Sensex fall 287 points, Nifty ends below 10,500; PSU Bank down 2.5%

3:30 pm Market Closing: The benchmark indices ended off day's low but remained under pressure during the day.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 286.71 points at 34,010.76 and the 50-share NSE Nifty was down 94.30 points at 10,451.20.

3:15 pm Market volatile: The benchmark indices were volatile in the final hour of trade with Sensex trading around 34, 000 and Nifty trading below 10,450.

2:50 pm SBI's exposure to PNB fraud case: SBI said that it has an exposure of USD 212 million (about Rs 1,360 crore) in respect to letter of undertaking issued by Punjab National Bank to Nirav Modi, but does not have any direct exposure to the absconding jewellery designer.

''We don't have any direct exposure  on Nirav Modi but we do have some exposure on Punjab National Bank,'' State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar told reporters here today.

He said the bank has lent USD 212 million to Modi on the basis of LoU issued by PNB.

Kumar, however, said the bank has some exposure to Gitanjali Gems, owned by Mehul Choksi, uncle of Nirav Modi.

2:35 pm market slips further: The Indian indices slipped further in the last hour trade with PSU bank index fell nearly 3 percent.

The Sensex was down 239.61 points at 34057.86, and the Nifty was down 77.20 points at 10468.30. About 603 shares have advanced, 2059 shares declined, and 163 shares are unchanged.

2:20 pm Market Check: The benchmark indices recovered from the low point of the day, while Nifty trading below 10500 level.

Ambuja Cements, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dr Reddys Labs, TCS, Infosys and Wipro are the top gainers on the indices, while top losers are SBI, Tata Steel, Yes Bank, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank, Eicher Motors and Tech Mahindra.

The Sensex was down 195.70 points at 34101.77, and the Nifty down 62.30 points at 10483.20.

2:10 pm Dilip Buildcon bags EPC project: Dilip Buildcon has been declared L-l bidder by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a new EPC Project under NHDP-IVB for Varanasi - Dagamagpur (Pkg-l) in the State of Uttar Pradesh worth Rs 670.50 crore.

2:01 pm PSU banks under pressure: PSU Bank index fell more than 2.5 percent as all stocks caught in bear trap after PNB detected transaction fraud worth USD 1.8 billion (Rs 11,300 crore).

PNB and Bank of Baroda were biggest losers, falling nearly 5 percent each.

Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Union Bank, Syndicate Bank, SBI, Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Andhra Bank, OBC and Allahabad Bank were down 1-3 percent.

1:50 pm Buzzing: Phoenix Mills shares gained 1 percent after global brokerage house CLSA has maintained its Buy call on Phoenix Mills with increased target price at Rs 722 from Rs 597 per share earlier.

Core mall portfolio is performing well as rentals rise 8-17 percent YoY, it said.

1:38 pm Europe Trade: European stocks opened higher, as investor confidence slowly returns after a sharp sell-off earlier in the month.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up around 0.5 percent shortly after the opening bell, with almost all sectors and major bourses in positive territory.

1:25 pm Rupee Trade: The rupee erased its early gains to trade down by 5 paise at 63.96 against the US currency in afternoon trade in line with losses in stock markets.

The rupee opened higher at 63.87 per dollar as against previous close of 63.91 at the inter-bank foreign exchange here.

It gained further to 63.81 on good bouts of dollar selling before quoting at 63.84 at 1030 hrs.

However, the rupee gave most of its gains in afternoon trade to quote at 63.96, down by 5 paise, as stock markets lost steam.

Meanwhile, the US dollar slipped to a three-year low against a basket of currencies in early Asian trade, headed for its biggest weekly loss in two years.

1:15 pm Asia Update: Asian equities ended mixed on the last day of the week, but trading in the region was subdued with many markets shut for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Gains on Wall Street provided an initial bounce to regional markets. Major US indexes extended their winning streak to five days on Thursday, with the Dow and S&P 500 breaking above their 50-day moving averages as bond yields hit fresh multiyear highs.

