Nifty ends at 6000; ITC & Tata Motors lead, banks support

03:50 pm Market opinion
Sandeep Shenoy, executive director-Institutional Equity, Anand Rathi Financial Services says the market correction seen today does not come as a surprise.

Shenoy says the market would have undergone some kind of a correction and may see levels between 5900 and 6000.

"At this juncture, the risk return pay off is in favour of long-term investors and one shouldn't blink. Yes, there could be extended sideways movement and we are moving into a period of volatility because of various reasons, elections included but long-term investors shouldn't blink. There are options galore, please capitalise,'' adds Shenoy.

03:40 pm Market closing
After being hammered down for most part of the trading day, the market managed to wipe out its gain just before winding up for the day. The Nifty closed at 6000.90, down 0.90 points while the Sensex was up 2.67 points at 20211.93.

Bharti Airtel , NTPC and Tata Motors gained around 3 percent each. Other gainers in the Sensex are Bajaj Auto and SBI. M&M lost 3.5 percent while GAIL shed 3 percent. Among the laggards were BHEL, Dr Reddy's Labs and TCS.

03:30 Result
Jubilant Foodworks, the master franchise for Domino's Pizza in India, disappointed street on every parameter with the third quarter (October-December) net profit falling 11 percent compared to same quarter last year, dented by weak operational performance and economic environment.

"Overall profitability was lower than anticipated on account of inflationary pressure, restrained consumer spends and other developmental expenses," the company explained in its filing.

According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts had expected the company to report net profit of Rs 41 crore on revenues of Rs 490 crore for the quarter.

Net profit declined to Rs 33.6 crore from Rs 37.7 crore. However, revenues shot up 18.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 456.5 crore in the quarter ended December 2013, driven by sustained momentum in restaurant openings along with success of new launches such as the Fresh Pan Pizza.

03:20 pm Mobile banking
Telecom regulator Trai today said it has written to the Finance Ministry seeking that banks be asked to move forward on mobile banking so as to promote financial inclusion across the country.

A system is already in place for the service and banks need to "wake up and move" on it, Trai Chairman Rahul Khullar said during an Assocham event on financial inclusion.

"I intend, irrespective of what the central bank does, to ensure the regulation we have put in place will be enforced and I have already written to the Finance Minister explaining that the system is already in place, it is now for the Ministry of Finance to tell the bankers wake up and move," he said.

It is a "national shame" that 41 percent of the people in India, and 46 percent of the rural households, don't have bank accounts, he added.

03:10 pm Market outlook
Girish Pai, director, Claritas Research feels that the Nifty is set for a 700-1,000 points pullback until the elections happen. "Where will it (the fall) stop one really does not know, but wherever it stops, I see a pullback at least till May of 2014. This pullback in the offing could be pretty serious,'' he added.

On sectors, one can buy banking stocks from a three-four months perspective, but those looking to serious bet on PSU banks should wait of elections to play out. He recommends betting on export-oriented sectors like IT and pharma.

On the flipside, he suggests staying away from metal stocks as of now.

03:00pm Engineers India on buyers' radar
Shares of Engineers India jumped 3 percent as its follow-on public offer (FPO) is gearing up to hit capital market on February 6 . The government is eyeing to mop up Rs 500 crore by selling 10 percent stake or 3.36 crore sharees via FPO route. The FPO will be open for subscription for three days.

Price band of the FPO, decided by Empowered Group of Ministers (headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram), will be disclosed after the close of market hours today. The Department of Disinvestment has already held overseas road shows to attract foreign investors to the EIL stake sale.

ICICI Securities, IDFC and Kotak Mahindra Capital, Edelweiss Financial Services and IDBI Capital are managing the disinvestment. The government holds 80.4 percent in the company.

02:55pm Idea Cellular up 8%
Idea Cellular said Department of Telecom has transferred Punjab and Karnataka licences of Spice to the company.

"We can use Spice's 3G spectrum won in 2010 post transfer," Idea said.

The stock rose 7.8 percent to Rs 151.30 on the BSE.

