 "National Stock Exchange")
Benchmark share indices continued to trade weak in late noon deals on Friday weighed down by profit taking in index heavyweight Reliance Industries and financials.
At 2:10pm, the S&P BSE Sensex dropped 143 points to 27,987 and the Nifty50 was down 36 points at 8,664.
Cipla was down 2.5%. According to reports,India pharma major Cipla today lost a case related to overcharging in certain drugs, in violation of the provisions of drug (price control) order, 1995. As per the company's latest annual report, it had received notices of demand aggregating to Rs 1,768.51 crore.
Reliance Industries was down 2.4% on profit taking. Reliance Industries surprised the Street with a record standalone net profit of Rs 7,704 crore for the quarter ending September 2016 (Q2 FY17), 17.9 per cent higher than the Rs 6,534 crore profit after tax (PAT) reported in the same period last year. However, on a consolidated basis, the company reported a net profit of Rs 7,206 crore, 22.9 per cent lower from Rs 9,345 crore in Q2 last year. The decline in consolidated net profit was because of higher exceptional gains of Rs 4,310 crore seen in the corresponding quarter last year.
Axis Bank was down over 2% after the stock surged in the previous few sessions on expectations that the private lender would receive its dues from the Essar Group post the deal with Russia’s Rosneft, United Capital Partners and Trafigura Group Pte. to sell 98% in its most priced asset, the 20 million tonnes per annum Vadinar refinery and Vadinar port in Gujarat. Axis Bank is a lender to the Essar Group.
Among other shares, Trident hit a 52-week high of Rs 63.40, up 6% on BSE in intra-day trade, after the company reported a 59% growth in net profit at Rs 80.07 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 (Q2FY17). The company engaged in textiles business had posted a profit of Rs 50.29 crore in the same quarter year ago.
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(Updated at 12pm)
Benchmark share indices extended losses in late morning trades weighed down by profit booking in index heavyweights with Reliance Industries leading the decline post its earnings announcement on Thursday.
At 12pm, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex dropped 130 points or 0.5%, trading at 28,000 levels. Nifty50 shed 39 points or 0.45%, hovering around 8,660 levels.
In broader markets, the S&P BSE MidCap slipped 0.12% while Smallcap edged up by mere 0.05%.
The top gainers on Sensex are Dr Reddy, GAIL and Hindustan Unilever, posting gains between 0.5%-2%. Cipla, Axix Bank and Reliance Industries were the top losers, slipping down by over 2% each.
IT services firm HCL Technologies on Friday reported a 16.7 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 2,014 crore for the quarter ended September 2016.
Biocon hit a fresh record high of Rs 1,020, up 4% on BSE in early morning trade, after the company posted robust 52% year on year (YoY) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 147 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 (Q2FY17), led by the company’s biologics, small molecules businesses and Syngene.
NBCC has dipped 4% to Rs 241 on intra-day trade, extending its Thursday’s 1% fall on BSE, after the government stake sale in the construction company started yesterday. The stock has fallen below its floor price of Rs 246.50 set via offer for sale (OFS) route.
Global Markets
Asian stocks were mostly lower on Friday as the dollar climbed to seven-month highs against a basket of currencies and dragged down crude oil prices, cooling investor risk appetite.
Equities were expected to continue sagging in the European session, with spreadbetters forecasting a slightly lower open for Britain's FTSE, Germany's DAX and France's CAC.
The greenback was boosted by a fall in the euro after the European Central Bank shot down talk it was contemplating tapering its monetary easing — sending the common currency to its lowest since March.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4 per cent.
Japan's Nikkei brushed a six-month high earlier on a weaker yen but was last down 0.3 per cent.South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5 per cent and Australian stocks shed 0.2 per cent, weighed down by a retreat in energy shares. Singapore fell 0.7 per cent and Shanghai erased earlier gains and dropped 0.2 per cent as the yuan depreciated.
