Sensex falls 245 points, Nifty ends at 8750; auto, banks drag

03:10pm Market Closing: The market saw steep fall in late trade with the Sensex losing 244.75 points to 28799.69 and the Nifty declining 83.80 points to 8750.20. Even the broader markets snapped 10-day winning streak, falling more than half a percent. About 1376 shares have advanced, 1492 shares declined, and 151 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Shares of Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, BHEL, Hero Motocorp, Wipro and Bharti Airtel plunged 2-4 percent. However, ITC, SBI, ONGC and Sesa Sterlite bucked the trend, rising 1-2.5 percent.

03:10pm Info Edge rallies: Info Edge has corrected in the past few months. UBS thinks its risk-reward profile is attractive at the current level.

The brokerage upgraded the stock from neutral to buy and raised its price target from Rs 950 to Rs 1,000.

Info Edge is a major company in the online classifieds market. Naukri, India's No 1 job portal, remains its key revenue and earnings source. The company has been investing aggressively in 99acres, given big upside potential in online real estate classifieds. Zomato, its food portal, is also doing well.

Amid increasing competition in the online food discovery and ordering segment in India, Zomato is set to launch its food ordering application for restaurants in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, as per media articles.

UBS said this is a positive for Info Edge, as it indicates a robust monetisation strategy on top of strong business growth. It expects proceeds from the recent round of capital-raising to fund the required expenditure.

03:00pm Market Update: The market extended losses in late trade with the Nifty breaking 8750 level, dragged by technology, private banks, capital goods, pharma and auto stocks.

The Sensex is down 236.93 points or 0.82 percent at 28807.51, and the Nifty down 80.25 points or 0.91 percent at 8753.75. About 1398 shares have advanced, 1409 shares declined, and 155 shares are unchanged on the BSE. 

02:45pm Oil companies in focus: Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the government has paid Rs 5,300 crore to oil companies as subsidy for the January-March quarter of financial year 2014-15.

The government exempted upstream companies from sharing Q4 under-recovery burden and will also exempt upstream oil companies from any burden sharing for LPG under direct benefit transfer for FY16, said sources.

However, CNBC-TV18 also learnt that upstream companies may have to share only kerosene under-recovery burden in FY16.

According to sources, LPG subsidy for FY16 is likely to be Rs 22,000 crore and the government does not expect too much burden on kerosene under-recovery in FY16.

Shares of ONGC gained 3.5 percent and Oil India rallied nearly 7 percent.

02:20pm Europe Update: European shares hit a 14-year high today before a meeting at which the European Central Bank is expected to affirm its loose policy stance, as weak data from China raised prospects of monetary easing there too.

Financial markets remain driven by policy action from the world's major central banks, with Tuesday's softer US retail sales supporting the view that the Federal Reserve will not rush to raise interest rates in June.

The ECB is almost certain to keep rates unchanged at record lows at its meeting later in the day, and also tipped to quash talk it might scale down sooner than planned the 1 trillion euro quantitative easing scheme it launched last month.

A banking source told Reuters on Tuesday the ECB raised the cap on emergency liquidity assistance that Greek banks can draw from the country's central bank, taking some of the heat off Athens.

Data earlier in the day showed growth in China's economy slowed to a six-year low of 7 percent in the first quarter. That was better than many feared after a woeful trade performance in March.

But both retail sales and industrial output missed forecasts, with the latter expanding at the slowest pace since the global financial crisis in 2008, intensifying Beijing's struggle to find the right policy mix to shore up activity.

02:00pm Market Check
The market is flat, as the Sensex is down 8.44 points at 29036.00. The Nifty is down 3.65 points at 8830.35. About 1561 shares have advanced, 1173 shares declined and 149 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite, SBI, Tata Power, ITC and Maruti Suzuki are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are M&M, BHEL, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel.

India needs to take many policy measures over a period of time, including moving towards full capital account convertibility, to become a leading global economy, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha has said.

