Sensex plunges 255 pts, Nifty ends at 6001; banks crack

03:55 pm Vote on Account: As India heads to the much awaited general elections, investors will be closely watching Finance Minister P Chidambaram's announcements as he will seek Parliament approval for expenditure for the first quarter of FY15 on February 17. His vote on account will also project revenues and expenditure for the entire year. Aditya Narain, India Strategist, Citi expects vote on account to be a non event for the market. In an interview CNBC-TV18, he said, ''The current account deficit (CAD) and fiscal deficit numbers are already known. Even if he does beat the fiscal deficit number, it is coming at the expense of expenditure per se, that is not necessarily market will like that much.'' Chidambaram has proposed a fiscal deficit of 4.2 percent for FY15.

03:45 Market closing: The market closed on lower levels as investors seem to be cautious ahead of Vote on Account to be presented by UPA II on Monday. The Sensex was down 255.14 points or 1.25 percent at 20193.35, and the Nifty slipped 82.90 points or 1.36 percent at 6001.10. About 921 shares have advanced, 1637 shares declined, and 151 shares are unchanged. Reeling under its dismal December quarter results, Cipla ended with a loss of 8 percent. Other losers in the Sensex were BHEL, Coal India, ONGC and Hindalco. TCS remained top gainer in the Sensex, followed by M&M, Sesa Sterlite and Sun Pharma.

03:35 pm Result: Hindalco Industries, the flagship company of Aditya Birla group, reported a 23 percent decline in third quarter (October-December) consolidated net profit. The company attributed fall in profitability to higher effective tax rate for the quarter. Net profit slipped (increased 6 percent quarter-on-quarter) to Rs 333.98 crore from Rs 433.52 crore while net sales increased 6 percent (15 percent sequentially) to Rs 7,201 crore compared to same quarter last year driven by higher volume. "Improved operating efficiencies cushioned the adverse impact of higher input cost and lower realisation," the company said in its filing.

03:25 pm Confident TCS: India's largest IT company, Tata Consultancy Services , is not only confident of beating Nasscom's FY15 guidance of a 13-15 percent growth by a substantial margin, it also says that FY15 will be better than FY14. N Chandrasekaran, MD & CEO of TCS says that the pick-up in discretionary spending was giving him the confidence to expect a good growth from FY15. He also adds that he would be able to easily beat the Nasscom projection of 13 percent growth for FY14. While TCS has been beating street estimates with its performance over the last few quarters, its confidence on FY15 and beating Nasscom's guidance reflects a pick-up in budgets and client spending. The stock is up 1.5 percent on the BSE.

03:15 pm  Foreign trade policy: The Commerce Ministry has initiated the process of formulating the country's Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) for the period of 2014-19 which will be unveiled by the new government, according to a senior official from the ministry.   "The Director General of Foreign Trade has started the consultation process for the FTP. Ministries including Textiles, MSME and Food Processing have already been consulted on the matter. By April, the FTP will be ready," the official said.   Other stakeholders such as industry chambers CII, Ficci, Assocham and export promotion councils will also be consulted for the policy.

03:05 pm Market check: The market is losing extensively as the Nifty breaches 6000-level. The Nifty is down 84.85 points or 1.39 percent at 5999.15, while the Sensex is down 261.25 points or 1.28 percent at 20187.24. About 845 shares have advanced, 1632 shares declined, and 146 shares are unchanged. Banking and infra stocks are dragging. Cipla is down 8 percent. Coal India, ONGC, Hindalco and BHEL are other losers in the Sensex.  TCS, M&M, Sun Pharma and Sesa Sterlite are top gainers in the Sensex.

2:55 pm Result poll: State-run oil & gas company ONGC will declare its third quarter (October-December) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect net profit to fall 5.2 percent to Rs 5,750 crore compared to previous quarter. Net sales may be flat at Rs 22,300 crore versus Rs 22,312 crore.

