Sensex, Nifty down almost 1%; Axis Bank, ICICI Bank weigh

Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular were among the top gainers in an otherwise weak market

Telecom majors outperformed even as the benchmark indices continued to languish in negative terrain weighed down by selling pressure in select private banks while caution was seen in FMCG majors ahead of their second quarter earnings later today.

At 14:00 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 219 points at 27,872 and the Nifty50 was down 59 points at 8,633. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap was trading flat while the Smallcap index was up 0.3%. Market breadth was firm with 1291 gainers and 1116 losers on the BSE.

Bharti Airtel was up over 2% on better-than-expected profit and higher margins. The telecom major posted a 4.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,461 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, mainly on account of higher spectrum amortisation, increase in net interest costs and devaluation of Nigerian currency. The profit figure, however, was much better than Bloomberg consensus estimate of Rs 1,229 crore. Further, reports suggest that the company is exploring stake sale in Bharti Infratel. Meanwhile, the company has announced new 10-day packs for international roaming with unlimited incoming calls.
 

Idea Cellular was up 4%. The company’s revenue, however, increased 7.2 per cent to Rs 9,300.23 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 8,675.37 crore in the year-ago period. Idea Cellular on Monday reported a 88 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs 91.46 crore for the September 2016 quarter mainly on account of higher expenses and inflationary pressures even as the company witnessed a decline in voice realisation.

Axis Bank was the top loser down nearly 7% after the private lender reported a 83% drop in net profit to Rs 319 crore in July-September quarter as compared to Rs 1,915.64 crore in the same quarter last year. This sharp drop in profit was led by higher provisioning that increased by over five times as bad loans increased. The provisions and contingencies rose over five times to Rs 3,622 crore, from Rs 707 crore during this period.

ICICI Bank was down over 2% ahead of its September quarter earnings while Hero MotoCorp was up over 1% ahead of its September quarter earnings later today.

Meanwhile, Tata Group shares were trading mixed post the knee jerk reaction in the previous session after board of Tata Sons on Monday replaced chairman Cyrus Mistry and brought back Ratan Tata as interim chairman for four months. TCS, Tata Motors and Tata Steel were trading with marginal losses while Tata Chemicals and Tata Coffee were trading with marginal gains.

Among other shares, Multi-Commodity Exchange shares were up over 2%. Standalone net profit increased 23% to Rs 37.65 crore, year-on-year with net profit margin of 39% for the second quarter of FY17 and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the September quarter increased 18% to Rs 55.35 crore from Rs 46.84 crore a year ago.

Navneet Education has moved higher to its 52-week high of Rs 115, up 6% on BSE in intra-day trade after the company announced that they have reached an agreement to acquire Britannica's Indian curriculum business.