02:50pm Kaveri Seed sees profit booking post hitting 52-week high
Kaveri Seed Company's third quarter (October-December) consolidated net profit grew 3.4 times year-on-year to Rs 36.5 crore and sales jumped 41 percent to Rs 132.6 crore.

Operating profit trebled to Rs 38 crore from Rs 13 crore during the same period.

Kaveri Seed Company fell 1.6 percent to Rs 465.50 after it touched a 52-week high of Rs 500.05.

02:45pm Market Expert
Despite the fact that the Indian equity market is in a deep red hue, Richard Gibbs, global head- Macquarie Securities, says he will buy India, specifically the defensives.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Gibbs says that he will be eyeing defensives as the India story will be impacted by things that impact the domestic demand side of the economy positively or negatively.

However, Gibbs adds that the US markets are not being contaminated by the contagion seen in emerging markets (EMs).

02:40pm Divis Labs up 3% post strong earnings
Profit after tax of the company jumped 52 percent year-on-year to Rs 219 crore and revenue grew 29 percent to Rs 689 crore in the quarter ended December 2013.

Operating profit shot up 58 percent to Rs 288 crore and margin expanded 800 basis points to 42 percent compared to a year ago period.

02:35pm Jubilant Foodworks falls 3% post Q3 earnings
Jubilant Foodworks, the master franchise for Domino's Pizza in India, reported 11 percent degrowth in its third quarter (October-December) bottomline compared to same quarter last year.

Same store sales growth saw contraction of 2.6 percent as against 6.6 percent growth in previous quarter and 16.1 percent in a year ago period.

The board of directors of the company hiked foreign institutional investors shareholding limit from 49 percent to 55 percent.

02:30pm Bharat Forge reports strong growth in Q3
Pune-based Bharat Forge reported 98 percent growth in net profit supported by strong operational performance and higher revenues that grew 23.7 percent year-on-year in the quarter ended December 2013.

"Bharat Forge continues to do well despite the domestic slowdown because of a diversified product mix and strategic entry into the non-automotive sectors. We continue to win new orders across auto and non-auto segments," BN Kalyani, chairman and managing director said.

Net profit increased to Rs 94 crore from Rs 47.5 crore while total income from operations jumped to Rs 832.1 crore from Rs 672.6 crore on the back of 54.5 percent increase in export revenues.

Kalyani said the international operations registered strong performance driven by cost controls, productivity improvements and innovative new products.

02:25pm Tech Mahindra to declare Q3 earnings
Analysts expect profit after tax of the company to fall 4.7 percent sequentially to Rs 684 crore on account of forex loss, according to CNBC-TV18 poll.

Dollar revenues are expected to be USD 777.3 million, a growth of 2.5 percent compared to previous quarter while rupee revenues may grow 0.8 percent to Rs 4,810 crore in the quarter gone by.

Analysts said while there will be an impact from furloughs during the quarter, Tech Mahindra should still be able to post dollar revenue growth of around 2-2.5 percent on sequential basis in constant currency. Also the appreciation of GBP and EUR against the dollar will impact dollar revenue growth positively by 50 basis points, analysts added.

02:20pm Developed markets to outperform, expert says
Rob Aspin, Senior Investment Strategist at Standard Chartered Bank strongly believes that equities in the developed markets like US and Europe will definitely outperform and give absolute returns compared to those of emerging markets (EMs).

There is a possibility that EMs at the end of the current year or in 2015 will become excellent buying opportunity but it is not the right time yet to bottom fish says Aspin in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Among the emerging markets South Korea is an overweight for them. The house also likes Indonesia after it was upgraded to netural and  is sanguine on underlying Indian fundamentals, which could provide a technical bounce.

The house is way of markets with high current account deficits,

02:15pm Suven Life posts strong growth in Q3 earnings
Biopharmaceutical company Suven Life Sciences reported 370 percent growth year-on-year in third quarter (October-December) net profit, driven by strong growth in contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS).

