Nifty falls for 2nd day, ends below 6700 ahead of polls

Equity benchmarks fell for the second consecutive session on Friday with the Nifty closing below the 6700-mark for the first time in last five sessions after hitting record high. The index was down 41.75 points to 6694.35 while the Sensex fell 149.57 points to 22359.50 but the broader markets beat benchmarks. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.4 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1639 to 1120 on the BSE.

It was another day of profit booking for the market and it may continue for some more days, say experts. Investors seem to be cautious ahead Lok Sabha elections, which begins on the first trading day of next week. Polls will be held in six constituencies of two states - Assam and Tripura on April 7. ''At these levels some people will be booking profits especially on the banking side, which has run-up quite rapidly. There is a possibility that there might be some profit booking over there.  Even in capital goods, real estate, and those kinds of cyclical stocks people might start booking profit to some extent,'' Dhananjay Sinha, Head - Institutional Research, Emkay Global Financial Services said.

On the political front, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is going to release its manifesto for Lok Sabha elections on Monday in Delhi. For the week, the Sensex and Nifty closed flat while Bank Nifty plummeted 1.6 percent. But CNX Midcap Index was up 1.5 percent and BSE Smallcap gained nearly 4 percent. The profit booking was seen in private banks, capital goods, technology, FMCG, auto and power stocks. Public sector undertakings like BHEL, NTPC and GAIL were down 1.5-2 percent. Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel lost 2 percent too. Shares of TCS, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, HDFC, Infosys, L&T and Sun Pharma declined 0.8-1.5 percent. Private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC lost 0.4 percent while rival State Bank of India gained 0.5 percent.

Drug maker Cipla bucked the trend, gaining 2 percent. Among metals and mining, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries and Coal India were up 0.4-0.8 percent. In the broader space, shares of Venus Remedies rallied 20 percent on getting marketing approval from Venezuela for meropenem. Natco Pharma gained 5 percent after US patent office rejected Teva's patent reissue application on Copaxone. Sugar stocks surged 4-19 percent as sugar prices jumped 24 percent in three weeks. Analysts said concerns over el-nino effect going ahead and increase in buying by stockists maybe triggering this kind of an upmove. The management of Shree Renuka (up 4 percent) said sugar prices could move by another Rs 1-2 per kg from here .

Electrosteel Castings climbed 10 percent as the board of directors will consider the issuance of equity shares on preferential basis to the promoters/non-promoters on April 11. Patel Engineering gained 6 percent. CNBC-TV18 reports quoting sources that the company and Kanakia Spaces, the real estate arm of Kanakia group, will form joint venture to develop its 16 acre Mumbai property. Shares of BS Limited advanced 14 percent after the company announced that it has won several orders worth Rs 722 crore from power utilities. However, GM Breweries was down 10 percent. The company has recommended dividend of Rs 2.50 per share and bonus issue of shares in the ratio of 1:4. Meanwhile, the rupee recovered in late trade from day's low of around 60.40, up 8 paise to close at 60.16 a dollar.

03:50 Market closing
Investors booked profit ahead of the weekend, which dragged the market today. The Sensex closed down 149.57 points at 22359.50, and the Nifty ended at 6694.35, down 41.75 points. About 1640 shares advanced, 1119 shares declined, and 143 shares were unchanged. BHEL, NTPC and Bharti Airtel lost 2 percent while Tata Motors and GAIL were down over 1 percent. Cipla was up 2 percent, followed by Tata Steel, SBI, Hindalo and Coal India.

03:40 pm EM funds
Emerging market stock and bond funds saw their first inflows over the past week after over USD 50 billion fled in the first three months of 2014, with equities snapping a 22-week losing streak, data from EPFR Global shows. The Boston-based fund tracker, which tracks funds with USD 23 trillion in assets, released details of first quarter flows late on Thursday, showing that all emerging equity fund categories had shed USD 41 billion, following USD 26.7 billion losses in 2013. Global Emerging Markets (GEM) equity funds lost USD 20 billion-plus in the first quarter, EPFR said, but it added that now "there were signs of a thaw". These funds received USD 2.5 billion in the week to April 2, with 95 percent of this taken in by exchange-traded funds (ETFs), EPFR said. China, India, Russia and Brazil, the four BRIC countries, enjoyed the biggest inflows.

