 "Weak trades continue; all eyes on US Fed meet")
Markets continue to remain weak despite cooling in retail inflation as investors book profits at higher and attractive valuations.
Meanwhile, participants remain edgy ahead of the key policy decision from US Federal Reserve that is set to commence its two-day meet today.
Meanwhile, participants remain edgy ahead of the key policy decision from US Federal Reserve that is set to commence its two-day meet today.
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At 11:45 am, the S&P BSE Sensex is 149 points down at 24,655 and the Nifty50 is down 44 points at 7,495.
STOCKS IN NEWS
Losses are witnessed in the healthcare shares with Lupin cracking over 5% on regulatory issues. Other prominent laggards include Divis Lab, Dishman Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, Pfizer, Cipla, Natco Pharma Cadila Healthcare and Dr Reddy’s Lab down 2%-7%.
Another notable loser in today’s trade is Crompton Greaves down 71% on the BSE as the stock started trading ex-consumer products business with effect from today.
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Adding to the woes, HDFC has shed nearly 3% after rating firm Goldman Sachs cut its outlook to Sell as compared to Neutral and kept its price target at Rs 990 a share.
On the flip side, Sasken Communication Technologies has surged 11% after the company announced that it has reached a settlement with Spreadtrum Communications Inc. and Beijing UniSpreadtrum Technologies in connection with the unauthorized use of Sasken’s Protocol Stack IP, by the said companies.
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(updated at 10:15 am)Markets have extended losses and are trading near day’s low weighed down by defensive sectors like pharma and FMCG.
At 10:15 am, the S&P BSE Sensex is 130 points down at 24,674 and the Nifty50 is down 42 points at 7,497.
Top losers from the Sensex pack are Lupin, HDFC, Cipla, Wipro and GAIL, all plunging between 1%-5%.
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Updated at 9:30 am
Markets have opened on a subdued note, mirroring caution across the Asian peers as participants remain edgy ahead of the key policy decision from US Federal Reserve that is set to commence its two-day meet today.
Meanwhile, Bank of Japan (BOJ) maintained a status quo keeping the deposit rates unchanged.
At 9: 15 am, the S&P BSE Sensex is 18 points down at 24,786 and the Nifty50 is down 10 points at 7,529.
The broader markets are trading absolutely flat as BSE Midcap index remains unchanged while BSE Smallcap index is up 0.2%.
The broader markets are trading absolutely flat as BSE Midcap index remains unchanged while BSE Smallcap index is up 0.2%.
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“Recently Nifty rallied by more than 10% from its recent low of 6,825. There are chances that market can rally further to around 7,800 or 7,900 also, but any rally should be used as an exit opportunity, as we expect Nifty to target 6,600 to 6,300 in next 4-6 months,” said AK Prabhakar, Head of Research, IDBI Capital.
KEY MACRO EOCNOMIC PARAMETERS
India's annual wholesale inflation eased marginally to (-)0.91% for February, from (-)0.90% in the previous month, but was higher than the (-)2.17% level in the like month of the previous year.
Also, the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation eased to a four-month low of 5.18% in February from 5.69% in January hinting that the Reserve Bank of India (BRI) may slash its policy rate at its annual policy review next month.
“The key point to note is that CPI inflation continues to see disinflationary impulses through food prices. A careful watch should be maintained on the wedge between rural and urban CPI inflation which has been quite high on the back of non-food segments. This is reflective of the capacity constraints in non-food segments in the rural sectors. However, the inflation numbers should be taken positively by the RBI along with a favorable view of the Union Budget,” said Suvodeep Rakshit, Economist, Kotak Institutional Equities.
GLOBAL MARKET
Asian equities are trading on a cautious note as participants remain edgy ahead of the key policy decisions from two prime central banks. Bank of Japan (BOJ) will end its two-day policy meeting today while US Federal Reserve meet will commence today. Japan’s Nikkei, Singapore’s Straits Times, China’s Shanghai Composite has shed 0.2%-1%.
Wall Street closed flat as investors remain wary ahead of a US Federal Reserve meet that is set to commence later today. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.09%, the S&P 500 points finished 0.13% up and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.04%.
COMPANIES IN NEWS
Technology major Wipro is trading 0.2% up after the company secured a multi-year engagement with NRGi, one of the top 5 utility providers in Denmark.
Healthcare major Lupin has cracked 6.5% on regulatory worries. USFDA during its inspection of Lupin's Goa plant, found nine key observations, according to media reports.
US-based WGI Emerging Markets Smaller Companies Fund on Monday acquired 1.37% stake in Crompton Greaves for Rs 128 crore via an open market transaction. Tracking the development, Crompton Greaves has soared over 5%.
M&M decides to invest 100 billion rupees ($1.49 billion) over three fiscal years ending March 2018, the company said in an analyst presentation. M&M is up 0.4%.
BHEL is trading flat after successfully completed renovating a 110 MW thermal power unit of Barauni Thermal Power Station (TPS) in Bihar, increasing its life by another 15-20 years.
Coal India has crossed half-a-billion tonnes of coal production for the first time in a fiscal and is eyeing to double its production to one billion tonnes by 2020. The stock is up 0.5%. Bajaj Auto is trading 0.25 higher. The company may plan new bike series on 'V' platform, brand.
Debt-ridden power producers Jindal Power and Reliance Infrastructure are selling their stake in India Energy Exchange (IEX) to raise capital for servicing debt. JSPL is up 1% and Reliance Infrastructure has added 0.5%