02:45pm Rate hike possible?
HSBC India said restructured loans remain sticky. "We may see continuation of high non-performing loans in medium-term," the firm added. HSBC expects Reserve Bank of India to take one more rate hike in CY14. CPI inflation eased to 8.8 percent in January from 9.9 percent in December due to lower vegetable prices. However, index of industrial production contracted by 0.6 percent in December as against a 1.3 percent decline in November, led by weaker growth in consumer durable and capital goods sector goods.

02:30pm Eros gains 4% post Q3 earnings
Eros International Media, which released recent movies like Jai Ho, R Rajkumar, Ram-Leela etc, reported a 41 percent growth year--on-year in consolidated net profit in the quarter ended December 2013. Higher revenues and slow rise in expenses boosted profitability of the company. Indian motion picture production and distribution company's net profit increased to Rs 92 crore from Rs 65.2 crore year-on-year. Consolidated total income grew 17 percent to Rs 432.7 crore while total expenses rose 6.5 percent to Rs 298.4 crore compared to a year-ago period. Finance cost nearly trebled to Rs 7.4 crore from Rs 2.6 crore and tax expenses more than doubled to Rs 37.4 crore from Rs 16.5 crore during the same period.

02:15pm JK Tyre talks to CNBC-TV18
New products and forays into new segments helped drive earnings during the December quarter, said Arun Kumar Bajoria, President, JK Tyres & Industries.  JK Tyre's consolidated revenues for the quarter stood at Rs 1869 crore. Operating profits rose 18 percent to Rs 189 crore, profit before tax was up 47 percent to Rs 85 crore and net profit was up 56 percent to Rs 59 crore. Bajoria said the company introduced 10 new tyre variants during the December quarter. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Bajoria said the company's exports 8-9 percent during the quarter, and that it was doubling production of bus and truck radials at its Chennai plant to 8 lakh. It was also raising production of car radials to 40 lakh, from 25 lakh at present. Bajoria said increased production at its Chennai plant would help grow exports and minimise volatility in earnings due to the uncertain macro environment back home. He said the company's Mexican arm had shown a healthy growth during the December quarter, and the numbers would have been even better but for a plant shutdown. He said the situation in international markets was weak, and that his company was trying to develop new markets and forge alliances with original equipment makers (OEMs). The company's Mexican arm has already entered into contracts with Chrysler and Nissan.

02:00pm The market extended its southward journey in afternoon trade with the Sensex losing over 200 points weighed down by banks, oil & gas and capital goods stocks. The Sensex dropped 200.58 points or 0.98 percent to 20247.91, and the Nifty fell 66.05 points or 1.09 percent to 6,017.95. About 862 shares have advanced, 1575 shares declined, and 139 shares are unchanged. R Sreesankar, head - institutional equities, Prabhudas Lilladher feels the Nifty is likely to be in the range of 5700-6400 going ahead. Cipla crashed more than 7.5 percent after its third quarter net profit fell 23 percent year-on-year to Rs 260.8 crore due to increased investment in R&D and a change in product mix. HDFC Bank, HDFC, ONGC (ahead of Q3 earnings), Dr Reddy's Labs, Coal India, Tata Power and BHEL plunged 2-3 percent. L&T, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India and Bharti Airtel dropped over a percent. Shares of TCS, Sun Pharma and M&M bucked the trend, rising over a percent followed by Tata Motors and Sesa Sterlite with 0.4-0.9 percent gain.

2:00 pm Market outlook: R Sreesankar, head - institutional equities, Prabhudas Lilladher says the Nifty is likely to be in the range of 5700-6400 going ahead. Sreesankar is overweight on IT and healthcare sectors and is bullish on companies with strong cash flows like Infosys , Wipro and ITC . He continues to like Axis Bank , ICICI Bank and have a neutral rating on financial services sector.

1:50 pm Results: Eros International Media , which released recent movies like Jai Ho, R Rajkumar, Ram Leela etc, reported a 41 percent growth year--on-year in consolidated net profit in the quarter ended December 2013. Higher revenues and slow rise in expenses boosted profitability of the company. The Indian motion picture production and distribution company's net profit increased to Rs 92 crore from Rs 65.2 crore year-on-year. Consolidated total income grew 17 percent to Rs 432.7 crore while total expenses rose 6.5 percent to Rs 298.4 crore compared to a year-ago period.