"The growth in profit was a result of prelaunch supplies of 3 products under CRAMS," the company said in a statement.

Net profit increased to Rs 36.4 crore from Rs 7.7 crore and revenues jumped 91 percent to Rs 119.4 crore from Rs 62.4 crore year-on-year.

The growth in profitability was despite higher expenses. Total expenses shot up 34.3 percent on yearly basis to Rs 66.79 crore on account of higher manufacturing expenses, raw material cost and other expenses.

02:10pm The market recouped all its losses in afternoon trade supported by banks, FMCG and telecom stocks. However, the selling continued in technology, pharma and metals stocks.

The Sensex rose 0.32 points to 20,209.58, and the Nifty climbed 1.95 points to 6,003.75. About 1058 shares have advanced, 1266 shares declined, and 135 shares are unchanged.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel, power producer NTPC and commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors gained 3 percent each.

Cigarette major ITC rebounded quite nicely, gaining 1.5 percent followed by L&T and Reliance Industries with marginal gains.

However, TCS, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sun Pharma, Wipro, GAIL and BHEL dropped 1-3 percent.

1:50 pm Power woes: The Delhi government has asked state's power regulator to scrap the licences of electricity distribution companies if they fail to supply power to the city, reports Reuters.

The request is the latest muscle-flexing between the newly elected Aam Aadmi Party, which leads the government in Delhi, and two power distribution companies, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, run by billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Infrastructure .

1:40 pm Buzzing: Shares for Divis Laboratories gained 4 percent on its strong December quarter results. Its net profit increased by 51.84 percent to Rs 219.02 crore, due to a 25.24 percent (Y-o-Y) increase in total income in Q3 December 2013.

1:30 pm Result: une-based Bharat Forge reported 98 percent growth in net profit supported by strong operational performance and higher revenues that grew 23.7 percent year-on-year in the quarter ended December 2013.

"Bharat Forge continues to do well despite the domestic slowdown because of a diversified product mix and strategic entry into the non-automotive sectors. We continue to win new orders across auto and non-auto segments," BN Kalyani, chairman and managing director said.

Net profit increased to Rs 94 crore from Rs 47.5 crore while total income from operations jumped to Rs 832.1 crore from Rs 672.6 crore on the back of 54.5 percent increase in export revenues.

1:20 pm Global voice:  In spite of weakness seen in US markets, Steve Brice, Chief Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Bank is still bullish and upbeat on US markets and said he would buy their on dips.

''Overall we still believe we are in a recovery mode in the US and Europe. So, from that perspective we are still pretty bullish on the equity markets and we believe this is a good opportunity for people to consider adding to their exposure,'' said Brice.

According to him developed market equities are close to a bottom and he is not overly concerned about the weak US economic data.

Globally, he prefers Asian equities to Latin American. He thinks volatility in emerging markets (EMs) is likely to continue and expects downside to EM currencies although in the short-term Turkey's rate hike stablilised things in the short-term. However,  it is likely that there will pressure on central banks to tighten policy further.

Selling pressure in the market continues as the Sensex is down 143.78 points at 20065.48, and the Nifty is down 40.30 points at 5961.50. About 869 shares have advanced, 1357 shares declined, and 146 shares are unchanged.

PSU banks have firmed up with SBI gaining over 1 percent. PSU banks have firmed up with SBI gaining over 1 percent. Tata Motors , Bharti Airtel , NTPC and Cipla are other gainers in the Sensex. Among the laggards are M&M, TCS , GAIL , BHEL , and Wipro .

Asian stocks extended rout after US sell off last evening. Nikkei was nearing three-month low.

It is day two of 2G spectrum auction. As day one started off on a good note with the government raking in Rs 44,624 crore and the centre hopes to exceed its auction mop-up target of Rs 11,300 crore.

01:00pm Tech Mahindra to declare Q3 earnings today
Analysts expect profit after tax to fall 4.7 percent sequentially to Rs 684 crore on account of forex loss, according to CNBC-TV18 poll.

