Sensex snaps 8-day gains, falls 145 points; Tata Motors tanks

After a 1265-point rally in past eight consecutive sessions, the 30-share BSE Sensex shed 145.10 points on Friday as investors book some profits in oil & gas, banks, auto and infrastructure stocks.

The index closed at 26126.75 after falling as much as 264.54 points intraday while the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped below the 7800-mark, down 40.15 points to 7790.45.

Experts turned cautious especially post Thursday's record high. Hence, they see further profit booking in the market, at least in the beginning of next week followed by some consolidation.

''I suspect there is going to be a little bit of a pullback from here. It doesn't spoil the story; it is a little bit of a speed breaker in the road,'' said Dipen Sheth Head-Institutional Research HDFC Securities.

However, India is on a much better footing now compared to the last six months, he added.

For the week, the Sensex gained 1.9 percent and the Nifty rose 1.6 percent supported by IT, FMCG and healthcare while power, capital goods and banks saw profit booking.

Top commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors was the biggest loser in trade today, down 5.7 percent on media reports that luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover may reduce prices of its products sold in China.

India's third largest software services exporter Wipro disappointed the street with its first quarter earnings. It reported dollar revenue growth at 1.17 percent as against analysts' forecast of 1.44 percent and even that was lower than its closest peers Infosys (2 percent) and TCS (5.5 percent). The stock plunged 4.7 percent.

Its rival Infosys was down 0.77 percent but TCS continued its upside momentum for the sixth consecutive session especially after strong earnings on last Thursday. The stock was up 0.4 percent today to end at record closing high of 2,604.95 and gained 9.4 percent from last Friday.

Top lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were down 2 percent each followed by rival HDFC Bank with 0.8 percent. Oil & gas majors Reliance Industries and ONGC declined 1-2 percent.

Metals stocks lost shine with the Tata Steel and Sesa Sterlite falling 2 percent. Aluminium major Hindalco Industries plummeted 3 percent as Supreme Court has allowed Income Tax department to get CBI probe papers on company.

State-run power equipment maker BHEL tumbled 4 percent while private power producer Tata Power was down 2.5 percent. Engineering and construction major L&T declined 0.4 percent ahead of quarterly earnings on Monday.

However, defensives like healthcare and FMCG stocks bucked the trend. Hindustan Unilever rallied 3 percent ahead of first quarter earnings on Monday. Drug maker Sun Pharma topped the buying list, up 4 percent followed by Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs with 1 percent.

Housing finance company HDFC jumped 2.8 percent and cigarette major ITC gained 0.24 percent.

On the earnings front, Punjab National Bank was down 0.6 percent due to weak asset quality but its bottomline and net interest income beat street expectations. Indian Bank was down 3 percent on account of 35 percent fall in profits led by sharp decline in other income and asset quality weakened too.

UCO Bank dropped 6 percent after Q1 profit increased by 2 percent due to 30 percent fall in other income while Allahabad Bank gained over a percent on strong ( 23 percent ) jump in net interest income through profit slipped 73 percent on yearly basis.

LIC Housing Finance was down nearly 5 percent as it disappointed on profit front that grew 3.8 percent in Q1FY15 compared to 17 percent growth in Q4FY14.

Gujarat Pipavav, SKS Microfinance and Glenmark Pharma were up 4-8 percent while Biocon and Century Plyboards plunged 6-7 percent post earnings. TVS Motor was down for second day, falling 9.89 percent on top of 7 percent decline in previous session post lower-than-expected earnings in Q1 and Cairn dropped for second day too, down 4 percent.

Among others, Wockhardt shot up 14 percent as CNBC-TV18 reports quoting agencies say that the company denied plans to sell stake.

Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 1949 to 969 on the BSE.

03:50 pm Bond market
The government will sell Rs 14,000 crore debt today, including Rs 7,000 crore worth of new 10-year bond paper. Most traders expect the new paper to be issued at around 8.35 to 8.40 percent levels. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Ashutosh Khajuria, President - Treasury, Federal Bank shared his reading and outlook on the Indian bond market.

