F&O Expiry: Sensex, Nifty end lower; Tata Motors dips 5% ahead of Q1 nos

The BSE Sensex closed at 37,831 level, down 17 points, or 0.04%. The broader Nifty50, too, shed 19 points, or 0.17%, to settle at 11,252 levels.

Markets ended July Futures & Options (F&O) series below 38,000-mark at the S&P BSE Sensex and below 11,300 at the NSE Nifty50. Indices ended Thursday's volatile session in the red with corporate earnings and F&O contract expiry guiding the markets' trajectory throughout the day. 

The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 37,831 level, down 17 points, or 0.04 per cent with Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, and Tata Steel being the top laggards. On the other hand, Vedanta, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were at the higher end of the spectrum. The broader Nifty50, too, shed 19 points, or 0.17 per cent, to settle at 11,252 levels.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap closed 73 points, or 0.53 per cent, higher at 13,783 levels, while the S&P BSE SmallCap slipped 12 points, or 0.09 per cent, to end at 13,031 levels.

Sectorally, most of the indices ended in the green barring auto, metal and public sector bank indices. Nifty Pharma index gained the most and ended the day with gains of 2.31 per cent, followed by Nifty Media index, up 1.14 per cent. On the contrary, Nifty Metal and Nifty PSB indices slipped 0.83 per cent each at close. 

GLOBAL CUES

Asia managed to overcome a cautious start to finish modestly higher. Japan’s Nikkei touched a near three-month high though Australia stole the glory as it ended near a 12-year peak after its central bank chief had stressed interest rates could continue to fall.

Nikkei index closed 0.22 per cent higher while South Korea's Kospi settled 0.38 per cent lower.

(With inputs from Reuters)

3:41 PM

Sectoral gainers and losers on the NSE

3:40 PM

Top gainers and losers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:37 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 17 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 37,831 levels while the Nifty50 index ended at 11,252, down 19 points or 0.17 per cent. 

3:05 PM

Ambuja Cements slips post Q2 result

3:03 PM

Earnings Alert | Ambuja Cements Q2 results

-- Net profit at Rs 412 cr
 

-- Revenue at Rs 2978.3 cr
 

-- Ebitda margin at 23.4%
 

-- Ebitda at Rs 698.4 cr

2:56 PM

Gold demand rose 14% in Apr-Jun, outlook for next two quarters weak: GFMS

India’s gold demand in the April-June 2019 quarter saw an increase of 14 per cent on a year-on-year basis, but it might remain muted in the next two quarters. Among the reasons for a weak outlook are high domestic prices. The rates, already high in international markets, will increase further in India on account of the 2.5 per cent import duty increase announced in Union Budget 2019 earlier this month. READ MORE

A sales person shows gold ornaments at a jewellery shop, on the occasion of 'Akshaya Tritiya', in Chennai on Tuesday | Photo: PTI

2:49 PM

Most active stocks by volume

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(rs)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
VODAFONE IDEA	9.82	-0.15	-1.50	8601512
YES BANK	87.30	-1.85	-2.08	5844692
RELIANCE INFRA.	47.00	2.25	5.03	5745542
REL. COMM.	1.59	-0.06	-3.64	5150937
DEWAN HSG. FIN.	55.55	-1.00	-1.77	3566261

2:38 PM

ICICI Securities on Asian Paints

We model revenue, earning CAGR of 16%, 23%, respectively, led by ~14% volume growth. We believe pressure on gross margin (due to change in product mix coupled with higher raw material cost) will ease, going forward, supported by a change in mix. However, at the current multiple, the stock offers limited upside. Hence, we change our rating from BUY to HOLD with a revised target price of Rs 1550/share.

2:36 PM

Top gainers on BSE at this hour

IDFCFIRSTB	39.55	+1.90	+5.05
LUPIN	776.20	+37.70	+5.10
LALPATHLAB	1,145.00	+58.45	+5.38
KSCL	470.95	+26.05	+5.86
SRTRANSFIN	990.00	+63.70	+6.88

2:35 PM

NEWS ALERT | CBI court frames charges against Naveen Jindal, others in coal block allocation case: CNBC TV18

2:20 PM

Anand Rathi Financial Services on ZEE

Investments in digital will further increase in FY20 as the company ramps up production of ZEE5 Originals and movie offerings across languages. These content investments would be complemented by marketing spend. FY20 slate of original content is building up well and the company is on track to launch more than 70 original shows and movies in six languages.

We now value Zee at 15x FY21e EV/EBITDA and maintain our Buy rating, with a target price of Rs 450.

Risk: Any slippage in content ratings.

2:13 PM

NEWS ALERT | Jalan Panel on ECF carries Fin Secy Garg's dissent note: CNBC-TV18

- Submission of Jalan panel report on Economic Capital Framework (ECF) to RBI remains uncertain.
- Jalan panel is likely to seek RBI’s view before submitting report on ECF 

2:06 PM

Global markets check

Asian shares rose after a cautious start, while the euro hovered near two-month lows as soft economic data fueled hopes the European Central Bank could cut rates at its meeting on Thursday. Those hopes are set to lift European shares, with pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.45%, German DAX futures up 0.43% and FTSE futures up 0.19% in early European trade.

 

Japan’s Nikkei touched nearly three-month highs before trimming gains to be up 0.26%. Australian shares neared a 12-year peak, driven by expectations the ECB and the Federal Reserve will soon lower borrowing costs. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which had begun the day broadly unchanged, was last up 0.23%.

 

1:57 PM

Govt to raise a major chunk of foreign borrowing via 30-year bonds

The Indian government plans to issue a significant portion of its proposed sovereign overseas borrowing via 30-year paper, a senior government official who did not wish to be identified said on Thursday. The government has met several foreign bankers over last two weeks and sees appetite for long-term sovereign bonds, the official said adding the bonds will likely be issued in tenors of 10 years and above.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that India was looking to raise around $10 billion via overseas foreign currency sovereign bonds in the current fiscal year, in a first-ever such issuance.

1:42 PM

NEWS ALERT | Reliance Capital repaid outstanding commercial paper worth Rs 75 cr on July 24: CNBC TV18