Markets end lower on tepid quarterly earnings

Markets remained bearish during the session and finished the day on a dismal note with Nifty closing below the 8,550 mark as investors remained cautious on tepid quarterly earnings coupled with lack of progress in the passage of key reforms in the Monsoon session of Parliament.

Meanwhile, fears of interest rate hike by the Fed on strong US jobs data amid weakness among the global peers dampened the sentiments.

Provisionally, the Sensex closed 238 points lower at 28,133 and the Nifty ended 64 points lower at 8526.
------------------------------------------------------
(updated 3PM)

Markets continue to remain under pressure in the late trades as the tepid quarterly results posted by prominent companies weighed on the Indices. Meanwhile, lack of any advancement in reforms such as GST in the present Monsoon session of Parliament amid weak global cues hurt the sentiments.

 

The market participants remained edgy as a firm US jobs data released yesterday raised fears of a rate hike by the Fed. The initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 255,000 for the week ended July 18, the lowest level since November 1973. 

At  3.00PM, the Sensex was lower by 225 points at 28,139 and Nifty slipped by 54 points at 8,535. The broader markets are in-line with the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are down 0.25%. The market breadth is negative, with 1,325 gainers and 1,419 losers on the BSE.

RUPEE

Rupee is trading at 63.89 against the dollar down by 14 paise on the back of on persistent demand for the dollar from banks and importers on the back of higher greenback in the overseas market.

RESULT IMPACT

Wipro posted a 4% rise in its net profit to Rs 2,187.8 crore when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2014-15. The revenue at Rs 12,237 crore rose 10 %. On a sequential basis, net profit declined by 3.7% while revenue was largely flat when compared with Rs 12,142 crore in Q4 of FY15. The stock is down by 3.3%

GAIL reported a 32% slump in net profit for the quarter ended June 2015 on lower production and price realization. The company reported a net profit of Rs 424.14 crore during the quarter as compared to Rs 621.44 crore during the same period last financial year (2014-15). The stock is down over 2%.

Lupin is down 3% after the company reported a 16 per cent year-on-year drop in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June.

Axis Bank reported a 18.72% rise in net profit to Rs 1,978 crore in the April-June quarter as compared to Rs 1,666 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year. The stock is up 1%.

STOCKS

On the sectoral front, all sectoral indices barring BSE Consumer Durables index are trading in red and have lost between 0.4-1.3%. 

Rate sensitive stocks are trading cautiously ahead of the RBI monetary policy as the insufficient monsoon and rise in inflation has dampened the possibility of a rate cut. ICICI Bank, M&M, Tata Motors, SBI and Bajaj Auto are trading lower between 0.1-3.6%. 

ICICI Bank and L&T are down 3.6% and 0.7% ahead of the quarterly results due next week.

Shares of Reliance Industries are trading 0.9% lower ahead of the quarterly results due today.

Metal shares have declined across the board after the flash Caixin/Markit China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 48.2, below economists' estimate for a reading of 49.7 and the lowest reading since April last year. Vedanta, Tata Steel and Coal India have lost between 0.6-1.5%. 

IDFC has moved higher by 4% after the company announced that IDFC bank has received bank license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Consumer Durables are rallying on hopes that GST Bill would be passed in the current monsoon session of parliament. Consumer Duradles sector will be the biggest beneficiary of the GST