"So, from the bond traders particularly the PDs, who are permitted to short sell, if they are able to sell at around 8.36-8.37 percent or so they would like to buy from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at somewhere around maybe 8.40 or 8.40 percent plus. Then only I think it would give them a good profit margin," he said.

03:40 pm Market closing
After falling prey to profit booking, the market ended on a much lower note than on Thursday. The Sensex was down 145.10 points at 26126.75 and the Nifty fell 40.15 points at 7790.45. About 976 shares have advanced, 1940 shares declined, and 100 shares were unchanged.

Sun Pharma was up 4 percent while HUL, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp and Dr Reddy's Labs were up 1-2 percent. Tata Motors tanked 6 percent and Wipro slipped 5 percent. BHEL, Hindalco and Tata Power were laggards in the Sensex.

03:30 pm Sugar cane
The Uttar Pradesh government has issued notices to 52 sugar mills for not making payments to cane farmers and also lodged 60 FIRs against 43 sugar mills.

"As on July 15, 2014, the dues of the sugarcane growers of Uttar Pradesh for the current sugar season 2013-14 are Rs 6,737 crore," Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs Raosaheb Patil Danve said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

Sugar marketing year runs from October to September. The cane price arrears are mainly on account of low realisation from sale of sugar, he added.

03:20 pm Buyout?
China's Citi Telecom is looking to buyout Reliance Communication's undersea cable subsidiary. CNBC-TV18 learns from sources that the deal, which is in advanced talks to buy for Global Cloud Xchange (formerly Reliance Globalcom), may fetch the Anil Ambani-led telecom company a whopping USD 1 billion. RCOM is likely to sell majority stake in Global Cloud Xchange to Citic, which should start the due diligence for the deal next week.

Citic Telecom, which provides cloud computing and telecom services, is looking to buy only the undersea business of Global Cloud Xchnage and not its voice business. Sources say global private equity players, including Carlyle and Temasek Envisage had shown interest.

03:10 pm Gold imports slip
Gold imports in 2013-14 stood at 638 tonnes, a decline of 25 percent over the previous fiscal, Parliament was informed today. The quantity of gold imported in 2012-13 was 845 tonnes and in 2011-12 it was 919 tonnes, Minister of State for Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

In the April-June period of current fiscal, the quantum of gold import stood at 221 tonnes while in value terms it was Rs 54,792 crore, she said.

The value of gold imported was at Rs 2.28 lakh crore during 2011-12, Rs 2.45 lakh crore in 2012-13 and Rs 1.60 lakh scrore in 2013-14.

02:55 pm Government Divestment plan
The new government plans a public listing of steel company Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and will sell a 10 percent stake this fiscal year ending March, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.

The government is also planning to sell a 5 percent stake in state-run Steel Authority of India this fiscal year to shore up its finances.

The new government has also approved the sale of its residual stakes in Hindustan Zinc Ltd and Bharat Aluminium Co (BALCO), Finance Minister said.

The government owns 29.5 percent of Hindustan Zinc and 49 percent of BALCO. Both the companies are majority owned by London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc .

In October, mining conglomerate Vedanta won the backing of its shareholders to offer up to USD 3.48 billion to buy the government's stakes in the companies.

The new government also plans to sell a 10 percent stake in Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd this fiscal year ending March, reports Reuters.

02:40pm UCO Bank plunges
UCO Bank's first quarter (April-June) net profit increased marginally to Rs 520 crore from Rs 511 crore year-on-year due to significant fall in other income.

Net interest income grew 8.7 percent on yearly basis to Rs 1,483 crore from Rs 1,364 crore while other income (non-interest income) fell to Rs 322.23 crore from Rs 461.9 crore year-on-year.

Asset quality was stable during the quarter with the gross NPA declined sequentially to 4.31 percent from 4.32 percent and net NPA falling to 2.33 percent from 2.38 percent.

Provisions dropped to Rs 517 crore from Rs 905 crore Q-o-Q and Rs 741 crore Y-o-Y that helped the bottomline. The stock declined over 5 percent.