Dollar revenues are expected to be USD 777.3 million, a growth of 2.5 percent compared to previous quarter while rupee revenues may grow 0.8 percent to Rs 4,810 crore in the quarter gone by.

Analysts said while there will be an impact from furloughs during the quarter, Tech Mahindra should still be able to post dollar revenue growth of around 2-2.5 percent on sequential basis in constant currency. Also the appreciation of GBP and EUR against the dollar will impact dollar revenue growth positively by 50 basis points, analysts added.

12:55pm Nomura upgrades Crompton Greaves
Nomura upgraded its rating on Crompton Greaves from neutral to buy but reduced target price to Rs 126 from Rs 139 earlier.

"Crompton Greaves' (CRG) reported Q3FY14 results were below expectations led by a lower-than-expected improvement in international margins and slower revenue growth in the domestic consumer segment. However, we note that directionally the international business seems to be improving, having reported three quarters of improving margin trend now," Nomura report said.

"During the post-results conference call, CRG mentioned that they are starting to see improving demand conditions in parts of Europe, while North American operations should also turn around by 1HFY15 on the back of recent order booking at high margins as well as restructuring initiatives. This, together with our analysis of trends from the international peer group, suggests to us that the worst might be over as far as growth and pricing pressure in the global power T&D sector is concerned, placing CRG suitably for a potential turnaround."

The report further said, "While Nomura still believes that a full-fledged recovery could take a while, we note that the stock has corrected 20-25% from its recent peak and offers a good buying opportunity, in our view, at current valuations of 13.6x FY15F P/E. We thus upgrade CRG to Buy."
 
The stock climbed 1.7 percent to Rs 114 on the BSE.

12:50pm JSW Steel recovers
JSW Steel said the company is running its Karnataka plant at 85 percent capacity.

"Operations at West Bengal plant will start soon and we need iron ore security to commence operations at West Bengal plant," the company said.

JSW Steel has submitted bid for Stemcor, but it is not bidding for Stemcor India assets with JSPL.

JSW Steel rose 0.05 percent to Rs 852.60 after hitting an intraday low of Rs 827 on the BSE.

12:45pm Engineers India to launch FPO on February 6
The follow-on public offer (FPO) of Engineers India (EIL) will hit the capital market on February 6, a top official said.

The government will sell 10 percent stake in Engineers India Ltd (EIL) through FPO route, that is expected to fetch Rs 500 crore.

"The FPO will open on February 6. It will remain open for three days," Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae told reporters here.

The Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, today decided on the price band and timing of the issue.The price band will be disclosed after the close of market hours today, Rae said.

The Department of Disinvestment has already held overseas roadshows to attract foreign investors to the EIL stake sale.

The government plans to sell 3.36 crore EIL shares, with up to 5 percent of the offer reserved for employees.

ICICI Securities, IDFC and Kotak Mahindra Capital, Edelweiss Financial Services and IDBI Capital are managing the disinvestment.

The government holds 80.4 percent in the 'miniratna' public sector undertaking. In 2010, it had divested 10 percent of its stake in EIL through an FPO, reports PTI.

12:40pm Geometric talks to CNBC-TV18
The dollar revenues in the quarter ended December saw a degrowth for Geometric in the second consecutive quarter, impacted due to decline in revenues from large US customer and holiday season in Q3.

However, going forward the company will resume on its growth path in fourth quarter on back of sizeable improvement in deal pipeline over the last two quarters said Manu Parpia, MD & CEO of Geometric.

"Pipeline has improved by about 25 percent approximately over the previous quarter and that in itself has increased over Q2 by another 30 percent," said Parpia.

According to him margins too will improve in the coming quarter. Parpia believes the large client issue has bottomed out for now and expects no negative surprises from that.

The dollar revenues in Q3 were down 4.1 percent at USD 44.4 million versus USD 46.26 million quarter-on-quarter and rupee revenues were down 4 percent at Rs 2752.8 crore versus Rs 2865.4 crore. The PAT too was down 55 percent at Rs 7.53 crore versus Rs 16.57 crore.