"There are many policy measures and many things that we have to do over a period of time, if indeed India has to become a leading global economy... We have to make it possible for our capital markets to be broader, deeper and for that to happen, capital account convertibility also becomes important," Sinha told reporters.

Crude oil prices climbed in Asia for a fifth-straight trading day today following forecasts that US shale production could decline and help ease a global supply glut, analysts said.

The US Energy Information Administration said on Monday that output from the country’s seven shale regions, which has driven production to a record high, looked set to fall by 57,000 barrels per day in May.

Analysts said a decline should help ease the global crude oversupply, which led to a collapse in prices of more than 50 percent between June and January.

01:30pm BHEL in News: State-owned power equipment maker BHEL has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Russian company INTMA, to set up a gas-based power project in Kazakhstan. The MoU will further help BHEL in consolidating its presence in the CIS countries, the company said.

"The two parties will endeavour to assist each other in the implementation of this MoU. For us, this is a great opportunity to expand our footprint in the CIS region," BHEL Chairman and Managing Director B P Rao said.

Primarily engaged in manufacturing of power plant equipment like gas turbines, steam turbines, hydro turbines and boilers, BHEL has robust experience in construction of power plants in India and overseas, it said. BHEL is currently executing 23 major projects in 16 countries and has a presence in more than 75 countries.

01:00pm Market Check
Even after food prices fell to a three month low in March, the market seems to be unimpressed. The Sensex is down 43.42 points at 29001.02 and the Nifty is down 18.80 points at 8815.20. About 1493 shares have advanced, 1141 shares declined, and 152 shares are unchanged.

Wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation for March fell to a new low of -2.33 percent, the fourth successive month of deflating prices after the flat reading in November. The WPI reading for February was -2.06 percent. A CNBC-TV18 poll of economists had forecast March WPI at -2.07 percent. Economists say the latest number is proof that inflation is clearly trending lower, and this should provide the Reserve Bank of India room to cut rates.

Sesa Sterlite, SBI, Tata Power, ITC and ICICI Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are M&M, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Wipro and Infosys.

12:40pm IMF on India: International Monetary Fund (IMF) said India will overtake China as the fastest growing emerging economy in 2015-16 by clocking a growth rate of 7.5 percent on the back of recent policy initiatives, pick-up in investments and lower oil prices. "India's growth is expected to strengthen from 7.2 percent in 2014 to 7.5 percent in 2015. Growth will benefit from recent policy reforms, a consequent pick-up in investment, and lower oil prices," the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook.

China will witness a deceleration with growth rate sliding from 7.4 percent in 2014 to 6.8 percent in 2015 and 6.3 percent a year after, it added.

IMF's growth projection of India, however, is lower than the estimates of the Finance Ministry and the RBI. The Finance Ministry expects GDP growth to be 8-8.5 percent in 2015-16, while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has estimated it at 7.8 percent.

12:20pm Market Expert: The Indian equity market is likely to be rangebound for the upcoming days, said Andrew Holland of Ambit Capital.

"I am feeling less gloomy, but I am neutral at the moment. We are in this trading range on Nifty between 8,500 and 9,000. On the bull side, what would take us above 9,000 would be the land acquisition bill being passed through parliament. Otherwise, there is no real catalyst at the moment. The government still has to throw money into infrastructure to kick-start the economy and get a multiplier effect. Earnings are going to take time to catch up to the market price to earnings (P/E) of 16. This is where we trade. If global markets turn down, which doesn’t look likely at the moment, then that would take us below 8,500," he elaborated.

12:00pm Market Check
It is a big relief for the economy as Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation has come in at -2.33 percent in March against CNBC-TV18 poll of -2.07 percent. The market seems to be unnmoved with the Sensex down 61.06 points or 0.21 percent at 28983.38 and the Nifty falls 21.50 points at 8812.50. About 1440 shares have advanced, 1065 shares declined, and 166 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite, Tata Power, SBI, ITC, and ICICI Bank are top gainers while Bharti Airtel, M&M, Tata Motors , Coal India and Sun Pharma are among the laggards.

