.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were 63 cents, or 0.96 percent, lower at USD 64.92 a barrel. On Monday, they fell 58 cents, or 0.9 percent, to USD 65.56 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were 41 cents, or 0.59 percent lower at USD 69.05 a barrel. The contract for March delivery settled down USD 1.06, or 1.5 percent, at USD 69.46 a barrel on Monday.

3:18 pm Buzzing: JHS Svendgaard Laboratories shares rallied 6 percent after consolidated net profit in Q3 grew by 41.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 2.5 crore and revenue rose by 92.8 percent to Rs 43.8 crore.

Operating profit during the quarter increased sharply by 45.2 percent to Rs 5 crore, but margin contracted 380 basis points to 11.4 percent compared to year-ago period.

3:11 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices continued to reel under selling pressure, with the Sensex falling 257.01 points to 36,026.24 and the Nifty declining 86.70 points to 11,043.70.

About three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

3:10 pm IOC's GRM: Gross refining margin for the quarter ended December 2017 stood at USD 12.30 a barrel, which was far ahead of CNBC-TV18 poll of USD 8.20 a barrel. The stock gained 4 percent.

3:01 pm Agreement: Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail informed exchanges that the board of directors approved entering into a store license and distribution agreement with Ralph Lauren Asia Pacific Limited (RLAPL), which offers apparel and accessories for both men and women under the brand name 'Polo Ralph Lauren' and 'Ralph Lauren' and such other name(s) as may be designated by RLAPL from time to time.

2:50 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices remained under selling pressure in afternoon, with the Sensex falling more than 200 points and the Nifty trading below 11,100 levels.

Oil marketing companies share prices gained strength after strong numbers from IOC.

IOC shares rallied nearly 5 percent after Q3 earnings beat analyst expectations and announcement of bonus issue in the ratio of 1:1. HPCL and BPCL gained around 4 percent each.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 253.25 points at 36,030 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 82.50 points to 11,047.90.

About 2,008 shares declined against 697 advancing shares on the BSE.

European markets traded lower, following negative lead from Asia and Wall Street. All eyes are on two-day FOMC meet that will begin tonight.

2:40 pm Earnings: Piramal Enterprises today reported 21.37 percent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 490.47 crore for the December quarter on robust performance in financial services and pharmaceutical verticals.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 404.08 crore in the year-ago period, Piramal Enterprises said in a filing to BSE.

Consolidated revenue from operations also rose to Rs 2,858.36 crore for the quarter under review, against Rs 2,341.74 crore in the same period a year ago.

2:20 pm Buzzing: Oil marketing company Indian Oil Corporation shares rallied 4 percent as its third quarter earnings beat analyst expectations on Monday as standalone profit during the quarter more than doubled to Rs 7,883 crore, from Rs 3,696.3 crore in previous quarter.

The bottomline was far ahead of CNBC-TV18 poll of Rs 5,222 crore for the quarter.

Revenue from operations grew by 22.2 percent to Rs 1.1 lakh crore in Q3, compared to Rs 90,567 crore in September quarter, the company said in its filing.

Operating profit growth of 80 percent at Rs 13,269 crore and margin expansion of 390 basis points at 12 percent quarter-on-quarter was ahead of CNBC-TV18 estimates of Rs 9,387 crore and 7.9 percent, respectively.

IOC said the board of directors has approved bonus share issue in the proportion of one share for every one share held and also announced interim dividend of Rs 19 per share.

2:10 pm Uday Kotak on Gold: A firm believer in formal banking systems, eminent banker Uday Kotak feels gold is the only alternative currency that has worked ever without any state support and sees no regulatory backing in immediate future for numerous crypto currencies that have cropped up.

The most famous among all, bitcoin has been seeing a huge traction lately even as its prices have been extremely volatile, surging to close to USD 20,000 per unit a few weeks ago but only to fall below USD 10,000 soon after.

