Sensex ends near three-week low; BoB, Jubilant fall

Key benchmarks extended their losing streak to the third successive session Monday, indicating a sense of fatigue among buyers. With today's decline, the Sensex has closed down in five out of the last six trading sessions. Disappointing third quarter numbers from Bank of Baroda and Jubilant Foodworks soured the mood further, with the two stocks too figuring among the big losers of the day.

The Sensex closed at 19751.19, down 30 points over the previous close, after touching a high of 19,902.60 earlier in the day. The Nifty slipped from the day's high of 6,038.50, to close at 5987.25, down 11.65 points over the previous close.

Brokers said investors adopted a cautious approach and refrained from enlarging their positions after reports of a fall in quarter earnings by Bank of India and IDFC Ltd.

They said the firming global trend failed to influence  the market sentiment as some stocks led by ONGC surrendered fresh ground on profit-booking after the recent upsurge.

Bank of Baroda lost 7.5 per cent to Rs 802.10 after the lender posted a 21.5 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 1,011.62 crore for the quarter ended December. Similarly, IDFC fell by 5.71 per cent to Rs 158.65 also on weak earnings.

Shares of ONGC dropped by 2.08 per cent to Rs 325.55 after rising 26.3 per cent in last few session. The two most index-heavy with their 16 per cent weight Reliance Industries and Infosys fell by 0.79 per cent to Rs 886.35 and 0.31 per cent to Rs 2,762.35, respectively.

In 30-BSE index components, 20 stocks declined led by PSU, Healthcare, Power, Refinery and metal sectors.

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher since morning trade, helped by financials (private). However, PSU banking space was completely on bear's radar after disappointing third quarter numbers on higher provisions.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 74.38 points to 19,855.57 while the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 19 points to 6,017.85. But the broader markets were listless.

Public sector lender Bank of Baroda crashed more than 7 percent as its third quarter (October-December) net profit fell nearly 22 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,012 crore, dented by higher provisions against bad loans.

Indian Bank tanked nearly 4 percent as its net profit dropped by 37 percent year-on-year to Rs 331 crore in the third quarter, impacted by jump in non-performing assets.

In result of which, country's largest lender State Bank of India slipped 1.5 percent ahead of earnings, which will be announced soon.

However, private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank outperformed PSU banks, rising 2.2 percent & 1.3 percent, respectively. Housing finance company HDFC advanced nearly 3 percent.

Commercial vehicle major Tata Motors topped the buying list, gaining 3.4 percent despite weak auto sales numbers for January.

Meanwhile, state-owned engineering major BHEL declined nearly 2 percent, continuing its fall since Friday, after disappointing numbers.

Benchmark indices were firm early Monday, but brokers said investors were cautious about valuations and awaiting some definite triggers before firming up their near term view.

The Sensex up 92 points at 19873 and the Nifty was up 28 points at 6027.

With the third quarter earnings season as good as over, the focus once again has shifted to liquidity. Broadly, analysts agree that the worst of earnings estimate downgrades may be behind. At the same time, the majority view is that earnings upgrades will take at least a couple of more quarters to materialize.

Shares of IFCI, Berger Paints, Ashok Leyland, UltraTech Cement and Tata Motors were up 2-4 percent.

Auto, banking and realty shares were in demand, while investors ignored shares from the power, healthcare and capital goods sectors.

Indian Bank shares were among the big losers in early trade, after reporting a 37 percent drop in net profit for the December quarter.

Opto Circuits, Essar Oil, Jet Airways and Ranbaxy were the other key.