02:30pm Colgate in News
Personal care products manufacturer Colgate reported a net profit at Rs 135 crore in April-June quarter, increased from adjusted net profit of Rs 125 crore in same quarter last year.

Total income jumped to Rs 957 crore from Rs 859.7 crore while advertising spends moved up to Rs 180 crore from Rs 165 crore year-on-year.

Operating profit grew 17.6 percent on yearly basis to Rs 194 crore and margin expanded 100 basis points to 20.2 percent in the quarter gone by.

02:20pm Strides Arcolab post strong earnings
Pharmaceutical firm Strides Arcolab's first quarter (April-June) net profit shot up significantly to Rs 26.8 crore from Rs 2.1 crore on yearly basis on account of other income and better operational performance.

Net sales grew 24.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 188 crore and other income jumped 45 percent to Rs 25.5 crore in the quarter ended June 2014.

Operating profit expanded 3-fold to Rs 19 crore in first quarter compared to Rs 6 crore in same quarter last year and margin rose 600 basis points to 10.3 percent in June quarter. The stock gained over a percent.

02:10pm ICICI Bank in focus
ICICI Bank is expected to raise at least Rs 500 crore (USD 83.24 million) via 10-year bonds intended towards infrastructure lending at a semi-annual coupon of 9.15 percent, two sources said on Friday.

The deal could be expanded via a greenshoe option, the two sources said.

The bond sale comes on the heels of the Reserve Bank of India's announcement last week allowing bonds sold by lenders to be exempt from mandatory reserve requirements if the proceeds are lent to the infrastructure sector, reports Reuters.

02:00pm Equity benchmarks contined to see selling pressure in afternoon trade today with the Sensex losing 176.04 points to 26095.81 and the Nifty declining 52.40 points to 7778.20 while the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices dropped 1.5-2 percent.

About 774 shares have advanced, 2004 shares declined, and 98 shares are unchanged.

Shares of Wipro, DLF, Cairn India, BHEL, Jindal Steel, Hindalco Industries, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank tumbled 2-5 percent whereas Sun Pharma, HUL, HDFC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Hero Motocorp, Asian Paints and Lupin gained 1.5-3 percent.

Among midcaps, Bayer Crop Science, SKS Microfinance, Mindtree, Jubilant Foodworks and Prestige Estate gained 2.6-9.5 percent while TVS Motor, Jaypee Infra, Biocon, Indian Bank and Century Textiles tanked 5-9 percent.

1:50 pm Poll: Ashok Leyland , the second largest commercial vehicle maker in India, will announce its first quarter (April-June) earnings today. Analysts expect the company to report losses but that may be lowered compared to previous quarters due to cost control initiatives and lower discounts. Inventory levels and working capital reduced considerably in March quarter.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, net loss may halve to Rs 76 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 compared to loss of Rs 141.7 crore in same quarter last year. However, revenue is expected to increase by 2.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,420 crore due to improvement in volumes and operating profit (EBITDA) may jump 3.8 times on yearly basis to Rs 88.2 crore in the quarter gone by.

1:40 pm Boardroom: Biotechnology major Biocon reported revenue growth of around 3.5 percent and net profit rise of just 10 percent as against a CNBC-TV18 poll of 54.3 percent for the quarter ended June 30. According to the management, the flagship biopharma business of the company, which contributes close to 75 percent of the revenues, was impacted this quarter due to geopolitical tensions in Middle East.

The chairperson of the Bangalore-based company, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw says Middle East is a pretty important region for Biocon sales and so, the company is taking some course correction and hope that the quarters ahead will not be much affected like the quarter gone by.

1:30 pm Market outlook: India is on a much better footing now compared to the last six months, Dipen Sheth Head-Institutional Research HDFC Securities said. However, he suspects a mild pull back in the equity market going ahead. Sharing his sectoral and stock bets with CNBC-TV18, Sheth said that he see value in select public sector banks.

He recommends investors to bet on those public sector lenders where the management commentary is in-line with earnings. On the flipside, he is not so bullish on realty stocks given the valuations. He is positive on Pidilite Industries since the company has high-quality business model. He also likes OBC .