12:35pm Bharat Forge posts good earnings in Q3
Bharat Forge's third quarter (October-December) net profit grew 98 percent to Rs 94 crore from Rs 47.5 crore and total income from operations jumped 23.7 percent to Rs 832.1 crore from Rs 672.6 crore year-on-year.

Operating profit shot up 50.7 percent to Rs 214 crore from Rs 142 crore and margin expanded 460 basis points to 25.8 percent as against 21.2 percent during the same period.

The stock rebounded post earnings, up 1 percent to Rs 345.90 on the BSE.

12:30pm Divis Labs stock hits record high of Rs 1390, up 6% intraday on Q3 nos

Profit after tax of the company jumped 52 percent year-on-year to Rs 219 crore and revenue grew 29 percent to Rs 689 crore in the quarter ended December 2013.

Operating profit shot up 58 percent to Rs 288 crore and margin expanded 800 basis points to 42 percent compared to a year ago period.

The stock rose 3.77 percent to Rs 1,362.70 on the BSE.

12:25pm PFC to announce Q3 earnings today
According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts said the key issues in case of PFC to watch out for this quarter is any deterioration in asset quality against the backdrop of challenging fuel linkages because that will have an impact on yields and spreads.

Disbursement trends especially transitional finance to state electricity boards is expected to be muted in the quarter gone by.

Also watch out for restructuring on Lanco. The management said Rs 2,700 crore exposure to Lanco is closely monitored as it is facing cash flows issues due to delayed payment from UP and Karnataka.

Profit after tax is likely to increase 19 percent to Rs 1,334 crore while net interest income may rise 28 percent to Rs 2,148 crore compared to same quarter last year due to healthy loan growth.

12:20pm Market Expert
Sushil Kedia, director - Quantitative Strategy, CIMB believes the Nifty may see a rebound, although a small one, on Wednesday.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Kedia says Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ( ONGC ) is a stock he is eyeing right now. He expects a 10 percent rebound in the stock today.

Furthermore, Kedia says if the Nifty rebounds 200-250 points then one should open short positions and play it to 5500.

12:15pm Incentive for sugar sector
The cabinet will decide on incentives for raw sugar production on Tuesday, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters, as part of strategy to arrest falling prices due to a glut of refined sugar in domestic markets.

"India has been exporting only white sugar, it has not been exporting raw sugar and WTO rules allow us to give incentives for production of new product like raw sugar," he said.

The minister said the world's biggest producer after Brazil could export at least 4 million tonnes of raws in the next two years.

India's sugar mills have sold only about 700,000 tonnes of raw sugar for export so far in the 2013/14 season despite industry expectations of 4 million tonnes because of low prices, reports Reuters.

12:10pm Equity benchmarks continued to reel under selling pressure. They are trying to maintain support levels i.e. 20000 on the Sensex and 5950 on the Nifty.

Private banks, technology, healthcare, capital goods and oil & gas stocks dragged market but public sector lenders and telecom stocks bucked the trend and helping the market to hold support levels.

The Sensex slipped 172.20 points to 20,037.06, and the Nifty fell 50.85 points to 5,950.95. Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 1273 to 782 on the BSE.

Mahindra & Mahindra and HCL Technologies topped the selling list, losing 4-5 percent followed by Wipro , GAIL and TCS with a 3 percent loss.

However, Bharti Airtel rebounded on short covering, gaining more than 2 percent. Tata Motors , Cipla , NTPC climbed 0.8-1 percent.

Public sector lenders helped the market recoup some of its early losses and also aid the Bank Nifty to turn higher. State Bank of India , Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank rallied 1-1.5 percent.

11:50 am Decision on sugar:  The cabinet will decide on incentives for raw sugar production today, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said, as part of strategy to arrest falling prices due to a glut of refined sugar in domestic markets.

"India has been exporting only white sugar, it has not been exporting raw sugar and WTO rules allow us to give incentives for production of new product like raw sugar," he said.

The minister said the world's biggest producer after Brazil could export at least 4 million tonnes of raws in the next two years.