03:30 pm Good news
Indian companies are playing an important role in the growth of the British economy and contributing to GDP and creating employment opportunities, according to Grant Thornton UK LLP's India Tracker 2014 report. The report, which is prepared in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), monitors UK registered businesses with ultimate Indian parent companies and identifies the fastest growing corporates by turnover and employment size. It finds there are currently over 700 Indian-owned small to large-sized businesses in the UK, collectively employing over 100,000 individuals. Of these, 41 organisations were identified as registering year-on-year growth rates of more than 10 per cent, with more than half (26 corporates) demonstrating particularly strong growth in excess of 20 per cent.

03:15 pm Bond outlook
The government's FY15 borrowing calendar begins today – the first round of auction will be around Rs 16,000 crore. The 10-year bond yields inched past the 9 percent mark on Thursday evening and it continues to hold around the same levels. Manish Wadhawan, MD and head - interest rates, HSBC, talks about the bond market, where he sees the yields heading from here and today's borrowing programme. He also gives his views on the currency market and FII inflows.

03:05 pm Market check
The Sensex is down 146.01 points at 22363.06, and the Nifty is down 40.80 points  at 6695.30. About 1626 shares have advanced, 1109 shares declined, and 146 shares are unchanged.

02:59pm Market Expert
Dhananjay Sinha, Head - Institutional Research, Emkay Global Financial Services said, "Fundamentals have not improved as much as the market. The market has been rising on the fact that there will be a positive election outcome. Ahead of the event there is lot of optimism and that has been priced in.  Since this is a consensus trade, at these levels some people will be booking profits especially on the banking side, which has run-up quite rapidly." "So, there is a possibility that there might be some profit booking over there.  Also with respect to other areas such as capital goods, real estate, and those kinds of cyclical stocks people might start booking profit to some extent. Later on, they would take a position, but volatility in the markets could re-emerge and larger part of that will happen after election result," he added.

02:50pm Sugar stocks in focus
Shares of Bajaj Hindusthan, Balrampur Chini, Sakthi Sugars and Shree Renuka gained 3-12 percent. Sugar prices have increased by almost 24 percent in last 20 days. Sugar prices have increased even  in global markets as sugar production in Brazil is feared to fall due to a drought. Shree Renuka Sugar's managing director Narendra Murkumbi also feels that a looming risk of weather disturbance is expected to keep prices high till the onset of monsoon. ''There is a major weather risk hanging over all global agricultural markets. It has to do with El Nino and rain patterns in South America, which have not been normal,'' he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18. Weather forecasters have said India should brace for a weak monsoon season as El Nino conditions are likely to develop, but before rains dry up, the ongoing wet spell will continue until June.

02:40pm Natco Pharma in news, up 6%
Natco Pharma bounced back after US patent office rejected Teva's patent reissue application on Copaxone and also refused to extend patent protection past May 2014. This, however, still does not change the US Supreme Court hearing, but makes a stronger case for Natco and Mylan.

02:30pm US jobs data
Vincent Reinhart, chief US economist, Morgan Stanley believes the US payrolls data, that will be released today, to show solid employments gains. Most experts believe the payrolls for March to be better than the earlier months, that were plagued by extreme winters. Reinhart expects the creation of 200,000 net jobs. ''By not having really anchored expectations, I think there's going to be a little bit more volatility on the front-end of the yield curve because we're not sure when the Fed will actually start raising rates,'' adds Reinhart. This may lead to a delay in the US Federal Reserve's next policy, opines Reinhart.