1:40 am Result impact: Shares of NCC plunged over 7 percent intraday on Thursday on its dismal December quarter earnings. The infrastructure company's consolidated net profit declined 61.58 percent to Rs 4.76 crore in Q3 of FY14. Nomura has reduced its target price to Rs 105 but maintained neutral rating on the stock. The brokerage feels that its earnings will be subdued over the next few quarters. Negative factors hampering the stock are low visibility on loan growth, pressure on spreads and increase of non-performing loans. Nomura says pick up in momentum is likely only after political uncertainty subsides.

1:30 am Buzzing: Shares of Eicher Motors rallied as much as 10.5 percent intraday on Thursday on strong operational performance during October-December quarter. Royal Enfield manufacturer's consolidated net profit grew 32.3 percent to Rs 96.2 crore compared to a year-ago period on healthy operational performance. Consolidated revenue increased marginally to Rs 1,679.5 crore from Rs 1,653 crore during the same period, but operating profit shot up 41 percent year-on-year to Rs 166.5 crore and margin expanded 290 basis points at 10 percent in the quarter ended December 2013. Siddhartha Lal, MD and CEO said the company will invest Rs 600 crore in Royal Enfield business for capacity expansion and new products.

The market is extending its losses in afternoon trade pulled down by losses in financial heavyweights among other frontline stocks. The Sensex is down 155.42 points at 20293.07, and the Nifty is down 51.55 points at 6032.45. About 836 shares have advanced, 1462 shares declined, and 115 shares are unchanged. Cipla , Coal India , ONGC , BHEL and Bharti Airtel are top losers in the Sensex. Among the gainers are Sesa Sterlite, Sun Pharma , M&M, Tata Motors and TCS . Meanwhile, Asian shares stepped back from three-week highs on Thursday, snapping a five-session winning streak that was underpinned by receding concerns about global growth prospects and reassurance over US monetary policy, reports Reuters. There was also an element of caution, with some investors restraining bullish instincts until they see more solid evidence of a strengthening global economy. European shares are seen slipping, with both Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE expected to fall as much as 0.3 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7 percent after having gained 4.5 percent in the previous five sessions. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.8 percent after a 4.6 percent rise in the past three days.

12:59pm Market Expert
The recent FII outflow from emerging markets (EMs) is a big concern, Sanjeev Prasad of Kotak Institutional Equities, told CNBC-TV18, adding that India is unlikely to remain unscathed. He also sees "a fair bit of outflows" from India if the general election outcome is not as per the market expectation. However, he does not expect market to fall to its August 2013 lows. "Based on our conversation with investors, India ranks pretty high in the EM pecking order. In fact, many of them have commented that India is probably the best EM at this point in time," he told the channel at the sidelines of a Kotak investor conference.

12:50pm Eicher Motors surges 10.5%
Shares of Eicher Motors rallied as much as 10.5 percent intraday on Thursday on strong operational performance during October-December quarter. Royal Enfield manufacturer's consolidated net profit grew 32.3 percent to Rs 96.2 crore compared to a year-ago period on healthy operational performance. Consolidated revenue increased marginally to Rs 1,679.5 crore from Rs 1,653 crore during the same period, but operating profit shot up 41 percent year-on-year to Rs 166.5 crore and margin expanded 290 basis points at 10 percent in the quarter ended December 2013. In press conference, Siddhartha Lal, MD and CEO said the company reported healthy operational performance in a weak environment.

12:40pm Sugar stocks sweeten
Sugar stocks are on buyers' radar today as the cabinet panel approved raw sugar export incentives of Rs 3333 a tonne for February-March. Shares of Balrampur Chini jumped 8 percent while Shree Renuka gained 3 percent intraday as Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) nod will boost overseas sales and help the cash-starved industry to pay arrears to sugarcane farmers.