11:40 am Poll: Jubilant Foodworks , which holds the master franchise for Domino's Pizza in India, will announce its third quarter (October-December) earnings today. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts on an average expect net profit to rise 8 percent year-on-year to Rs 41 crore.

Net sales may grow 27 percent to Rs 490 crore on account of around 6 percent growth in same-store-sales (SSS) and nearly 20 percent growth in store expansion.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is expected to increase 13.5 percent to Rs 76 crore but margin may decline 190 basis points to 15.5 percent compared to a year ago period on lower SSS, store additions and losses from Dunkin Donuts.

 11:30 am In focus: Drug major Mylan Inc said it has launched breast cancer drug Hertraz Herceptin in India.

The company's subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd has launched the world's first trastuzumab biosimilar, which will be marketed by Mylan under the brand name Hertraz Herceptin, a company statement said.

"Mylan is excited to offer Hertraz to the thousands of women in India suffering from metastatic breast cancer who are in need of a high quality, more affordable treatment option," Mylan CEO Heather Bresch said.

Hertraz, which has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India, is indicated for the treatment of HER2- positive metastatic breast cancer and is available in two strengths, 440 mg and 150 mg.

11:20 am Market outlook: Jan Dehn of Ashmore is in the camp of market experts who are bullish on emerging markets and see them growing stronger this year than in 2013. Sharing views with CNBC-TV18 he said, turnaround in India's macro economic data has already begun, which is setting it apart from so-called fragile five economies like Turkey and Brazil.

''There is considerable value in India particularly, if we also see resumption in reforms after the elections. That is a low hanging fruit in India that investors should take a closer look at,'' he added. Meanwhile, speaking about the sell-off seen global markets triggred by weak US data, he said concerns seen in markets are warranted. ''Since the start of the year, the US data has really been quite disappointing. The US had a lot to live up to this year and so far, the data has not supported those very high expectations,'' he said.

Sell-off in the market continues as the Sensex is down 166.65 points at 20042.61. The Nifty is down 45.30 points or at 5956.50. About 671 shares have advanced, 1157 shares declined, and 118 shares are unchanged.

SBI , Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel are up 1 percent while Cipla and Tata Power are other gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers in the Sensex are GAIL , M&M, Wipro , Hindalco and TCS .

Asian markets are trading weak in line with the weak closing in the US. The Hang Seng opened 2 percent lower after a four-day break while the Kospi trades at a five-month low. Nikkei tumbles on yen strength.

Emerging market currencies saw a slump overnight with the Columbian peso closing at the lowest level since December 2009 while the Brazilian real trades at a five-month low.

Asian currencies, however, are mixed with the Korean won and Philippine peso trading lower but the Malaysian ringgit and Indonesian rupiah are recovering.

The Indian rupee opened weak in line with the risk off globally. However, dollar sales by foreign banks in anticipation of some dollar inflows help the rupee. Government bond prices are firm tracking a fall in us treasury yields.

11:00am Bosch to increase investment in India
German auto parts maker Bosch Automotive Group today said it plans to invest Rs 1,200 crore in India during 2014, reports PTI.

"In 2014, the Bosch group plans to invest some Rs 1,200 crore in the country," Member of the Bosch board of management responsible for Asia Pacific Peter Tyroller told reporters here.

He said, "Much of this sum will go into building new facilities as well as augmenting existing ones such as the Adugodi site here, which will be expanded to become an important R&D hub."

"A portion of this capital expenditure in 2014 will also be directed towards capacity expansion at Bosch Automotive Electronics India (RBEI), to enable an increase in the production of electronic control units," he added.

10:55am Divis Labs up 5% post strong earnings
Profit after tax of the company jumped 52 percent year-on-year to Rs 219 crore and revenue grew 29 percent to Rs 689 crore in the quarter ended December 2013.

Operating profit shot up 58 percent to Rs 288 crore and margin expanded 800 basis points to 42 percent compared to a year ago period.