Kotak, who has overseen one of the biggest success story of a new age bank as head of Kotak Mahindra Bank, also said that real estate market is unlikely to recover anytime soon as the money has moved out of land to financial assets.

"I am a believer that the only crypto currency that has worked in the world is gold. That is also not issued by any state anywhere and unless we reach a stage where we have an alternative currency that has same trust of people as that with gold, it will be very difficult for the authorities to allow any new crypto currencies," Kotak told PTI in an interview.

2:01 pm Budget Expectations: "Budget 2018 is one that the markets are looking forward to eagerly as compared to the last few years where many called it a non-event. The backdrop with the next election in 2019 and eight state elections coming up in the medium cannot be ignored. Markets would closely watch announcements around taxation, rural economy, social sector and infrastructure spending," Kunj Bansal, Executive Director & CIO, Centrum Wealth Management said.

According to him, after the GST roll out, the possible indirect tax change in the Budget may happen in the form of customs duty tweaks given that GST Council meetings decide on the bigger tax structure.

In earlier budgets a road map for bringing corporate tax down was hinted at. Corporates would be watching for some headway on this front.

The world's largest economy has taken steps toward this but having said that, each economy has its own nuances and such action cannot be simply replicated. Any reduction in corporate tax still remains something that could have a far reaching impact on earnings if implemented, Bansal said.

1:50 pm Earnings: SBI Life Insurance said profit in Q3 grew by 20.9 percent to Rs 230.3 crore YoY and income from investments rose 19.6 percent to Rs 2,793.8 crore compared to previous quarter.

1:45 pm Buzzing: Shares of Reliance Communications today soared over 19 percent after the company reported narrowing of consolidated loss to Rs 130 crore for the quarter ended December 2017.

The stock jumped 18.89 percent intraday to Rs 32.40 on BSE. On NSE, shares of the company zoomed 19.11 per cent to Rs 32.40.

The debt-ridden company yesterday reported shrinking of consolidated loss to Rs 130 crore for the December quarter, mainly on account of closure of its loss-making mobile business.

The company had reported a loss (attributable to equity holders) of Rs 531 crore in the same period a year ago. It also sharply lowered its loss from Rs 2,712 crore in the July-September quarter of the ongoing fiscal.

"RCom's planned exit from the consumer business has achieved more than the desired results. RCom has reduced its net loss by over 95 per cent. Rcom expects to deliver even better financial performance in the coming quarters," RCom Chairman Anil D Ambani said in a statement.

1:40 pm Plant Commissioning: Tata Steel today said it has commissioned a Solid Liquid Separation (SLS) plant for Gas Cleaning Plant (GCP) slurry at its Ferro Alloys Plant (FAP) at Joda in Keonjhar district of Odisha.

This is the first such plant in the country in the ferro-alloys sector, the company said.

The SLS plant, besides conserving water, would prevent water from sludge pits percolating into the ground and contaminating ground water, Rajeev Singhal, Vice President, (Raw Materials) of Tata Steel said in a statement.

1:31 pm Results: Micro finance lender Bharat Financial Inclusion is likely to report highest profit and net interest income growth in last 4 quarters.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll, profit is seen rising 10.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 158.1 crore and net interest income may grow 41.4 percent to Rs 288.4 crore for quarter ended December 2017.

1:25 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices are not showing any sign of recovery in afternoon as the Sensex fell 191.15 points to 36,092.10 and the Nifty declined 72.40 points to 11,058.

Private banking & financials, technology stocks and Reliance Industries drove the market lower. Oil marketing companies and PSU banks gained strength.

The market breadth remained weak as about three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

Dr Reddy's Labs extended previous day's losses, falling more than 2 percent on top of yesterday's 6 percent loss post earnings.

1:15 pm Earnings: Sundram Fasteners said profit in Q3 grew by 21.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 91.6 crore and revenue rose 19.9 percent to Rs 848.1 crore.

Operating profit jumped 15.7 percent to Rs 150.4 crore but margin contracted 70 basis points to 17.7 percent compared to year-ago.

