Sensex tanks over 200 points, Nifty ends at 8171; Axis Bank dip

3:30 pm Market closing: The market ended with severe losses. The Sensex was down 213.68 points or 0.8 percent at 27039.76 and the Nifty slipped 61.70 points or 0.7 percent at 8171.20. About 1161 shares advanced, 1489 shares declined, and 186 shares were unchanged.

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, NTPC and Lupin were laggards while Cipla, Bharti, ONGC, Tata Motors and HUL.

3:15 pm Divestment: State-owned companies account for 71 percent of the Rs 17,000 crore that has been mopped up through equity issuances during the first half of the current financial year.

During April-September, government has raised Rs 12,600 crore through stake sale in four companies. This is also the highest amount raised through disinvestment in the first half of a fiscal in past seven years, according to market data.

The government, say market experts, has done "exceedingly well" in PSU stake sale, especially against the backdrop of volatile market conditions. "It has stretched itself to the maximum while offloading PSU equity," said one expert.

2:50 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks extended losses in late trade. The Sensex plunged 315.89 points or 1.16 percent to 26937.55 and the Nifty fell 96.35 points or 1.17 percent to 8136.55.

About 1020 shares have advanced, 1549 shares declined, and 181 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

2:40 pm Earnings: Amara Raja Batteries today posted 23 percent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 123 crore for the second quarter ended September 30.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 100 crore during the same period of previous fiscal.

Net sales of the company rose to Rs 1,158 crore for the second quarter as compared to Rs 1,060 crore during the same period of 2014-15, Amara Raja Batteries said in a statement.

"We are delighted to report the highest revenue and profit for a quarter. The capacities in various plants of the company are operating effectively and supporting the growth and expansion in market share," Amara Raja Batteries Vice Chairman & Managing Director Jayadev Galla said.

The company is geared up to expand the capacities further and introduce new products depending on market conditions, he added.

2:20 pm Indigo IPO: IndiGo's parent InterGlobe Aviation's Rs 3,018-crore initial public offer, the biggest in nearly three years, was over-subscribed by 1.06 times till afternoon on the second day of the issue today.

The IPO received bids for 3,20,48,760 shares against the total issue size of 3,01,22,088 shares, data available with the NSE till 1300 hrs showed. The quota reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was over-subscribed 3.59 times, sources said.

The portion reserved for retail investors saw 9 percent subscription and non-institutional investors category was subscribed 2 percent. InterGlobe Aviation has already raised Rs 832 crore from anchor investors by allotting shares at the upper price band of Rs 765 apiece. The offer has been fixed at Rs 700-765 per share.

2:00 pm Market Check
The market remained under selling pressure, dragged by banking & financials, pharma and infra stocks. The Sensex fell 239.39 points or 0.88 percent to 27014.05 and the Nifty slipped 70.05 points or 0.85 percent to 8162.85.

The market breadth was also weak as about 1438 shares declined against 1094 advancing shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Axis Bank tanked more than 7 percent today on asset quality concerns. Stressed assets in second quarter were at nearly Rs 3.900 crore, which is significantly higher than Q1.

ICICI Bank plunged 4 percent followed by SBI with over 2 percent loss. Both major lenders are yet to announce their earnings. Bank Nifty lost 2 percent.

1:55 pm Macro economy: Consumer price index (CPI), which rose 4.41 percent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in September, is likely to continue its uptrend. Former Reserve Bank Governor C Rangarajan says prices of pulses and vegetables are likely to rise even now. In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, the former PMEAC chairman said the better indicator - between consumer price inflation and wholesale price inflation - has been chosen to determine inflation. "Policy should be largely guided by the CPI," he said.

1:45 pm Boardroom: L&T Finance Holdings reported a net interest income (NII) growth of 19 percent and profit growth of 18 percent for the September quarter. It was the product strategy that helped the company keep its growth steady, says YM Deosthalee, CMD of the company. Speaking to CNBC-TV, Deosthalee says: ''We had good growth in loans, advances and disbursements.'' In the business-to-customer segment, the company focuses on two-wheelers, micro finance and housing segment, he says, adding that the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) lending has helped significantly in the infrastructure sector.