02:20pm Patel Engineering up 7%
CNBC-TV18 reports quoting sources that the company and Kanakia Spaces, the real estate arm of Kanakia group, will form joint venture to develop its Mumbai property. The stock rallied as much as 10 percent intraday to touch a 52-week high of Rs 68.30. It is learnt that Patel Engineering owns 16 acre property in Bandra, Mumbai and that land parcel has total saleable area of about 7 lakh square feel. The company will hold majority stake in JV and will get Rs 210 crore as consideration from Kanakia Spaces, sources say. According to sources, real estate firm Kanakia is going to develop a mix of residential and commercial properties.

02:10pm FII View
Ridham Desai, Morgan Stanley says the market appears to care little for quality, for what the consensus is recommending, or for what institutions are buying. ''Meanwhile, financial leverage and capex have also taken a backseat. The market's belligerent mood is a recurring theme with momentum topping the list of alpha generating factors for a second straight month,'' he adds.

02:00pm Equity benchmarks continued to reel under selling pressure today with the Nifty falling below the 6700 level weighed down by index heavyweights Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC that fell 0.5-0.9 percent. The Sensex declined 128.18 points to 22380.89 and the Nifty slipped 37.60 points to 6698.50. However, the broader markets held positive momentum - the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.4 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. About 1502 shares have advanced, 1132 shares declined, and 135 shares are unchanged. Private banks lost ground again - top private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank dropped 0.4 percent each while rival State Bank of India gained 0.3 percent. IT majors Infosys, TCS and Wipro plummeted 0.4-0.7 percent. Shares of state-run BHEL, GAIL and NTPC fell 1.5-2 percent. However, Cipla bucked the trend, rising nearly 2 percent followed by Tata Steel, Hindalco and Coal India with 0.4-0.8 percent.

2:00 pm Interview:
Vinayak Chatterjee of Feedback Infrastructure thinks Larsen and Toubro's (L&T) statement on order backlog is a reality check for the capital goods industry, which is yet to see an upturn in infrastructure and related project activity. L&T on Thursday said that they have orders worth about Rs 15,000 crore, which are slow moving due to various hurdles. Reports had suggested the company could write-off some of these orders. Chatterjee said two forces were expected to contribute positively for the sector – the cabinet committee on investment's attempt to clear huge amount of stuck projects, and a spike in public sector investments. The government was encouraging public sector units to invest, thus the market had expected an upturn in project activity in Q4, he said, adding that while many of these measures were good, they have not been able to achieve desired results.

1:50 pm Penalty:
The Competition Commission has slapped Rs 2.4 crore penalty on realty major DLF for not complying with its directions to cease and desist from unfair trade practices. Besides, the fair trade watchdog has said that continued non-compliance would result in penalty of Rs 1 lakh every day. Holding that DLF contravened its directions, Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a fine of Rs 2.4 crore.

1:40 pm More ETF?
After the encouraging response to CPSE ETF, government is mulling coming up with more such exchange traded funds comprising shares of public sector units as part of its divestment programme. "May be in coming times, we will introduce more of such ETF products because the main idea behind launching the CPSE ETF was to do the disinvestment programme in a manner in which markets are not disrupted. So once having achieved that (purpose), this process can be taken forward," Joint Secretary of Department of Disinvestment Alok Tandon told reporters.

1:30 pm Market outlook:
This is the time to buy quality stocks for investors looking to build portfolios, Deven Choksey said. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he recommended investors to adopt a stock-specific approach and utilize any dip in the market to build long positions of two-three years. According to him, the economy is showing sings of improvement and corporate India would report better earnings going ahead. ''Many companies have expanded their capacities and haven't been able to utilise those capacities under distressed market conditions. Now that the market condition is promising to improve – those capacities would get utilised and there would be jump in the earnings of the companies,'' he added.

1:20 pm Buzzing:
Shares of Sobha Developers were up 3 percent intraday as released operational performance for December quarter and FY14. The company reported a sequential growth in pre-sales, selling 0.92 mn sqft in Q4FY14. It saw 20 percent growth in new sales valued at Rs 605 crore in the lat quarter of the fiscal. All four key markets for the real estate developer Bangalore, Gurgaon, Trissur and Chennai, saw sequential improvement, it said. During the quarter Sobha launched four new residential projects in the southern markets with cumulative area of 3.6 mn sqft, skewed towards the second half of the quarter (Sobha Silicon Oasis and Sobha Valley View in Bangalore, Sobha Rio Vista in Calicut, and Sobha Isle in Cochin). The company achieved new sales value of Rs 2343 crore versus guidance of Rs 2600 crore.  Slow down in the sector, particularly NCR Gurgaon region dented its growth, the company reasons.

