Markets turn flat; Nifty hovers around 8,250

Bajaj Auto has reported better than expected net profit of Rs 933 crore for Q2 FY16 on back of strong operational performance

Amid volatility, benchmark indices have erased some of its losses and are trading extremely flat after they lost strength in the afternoon session following a fall in Chinese shares and weakness in European stocks. The downfall in the equities is led by financial and capital goods shares.

At 2:30 PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 11 points at 27,296 and the 50-share Nifty was down 13 points at 8,249.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were down 0.4-0.6% each. Market breadth was weak with 1,382 losers and 1058 gainers on the BSE.

The Indian rupee was trading lower at 65.19 against the US dollar on dollar demand from importers while weaknes in domestic equities also dampened sentiment.

GLOBAL MARKETS

European shares were trading lower on the back of lower-than-expected earnings from select Sweden-based banks. The CAC-40, DAX and FTSE-100 were down 0.1-0.2% each.

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

SECTORS & STOCKS

Sectorally, BSE Realty is leading the downfall with nearly 2% losses followed by Bankex and Capital Goods indices, down by 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 is flat.

Bajaj Auto has reported better than expected net profit of Rs 933 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 (Q2FY16), on back of strong operational performance. Analysts on an average had expected profit of Rs 895 crore for the quarter. The stock has gained over 3%

Hero MotoCorp was flat after it reported a 1.1% rise in its second quarter net profit, beating Street estimates.

Bharti Airtel was up over 2% after it completed the sale of 8,300 mobile towers in seven African countries for $1.7 billion (Rs 11,000 crore).

Cipla was up 1.2% after losses in the previous session as the USFDA made adverse observations regarding manufacturing practices at drug maker Cipla's Indore plant.

Maruti Suzuki was 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 was up 2%. The steel major may cut 1,200 jobs at its UK long products division as the company proposes to stop making steel plates.