1:20 pm Buzzing: Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services slipped 6 percent intraday after it posted lower-than-expected April-June quarter earnings. Nomura maintains a neutral rating on the stock but slashed target by 14 percent to Rs 250 per share. It has also cut FY15/16 EPS by 6-10 percent.

The brokerage is disappointed by its asset quality as gross non-performing assets (NPA) rose by 1.8 percent while net profit was 25 percent lower-than-expected. ''PAT was driven primarily by a negative asset quality surprise that also led to the NII miss (due to interest reversals). Disbursement contraction continues and the weak monsoon is likely to keep assets under management (AUM) growth constrained and delay any asset quality recovery. Near-term cyclical headwinds outweigh the long-term rural growth opportunity,'' it says in a report.

The market is bogged down under selling pressure. The Sensex is down 212.51 points or 0.81 percent at 26059.34, and the Nifty is down 65.75 points or 0.84 percent at 7764.85.
About 730 shares have advanced, 1970 shares declined, and 90 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma is up 3 percent while HUL, HDFC, Dr Reddy's Labs and M&M are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are BHEL, Wipro, Hindalco, Reliance and Sesa Sterlite.

A huge relief for the debt mutual funds , the finance minister has said that new taxes will be applicable only post July 10 on debt mutual funds.

After gold futures fell to a five week low on weak Chinese demand this week, analysts told CNBC prices would remain depressed over the coming months.

On Thursday, the China Gold Association reported a 19 percent drop in gold demand from January to June. Demand for gold bars fell 62 percent during in the first six months of the year, while gold coin demand also fell 42 percent.

01:00pm Market Check
The Sensex dropped 193.33 points to 26078.52 and the Nifty fell 60.70 points to 7769.90.
About 790 shares have advanced, 1838 shares declined, and 111 shares are unchanged.

12:55pm HT Media crashes 7%
HT Media's consolidated net profit fell significantly to Rs 32.7 crore in first quarter (April-June) from Rs 47.5 crore in same quarter last year.

However, consolidated net sales grew marginally to Rs 540.5 crore from Rs 532.2 crore year-on-year.

12:50pm Interview
Public sector lender State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) reported a strong set of numbers in the first quarter , with a 14.5 percent growth in standalone net profit at Rs 214.6 crore.

Even the asset quality improved significantly during the quarter with the gross NPA falling to 3.60 percent from 4.18 percent Q-o-Q and 3.88 percent Y-o-Y while net NPA slipped to 2.14 percent from 2.76 percent Q-o-Q and 2.27 percent Y-o-Y.

Discussing the bank's quarterly earnings, the newly-appointed managing director, Jyoti Ghosh said timely restructuring improved the asset quality.

The bank has sold loans worth Rs 179 crore, including CDR and other restructuring, to asset reconstruction companies.

On merger talks, Ghosh said there has been no proposal to merge with SBI at this stage.

12:40pm LIC Housing Finance falls 2.5%
LIC Housing Finance missed street expectations with the first quarter (April-June) net profit rising 3.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 322 crore as against forecast of Rs 370 crore.

Total income from operations grew 16.8 percent to Rs 2,509.1 crore from Rs 2,149 crore during the same period.

12:30pm Import duty cut on gold unlikely in near term
India, the world's second-biggest gold consumer, does not have any current proposal to cut the record 10 percent import duty on gold, Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

India, desperate to trim a gaping current account deficit, took a slew of measures last year to curb demand for bullion, its second-biggest import after oil.

Besides the duty imposed by the finance ministry, the Reserve Bank of India also imposed the so-called 80-20 rule that requires a fifth of all bullion imports to be re-exported, reports Reuters.

12:20pm Finance Minister on Hindustan Zinc
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Lok Sabha speech said the government has has approved sale of residual stake in Hindustsan Zinc and BALCO.

It holds 29.54 percent stake in Hindustan Zinc and 49 percent in BALCO while Sesa Sterlite (owned by Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources) holds 64.92 percent in Hindustan Zinc that stock fell 3.4 percent.