10:50am Bankex claws back, up 0.3 percent
Public sector lenders Bank of India , Punjab National Bank , Allahabad Bank , Andhra Bank , Bank of Baroda , Canara Bank , Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank , Indian Bank , IOB , State Bank of India, Union Bank , Syndicate Bank and UCO Bank gained between 1-3 percent.

10:45am Market Expert
Ray Farris, director, Credit Suisse has a slightly bearish bias on most emerging markets forex rates. According to him, the key cue for global currency market would be the extent to which this rout in equities continues.

''In the forex markets, over the past week, a lot of the positions that players started with earlier in the year, been taken out and hedging local has been done. So, today equities are weaker, but currencies are generally flatter and in some cases even turning stronger,'' he added.

Meanwhile, he sees the Indian rupee trading below 63/USD for the next one month. ''The risk starts to come in-in the Q2 of the year because of current account balance seasonality,'' he said.

10:40am Jaypee Infratech falls over 2% post Q3 earnings
Jaypee Infratech's net profit fell 34.75 percent year-on-year to Rs 101.18 crore, argely due to rise in costs.

Net sales of the company rose by nearly 6 percent to Rs 987.80 crore in Q3FY14 versus Rs 933.13 crore of Q3FY13.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation dropped to Rs 357 crore from Rs 422 crore and margin declined significantly to 36.1 percent versus 45.3 percent year-on-year.

10:35am Lupin talks to CNBC-TV18
Lupin delivered a solid set of numbers in the third quarter, much above street estimates. Its India business grew by 14 percent versus an estimated 5-10 percent. Nilesh Gupta, MD of Lupin said the company's revenue growth came from both domestic as well as the overseas market, but primarily US led the growth. Its active pharmaceutical ingredients, or API business, which is about 10 percent of the company, grew by 24-25 percent, he said.

He said PAT growth at 42 percent y-o-y came on the back of good product mix. ''We are getting into better, more complex products in markets like the US and those are obviously bringing in the revenues,'' he added.

10:30am Market Update
The maket recouped some its early losses on short covering in banks and capital goods stocks. The Sensex slipped 147.43 points to 20,061.83, and the Nifty dropped 42.25 points to 5,959.55.

State Bank of India climbed over a percent followed by Bharti Airtel , L&T, Tata Power , Cipla and Hero Motocorp with a 0.5-0.8 percent gain.

10:20am Midcaps
The BSE Midcap Index fell 0.5 percent and Smallcap declined 0.7 percent.

In the midcap space, WABCO India , PVR , Engineers India , P&G and Tata Coffee gained 3-7 percent while Hexaware Technologies , Solar Industries, Honeywell Automation , Oberoi Realty and Tata Chemicals slipped over 3 percent.

Engineers India is on buyers' radar as empowered group of ministers is likely to decide on company's follow-on public offer date and price band today.

Procter and Gamble's Q2 (October-December) net profit jumped to Rs 76.6 crore from Rs 54 crore and net sales climbed to Rs 570.6 crore versus Rs 470.6 crore year-on-year.

10:15am Tata Chemicals under pressure post Q3 earnings
Tata Chemicals fell over 3 percent as the company reported a consolidated loss of Rs 15.9 crore during October-December quarter as against profit of Rs 224 crore in same quarter last year. The loss was due to restructuring of its European operation besides higher expenditure on interest and taxes.

"Current quarter results were impacted by one-time charge of Rs 82 crore due to restructuring of European operation," R Mukundan MD said.

Consolidated total income jumped 10 percent to Rs 4,580.4 crore from Rs 4164.6 crore year-on-year.

10:10am Tech Mahindra to declare Q3 results today
Analysts expect profit after tax of Tech Mahindra to fall 4.7 percent sequentially to Rs 684 crore on account of forex loss, according to CNBC-TV18 poll.

Dollar revenues are expected to be USD 777.3 million, a growth of 2.5 percent compared to previous quarter while rupee revenues may grow 0.8 percent to Rs 4,810 crore in the quarter gone by.