On the US data front, jobless claims increased by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 230,000, rebounding from a near 45-year low. The producer price index, meanwhile, rose 0.4 percent in January, in line with expectations.

1:01 pm 5G Roadmap: The Department of Telecom expects to finalise a roadmap for 5G services by June this year, a top official said.

"By June this year, I hope we will be able to unveil India's 5G roadmap," Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said at an Assocham event today.

Globally, standards around 5G are expected to be finalised this year.

The telecom ministry has set up a high-level committee to work on 5G roadmap so that India gets access to the next generation technology when it is available for commercial roll-out globally.

"In the 5G we are looking to do lot of pilots. So when 5G hits India will be at leading edge of technology as well as used cases," Sundararajan said.

She said that the DoT is in the process of framing new numbering scheme for SIMs that will be used for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.

12:50 pm Market Update: The market remained under pressure due to a correction in banking, financial and auto stocks. The Sensex was trading over 100 points lower. The Nifty Midcap index was down around a percent.

PSU Bank was the biggest loser among sectoral indices, falling 2 percent as all stocks are down. PNB, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank are prominent losers, down 2-5 percent.

Technology stocks like Infosys, TCS and HCL Technologies were trading with a percent gain.

12:37 pm Management Interview: NBCC did not have much to show in their Q3 report card as execution weakened and additional provisions also limited bottomline growth.

All large value projects that I have mentioned have started and some of the revenue has also come in Q3 but not to that extent. Q4 will be definitely far better. Initial three-four months,
the project is at the foundation stage, so subsequently the revenue will come, Anoop Kumar Mittal, Chairman of NBCC said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

The present order book is around Rs 80,000 crore and in next one year, I am expecting another Rs 30,000-40,000 crore orders and it will be from the self-revenue generation projects like redevelopment, he added.

12:25 pm Buzzing: Shares of Union Bank of India declined more than 3 percent intraday after the lender said it has an exposure of Rs 1,900 crore to the PNB fraud case.

"We wish to inform you that the bank through our foreign branches has been taking exposure with Punjab National Bank (PNB) as counterparty under various Letters of Undertakings (LoU) issued through authenticated SWIFT message," Union Bank of India said in late night filing to stock exchanges.

State-owned Punjab National Bank on February 14 said it has detected a Rs 11,400 crore scam where billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi allegedly acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking from a branch in Mumbai to secure overseas credit from other Indian lenders.

12:16 pm BHEL commissions project in Punjab: State-run power equipment maker BHEL said it has commissioned 18 megawatt (MW) Mukerian hydro-electric project (HEP) in Punjab.

"With the commissioning of the second 9 MW hydro generating unit, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has successfully commissioned the 18 MW Mukerian hydro-electric project (HEP) stage-II in Punjab," the company said in a regulatory filing.

Located on the Mukerian canal in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, the 18 MW Mukerian project is a surface powerhouse of Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL).

"The generation from Mukerian HEP stage-II will contribute significantly in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and will help in achieving a low carbon development path for the nation," the company added.

12:05 pm IPO: Infrastructure construction and management company HG Infra Engineering will open its initial public offering for subscription on February 26, with a price band of Rs 263-270 per share.

The anchor portion will be opened for a day prior to the issue open.

The IPO, which will close on February 28, consists of a fresh issue of up to Rs 300 crore and an offer for sale of up to 60 lakh equity shares.

HG Infra aims to raise Rs 462 crore through the issue at a price of Rs 270 per share.

The net proceeds of fresh issue would be utilised for purchasing capital equipment; repayment of debt and general corporate purposes.

11:55 am Asset Monetisation: Reliance Communications said the shareholders approved the monetisation of its assets.

The company announced the results of postal ballot on February 15, 2018,

whereby the shareholders approved the resolution to monetise the spectrum, towers, fiber, telecom infrastructure and other assets with overwhelming majority of 99.91 percent.

"RCom's asset monetisation is proceeding on fast track to close by March 2018, subject to lenders' consents and other regulatory approvals," the company said.

Post monetisation, the debt and liabilities of the company will reduce by around Rs 25,000 crore by prepayment of debts and transfer of Department of Telecommunications' Spectrum Installments.

