Sensex falls for sixth day; banks, Cipla decline

The Sensex fell on Thursday, to its lowest close in one-and-a-half months, led by a decline in banking stocks, after government estimates showed India's FY13 growth could be worse than expected, while Cipla fell after its October-December net profit missed estimates.

The Sensex provisionally fell 0.26 percent, while the Nifty ended down 0.31 percent.

Pharma major Cipla ended trade down 2.61 percent after dismal earnings led to a string of downgrades . CLSA has downgraded the stock to an "underperform" with target of Rs 415. The management has guided for growth rate to slow down as lexapro supplies dry up.

PSU major NTPC is down 2.72 percent. The USD 2.1 billion share auction in state-run power utility got fully covered on Thursday, provisional data from the Bombay Stock Exchange showed.

By 3:05 pm, the single-day auction had received bids for 840.65 million shares at an indicative weighted average price of Rs 145.46 per share.

IT stocks have had a good run today with TCS and Mahindra Satyam rising over 1 percent; Infosys moved up half a percent.

In the banking space, the HDFC duo were up but SBI, ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda fell 1-3.24 percent. Karnataka Bank fell 4.3 percent. Manappuram Finance was the noticiable loser in the non-banking space; the stock fell more than 10 percent.

Situation in the stock markets worsened, with benchmark indices falling nearly half a percent. While, Nifty languished below the 5950 mark, cuts in midcaps got deeper in the late afternoon trade. Strides Arcolab crashed 12.9 percent as investors cast doubt on media reports that the drug maker may sell its injectable-medicines unit Agila Specialties. NTPC was trading down 2.9 percent; its OFS was fully subscribed.

At 14.39 PM, the Sensex was down 87.03 points or 0.44% at 19552.69, and the Nifty was 27.20 points or 0.46% at 5932.00. In last four sessions, midcaps have lost 2.5 percent.
 
While Sterlite Industries lost 3.11 percent in trade so far, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, GAIL fell in the range of 2.27 percent to 2.87 percent.

IT stocks have had a good run today with TCS and Mahindra Satyam rising over 1 percent; Infosys moved up half a percent.

In the banking space, the HDFC duo were up but SBI, ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda fell 1-3.24 percent. Karnataka Bank fell 4.3 percent. Manappuram Finance was the noticiable loser in the non-banking space; the stock fell more than 10 percent.

Key equity benchmarks continued to trade flat, even as the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) pulled down India's GDP forecast for the current year to 5 percent versus market estimates of 5.5 percent.

At 12.39 hrs IST, the Sensex is down 59.41 points or 0.30% at 19580.31, and the Nifty down 21.70 points or 0.36% at 5937.50.

Asian shares and the euro paused from recent gains on Thursday, as investors awaited the European Central Bank's policy meeting later in the day and President Mario Draghi's view on euro zone growth prospects, optimistic that the worst may be over.

"Risk assets traded heavily as market participants exercise caution ahead of the ECB, particularly with Europe's political crisis hampering sentiment," said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG Markets. "There has been growing talk of currency wars lately and some are now saying the eurozone will soon consider a fixed rate for the single currency."

European markets are seen in tight ranges, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX would open flat to up 0.1 percent. A 0.1 percent drop in U.S. stock futures suggested a soft Wall Street start.

Back home Pharma major Cipla is down 2.22 percent after dismal earnings led to a string of downgrades . Clsa has downgraded the stock to an ''underperform'' with target of Rs 415. The management has guided for growth rate to slow down as lexapro supplies dry up.

PSU major NTPC is down 2.76 percent. The company has launched its OFS today. 

Top losers on Sensex: Sterlite Industries (3.29 percent), Bharti Airtel (2.01 percent) and Jindal Steel (1.52 percent)

IT company Tech Mahindra is up 2 percent after the company reported a much better-than-expected set of Q3 numbers. Dollar revenue grew by 10% to USD 329 million, aided by acquisitions like Hutchison and Comviva. Margins expanded to 21% against an expectation of a decline.

IT company Tech Mahindra is up 2 percent after the company reported a much better-than-expected set of Q3 numbers. Dollar revenue grew by 10% to USD 329 million, aided by acquisitions like Hutchison and Comviva. Margins expanded to 21% against an expectation of a decline.

Top Sensex gainers: HDFC (1.19 percent), Tata Motors (0.65 percent), Infosys (0.56 percent), HUL (0.55 percent) and TCS (0.49 percent)

Cement is in focus today with pack leaders ACC and Ambuja both lower ahead of earnings announcements. The street is expecting subdued performance from both companies. ACC sales may see a muted 7 percent growth year-on-year, margins may dip to 16 percent. For Ambuja Cements polls suggest sales may grow 14 percent sequentially to Rs 2470 crore and margins may dip to 21 percent from 24 percent.

The BSE benchmark Sensex regained from low point of the day to trade flat as key banking stocks pick up steam ahead of the FY13 GDP numbers. A CNBC-poll forecasts FY13 GDP at 5 percent.

HDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank were trading with marginal to 1 percent gains. Other stocks lending support to the benchmarks include Power Grid, JP Associates, Infosys, TCS, HUL, Tata Motors and Ranbaxy labs. Stelite, NTPC, Cipla, Bharti and Hero MotoCorp remained top losers.

At 11.08 AM, the Sensex was down 9.06 points at 19630.66, and the Nifty was down 2.55 points at 5956.65.

In the midcap segment, fall for Manappuram intensified after it posted worse-than-expected third quarter numbers. It was trading with a sharp cut of 11. 8 percent. Opto Circuit is another loser in  the segment, the stock lost 3 percent and had been falling since the beginning of the week.

Among the gainers, Hexaware, Purvankara, Prism Cement and Honeywell Automotive were the top movers trading with 2-4.5 percent gains.

In the absence of positive cues from the globe, Indian equity benchmarks opened muted, with industry heavyweights ITC, Reliance, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Larsen weighing on the indices. NTPC was trading with 1 percent gains. The company's offer for sale (OFS) opened today; the government has fixed the floor price at Rs 145 per share for 9.5% stake sale in NTPC.

Midcaps opened stable aided by IT companies like Hexaware Tech However, investors walloped Manappuram Finance after it posted dismal quartely numbers . The stock  fell 8 percent in the morning trade. Jubilant Foodworks continues to gain for the second session today. Speciality Restaurants too found takers and the stock was up 1.5 percent.

At 09.28 AM, the Sensex fell 45.39 points at 19594.33, and the Nifty lost 13.05 points to trade at 5946.15.

Tata Motors, HDFC and Mahindra and Mahindra were top gainers, but the upmove has been marginal.

ACC, Ambuja Cements, Aurobindo Pharma, Bombay Dyeing, Hathway Cable will be in focus today ahead of their quarterly numbers. Advance GDP estimates for 2012/13, which is scheduled today, will also be watched for any greenshoots in the economy after recent reform steps.