11:50am Market Update: The market extended losses in late morning trade with the Nifty breaking 8800, down 35 points at 8798.85. The Sensex fell 112.67 points to 28931.77. About 1410 shares have advanced, 1055 shares declined, and 160 shares are unchanged on the BSE. 

11:30am Market Expert: Tushar Mahajan, Hd-Listed Futures & Options, India, Nomura Financial Advisory & Sec believes the underlying trend for the market is positive and it will continue its uptrend at a slower pace but one could still see a small correction of 100-200 points on the Nifty in the next two-three days.

However, he thinks there is a good chance of Nifty dashing to 9000 levels in this series.

According to him, the upside for Bank Nifty too is capped around 19,400-19,300 levels .

11:00am Market Check
The market is under pressure with the Sensex down 77.73 points at 28966.71. The Nifty is down 24.95 points at 8809.05. About 1343 shares have advanced, 973 shares declined, and 153 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite, ICICI Bank, SBI, ITC and Maruti are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Bharti Airtel, M&M, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and Infosys.

The rupee recovered by 13 paise at 62.38 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday at Interbank Foreign Exchange after the Greenback weakened overseas due to disappointing American retail sales data.

Forex dealers said besides increased selling of the US dollar by exporters, a higher opening in the domestic equity market, supported the rupee.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were lost for direction on Wednesday after a reading on Chinese growth held up better than many had feared, only for data on retail sales and industrial output to disappoint.

China’s annual economic growth did slow to a six-year low of 7 percent in the first quarter, but there was relief it matched expectations. A poor trade performance in March had stirred talk growth might fall short of the psychologically important 7 percent level.

10:55am FII View: There has been a very important shift in leadership in the global equity market rally, is the word coming in from Jim O'Neill, former chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Most of the leadership is now coming from China and Europe. He does not see the US market leading the global rally this year. He is extremely bullish on China despite the slowdown in growth. He sees enormous economic changes there. As far as India goes, he believes the country has run out of steam. According to him, though there was nothing wrong with the Budget, there was no wow factor either. O'Neill says the Indian market is taking a pause after the massive rally seen over the last 18 months. For further growth, it needs a new catalyst.

He says India will take a back seat compared to global markets like China.

10:25am Gujarat Gas in News: Gujarat Gas said pursuant to the letter dated April 01 from PNGRB, received by GGCL on April 10 granting GGCL an authorisation to lay, build, operate, or expand city or local natural gas distribution network (CGD network) for the geographical area of Thane, GGCL has accepted the authorisation in schedule D of the PNGRB vide a confirmation letter to PNGRB, on April 13.

As per the provisions of the PNGRB (exclusivity for city or local natural gas distribution networks) Regulation, 2008, GGCL has been granted 300 months of infrastructure exclusivity i.e. valid up to April 01, 2040 and 60 months of marketing exclusivity valid up to April 01, 2020 for the CGD network.

Further, the authorised area for laying, building, operating or expanding the proposed CGD network will cover a geographical area of 8,683 square kilometer, said the company in its filing to the exchange.

10:00am Market Check
The market declined marginally on profit booking in healthcare, technology and telecom stocks. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC also saw selling pressure. However, banks stocks bucked the trend.

The Sensex dropped 60.98 points to 28983.46 and the Nifty fell 20.10 points to 8813.90 while the broader markets continued their outperformance, up half a percent. About 1260 shares have advanced, 727 shares declined, and 137 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Tata Motors slipped 1.8 percent post JLR retail sales growth of 6 percent in March, which was slightly lower than street estimates. Jaguar volumes were down 20 percent year-on-year while Land Rover volumes jumped 13 percent Y-o-Y. China volumes were the biggest disappointment, at 7000 units, down 34 percent Y-o-Y.