11:51 am Market Update: The market extended losses late morning deals due to correction in banking & financials and auto stocks.

The Sensex is trading lower with 150 points loss and the Nifty Midcap index lost a percent.

Market breadth was largely in favour of declines as about three shares declined for every share rising.

All sectoral indices were trading in the red barring IT.

Technology stocks like Infosys, TCS and HCL Technologies were trading with a percent gain.

11:41 am Crude Oil Update: Oil prices edged higher as the dollar stood near a three-year low in subdued Asian trade, with many markets closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

US crude for March delivery was up 32 cents, or 0.52 percent, at USD 61.66 a barrel, after settling up 74 cents on Thursday. For the week, the contract has risen nearly 4 percent after losing nearly 10 percent last week.

Brent crude was up 32 cents, or 0.5 percent, at USD 64.65 after settling down 3 cents. Brent is up nearly 3 percent for the week after falling more than 8 percent last week.

11:31 am Fiscal Deficit: The IMF has welcomed the fiscal deficit target set by India in its annual budget and noted that the country is returning to the path of gradual fiscal consolidation.

"We can say we welcome the FY fiscal year 2019 budget targets and the target for a fiscal deficit of 3.3 per cent of GDP. Thus, returning to the path of gradual fiscal consolidation while keeping in mind the need to provide

support to the nascent economic recovery in India," Gerry Rice, IMF Director of Communications Department told reporters at his fortnightly news conference.

11:19 am Buzzing: Shares of Gitanjali Gems plunged another 20 percent in after the company came under scanner of various investigating agencies following Punjab National Bank's Rs 11,400-crore fraud detection.

The stock fell for the third straight session to hit 52-week low on both BSE and NSE.

Among other jewellery stocks, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri (TBZ) fell 2.52 percent to a low of Rs 110, Thangamayil Jewellery slumped 5 percent to Rs 514.45, Rajesh Exports fell nearly one percent to Rs 795.55.

PC Jeweller, which had slumped 19.50 percent intraday yesterday, was trading in the positive territory.

11:01 am PNB Fraud Case Update: The ED today issued summons for appearance to billionaire diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his business partner Mehul Choksi in connection with its money laundering probe in the Rs 11,400 crore alleged fraud in Punjab National Bank (PNB), officials said.

They said both Modi and Choksi were summoned under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and asked to depose within a week's time.

The notices were handed over to the directors of the firms of the two businessmen as they were not in the country.

While Modi runs the jewellery brand chain under his name, Choksi is the promoter of Gitanjali Gems.

The ED had registered a PMLA case against them and others based on a CBI FIR which was the result of a PNB complaint.

The ED yesterday carried out multiple raids on showrooms, workshops, offices and residences of Modi and Choksi and seized diamonds, jewellery and gold worth Rs 5,100 crore.

10:50 am Market Outlook: The Nifty had rallied 29 percent in previous year, but equity returns in 2018 will not be as good as 2017, Pratik Gupta, Head of Equities, Deutsche Bank India said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

He expects an upside of 10 percent on Nifty & Sensex by end of year. Deutsche sees Nifty at 11,500 levels and Sensex at 37,000 by December-end.

He is not worried for market due to recent correction of 5-6 percent driven largely by rising US bond yield, but that actually was good, he said.

The market will see such correction intermittently going ahead, he feels.

10:40 am Investment: Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) said it will invest up to Rs 176 crore in car and bicycle rental firm Zoomcar India and Zoomcar Inc, its US incorporated holding parent company.

Under the aegis of the deal, Mahindra Group would invest up to Rs 176 crore in Zoomcar India or Zoomcar Inc. which, when converted to common stock of Zoomcar Inc on a fully diluted basis, would constitute approximately 16 percent stake in Zoomcar Inc, the company said in a statement.

Mahindra said the company has been keen to invest in the shared mobility space as a part of its strategy to participate in sustainable mobility solutions.

10:20 am Buzzing: Shares of Punjab National Bank continued to reel under pressure for the third consecutive day after the detection of Rs 11,400-crore fraud, slipping over 3 percent intraday.