12:10pm PNB earnings
Punjab National Bank (PNB) surpassed street expectations on profit and net interest income front but the asset quality worsened during April-June quarter of current financial year 2014-15. Net profit jumped 10.2 percent on yearly basis to Rs 1,405 crore on account of fall in provisions but decline in other income limited the profitability.

Asset quality of the bank weakened during the quarter with the gross non-performing assets (NPA) increasing 23 basis points sequentially (up 64 bps Y-o-Y) to 5.48 percent and net NPA rising 17 bps (up 4 bps Y-o-Y) to 3.02 percent in first quarter of current financial year 2014-15.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks extended losses in noon trade with the Sensex falling 149.37 points to 26122.48 and the Nifty declining 46.30 points to 7784.30 on account of profit booking in oil & gas, capital goods, metals and banks stocks. However, auto (select), healthcare and FMCG stocks outperformed.

The broader markets dropped 1-1.5 percent. About 802 shares have advanced, 1764 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged.

Major largecaps like ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Infosys, State Bank of India, ONGC and Tata Steel declined 1-2 percent. Sesa Sterlite and BHEL plunged 3 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.

Software services provider Wipro maintained its leading position in the selling list, down 5 percent on disappointment in dollar revenue growth and margin during April-June quarter.

However, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Hero Motocorp bucked the trend, up 1-3 percent.

12:00 pm Result: Punjab National Bank (PNB) surpassed street expectations on profit and net interest income front but the asset quality worsened during April-June quarter of current financial year 2014-15. Net profit jumped 10.2 percent on yearly basis to Rs 1,405 crore on account of fall in provisions but decline in other income limited the profitability.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts had expected profit at Rs 1,148 crore, down 10 percent and NII at Rs 4,230 crore, up 8.3 percent compared to same quarter last year.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew 12.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,380 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 while other income dropped 7.9 percent to Rs 1,236.44 crore from Rs 1,342.05 crore during the same period.

11:40 am Buzzing: Shares of SKS Microfinance jumped around 8 percent intraday riding high on its April-June quarter performance. The microfinance company reported a net profit at Rs 49.3 crore in the first quarter of FY15  over the year-ago period.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 4.96 crore during the same period last year. Net interest income grew by 41 percent at Rs 89 crore from Rs 63 crore last year, the company said in a release issued today.

During the period, the company reduced its cost of borrowing by 1 percent, to 12.6 percent, from 13.5 per cent in the same period last year.

It's portfolio, excluding Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, registered a 39 per cent year-on-year increase at Rs 2,783 crore in the April-June period, from Rs 2,003 crore last year. Loan disbursements grew by 40 per cent to Rs 1,160 crore in the period from Rs 830 crore.

11:30 am Market opinion: In a big boost for the insurance sector, the Cabinet has approved 49 percent foreign investment in insurance companies. This will be allowed through the FIPB route , ensuring management control in the hands of Indian promoters.

Welcoming the move, Prashant Sharma, CIO, Max Life Insurance said that foreign investors are looking to invest in insurance companies in India. Sandeep Batra, Executive Director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance added that insurance industry current requires nearly Rs 25,000 crore of capital. However, ICICI Prudential Life is adequately capitalized and doesn't need funds immediately, he said.

11:20 am Poll: Ashok Leyland , the second largest commercial vehicle maker in India, will announce its first quarter (April-June) earnings today. Analysts expect the company to report losses but that may be lowered compared to previous quarters due to cost control initiatives and lower discounts. Inventory levels and working capital reduced considerably in March quarter.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, net loss may halve to Rs 76 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 compared to loss of Rs 141.7 crore in same quarter last year. However, revenue is expected to increase by 2.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,420 crore due to improvement in volumes and operating profit (EBITDA) may jump 3.8 times on yearly basis to Rs 88.2 crore in the quarter gone by.

Profit booking seeps in the market after it hit record highs in yesterday's trade. The Sensex is down 121.47 points at 26150.38 and the Nifty is down 40 points at 7790.60. About 765 shares have advanced, 1525 shares declined, and 75 shares are unchanged.

