Markets remained sideways with autos and financials continuing to weigh on the benchmark indices. At 10:25am, the Sensex was down 26 points at 17,534 and the Nifty slipped 12 points at 5,311.In the broader markets, the midcap and the smallcap indices were up 1% each.
The rupee lost 14 paise to Rs 55.41 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on strengthening of the American currency overseas.
Among individual stocks, Tata Motors slipped 2% to Rs 234 and was the top Sensex loser after reporting lower than expected 12% year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,245 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, due to higher raw material cost and forex loss. Now, Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to "underperform" from "neutral" after cutting its volumes forecast and increasing its tax rate assumption for the Indian auto maker's unit Jaguar Land Rover. The price target is now set at Rs 218.
Ranbaxy Laboratories gave off 2.4% at Rs 490, extending its previous day’s 3% fall on reporting a net loss of Rs 580 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, as against profit of Rs 243 crore in a year ago period due to foreign exchange loss. Net sales however, grew 55% to Rs 3,174 crore on year-on-year basis.
Reliance Communications gained 1% to Rs 55 on reports that the company is seeking shareholders' approval to increase its authorised share capital to Rs 2,500 crore from Rs 1,500 crore currently.
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(Updated at 9:40am)
Markets started on a flat note with a negative bias with the Sensex down 32 points at 17,529 and the Nifty slipped ten points to open at 5,313 on account of weak domestic and global cues.
In the broader markets, the midcap index started flat while the smallcap index saw 0.2% gain in the opening trades, outperforming the Sensex which was down 0.1%.
The US market had a flat closing with the Nasdaq gaining a quarter per cent, while the Dow Jones declined marginally.
Asian shares paused on Friday as investors took stock of a four-day rally driven by optimism, yet to be borne out by action, that authorities will soon take the steps needed to ease concerns over the euro zone's debt crisis and weak growth. Hang Seng down 0.7% and Nikkei slipping 1% were the major draggers among the Asian markets.
From a technical perspective, the markets showed signs of some weakness and the Nifty could seek support around 5,300-5,290, and face resistance around 5,345-5,360.
Among the sectoral indices, IT, FMCG, Metal and Health Care indices were the only ones to start in the green, with gains between up 0.1-0.6%. Meanwhile, Auto, Capital Goods, Power and Realty lost 0.3-0.6%
After a two day slide, Bharti Airtel gained 2% and was the top gainer among the Sensex stocks. Sterlite, TCS and ONGC were the other notable gainers, up 1% each.
SBI inched up 0.1% ahead of its quarterly result today. Meanwhile, UBS downgraded State Bank of India to "sell" from "buy", saying a weak monsoon would add to its "already high" non-performing loans, while expecting margins to decline due to rising cost of funds and potential cuts in the lending rate.
Auto companies like Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto lost 1-2% and were the top losers among the Sensex-30.
HDFC, L&T, Coal India, Tata Power, BHEL and HDFC Bank lost 0.5-1%.
Among other stocks, Tech Mahindra was trading higher by 3% at Rs 783 after reporting a better-than-expected 22% year-on-year (yoy) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 339 crore for the first quarter ended June 2012, on back of strong performance in the Mahindra Satyam unit and currency boost. Revenues grew 19% at Rs 1,543 crore on y-o-y basis.
The market breadth was negative. 673 stocks declined while 665 stocks advanced on the BSE.