The market seems to be in no mood to recover but the Nifty manages to hold 6700, down 21.75 points at 6714.35. The Sensex is down 81.17 points at 22427.90. About 1455 shares have advanced, 1043 shares declined, and 117 shares are unchanged. Natco Pharma bounces back (up 6 percent) after US patent office rejected Teva's patent reissued application on Copaxone. It also refused to extend patent protection past may 2014. This, however, still does not change the US Supreme Court hearing but makes a stronger case for Natco and Mylan. Asia trades mixed in cautious trade with Nikkei slipping from three-week high, while Europe opens in a positive territory in anticipation of a strong US jobs data. Meanwhile, the BJP will release its manifesto on Monday- the day polling begins for the 2014 elections. Election Commission sources say that a party can put out its manifesto at any time but cannot be telecast or publicised while the voting is on. The BJP's manifesto release was reportedly delayed due to several last minute changes being asked for by team Modi.

12:50pm Edelweiss Financial in focus
The Reserve Bank has allowed foreign investors to pick equity in Edelweiss Financial Services following the company's resolution to increase FII limit to 28 per cent of the paid up capital. "... Edelweiss Financial Services has passed resolutions at the Board of Directors' level and a special resolution by the shareholders, agreeing for enhancing the limit for the purchase of its equity shares and convertible debentures by Foreign Institutional Investor (FIIs), through primary market and stock exchanges up to 28 per cent of the paid up capital," RBI said in release. Hence, restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the above company are withdrawn with immediate effect, it said, reports PTI.

12:40pm CPSE ETF lists
Central Public Sector Enterprises Exchange Traded Fund (CPSE ETF) , operated by Goldman Sachs Asset Management India, rose as much as 10.3 percent to Rs 19.25 on listing at the National Stock Exchange on Friday, compared with its allotment price of Rs 17.45 per unit. The surge has been mainly driven by a recent rally in state-run stocks and value buying, dealers say. The government was seeking to raise around USD 500 million by selling partial stakes in 10 state-owned companies via an exchange-traded fund, reports Reuters.

12:30pm Nelco in News
Shares of Nelco, the Tata group firm, gained 5 percent on getting approval from board for restructuring its industrial security and surveillance solutions business. "The board of directors of the company on Thursday has approved the restructuring of the company's industrial security & surveillance solutions business (ISSS business), by restricting operations and reducing expenditure with a view to minimize losses," the company said in its filing. However, the company said it would continue to focus on building its position in the Network Systems business.

12:20pm Interview
Sugar prices have been on a tear in the domestic market in the past few days, with prices of the sweetener jumping 24 percent in the past three weeks. Shree Renuka Sugar's managing director Narendra Murkumbi conceded that a looming risk of weather disturbance is expected to keep prices high till the onset of monsoon. ''There is a major weather risk hanging over all global agricultural markets. It has to do with El Nino and rain patterns in South America, which have not been normal.''

12:10pm Maket Expert
The positive mood in the Indian equity market is likely to continue and the market will remain buoyant in near-term, expects Prabodh Agarwal of IIFL. Though the entire focus has been on general elections, he feels that such domestic events are not the primary driver of market. This rally has been driven by foreign funds since FIIs are more positive on India than other EMs on expectations of a strong reformist government post elections and improving macros. Hence it may see a disproportionately higher share of FII inflows this year, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks continued to see selling pressure but the broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 0.5-0.8 percent. The Sensex slipped 89.27 points to 22419.80 and the Nifty lost 26 points to 6710.10. Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of 1371 to 971 on the BSE. State-run power equipment maker BHEL topped the selling list, falling 2.4 percent followed by L&T, Tata Motors, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto and NTPC with more than 1 percent. Index heavyweights ITC, Reliance Industries and HDFC declined 0.5-1 percent. However, banks recouped all early losses in noon trade with the HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank trading with marginal gains. Wipro, Tata Steel, Cipla and Hindalco Industries continued to be lead gainers with 0.5-1 percent upmove.