1:10 pm Drug Approval: Jubilant Life Sciences said Jubilant Pharma, a material wholly owned subsidiary, through one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, has received abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) final approval for Clonidine Hydrochloride extended-release tablets, 0.1 mg.

Clonidine Hydrochloride tablet is the generic version of Kapvay of Concordia, which is used for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as monotherapy or as adjunctive therapy to stimulant
medications.

1:00 pm Results: Suven Life Sciences shares fell 3 percent despite profit in Q3 grew by 42.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 34.6 crore and revenue jumped 41.6 percent to Rs 163.7 crore for quarter ended December 2017.

Operating profit shot up 39.4 percent to Rs 51.4 crore from Rs 36.9 crore but margin contracted 50 basis points to 31.4 percent from 31.9 percent YoY.

12:50 pm Budget Expectations: "Fiscal deficit is likely to be higher than the estimated 3.2 percent of GDP in FY18 on lower growth and reducing the same will be a challenge in FY19, unless we see a an increase in GDP growth," R Sreesankar, Co-Head - Insitutional Equities at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd said.

He expects to see a roadmap for reduction in corporate tax rates and personal income tax for lower income brackets benefitting the middle class.

He sees farm loan waiver/subvention a possibility as a boost to affected areas in rural India and sops for agriculture, be it in terms of supporting increased mechanisation or sops to improve farm income..

With the private capex still remaining low, government may resort to increased market borrowings going forward to fund government capex, the budget will continue to focus more on public sector/government capex, according to Sreesankar.

Hence, he expects to see slightly loose fiscal policy and the government may not adhere to the earlier targeted tight fiscal levels to aid growth in an election year.

12:40 pm Results: TVS Motor Company has reported a 16.3 percent growth year-on-year in profit at Rs 154.35 crore for quarter ended December 2017, driven by strong operational and revenue.

Profit for corresponding quarter was at Rs 132.67 crore, the company said.

Revenue from operations growth of 23.5 percent year-on-year at Rs 3,685 crore for the quarter, driven by sales volumes, was ahead of CNBC-TV18 estimates.

Operating profit during the quarter shot up 31.3 percent to Rs 286.8 crore and margin expanded by 50 basis points to 7.8 percent compared to year-ago, which were largely in line with CNBC-TV18 poll of Rs 288 crore and 8 percent, respectively.

12:25 pm New Listing Update: Amber Enterprises India shares extended rally in afternoon, rising 46 percent or Rs 395 to Rs 1,253.45 compared to issue price of Rs 859 on the BSE.

The stock gained 6.22 percent compared to opening price of Rs 1,180.

12:15 pm Poll: Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company is expected to report healthy 43 percent growth year-on-year in net profit at Rs 232 crore for October-December quarter.

Profit reported at Rs 162.5 crore in Q3FY17.

Net interest income during the quarter is seen rising 24.8 percent to Rs 761.3 crore, from Rs 609.9 crore in year-ago, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Analysts said if assets under management growth come around 15 percent (against 12.9 percent in Q2FY18), net interest margin above 9 percent (9.6 percent in Q2) and gross non-performing assets improve (from 4.46 percent in Q2) then that would be considered positively by the Street.

12:06 pm Buzzing: Shares of Ester Industries locked at 10 percent upper circuit as the company has entered into agreement with Shaw industries group USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

There were pending buy orders of 263,128 shares, with no sellers available.

"The total size of this single order is estimated to be around Rs 900 million per year which is more than double the company's FY2017 speciality polymer revenues which amounted to Rs 430 million," said company.

The agreement is open ended with the first purchase order received and shipment slated to commence in February 2018.

11:55 am Market Update: Benchmark indices remained under selling pressure in late morning deals as the Sensex was down 199.07 points at 36,084.18 and the Nifty fell 72.40 points to 11,058.

About three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

Reliance Communications was the biggest gainer among midcaps, rising 14 percent after Q3 earnings.

SBI gained 1 percent after hike in bulk deposit rates by 50-140 bps effective today.

