 "Sensex hovers around 27,000; HDFC, Bharti Airtel down over 2%")
Markets continued to trade weak in noon deals on Thursday weighed by profit taking in select index heavyweights as foreign funds remained net sellers while traders also turned cautious ahead of the expiry of April F&O contracts later today.
At 1PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 237 points at 26,988 and the 50-share Nifty was down 67 points at 8,172.
Foreign institutional investors have remained net sellers in equities in the past fortnight, except one on continued worries over minimum alternate tax in addition to disappointing earnings from select large corporates.
The Indian rupee weakened further and was trading at 63.65 to the US dollar against the previous close of 63.30 because of month-end dollar demand from importers amid capital outflows.
Sectors & Stocks
BSE Metal index was the top loser down 1.6% followed by FMCG, Capital Goods and IT among others. Consumer Durables and Bankex were among the gainers.
HDFC standalone profit increased 8% year-on-year to Rs 1,862.43 crore in March quarter, impacted by deferred tax liability. The stock is down 2.6%.
Bharti Airtel continues to lose sheen on the bourses after the consolidated net profit fell 12.6% to Rs 1255.3 crore in the March quarter compared with Rs 1436.5 crore in the December quarter. The stock dropped 3.5%
Oil major Reliance Industries is trading 0.5% higher while ONGC was marginally up in an otherwise weak market after the government announced a policy for development of oil and gas discoveries.
Axis Bank was the top Sensex gainer up over 4% on robust March quarter earnings. The private lender reported an 18% increase in the March quarter net profit at Rs 2,181 crore, driven by a jump in core income.
Shares of Vedanta ( Sesa Sterlite) pared early losses and are up 0.9%. The company posted a steep fall of 72.5% in adjusted profit at Rs 491 crore for the quarter ended March 2015 as compared to profit of Rs 1,788.65 crore in the corresponding period previous year.
IT exporters were trading with losses after lower-than-expected first quarter US GDP data. Most of these companies earn a majority of their revenues from exports to the US. Infosys, TCS and Wipro were down 0.5-0.8% each.
FMCG shares witnessed profit taking on concerns that erratic monsoon could hurt volume growth in the rural areas. ITC and HUL were down over 1.4% each.
Auto shares were also subdued ahead of their April sales numbers which are due for release from tomorrrow. Tata Motors, M&M, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto were down 0.7-2% each.
Among others, consumer durables shares firmed up amid media reports that bills on GST, black money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and land boundary agreement are scheduled to be taken up after May 5. In the consumer durables space, Symphony, TTK Prestige, Rajesh Exports, Bajaj Electricals are trading higher up to 5%.
In the broader market, BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were down over 0.4% each.
Market breadth was weak with 1,299 losers and 1,076 gainers on the BSE.
At 1PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 237 points at 26,988 and the 50-share Nifty was down 67 points at 8,172.
Foreign institutional investors have remained net sellers in equities in the past fortnight, except one on continued worries over minimum alternate tax in addition to disappointing earnings from select large corporates.
Also Read
Currency
The Indian rupee weakened further and was trading at 63.65 to the US dollar against the previous close of 63.30 because of month-end dollar demand from importers amid capital outflows.
Sectors & Stocks
BSE Metal index was the top loser down 1.6% followed by FMCG, Capital Goods and IT among others. Consumer Durables and Bankex were among the gainers.
HDFC standalone profit increased 8% year-on-year to Rs 1,862.43 crore in March quarter, impacted by deferred tax liability. The stock is down 2.6%.
Bharti Airtel continues to lose sheen on the bourses after the consolidated net profit fell 12.6% to Rs 1255.3 crore in the March quarter compared with Rs 1436.5 crore in the December quarter. The stock dropped 3.5%
Oil major Reliance Industries is trading 0.5% higher while ONGC was marginally up in an otherwise weak market after the government announced a policy for development of oil and gas discoveries.
Axis Bank was the top Sensex gainer up over 4% on robust March quarter earnings. The private lender reported an 18% increase in the March quarter net profit at Rs 2,181 crore, driven by a jump in core income.
Shares of Vedanta ( Sesa Sterlite) pared early losses and are up 0.9%. The company posted a steep fall of 72.5% in adjusted profit at Rs 491 crore for the quarter ended March 2015 as compared to profit of Rs 1,788.65 crore in the corresponding period previous year.
IT exporters were trading with losses after lower-than-expected first quarter US GDP data. Most of these companies earn a majority of their revenues from exports to the US. Infosys, TCS and Wipro were down 0.5-0.8% each.
FMCG shares witnessed profit taking on concerns that erratic monsoon could hurt volume growth in the rural areas. ITC and HUL were down over 1.4% each.
Auto shares were also subdued ahead of their April sales numbers which are due for release from tomorrrow. Tata Motors, M&M, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto were down 0.7-2% each.
Among others, consumer durables shares firmed up amid media reports that bills on GST, black money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and land boundary agreement are scheduled to be taken up after May 5. In the consumer durables space, Symphony, TTK Prestige, Rajesh Exports, Bajaj Electricals are trading higher up to 5%.
In the broader market, BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were down over 0.4% each.
Market breadth was weak with 1,299 losers and 1,076 gainers on the BSE.