11:50 am Stock in news:
Shares of BS Limited gained as much as 20 percent intraday on Friday after the company announced that it has won several orders worth Rs 722 crore from power utilities. "These orders are for turnkey/EPC contracts for 220 KV and 132 KV transmission lines and associated substations in Madhya Pradesh," the infrastructure and EPC services provider said in its filing. Rajesh Agarwal, chairman and managing director of the company said these orders would contribute significantly to EPC business earnings until mid 2015.

11:40 am Fund purchase:
Tata Group's private equity fund Tata Opportunities Fund has bought around 15 percent stake in Aurangabad-based auto component maker Varroc group for USD 50 million (Rs 300 crore), the fund announced on Thursday, making this its first investment outside the Tata Group companies. Varroc, India's third largest auto components maker, will use the funds to expand its capacity and partly pay off its outstanding debt, Padmanabh Sinha, managing partner of Tata Opportunities Fund, said

11:30 am Bank deposits:
Bank deposits grew by 14.64 percent year-on-year to Rs 7,739,387 crore as on March 21, higher than credit growth, according to the RBI data. Deposits at commercial banks stood at Rs 6,750,454 crore during the same period last year, according to the RBI fortnightly data. Bank credit grew at 14.31 percent year-on-year to Rs 6,013,085 crore as on March 21, as against Rs 5,260,459 crore in the same period last year.

11:20 am Market outlook:
The positive mood in the Indian equity market is likely to continue and the market will remain buoyant in near-term, expects Prabodh Agarwal of IIFL. Though the entire focus has been on general elections, he feels that such domestic events are not the primary driver of market. This rally has been driven by foreign funds since FIIs are more positive on India than other EMs on expectations of a strong reformist government post elections and improving macros. Hence may see a disproportionately higher share of FII inflows this year, he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. He further added that India has been a bottom-up stock picker market for the last five years and remains to be so. Meanwhile, he doesn't see improvement in fundamentals of public sector banks. ''PSU banks are merely a tactical move. It is difficult to take two-three year view on public sector banks,'' he said.

11:10 am Buzzing:
Shares in sugar companies were trading higher after a spike in sugar prices which is likely to boost manufacturers' margins, traders say. Local sugar prices are hovering near their highest level in 15 months as demand from bulk consumers like cold drink and ice-cream makers improves due to the summer season. Sugar price has risen 14 percent in just five weeks traders say. Shares in Bajaj Hindusthan were up 7.8 percent, Balrampur Chini Mills rose 4.8 percent and Shree Renuka Sugars gained 5.2 percent.

The market is weak on profit booking, just as it will close for the weekend. The Sensex is down 74.21 points at 22434.86, and the Nifty is down 18.90 points at 6717.20. About 1238 shares have advanced, 813 shares declined, and 108 shares are unchanged. Metal stocks like Hindalco and Tata Steel are up 1 percent each. Cipla, Wipro and ICICI Bank are other gainers in the Sensex. Aong the losers are GAIL, BHEL, ONGC, L&T and Bharti Airtel. The rupee is lower tracking weakness in the euro and Asian currencies. Gilts too are lower as dealers cut positions ahead of the maiden FY15 gilt auction. The euro trades steady after declining on ECB President Mario Draghi's comments. The yen remained under pressure against dollar. Asian markets trade marginally lower today as traders are cautious ahead of the official report on US employment data out later today. Estimates are that 200,000 jobs are expected to be added.