12:30pm Gainers
Tata Motors gained 1.5 percent as its UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported 12 percent growth in January total retail sales of 39,106 units compared to a year-ago period. Jaguar's retail sales went up 21 percent to 7,000 units while Land Rover's sales grew 10 percent to 32,106 units during the same period. Sesa Sterlite climbed 1.44 percent after Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved residual stake sale in BALCO via auction. Government holds 49 percent stake in BALCO while the rest is held by Vedanta Resources. Sun Pharma rose nearly a percent ahead of Q3FY14 earnings. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect earnings to beat estimates on better-than-expected numbers from Israel subsidiary Taro. PAT is seen rising 50 percent to Rs 1,322 crore versus Rs 881 crore year-on-year.

12:15pm Losers
Financials stocks took the lead in today's fall. Housing finance company HDFC and top lender State Bank of India lost 1.8 percent each while ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank slipped 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. Shares of Cipla tanked 6 percent after the company reported a 23 percent degrowth in net profit due to weak operational performance. Pharmaceutical major has attributed the steep drop in December quarter net profit to increased investment in R&D and a change in product mix. ONGC dropped 2 percent ahead of third quarter earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect net profit to fall 5.2 percent to Rs 5,750 crore compared to a year-ago period. Net realisations are expected to decline at USD 43 a barrel as against USD 44 a barrel Q-o-Q on the back of higher subsidy burden. State-owned coal producer Coal India's third quarter net profit slipped 11.4 percent at Rs 3,894 crore compared to a year-ago period. The management says that third quarter profit was dented on lower e-auction price and higher cost. Its Q3 average e-auction sales realisation was at Rs 2,232/tonne. The stock plunged 3 percent.

12:00pm The market maintained its southward journey in noon trade as investors turned cautious after mixed economic data. Banks, FMCG, capital goods and oil & gas stocks are under pressure. The Sensex slipped 126.45 points to 20,322.04, and the Nifty declined 43.10 points to 6,040.90. Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 1288 to 796 on the BSE. CPI inflation eased to 8.8 percent in January from 9.9 percent in December due to lower vegetable prices. However, index of industrial production contracted by 0.6 percent in December as against a 1.3 percent decline in November, led by weaker growth in consumer durable and capital goods sector goods. Nomura expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to stay on hold at the April policy meeting as CPI inflation in the next few months will likely pan out better than the RBI's projection. "However, from April onwards we expect CPI inflation again to be higher than the RBI's expected trajectory leading to another 25 basis points hike in the repo rate to 8.25 percent by mid-2014," the report said.

11:50 am Boardroom: Gammon Infra could miss its revenue guidance of Rs 1000 crore for this financial year, the company's chairman and managing director KK Mohanty said in an interview to CNBC-TV18. He said Gammon could not start five projects because of lack of regulatory clearances. The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 20.4 crore for the December quarter, up from a loss of Rs 13 crore same period last year. Consolidated net sales for the qwuarter stood at Rs 134.7 crore, down from Rs 206 year-on-year. On the positive side, Mohanty said the company's performance has been healthy across the seven assets which are currently operational. This includes two annuity assets in Andhra Pradesh. The Mumbai-Nashik highway operated by Gammon has seen a marginal dip in traffic growth, Mohanty said. He sees the revenue rising to Rs 42 crore from Rs 35 crore last year.

11:40 am Buzzing: Shares of Cipla slumped 5 percent intraday on Thursday post its December quarter earnings announced after market hours on Wednesday. The pharmaceutical firm's third quarter (October-December) standalone net profit fell 23 percent year-on-year to Rs 260.8 crore on higher expenses and weak operational performance. The Mumbai-based healthcare firm has said increased investment in R&D and a change in product mix dented its net profit. Most brokerages are bearish on the stock. Religare has downgraded the stock with a revised target price of Rs 400. It has cut FY14-FY16 estimate earnings per share by 7-12 percent on lower margins and feels margin pressure will persist.

11:30 am Poll: State-run oil & gas company ONGC will declare its third quarter (October-December) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect net profit to fall 5.2 percent to Rs 5,750 crore compared to a year-ago period. Net sales may be flat at Rs 22,300 crore versus Rs 22,312 crore. Margin may expand to 52 percent versus 44.5 percent. Gross realisations are expected to be flat at USD 109 a barrel quarter-on-quarter.