HUL, Sun Pharma, HDFC, M&M and Maruti are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Wipro, BHEL, Hindalco, Tata Motors and Sesa Sterlite.

The rupee fell marginally by five paise to 60.17 against the US dollar in early trade today at
the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to appreciation of the American currency overseas amid lower opening in the domestic equity market.

Dealers attributed the domestic currency's fall to gains made by the dollar against other currencies overseas and fresh demand for the American unit from importers. The rupee had retreated from nearly two-week high and ended three paise lower at 60.12 against the Greenback in yesterday's trade.

10:55am Experts on FDI in insurance
In a big boost for the insurance sector, the Cabinet has approved 49 percent foreign investment in insurance companies. This will be allowed through the FIPB route , ensuring management control in the hands of Indian promoters.

Welcoming the move, Prashant Sharma, CIO, Max Life Insurance said that foreign investors are looking to invest in insurance companies in India.

Sandeep Batra, Executive Director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance added that insurance industry current requires nearly Rs 25,000 crore of capital. However, ICICI Prudential Life is adequately capitalized and doesn't need funds immediately, he said.

10:45am Just Dial earnings today
Just Dial, India's leading local search engine, will announce its first quarter earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, analysts expect profit after tax to rise 28 percent at Rs 37.4 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 28 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

Revenue is seen going up by 27.5 percent to Rs 133.3 crore from Rs 104.5 crore during the same period. Operating profit may grow to Rs 45.9 crore in the quarter ended June 2014 from Rs 36.26 crore in same quarter last year while margin may fall by 30 basis points year-on-year to 34.4 percent in first quarter but that may jump on sequential basis due to lower advertising spend.

10:35am Market Check
The market extended fall with the Sensex losing 102.66 points to 26169.19 and the Nifty declining 34.25 points to below 7800 level at 7796.35 led by ICICI Bank that fell over a percent.

About 749 shares have advanced, 1327 shares declined, and 72 shares are unchanged.

10:30am Glenmark in focus
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals retained its FY15 revenue growth guidance of 16-18 percent. It expects to report an operating profit of Rs 1500-1525 crore this year, and is penciling a 23 percent increase in R&D spending.

The company told analysts that it has received USD 5 million from Sanofi as licensing fee. It said its clinical trials for GBR 900 were progressing well.

GBR 900 is a first in class monoclonal antibody for the treatment of chronic pain targeting TrkA, the receptor of nerve growth factor.

The company also said its GBR 830 molecule to treat autoimmune diseases was showing good promise. Earlier this month, the company said that GBR 830 would be shortly entering human trials.

10:20am Market Expert
India is on a much better footing now compared to the last six months, Dipen Sheth Head-Institutional Research HDFC Securities said. However, he suspects a mild pull back in the equity market going ahead.

Sharing his sectoral and stock bets with CNBC-TV18, Sheth said that he see value in select public sector banks. He recommends investors to bet on those public sector lenders where the management commentary is in-line with earnings. On the flipside, he is not so bullish on realty stocks given the valuations.

10:10am Earnings Expectations
Punjab National Bank (PNB) will announce its first quarter (April-June) earnings today. Asset Quality and net interest margin of the public sector lender will be closely watched as in previous quarter (January-March) the key negatives were sharp sequential increase in stressed asset formation and 37 basis points sequential decline in net interest margin.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll estimates, profit after tax of the bank may fall 10 percent at Rs 1,148 crore compared to Rs 1,275 crore in same quarter last fiscal while analysts expect net interest income to increase 8.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,230 crore in the quarter ended June 2014.

10:00am Equity benchmarks declined marginally on profit-taking with the Sensex falling 64.38 points to 26207.47 and the Nifty slipping 22 points to 7808.60. The broader markets dropped too with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declining 02-0.4 percent.

About 796 shares have advanced, 991 shares declined, and 69 shares are unchanged.
 
Technology stocks remained under pressure with the Wipro falling 6 percent post reporting lower than expected margin and dollar revenue growth. Its rivals TCS and Wipro lost 0.6 percent each.