ACC gained 1.5 percent as Q1 results positively surprised at the EBITDA level. Deutsche Bank said Q1 was off to a robust start and they raised CY15E EPS by 5 percent and increased target price to Rs 1630/share. However, Goldman Sachs maintained a sell and said volume decline in Q1CY15 results reinforced its view that ACC will continue to lose market share as it has not added capacity.

09:50am Kotak on DCB: Kotak Securities has a buy rating on DCB Bank. Deferred tax benefit and write-back in provisions for bad assets pushed the private sector lender's net profit up 61 percent to Rs 63 crore in fourth quarter of FY15. Its net interest income was up 30 percent to Rs 130 crore on yearly basis. Kotak says that more clarification is required on the negative tax rate as it was expected to move closer towards marginal tax rate this quarter.

"Loan growth has come well at 29 percent Y-o-Y though we need to see more granular movement of this growth. Prima facie, it appears to be a strong one. Margins have held well at similar levels of the previous quarter. We are probably seeing early signs of funding costs softening. Interest expense is running lower interest income which is comforting for a bank which has a relatively lower share of low cost deposits," it says in a report.

The brokerage is not too concerned on the operating expenses growth or the slow recovery in cost income ratio as the bank is investing a large part of this growth.

Overall provisions rose to Rs 14 crore from Rs 11 crore while gross non-performing assets ratio improved to 1.76 percent from 1.87 percent last year. DCB Bank sold Rs 62 crore of bad assets to an asset reconstruction company (ARC) in Q4.

09:30am FII on EMs: Adrian Mowat, JP Morgan said the brokerage was upgrading its end-2015 MSCI Emerging Market target to 1,200 from 1,100.

“Price momentum combined with bearish positioning is a powerful technical support. A more dovish Fed provides relief to weaker EM currencies, notably real, ruble & Turkish lira,” he added.

According to him, reform continues in India & Indonesia. “Our bull case for EM from last month's report may be playing out. We see the asset class as a 'Buy',” said Mowat.

09:15am Market Check
The market has opened on a flat note with the Sensex falling 10.45 points to 29033.99 and the Nifty declining 12.50 points to 8821.50.

About 634 shares have advanced, 230 shares declined, and 105 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

M&M, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, HDFC, HCL Technologies and Idea Cellular fell 1-1.8 percent whereas TCS rallied 2 percent ahead of fourth quarter earnings on Thursday evening. ITC, ICICI Bank, SBI, ONGC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and UltraTech Cement climbed 0.5-1.5 percent.

The Indian rupee opened higher today, up 14 paise at 62.37 per dollar versus 62.51 Monday.

The dollar slipped as investors took advantage of weaker-than-expected US retail sales to lighten hefty positions on the greenback that had built up due to expectations of an impending rate increase.

Himanshu Arora of Religare said, "Rupee is expected to strengthen today against the dollar amid a wave of optimism as IMF, for the 1st time projected India's growth at a better pace than China and its BRIC peers. Lower oil prices, along with government's recent initiatives towards reforms have been cited as primary factors for the same."

He further added, "The IIP data may continue underpinning rupee in the short-term. Range for the rupee is seen between 62.32-62.70/dollar."

Today all eyes will be on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for the month of March which according to a CNBC-TV18 poll is expected to come in at minus 2.07 percent due to a favourable base impact. However, one should also watch out for manufacturing inflation which is expected to be negative and hence the core inflation is also expected to be negative.

The World Bank on Tuesday predicted a GDP growth rate of 8 percent for India by 2017 and said that a strong expansion in the country, coupled with favourable oil prices, would accelerate the economic growth in South Asia.

Globally, stocks in the US closed mixed as investors digested the first of the major earnings reports and moderate economic data. Sronger oil & JP Morgan Chase earnings boosted the Dow Jones and the S&P 500.