The market is getting weak as investors seem to be cautious ahead of the Vote on Account on Monday. The Sensex is at 20329.08, down 120 points while the Nifty is at 6043.25, down 40.75 points. Sesa Strelite, DLF , Tata Motors , M&M and Sun Pharma are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Cipla, Bank of Baroda , Coal India and Jindal Steel . The Environment Ministry has given its nod for mining the controversial Mahan coal block in Madhya Pradesh. The ministry has accorded the stage II forestry clearance to Hindalco and Essar Power, joint claimants of the block. The block is estimated to have 150 million tonne of thermal coal reserves and will feed upcoming power plants of Essar Power and Hindalco Industries . Rupee is trading on positive sentiment following better-than-expected December industrial production growth and lower January CPI-based inflation rate. Gilts went up after January CPI inflation rate eased to a two-year low of 8.79 percent from 9.87 percent in December. Gold inched towards two-month high as traders are eyeing the USD-1300 mark. The Asian markets were trading weak snapping the four-day winning streak.

10:59am Changes in MSCI index
Index provider MSCI reclassified equities across a broad spectrum of Asian and emerging markets as part of its February semi-annual index review. India's Lupin, Power Grid Corporation of India and Zee Entertainment Enterprises would be deleted from MSCI standard indexes, the statement said.

10:50am Eicher Motors surges 9% post Q3 earnings
Eicher Motors' consolidated net profit jumped to Rs 96.2 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 72.7 crore in a year-ago period on strong operational performance. Revenue increased marginally to Rs 1,679.5 crore versus Rs 1,653 crore during the same period.(YoY). Consolidated EBITDA surged to Rs 166.5 crore from Rs 118 crore and operating profit margin expanded to 10 percent versus 7.1 percent (Y-o-Y).

10:40am Market Update
The Sensex declined 108.46 points to 20,340.03, and the Nifty lost 39.55 points to 6,044.45. About 693 shares have advanced, 1054 shares declined, and 101 shares are unchanged.

10:20am Market Expert
Gautam Shah of JM Financial said Nifty ending the ongoing bounce around 6100-6150 is quite high. "From this region the bears could make their presence felt and have another go at the 5950-6000 support zone. A close below this opens up another 5 percent on the downside," he added.

10:10am Cipla talks to CNBC-TV18
Pharmaceutical major  Cipla has attributed the steep drop in December quarter net profit to increased investment in R&D and a change in product mix. Cipla's third quarter net profit fell 23 percent year-on-year to Rs 260.8 crore, while quarterly revenues rose 11 percent to Rs 2281 crore. Rajesh Garg, global chief financial officer, Cipla, told CNBC-TV18 that operating profits were impacted in the absence of anti-depressant Escitalopram sales in the US, and higher sales of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, where profit margins are low. Cipla Medpro, formed as a result of the acquisition of South Africa-based Medpro last year, added Rs 500 crore to the topline and Rs 50 crore to operating profits during the quarter. Cipla had paid around Rs 2200 crore for Medpro, a leading provider of chronic medicines and over-the-counter drugs to public and private sectors. Garg said Cipla Medpro sales saw its highest sales in October and had the highest market share in the Central Nervous System drug segment. Garg said the company had a business strategy in place which would help maintain an annual revenue growth rate in the mid-teens and a 20 percent growth in operating profits. Contribution of exports has now increased to 58 percent of revenues, with Africa accounting for one-fourth of exports. The company is targeting a capital expenditure of Rs 400 crore in the coming financial year.