Capital goods majors Larsen & Toubro and BHEL declined over 0.7 percent while top private sector lender ICICI Bank lost 0.8 percent. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries slipped 1 percent and commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors dropped nearly 2 percent.

However, drug maker Sun Pharma topped the buying list, up nearly 3 percent followed by HDFC, M&M, Maruti Suzuki and Cipla with 1 percent.

9:50 am Poll: Punjab National Bank (PNB) will announce its first quarter (April-June) earnings today. Asset Quality and net interest margin of the public sector lender will be closely watched as in previous quarter (January-March) the key negatives were sharp sequential increase in stressed asset formation and 37 basis points sequential decline in net interest margin.

Stressed asset formation in Q4FY14 was Rs 7,500 crore as against Rs 3,300 crore in previous quarter, up 1.27 times and FY13 quarterly average of Rs 5,700 crore with gross non-performing assets rising 14 percent Q-o-Q. Total stressed assets were 13 percent of total loan book. Fresh restructuring in Q4FY14 was Rs 3,100 crore and pipeline of restructured loans stood at Rs 1200 crore.

Net interest margin crashed to the lowest since FY10 at 3.2 percent due to interest reversal of Rs 200 crore on account of high slippages of more than Rs 4,400 crore while FY14 NIM was 3.44 percent.

9:40 am Market outlook: Sandeep Shenoy of Anand Rathi Financial Services said the earnings so far have been on the expected lines, but jury's still out on the traction of the entire index pack. The earnings so far, especially in the auto and cement sectors, have been a mixed bag. Shenoy said that at the current level of 7900 (Nifty), he would neither be buyer nor a seller.

Vinod Sharma of HDFC Securities feels ''the current rally could continue as long as the rains are there''. He thinks the market won't go anywhere and ''it's time to get the cattle home.'' Sharma expects IT and pharma to do well and feels the Nifty could go as high as 7950 at the best.

9:30 am Big fall: Shares of Wipro slumped 8.5 percent intraday as its April-June quarter disappointed investors. Brokerages are also unimpressed with the IT service provider's performance as dollar revenues were up 1.16 percent (Q-o-Q) at USD 1740.2 million marginally below the estimates.

Morgan Stanley is underweight on the stock as it thinks Wipro is pricing in steep recovery in dollar revenue growth over the next two years, despite current growth still below that of peers and the industry. The brokerage expects dollar revenue growth to stay below peers' at 10 percent/12.5 percent year-on-year in FY15/FY16.

"Wipro's revenue growth has been weak all round and cannot be explained by any specific vertical or service line over the past three years. Management had indicated that it would revert to industry growth by the March 2014 quarter; however, that did not materialise," it says in a note.

After closing at record highs, the market has opened on a flat note Friday. The Sensex is down 17.67 points at 26254.18, and the Nifty is down 2.40 points at 7828.20. About 391 shares have advanced, 143 shares declined, and 20 shares are unchanged.

Tata Steel, HDFC, GAIL, Hindalco and BHEL are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the big losers are Wipro, Dr Reddy's Labs, SBI, ICICI and Sesa Sterlite.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 60.11 per dollar versus 60.12 Thursday. The dollar held gains versus the yen and the euro stood steady after rebounding from an eight-month low against the greenback as data painted a brighter picture of the US and eurozone economies.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "Taking cues from the strong equity market sentiment, we expect rupee to appreciate though the dollar demand from oil importers will keep rupee under pressure. Range for the day is seen between 59.60-60.50/dollar."

Wall Street ended flat amidst a mixed set of cues from both earnings as well as economic data. Europe closes with decent gains driven by solid flash PMI readings. Meanwhile, IMF has cut its global growth forecast to 3.4 percent from 3.7 percent after cutting its forecast for US growth to 1.7 percent.

Crude prices fell, as unseasonably weak demand and plentiful supplies of crude and refined products offset strong Chinese factory data that could boost energy demand
Gold prices slipped below USD 1300an ounce, looks  headed for a second straight week of losses.