10:59am BJP manifesto on April 7
BJP will release its manifesto on April 7 in Delhi where a number of its senior party leaders including Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will be present. "The party manifesto will be released on April 7," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said. The manifesto, which will highlight the party's promises to lure the voters for bringing it to power, has been much delayed and will be coming out on a day when polling in six Lok Sabha seats in Assam and Tripura will be held. Ahead of the manifesto, the party will also release its "charge sheet" against the Congress-led UPA government tomorrow, highlighting the acts of omission and commission, failures and various scams of the present regime, Sitharaman said. She said through this "charge sheet", the saffron party will seek to ask voters to reject Congress and elect a BJP- led NDA government this time, reports PTI.

10:50am Tata Motors enters into Philippines market
Tata Motors is foraying into the Philippines market with the export of passenger and commercial vehicles, including Manza sedan and Xenon pick up trucks, to the South East Asian nation. "The company will commence its business in the Philippines with exports of the Manza, the Vista, the Indigo and the Indica from its passenger vehicles portfolio and the Xenon, the Ace and the Super Ace from its commercial vehicles range," Tata Motors said in a statement. The company has appointed Pilipinas Taj Autogroup Inc, as its distributor in Philippines, it added, reports PTI.

10:40am Earnings Preview
Pharma giants Dr Reddy's, Lupin and Sun Pharma are likely to see strong operating growth in the fourth quarter aided by new product launches and gains in existing products in the US business, CLSA said in a research report. Among the midcaps, Cadila, Ipca and Torrent Pharma are also beginning to gain traction in the US business and are likely to report strong earnings in Q4FY14. Most companies are expected to report some forex gains on hedges and foreign liabilities given the slight strengthening of rupee Q-o-Q, the report.  On the flipside, growth in India business for most companies will be lower in Q4FY14 than usual due to price reductions in mid-FY14. The quarter will be lackluster for Ranbaxy, but low base will help the company show sharp Y-o-Y growth, it said. CLSA expects to see a pick up in coming quarters for Ranbaxy led by launch of Diovan and Nexium generic.

10:30am Interview
The slowdown in realty sector is not preventing developers from launching new projects. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, JC Sharma, vice chairman and managing director, Sobha Developers , says he expects better margins in FY14 than its preceding year. Though the company has seen weak demand in Gurgaon-NCR region, its projects in Bangalore and Kerala have seen good response. On the road ahead, Sharma expects to post good numbers in Q1FY15 as most of its latest projects were launched in March-end and hence, will be reflected in Q1 numbers. ''We expect the Bangalore market to keep the momentum going and though Kerala is a small market, we are hoping to capitalize on it. Though NCR and Mumbai haven't performed that well, they do have tremendous potential,'' he explains.

10:20am Repco Home Finance in focus
Black Rock India Equity Fund Mauritius, Norges Bank - Government Pension Fund Global and The Master Trust Bank of Japan as trustee of Black Rock India Fund have picked up 2.4 percent stake in the company through block deals. However, WCP Holding III has sold its entire stake of 4.38 percent or 27,28,100 equity shares at Rs 325.04 apiece. Earlier on March 31, WCP had offloaded 5.57 percent stake at Rs 325.02 apiece. It was having a stake of 9.96 percent as of December 2013.

10:10am Market Expert
Deven Choksey, MD, KR Choksey Shares and Securities believes after five years of consolidation, the market has just started to move forward. He is also a believer in the India story and hence does not concur with the view that it may not be the right time for investors to enter the market. He believes the balance sheet and earnings of corporates will only improve going forward due to better policies and governance once the new government comes to power.

10:00am The market extended losses with the Nifty breaking the 6700 level weighed down by capital goods, banks and oil & gas stocks. However, the broader markets outperformed benchmarks - the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.3 percent each. The Sensex lost 121.99 points to 22387.08 and the Nifty declined 33.95 points to 6702.15. About 946 shares have advanced, 708 shares declined, and 77 shares are unchanged. State-run GAIL and BHEL fell more than 2 percent while engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro lost 1.5 percent, in addition to 0.77 percent loss in previous session. Shares of ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, HDFC, ONGC, HDFC Bank, M&M, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Auto slipped 0.6-1.2 percent. However, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Coal India, Hindalco Industries, HUL and Cipla gained 0.3-1.3 percent.