1:30 pm FM on India growth: With India jumping 12 positions to rank 130th in the world on ease of doing business, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the improvement in ranking does not fully reflect the reforms initiated and the position will improve further next year. "I am grateful that the World Bank has recognised that India is now becoming an easier place to do business... I believe that this 12 point movement does not reflect the full pace of reforms that we have done," he said.

The market is under heavy selling pressure dragged sharply by banks, infra, oil & gas and pharma. The Sensex is down 271.85 points or 1 percent at 26981.59, and the Nifty slips 77.35 points or 0.9 percent at 8155.55. About 1060 shares have advanced, 1378 shares declined, and 176 shares are unchanged.

Bharti Airtel, Vedanta, Maruti, Tata Motors and HUL are top gainers while Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Dr Reddy's Labs and Lupin are major losers.

The Indian Nifty will make a new high by June next year, says Adrian Mowat, JP Morgan's chief Asian and emerging market equity strategist. But in the near-term, China, Taiwan and Korea are likely to do better than India, he says. This is because India has performed better than these countries and hence these countries have a better chance of rebounding, he explains. However, from a 3-5 year perspective, India continues to be the best structural bet among emerging markets, he told CNBC-TV18.

Oil prices barely moved in Asia today as investors awaited a report on US crude inventories and the end of a Federal Reserve policy meeting, hoping for clues about its plans for interest rates. Analysts expect the report by the US Energy Information Administration later today to show a rise in stockpiles for the week ending October 23. A build-up in the inventories is typically interpreted as a sign of softer demand in the world's top oil-consuming nation and a dampener on prices.

12:58 pm Market Update: The Sensex plunged 224.43 points or 0.82 percent to 27029.01 and the Nifty dropped 62.95 points or 0.76 percent to 8169.95.

About 1134 shares have advanced, 1276 shares declined, and 174 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

12:45 pm IPO opens: Fragrance maker S H Kelkar & Company has opened its public issue for subscription today.

The company raised Rs 150 crore from anchor investors, a day ahead of opening of its Rs 500-crore initial public offering for public subscription.

The company allotted shares to investors at a price of Rs 180 apiece.
Capital research, T Rowe Price, Neuberger Berman, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, Axis Mutual Fund and  Larsen & Toubro Mutual Fund are among the anchor investors that have been allotted shares, which is 30 percent of the issue size, according to merchant banking sources.

The price band is fixed at Rs 173-180 per equity share for IPO. The company's Rs 500-crore public issue will close on October 30.

12:30 pm Earnings: Sun TV Network's July-September quarter earnings matched analysts' expectations on all parameters barring operating profit margin on Wednesday. Profit shot up 41.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 218.4 crore due to no IPL franchise fees and lower depreciation during the quarter. Profit growth was limited due to higher tax cost

Revenue increased 11.6 percent to Rs 568 crore in quarter ended September 2015 compared to Rs 509 crore in year-ago period, the television broadcaster said. Advertising revenue grew by 15.8 percent to Rs 301.4 crore led by increase in advertising spend by FMCG and e-commerce players.

Pay channel revenue climbed 16.5 percent to Rs 57.6 crore and subscription revenue rose by 10 percent to Rs 197.4 crore compared to same quarter last year.

12:15 pm Fed rate hike?: The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and may struggle to convince skeptical investors it can tighten monetary policy before the end of the year in the face of US and global economic headwinds.

The world's most powerful central bank hasn't hiked rates in about a decade and markets see virtually no chance it will do so at the end of this week's two-day policy meeting. The Fed is scheduled to announce its rate decision at 2 pm ET (1800 GMT).

A spate of dismal data on the US and global economies has fueled a public row between Fed Chair Janet Yellen and fellow policymakers, igniting speculation the central bank will wait until 2016 to begin its "liftoff" from near-zero rates.

Forty-six economists polled by Reuters unanimously expect the Fed on Wednesday to keep its target rate for overnight lending between banks steady at 0 percent to 0.25 percent, as it has since 2008 when it embarked on an effort to nurse the economy back from a severe recession.

12:00 pm Market Check
The market extended losses in noon trade with the Sensex falling 159.93 points to 27093.51 and the Nifty down 40.10 points to 8192.80, weighed by banks, pharma and infrastructure stocks. Auto and FMCG stocks bucked trend.