11:50 am Earnings: Medical devices maker Opto Circuits has posted consolidated net profit at Rs 8.4 crore for quarter ended December 2017, against loss of Rs 35.1 crore in year-ago.

It was because of low base as company had an exceptional loss of Rs 45.2 crore in Q3FY17, but overall numbers were bad.

Revenue from operations fell 11.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 58.7 crore while operating profit declined 29.1 percent to Rs 12.8 crore and margin contracted to 21.8 percent from 27.3 percent YoY.

11:45 am Hike in Deposit Rates: Country's largest lender State Bank of India has hiked bulk deposit rates by 50-140 basis points effective today.

"We have aligned bulk deposit rates with retail deposit rates and the hike will not impact cost of funds in significant manner," PK Gupta, MD of SBI said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

He further said there was enough liquidity in the market but surplus liquidity is not there.

Overall liquidity number is negative of Rs 10,000-15,000 crore, he added.

Gupta said corporate demand has still not picked up and credit growth is seen only in retail segment.

Bank's term deposit rates are significantly lower to industry rates, he added.

11:30 am Management Speak: Strong earnings from Avenue Supermart had given wings to the entire retail sector.

Talking about the business outlook for the company and sector Lalit Agarwal, CMD, V-Mart Retail said there is need for organised and good retail and the demand seems have improved post GST.

The same store sales growth for the company in Q3 will be not too great but good because in the same quarter earlier year they had done well, said Agarwal and so they are not expecting any extraordinary growth. However, first two quarter had seen good growth, he added.

He said the industry is facing stiff challenge from online retail, so the brick and mortar players are also being tactical and are creating avenues for sale. So, there could be some pressure on margins but would get offset by volumes, said Agarwal.

11:14 am Data feed: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is considering either directing stock exchanges to stop giving data feed services to entities trading on exchanges abroad or levy higher fees on the traders, according to a report in Mint.

According to the report, two sources say these options are a way of preventing the Indian derivatives business from going offshore.

SEBI did not respond to Mint's request for a comment. BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) declined to comment.

11:01 am Poll: Two and three-wheeler maker TVS Motor Company is set to announce its third quarter (October-December) earnings today. Analysts expect good earnings from the company, citing strong volume growth.

The stock, which touched a record high of Rs 794 on January 2 (2018), is in bull market of its own and rallied 35 percent in last 6 months.

Company's profit during the quarter is expected to grow by 31 percent to Rs 174 crore compared to Rs 132.7 crore in year-ago period, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Revenue from operations is seen rising 20 percent to Rs 3,589 crore, compared to Rs 2,983.4 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

10:51 am Asia Update: Asian indexes traded lower, tracking declines seen on Wall Street in the previous session.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 1.33 percent while China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.7 percent.

10:41 am Market Outlook: With the Union Budget 2018 just around the corner, the market has entered a 'wait and watch' mode, believes Ratnesh Kumar of BOBCAPS.

''Clearly there is a big event on the horizon… there is a wait and watch on earnings front as well,'' Kumar, MD & CEO of BOBCAPS told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. Plus, the Street is slightly wary on long term capital gains (LTCG) tax. This could be counter-productive. But if the taxation does not come through, this will be a huge sigh of relief, he told channel.

Looking at the big picture, Kumar believes going forward growth recovery and repair of balance sheets could be a way to play the markets this year. But investors should be wary of risks from oil, among other things.

10:21 am Buzzing: Shares of MOIL rose more than 4 percent in morning as company to consider buyback of its equity shares.

The meeting of board of directors of the company will be held on February 05 to consider the proposal for buy back of the fully paid-up equity shares of the company.

10:15 am Market Update: Bears tightened their grip on Dalal Street in morning session as benchmark indices extended losses, with the Sensex falling around 250 points due to selling pressure in banking & financials, technology, FMCG and pharma stocks.

However, PSU Bank index bucked the trend, rising over a percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 247.81 points at 36,035.44 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 86.10 points to 11,044.30 while the Nifty Midcap index shed 0.8 percent.

