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The benchmark indices ended lower for the fifth straight session due to weakness in index heavyweights such as Hindustan Unilever and the pharma space.
The Sensex provisionally ended at at 27,726, lower by 159 points and the Nifty broke the psychological level of 8,400 to end at 8380, down 67 points.
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(Updated at 3.01pm)
The markets are witnessing across-the-board weakness in late-noon trades. The Sensex is quoting at 27,681, lower by 204 points and the Nifty is at 8389, down 59 points.
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(Updated at 14:28pm)
The benchmark indices are having a choppy session as they seek direction after four straight sessions of losses and registering their biggest single-day drop in 3 weeks on Monday.
The Sensex has oscillated between an intra-day high of 27,976 and a low of 27,687 through the day and is now at 27860, lower by 25 points and the Nifty is hovering around its psychological level of 8,400 at 8431, down 17 points (2.30pm). The midcap and smallcap indices have rebounded into the green, albeit marginally, at 10,579 and 11,393 respectively.
The Sensex had nosedived by more than 500 points or nearly 2% and the Nifty had closed below the 8,500 mark in the previous session on the back of worries regarding Q4 earnings, FIIs tax issues, slowdown in China and concerns of Greece exit from eurozone. The market woes continued unabated this morning as both the the Sensex and Nifty hit their lowest levels in more than three weeks at 27,687 and 8,382 respectively. However, emergence of value buying at lower levels thereafter stemmed the losses and led to an intra-day recovery of sorts.
The market participants would closely watch the proceedings in parliament during the final part of the ongoing Budget session which began on Monday as the government hopes to pass the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Land Acquisition Bill.
GLOBAL MARKETS
The Chinese and Japanese markets have surged as China's step to prop up its faltering economy, on Sunday, by announcing a reduction in the amount of reserves commercial banks are required to hold by one percentage points lifted equities across Asia. The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea gained upto 2% each. The Taiwan and Kospi indices, however, bucked the trend.
STOCKS & SECTORS
Sun Pharmaceuticals has plummeted by 8% at Rs 960 to top the loser's list on the BSE after Japanese pharma major Daiichi Sankyo sold its 8.9% stake in Sun Pharmaceuticals through multiple block deals on the stock exchanges. Cipla and Dr Reddys Lab have shed 0.7% and 2.4% each.
After TCS and Mindtree, it was HCL Tech's turn to report sharp decline in margins. The stock plunged almost 10% in early morning trade and is now down 3% at Rs 893 after reporting a 12% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,683 crore for the third quarter ended March 2015 (Q3FY15). The company had reported a profit of Rs 1,915 crore in December 2014 quarter. IT major Wipro is down 0.8% at Rs 570 ahead of its Q4 results today.
The pharma index has shed more than 2% due to the 8% fall in Sun Pharma and cuts of around 1% in Torrent Pharma, Glenmark Pharma and Dr Reddy's.
The FMCG shares are continuing their weak trend from the previous day. HUL has lost another 3.3% at Rs 883 and giving it company are Godrej and Brittania Industries. ITC has however rebounded in the green, gaining 0.6% at Rs 344. The FMCG index had lost around three per cent on Monday.
On the other hand, Axis Bank has jumped by 1.9% at Rs 528 to head the gainer's list on the BSE, Tata SteeL, Sesa Sterlite and ONGC have added around a percent each.