Dr Reddy's Labs fell 2 percent ahead of earnings due on Thursday. The pharma major's earnings are expected to be moderate during July-September quarter. Profit is seen rising 12 percent year-on-year to Rs 642.86 crore, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll. Bottomline may be supported by operational numbers and revenue growth but tax cost may hurt.

SBI and ICICI Bank fell 2-3 percent following weak asset quality by Axis Bank. Axis Bank topped selling list on Sensex, down 6 percent.

Maruti Suzuki extended upside, rising 1 percent after company reporting better operating profit in Q2FY16. Bharti Airtel gained nearly 2 percent as Eaton Towers acquired 2,500 towers from the company in 4 African countries.

11:55 am Bihar polls turn out:Around nine percent turnout was recorded in the first two hours of polling in 50 Assembly constituencies of six districts of Bihar on Wednesday.

"Around 9.12 percent turnout has been reported from 50 Assembly constituencies in the third phase. Polling is peaceful in the state as we have not received information of any untoward information so far," Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) R Lakshmanan told agency.

Polling is currently underway in six districts of Saran, Vaishali, Nalanda, Patna, Bhojpur and Buxar in the third phase. As per hourly EC bulletin, Saran recorded 10.29 percent turnout, Vaishali recorded 13.32 percent, Nalanda 8.80 percent, Patna 7.41 percent, Bhojpur 6.61 percent and Buxar 9.41 percent.

11:45 am Sebi: To ensure better compliance with corporate governance norms, Sebi may expand list of companies required to submit annual 'business responsibility report' to the market regulator, to the country's top 500 corporates.

Presently, the business responsibility reports (BRs) are mandatory for top 100-listed entities based on market capitalisation at BSE and NSE. "As part of corporate governance efforts we are now looking at expanding this universe say from top 100 to top 500 companies to submit business responsibility reports," Sebi chairman U K Sinha said here.

"We hope to take a decision in this regard very soon," he said at a Ficci conference on Indian capital markets. The BRs are submitted by the companies along with annual reports and indicate, among others, the number of complaints related to child labour, forced labour, involuntary labour and sexual harassment during a financial year.

11:30 am Fii view: The Indian Nifty will make a new high by June next year, says Adrian Mowat, JP Morgan's chief Asian and emerging market equity strategist. But in the near-term, China, Taiwan and Korea are likely to do better than India, he says. This is because India has performed better than these countries and hence these countries have a better chance of rebounding, he explains. However, from a 3-5 year perspective, India continues to be the best structural bet among emerging markets, he told CNBC-TV18.

The market continues to be under pressure as the Sensex is down 151.57 points or 0.6 percent at 27101.87. The Nifty is down 39.45 points or 0.5 percent at 8193.45. About 830 shares have advanced, 646 shares declined, and 74 shares are unchanged.

Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and GAIL are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Lupin, ONGC and Coal India.

Gold retained small overnight gains on Wednesday, but caution prevailed ahead of a Federal Reserve policy statement later in the session as investors waited for clues on the timing of a US rate hike. The US central bank is not expected to raise rates on Wednesday, but markets will be eyeing the statement for the Fed's take on the US and global economies, and whether it could hike rates at its next meeting in December.

10:58 am Market Update: The Sensex fell 138.62 points or 0.51 percent to 27114.82 and the Nifty declined 33.55 points or 0.41 percent to 8199.35.

About 1171 shares have advanced, 913 shares declined, and 133 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

10:45 am Earnings Poll: Ambuja Cements is expected to disappoint street with July-September quarter earnings due to poor realisation. Profit is likely to fall 23 percent year-on-year to Rs 185 crore and revenue is seen declining 1 percent to Rs 2,180 crore due to dip in realisation per tonne, according to analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Sales volumes are expected to grow 4-5 percent Y-o-Y to 4.9 million tonnes, driven by low base in year-ago period. Ambuja Cements has no presence in South, so no benefit from price hikes may be seen.

Operating profit during the quarter may decline 16 percent to Rs 332 crore and margin may contract 270 basis points to 15.2 percent compared to same quarter last fiscal, impacted by poor realisation.

10:30 am FII View: The Indian Nifty will go through its 52-week high, or all-time high, by June next year, says Adrian Mowat, JPMorgan's chief Asian and emerging market equity strategist. But in the near-term, China, Taiwan and Korea are likely to do better than India, he says.

