Markets end flat amid choppy trades; Nifty holds 8,250

For the second straight session, benchmark indices ended lower, amid volatile trades tracking a slump in the Chinese equities. The local markets were dragged down by financial, pharma and capital goods shares

The 30-share Sensex ended down 19 points at 27,288 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 10 points at 8,252.

"After a flat note opening, Nifty made a high of 8294, but can’t make more high as of selling. The fall in the Chinese markets along the weak data in Japanese front made the markets to slip. Also the investors were seen closing their long positions ahead of the holiday was seen. The Indian markets may remain close tomorrow on the back of Dussehra holiday." said Mr. Alex Mathews, Head - Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
 

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were down 0.1-0.4% each. Market breadth was weak with 1,378 losers and 1,328 gainers on the BSE.

The Indian rupee was trading lower at 65.14, weakening by 8 paise, against the US dollar on dollar demand from importers while weaknes in domestic equities also dampened sentiment.

Meanwhile, Indian markets will be closed on Thursday, October 22, 2015, on account of Dasherra.

GLOBAL MARKETS

European shares opened flat with a negative bias ahead of the European Central Bank’s meeting. However, FTSE 100, CAC 40 and DAX are trading between 0.3-0.5% higher.

The Asian equities ended mixed with Nikkei finished up nearly 2%. Shanghai Composite slumped again and finished nearly 4% down.

SECTORS & STOCKS

Sectorally, BSE Realty finished lower by nearly 2% followed by Bankex, Capital Goods, and  healthcare indices, down by nearly 1% each.

HDFC Bank Q2 net has increased by 20% at Rs 2,869 crore thus meeting the street’s estimates. Gross non-performing loans as a percentage of total loans fell to 0.91% from 0.95% in the June quarter. Net NPA was down to 0.25% compared to 0.27% in the immediate previous quarter. The stock ended extremely flat.  

Bajaj Auto has reported a better than expected net profit of Rs 933 crore for the quarter ended September 2015 on back of strong operational performance. Analysts on an average had expected profit of Rs 895 crore for the quarter. The stock gained over 3%

Hero MotoCorp ended with 0.5% gains after it reported a 1.1% rise in its second quarter net profit, beating Street estimates.

Vedanta Ltd expects its iron ore exports from Goa to be much higher than its permitted mining capacity of 5.5 million tonne in the fiscal year to March, as it bids for ore in government-run auctions. The stock soared nearly 4%

Bharti Airtel advanced 2.5% after it completed the sale of 8,300 mobile towers in seven African countries for $1.7 billion (Rs 11,000 crore).

Cipla settled with 0.3% gains after losses in the previous session as the USFDA made adverse observations regarding manufacturing practices at drug maker Cipla's Indore plant.

Maruti Suzuki ended down nearly 1%. The auto major's royalty payment to its parent, Japan’s Suzuki, has again caught the attention of corporate governance firms and proxy advisors. As percentage of its profit, the royalty payment by India’s biggest passenger car maker has nearly tripled from 13 per cent in 2005-06 to 36 per cent of profit before tax and royalty in 2014-15.

Tata Steel finished with 1.6% gains. The steel major may cut 1,200 jobs at its UK long products division as the company proposes to stop making steel plates.

Among other stocks, IT firm Mphasis today reported a 15.30% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 184.72 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015. The stock zoomed over 8.5%