10:00am The market is witnessing selling pressure weighed down by banks, oil & gas and capital goods stocks. But the Nifty is trying to hold the 6050 level. The Sensex slipped 85.20 points to 20,363.29, and the Nifty declined 32.60 points to 6,051.40. About 609 shares have advanced, 856 shares declined, and 79 shares are unchanged. Cipla topped the selling list, falling nearly 5 percent post third quarter earnings. Mumbai-based healthcare firm's standalone net profit fell 23 percent year-on-year to Rs 260.8 crore on higher expenses and weak operational performance. Shares of HDFC, Reliance Industries , HDFC Bank , State Bank of India , ICICI Bank , Hindustan Unilever and L&T lost 0.5-1.5 percent. ONGC dropped over 1.5 percent ahead of Q3FY14 earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect the company's net profit to decline 5.2 percent sequentially to Rs 5,750 crore. However, Tata Motors gained 0.8 percent as its subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover's January total retail sales rose 12 percent year-on-year to 39,106 units. Sun Pharma rose 0.7 percent ahead of October-Deceber quarter earnings. Profit after tax may surge 50 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,322 crore, according to CNBC-TV18 poll.

9:50 am Results boardroom: Gammon Infra could miss its revenue guidance of Rs 1000 crore for this financial year, the company's chairman and managing director KK Mohanty said in an interview to CNBC-TV18. He said Gammon could not start five projects because of lack of regulatory clearances. The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 20.4 crore for the December quarter, up from a loss of Rs 13 crore same period last year. Consolidated net sales for the qwuarter stood at Rs 134.7 crore, down from Rs 206 year-on-year. On the positive side, Mohanty said the company's performance has been healthy across the seven assets which are currently operational. This includes two annuity assets in Andhra Pradesh. The Mumbai-Nashik highway operated by Gammon has seen a marginal dip in traffic growth, Mohanty said. He sees the revenue rising to Rs 42 crore from Rs 35 crore last year.

9:40 am FII view: Gautam Shah of JM Financial feels that the Nifty ending the ongoing bounce around 6100-6150 is quite high. From this region the bears could make their presence felt and have another go at the 5950-6000 support zone, he adds. Sakhti Siva of Credit Suisse says that for India, the downgrade to 2014 consensus EPS is much smaller, at -0.3 percet, with 38 companies having reported so far. ''We continue to suggest buying the dips, as MSCI Asia ex-Japan price-to-book is close to trough valuations, but we acknowledge the continued downtrend to 2014 consensus EPS,'' she elaborates.

9:30 am Macro economy data: Showing no sign of economic recovery, industrial output remained in the negative territory for the third month in a row by contracting by 0.6 percent in December, even as retail inflation eased to two-year low of 8.79 percent in January on account of fall in food prices. Worried over continued decline in Index of Industrial Production (IIP), mainly due to a fall in manufacturing, India Inc stepped up its demand for a rate cut by the Reserve Bank to boost growth. The decline in factory output, which began in October with IIP shrinking by 1.6 percent, continued the same trend in November with a 1.3 percent contraction, followed by 0.6 percent in December In December 2012, IIP had contracted by the same margin of 0.6 percent.

The market opened in green territory with the Nifty still struggling below 6100. The Sensex is up 27.72 points at 20476.21, and the Nifty is up 3.55 points at 6087.55. About 189 shares have advanced, 75 shares declined, and 16 shares are unchanged. Cipla, Coal India, ONGC, Bharti Airtel and HDFC are major laggards in the Sensex. Among the gainers are Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and ITC. The rupee opened marginally higher by 10 paise at 62 per dollar versus 62.10 Wednesday. The euro nursed losses early on Thursday having suffered a setback on dovish comments from a top European Central Bank official, while a surprisingly upbeat economic outlook from the Bank of England gave sterling a shot in the arm. Himanshu Arora of Religare said, "Rupee is expected to gain against dollar as IIP data released yesterday came in better than what most participants expected. Also, huge dollar inflows after banks re-opened following a strike may also underprop rupee." "Strengthening Indian equities is also expected to support rupee in short-term. The range for the day is seen between 61.80-62.37/USD," he added. The US markets took a breather with Procter & Gamble's reduced earnings outlook weighing on the Dow and the S&P little changed after its largest four-day rise in more than a year. Asian shares follow mixed US lead; Japanese investors booked profits following a four-day winning streak. From precious metals space, gold was trading steady near its three-month high on Thursday, close to breaking past USD 1,300 an ounce as technical momentum, short-covering and hopes for a measured tapering of US stimulus offset any negative impact from firmer equities.