About four shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

10:01 am Listing: Shares of market debutant, Amber Enterprises listed at Rs 1,175, a gain of 37 percent to the issue price of Rs 859 on the National Stock Exchange.

The stock gained around Rs 316 in the opening tick, making it a gain of 36.79 percent.

The appliance maker had a very successful initial public offering (IPO), registering a subscription of 165 times. It had sought to raise Rs 600 crore through the issue, which opened on January 17 with a price band of Rs 855-859 apiece.

The air conditioner manufacturer's IPO received bids for 81.47 crore shares against an issue size of 49 .27 lakh, as per data available with the NSE website.

9:57 am Poll: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will announce its December quarter earnings later today. Analysts expect refining business to be offset by poor marketing performance and GST to continue to weigh on downstream companies.

IOC is likely to report better results than other oil marketing companies on the back of higher refining profits.

Standalone profit after tax for the quarter gone by is expected to grow 41 percent to Rs 5,222 crore, from Rs 3,696 crore in previous quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Revenue from operations may grow 31 percent to Rs 1,18,419.4 crore in Q3FY18, compared to Rs 90,566.7 crore in Q2.

9:52 am Pre-Opening: Amber Enterprises India share price settled at Rs 1,175 in pre-opening trade on the National Stock Exchange, up 36.79 percent over issue price of Rs 859 per share.

9:50 am Market Update: Benchmark indices extended losses in morning, with the Sensex falling 181.15 points to 36,102.10 and the Nifty declining 73.10 points to 11,057.30.

About three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

9:45 am Unitech in Action: Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the government has withdrawn its takeover plea of Unitech from National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and will no longer pursue Unitech takeover bid in NCLT.

9:38 am Rupee Trade: The rupee weakened by 7 paise to trade at 63.66 against the US dollar in morning at the interbank foreign exchange today amid the dollar's gains in global markets.

Forex dealers said increased month-end demand from banks and importers and a weak opening in the domestic equity markets weighed on the domestic unit.

Yesterday, the rupee had ended lower by 3 paise at 63.58, halting its three-day rally even as the Economic Survey printed a rosy picture of India's macroeconomic outlook.

9:28 am Results: Laurus Labs posted 7.3 percent rise in net profit to Rs 35 crore in the third quarter ended December on account of lower offtake of hepatitis-C active pharmaceutical ingredients. The stock fell 5 percent.

Total revenues of the company dropped 6.5 percent to Rs 489 crore during the quarter.

The company's EBITDA margins stood at 20.3 percent. On a sequential basis, the net profit was down 29 percent and revenues were up 10 percent.

9:21 am Earnings Expectations: FMCG company Godrej Consumer Products' Q3 consolidated profit is seen rising 17.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 413.2 crore from Rs 351.8 crore.

Revenue from operations may grow by 10.5 percent to Rs 2,643.3 crore in quarter gone by, compared to Rs 2,391.6 crore in year-ago period, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Operating profit is expected to increase 13.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 587.5 crore from Rs 516.8 crore and margin may expand 60 basis points to 22.2 percent from 21.6 percent.

9:15 am Market Check: Benchmark indices reversed some previous day's gains on Tuesday, driven by profit booking in technology, select private banks and index heavyweights ITC & Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 82.24 points at 36,201.01 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 40.20 points to 11,090.20.

TCS, ICICI Bank, ITC, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Infosys, L&T and Vedanta were early losers whereas Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp, Indiabulls Housing, GAIL, BPCL, NTPC and HPCL were gainers.

Ahead of earnings later today, TVS Motor Company and IOC gained half a percent while Godrej Consumer Products lost 0.6 percent.

Nifty Midcap lost another half a percent, in addition to 0.85 percent loss in previous session.

Wockhardt, KPIT Technologies, Emami and Laurus Labs declined 1-4 percent while MOIL, Ester Industries and Mahindra Logistics were down 3-10 percent.