Sensex down 100 points; L&T dips 7%; GAIL up 1.5%

Markets have slipped further in the negative territory weighed down by Index heavyweights L&T, Tata Motors and RIL. At 1.05 PM, the Sensex is trading at 25,876 levels down by 116 points and Nifty is trading at 7,714 levels lower by 34 points.

 

L&T, SBI, Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite and Tata Motors are the top 5 losers on the BSE down between 2-7.5%

 

The market breadth is negative on the BSE with 959 shares advancing and 1,629 shares declining.
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                                                                                             (updated at 1.10 PM)
Markets are trading in a narrow range with a negative bias with Index heavyweights L&T and Tata Motors contributing up over 100 points to the decline on the Sensex.

 

At 11.40 AM, the Sensex is trading at 25,957 levels down by 33 points and Nifty is trading at 7,739 levels lower by 10 points.

 

On similar lines, broader markets are trading in the negative territory with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively. 

 

Asian Markets

 

Asian shares touched a six-and-half-year peak while the dollar held steady against the euro on Wednesday, as investors awaited key U.S. data as well as a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that some believe might result in a more hawkish policy outlook.

 

In addition to second-quarter U.S. growth figures, investors awaited the conclusion of the Fed's two-day policy meeting and its policy statement scheduled to be released at 2 p.m

 

Japan's Nikkei stock average .N225 added about 0.3 percent, as upbeat earnings offset weaker-than-expected industrial production data.

 

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The rupee is trading at 60.1950 versus its previous close of 60.1250/1350 as month-end dollar demand from importers hurt the Indian unit.

 

Meanwhile, overseas investors sold equity derivatives worth 3.53 billion rupees ($58.72 million) on Monday.

 

Sectors & Stocks

 

On the sectoral front, BSE Capital goods is the biggest losing index down 4.5%, followed by Metal and Auto indices down 0.8% and .15 each. However, BSE Consumer Durables index is the top leading index up 1.3%, followed by FMCG and Teck indices up 0.4%. Bankex is also up 0.4%. Meanwhile, BSE Realty and IT indices are trading flat.

 

In the Capital goods sector, L&T has lost nearly 7%  after posting consolidated net profit of Rs 967 crore for the quarter ended June 2014 (Q1), mainly on account of one-time gain of Rs 249 crore on disinvestments and stake sale in one of its project. Also the company dampened hopes for anytime soon recovery in domestic demand and declared international orders were boosting its growth. BHEL is down 0.4%.

 

Fresh selling is evident in the Metal pack with Sesa Sterlite down nearly 3% after posting lower-than-expected consolidated net profit of Rs 375 crore for the June 2014 quarter. Also, the company's consolidated net sales were a tad down from the estimates at Rs 17,186 crore in the quarter under review. Tata Steel is down 0.7%.

 

In the Auto space, Tata Motors has dipped 1.6% extending its past two-days fall, on reports that Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has reduced its prices on three of its high end models in response to an pricing and anti-monopoly investigation in China. Bajaj Auto is down 0.3%. In contrast Maruti Suzuki, M&M and Hero Motocorp are up 1%.

 

The banking shares are trading mixed with SBI, HDFC and Axis Bank down between 0.1-1%. However, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are up between 0.5-1.3%.

 

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel, country’s largest cell phone operator, is up 5% after reporting 61% year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,108 crore for the first quarter ended June 30 2014 (Q1), backed by a 74% rise in mobile data revenue.

Oil and Gas majors GAIL and ONGC are up between 1-2.5%. However, RIL is down 0.4%.

 

IT majors TCS and Infosys are marginally in green.

 

Dr Reddy’s Lab is up 0.5% ahead of the quarterly results which are due to be announced later during the day. Following the tandem, Sun Pharma is up 0.5%.

 

Tobacco-to-hospitality major ITC has climbed 1% after reporting net profit of Rs 2,186.4 crore in the June quarter - a growth of 15.6 per cent compared to Rs 1,891.3 crore in the year-ago period. However, its peer HUL is trading marginally in red on profit taking. 

 

The market breadth is negative on the BSE with 1008 shares advancing and 1312 shares declining.