A fortnight after the scam was first reported, PNB Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Mehta yesterday said it has the capability to recover the dues from Modi and promised to take action against all wrongdoers.

As the Enforcement Directorate conducted multiple searches at establishments linked to Modi, seizing diamonds, jewellery and gold worth Rs 5,100 crore and sealing six properties, the finance ministry said recovery would be made and nobody would be spared.

10:05 am PNB fraud case Update: Union Bank of India clarified that it has nearly 17 percent exposure to the transaction fraud worth USD 1.8 billion (Rs 11,300 crore) detected by Punjab National Bank recently.

The bank said it through its foreign branches has been taking exposure with Punjab National Bank as counter party under various letters of undertakings (LoU) issued through authenticated SWIFT message.

The bank has also purchased some buyers' credit assets from Axis Bank through risk participation as a part of normal international business practice, it added.

"The outstanding exposure related to the incident is approximately USD 300 million and the bank is fully secured by LoU / LC / other documents," Union Bank said.

The bank is fully confident to receive the payment, it added.

9:55 am Market Update: Benchmark indices continued to trade higher in morning, with the Sensex rising 134.45 points to 34,431.92 and the Nifty up 41.70 points at 10,587.20.

About 1,144 shares advanced against 838 declining shares on the BSE.

Technology stocks continued to support the market as TCS, Infosys and HCL Technologies gained 2 percent each.

L&T, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and ITC gained 0.3-0.6 percent whereas HDFC, SBI, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, HUL and Eicher Motors were under pressure.

9:45 am PC Jeweller comments after PNB fraud case: As its shares got hammered in the aftermath of India's biggest bank fraud, PC Jeweller said the company does not use a letter of credit/letter of undertaking in business transactions and buys all diamonds from local markets on a cash basis only.

The BSE had sought clarifications from the company after its share prices slumped nearly 20 percent intraday to Rs 303 apiece in previous session.

The share ended the day at Rs 356.40, down 5.31 percent. "The company does not use the instruments of LUT/LOC (Letter of Undertakings/ Letter of Credit) etc in its business transactions.

"The company does not have any international transactions in diamonds. It procures all its diamonds from local markets on a cash basis only," PC Jeweller said in its regulatory filing.

It assured investors and shareholders that the fundamentals of the company remain strong and it continues to move ahead as per its laid down business plans.

9:35 am Buzzing: Share price of Indoco Remedies added 6.4 percent in morning as it has received certification for its Goa plant.

The company received European GMP certification from Regulatory Authority of Hungary for its manufacturing facility for non-sterile products (Goa-plant III).

The EU GMP certification will enable company to export medicinal products to all European countries. The granted GMP certification will also continue to support export of drug products to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and rest of the emerging territories as well, company said in release.

9:21 am Credit Suisse on Apollo Hospitals: Credit Suisse has upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral and raised target price to Rs 1,450 from Rs 1,075 per share.

Start-up losses at Navi Mumbai should reduce starting next quarter and stent pricing impact should moderate next year as company repriced insurance contracts, the research believes.

It feels EBITDA CAGR for FY18-20 should be strong at 20 percent versus 3 percent CAGR in past two years. FY18/19 EPS estimates cut 28/23 percent to factor in stent impact & higher AHLL losses.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended previous day's gains on last day of the week, with the Sensex, Nifty Bank and Midcap indices rising around 150 points each, tracking positive global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 149.65 points at 34,447.12 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 48.30 points to 10,593.80.

Punjab National Bank lost another 2 percent on top of 21 percent fall in previous two consecutive sessions. Gitanjali Gems tanked 19 percent on top of 20 percent correction in previous session.

Nifty Midcap as well as Nifty Bank indices rallied 150 points each.

Fortis Healthcare gained 4 percent as the Supreme Court allowed sale of pledged shares with lenders.

Indoco Remedies, Shriram EPC, Future Consumer, Apollo Hospitals, HOEC, KNR Construction, Vakrangee and 8K Miles Software were up 2-5 percent while Nalco was down 3 percent.