9:50 am Interview:
The slowdown in realty sector is not preventing developers from launching new projects. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, J C Sharma, vice chairman and managing director, Sobha Developers, says he expects better margins in FY14 than its preceding year. Though the company has seen weak demand in Gurgaon-NCR region, its projects in Bangalore and Kerala have meet good response. ''We launched four projects of which two were in Bnagalore and the other in Kerala. These projects total an area of 3.6 million square feet and have see really good response. Infact, we have seen Bangalore market perform 20 percent better,'' adds Sharma. On the road ahead, Sharma expects to post good numbers in Q1FY15 as most of its latest projects were launched in March-end and hence, will be reflected in Q1 numbers.

9:40 am Udayan's comments:
India's journey from a 'Fragile Five' economy to becoming a favouite bet of foreign investors has been in short span of time. India has been performing relatively better than most emerging markets (EMs) given the improvement in current account deficit and rupee. Udayan Mukherjee of CNBC-TV18 feels one shouldn't be surprised at India's relative outperformance as better macros have attracted foreign money, which is fuelling the current market rally. The upmove seen in the Indian equity market is classic case of an election rally, he said. ''Though market valuations look stretched at the moment, but technicals are in favour of the market and those playing this rally by taking a valuation-based call, might go wrong,'' he added. Retail investors should think tactically and enjoy the rally while it is on. ''Most people are caught in five-year cycles bull or bear; with this view they are missing on tactical moves the market is making,'' he said.

9:30 FII view:
Ridham Desai, Morgan Stanley says the market appears to care little for quality, for what the consensus is recommending, or for what institutions are buying. Meanwhile, financial leverage and capex have also taken a backseat. The market's belligerent mood is a recurring theme with momentum topping the list of alpha generating factors for a second straight month.

The market opened on a flat note and quickly slipped into red. The Sensex is down 40.76 points at 22468.31, and the Nifty is down 13.85 points at 6722.25. About 360 shares have advanced, 240 shares declined, and 39 shares are unchanged. ITC, TCS and Wipro are gainers while L&T, BHEL and ONGC fall 1 percent each. The rupee has opened at 60.35 a dollar on Friday, down 19 paise compared to previous day's closing value of 60.16 a dollar. Pramit Brahmbhatt, Alpari India says overnight

US Index futures traded positively and dollar gained against major currencies ahead of the payroll data. According to him, Indian local equity is expected to open weak after some profit booking was seen yesterday, which hurt rupee as well. He expects the rupee to extend its weakness today and trade within the 59.70-60.70/USD levels. Meanwhile, the euro traded at one-month lows against the dollar, having suffered a bit of a setback after the European Central Bank notched up its dovish rhetoric following a widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

The dollar also extends gains versus the yen, popping above 104 for the first time since January 23. Asian stocks decline on profit-taking. China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.48 point to 2,043.23 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 11.74 points to 22,553.34. Japan's Nikkei 225 Average was flat at 15,072.03 while Singapore's Straits Times slipped 2.21 points to 3,217.85. South Korea's Seoul Composite lost 0.45 point to 1,993.25 and Taiwan Weighted was down 16.91 points to 8,888.54. US stocks too failed to end higher in volatile trading on Thursday, snapping a four-day winning streak, ahead of the widely-watched government jobs report. The Dow and S&P 500 hit record intraday highs earlier in the session.

The Nasdaq was the biggest loser of the three major averages, pressured by declines in momentum and biotech stocks. Dow Jones closed at 16572.55, down 0.45 points, while the Nasdaq ended trade at 4237.74, down 38.72 points. In commodities, Nymex crude remained above USD 100 a barrel as escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia offset a potential rise in Libyan crude supply. Brent crude too holds above 106 dollars. From precious metals space - gold edged lower as the market nervously awaited US nonfarm payrolls data, even as the metal headed for a third straight week of losses. Gold is down 0.7 percent for the week, though it has recovered a little after having hit a seven-week low on Tuesday.