This is because India has performed better than these countries and hence these countries have a better chance of rebounding, he explains. However, from a 3-5 year perspective, India continues to be the best structural bet among emerging markets, he told CNBC-TV18.

10:15 am Gold Update: Gold retained small overnight gains today, but caution prevailed ahead of a Federal Reserve policy statement later in the session as investors waited for clues on the timing of a US rate hike.

Spot gold was little changed at USD 1,167.05 an ounce. The metal had risen 0.3 percent in the previous session, snapping a four-day losing streak.

Many traders chose to stick to the sidelines ahead of a Fed statement at 1800 GMT following a two-day policy meeting.

The US central bank is not expected to raise rates on Wednesday, but markets will be eyeing the statement for the Fed's take on the US and global economies, and whether it could hike rates at its next meeting in December.

10:00 am Market Check
Equity benchmarks continued to see selling pressure, dragged majorly by Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. The Sensex fell 117.06 points to 27136.38 and the Nifty declined 26.65 points to 8206.25.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.2-0.4 percent. The market breadth was positive as about 1002 shares advanced against 672 declining shares on the BSE.

Axis Bank plunged more than 5 percent after brokerage cut target price on the stock, though they maintained positive rating on stock. With retaining overweight rating, Barclays slashed target price to Rs 629 (from Rs 633) and reduced FY16/17 EPS by 4/3 percent mainly on back of increased credit costs.

Its rival ICICI Bank too lost more than 2 percent. However, ITC, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors and Maruti provided support, rising 0.2-1.2 percent.

9:55 am Greece woes:  Greece needs to have its biggest lenders recapitalised by the end of the year, EU Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said.

"We all agree to finalise bank recapitalisation by end of this year," Dombrovskis said after meeting Greece's central bank governor Yannis Stournaras.

Valdis Dombrovskis is in Athens for talks on reforms Greece needs to complete before a review which would unlock new aid for the country under an 86 billion euro bailout.

Under the deal, Greece is set to receive up to 25 billion euros of international money to recapitalise its banks, three of which are majority-owned by Greece's bank bailout fund HFSF.

9:30 am Market outlook: Although emerging market has fallen out of Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) favour, India has emerged as the most ''consensus buy trade right now,'' N Jayakumar, President, Prime Securities tells CNBC-TV18. However, Akash Prakash, Director and CEO, Amansa Capital, is not so hopeful. He feels the general optimistic mood is seeing a shift with respect to reforms. On the government's performance, he says the decision making by Prime Minister Office has been slow as there are a lot of things that the government could have done which do not require legislative change.

On the automobile sector, Rama Bijapurkar, Management and Market Research Consultant, says auto companies have not yet explored the scope of the Indian market and finds it ''ridiculous'' to hear the companies' board saying there is no consumer demand left. She is of the view that the auto companies need to have the resilience to understand the kind of demand they are unable to fulfill.

The market has once again opened in negative terrian dragged majorly by banks. The Sensex is down 137.67 points or 0.5 percent at 27115.77 and the Nifty slips 47.35 points or 0.6 percent at 8185.55. About 286 shares have advanced, 197 shares declined, and 40 shares are unchanged.

Axis Bank is down 7 percent while Vedanta, ICICI Bank, Lupin and ONGC are major losers in the Sensex. Gainers include GAIL, Maruti, Hindalco, SBI and HDFC.

The Indian rupee has opened lower. It has slipped 10 paise at 65.07 per dollar versus 64.97 Tuesday.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "We expect the rupee to depreciate today. We see the range for the rupee between 64.60-65.40/dollar."

The dollar held firm against a basket of currencies as traders await the Fed's decision on whether to raise interest rates by year-end amid evidence the US economy has slowed in recent weeks.

The Nasdaq composite erased early gains to close down 0.1 percent as Apple slipped more than half a percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.2 percent, weighed by IBM's 4 percent fall after the firm disclosed the SEC is conducting an investigation into its accounting treatment of certain transactions. The S&P 500 closed 0.3 percent lower, weighed by energy stocks amid declines in oil.

Asian markets have opened up mixed this morning on the back of a weak overnight handover. Nikkei though has bounced back on hopes of further stimulus from Bank of Japan as they await the outcome due later this week.

Weakness in crude continues with the Nymex Crude trading at a 2-month lows on the persistent global supply glut ahead of US data expected to show another increase in crude inventories.