10:05am The market fell another one percent today, in addition to 1.5 percent decline in previous session on account of weakness in global peers. Lower than expected US manufacturing data and China's factory growth at six-month low caused selling pressure across the globe.

The Sensex dropped 227.57 points to 19,981.69, and the Nifty declined 63.40 points to 5,938.40. Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 1014 to 458 on the BSE.

Shares of TCS , Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro , GAIL and Hindalco Industries are top losers, falling 3 percent each.

Infosys , ITC , ICICI Bank and Axis Bank declined over a percent while Reliance Industries , HDFC and HDFC Bank slipped over 0.6 percent.

However, country's largest lender State Bank of India bucked the trend, rising 0.5 percent. Hindustan Unilever , Tata Power and Hero Motocorp too gained on short covering.

9:55 am Vote-on-account: Finance Minister P Chidambaram said his vote-on-account budget to be presented in the Lok Sabha on February 17, will be short, between 12 and 18 pages, on which he would prefer a debate.

As regards the Insurance Bill, which seeks to raise FDI cap in the sector from 26 per cent to 49 percent, Chidambaram said it was not likely to be taken up in Parliament session beginning February 5, the last one of the current Lok Sabha.

9:45 am Buzzing: Shares of Tata Chemicals slide 3 percent on dismal December quarter earnings. The Tata group company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 15.93 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal mainly due to restructuring of its European operation besides higher expenditure on interest and taxes.

The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 224.07 crore in the same quarter previous year. Total income has increased by 7 percent to Rs 4,598.13 crore in the quarter ended December 2013, from Rs 4,311.31 crore in the year-ago period. The Tata Group firm's net profit took a beating as its finance costs rose to Rs 165.63 crore from Rs 118.41 crore, while tax expenses increased to Rs 92.61 crore from Rs 73.25 crore in the review period.

9:35 am Result: Tech Mahindra will announce its third quarter (October-December) earnings. Analysts expect profit after tax to fall 4.7 percent sequentially to Rs 684 crore on account of forex loss, according to CNBC-TV18 poll.

Dollar revenues are expected to be USD 777.3 million, a growth of 2.5 percent compared to previous quarter while rupee revenues may grow 0.8 percent to Rs 4,810 crore in the quarter gone by. Analysts said while there will be an impact from furloughs during the quarter, Tech Mahindra should still be able to post dollar revenue growth of around 2-2.5 percent on sequential basis in constant currency. Also the appreciation of GBP and EUR against the dollar will impact dollar revenue growth positively by 50 basis points, analysts added.

9:25 am Market outlook: Neelkanth Mishra of Credit Suisse said the beta rally we flagged in October 2013 is fizzling out as expected, reversing 5 percent of the 10 percent cyclicals' outperformance since August, because of a global risk-off supported by local EPS changes.

He feels downgrades may continue as the rest of the earnings season is also likely to disappoint. ''Closer to the elections, market sentiment may again turn catalysed by improved risk appetite globally but these beta-rallies should remain head-fakes,'' he added.

Weak global cues spook Indian market dragging the Nifty below 6000 in early morning trade. The Nifty is down 54.20 points or 0.90 percent at 5947.60. The Sensex is down 230.44 points or 1.14 percent at 19978.82. About 98 shares have advanced, 296 shares declined, and 69 shares are unchanged.

Bank Nifty is down over 1 percent. Hindalco , M&M, Wipro , Sesa Sterlite and Bajaj Auto are major laggards in the Sensex.

On Monday, the Wall Street got beaten down as the US manufacturing index tumbled. Dow Jones sunk below its 200-day moving average shedding over 300 points. The CBOE vix jumped nearly 15 percent while US treasury yields fall to a three-month low.

Asian stocks follow US selloff as Japanese stocks tumbled to a new two-and-a-half month low for a fourth straight session. South Korean shares extended losses to hit a fresh five-month low as Asia-wide pessimism overshadowed upbeat economic data

The Indian rupee opened lower by 24 paise at 62.81 per dollar versus 62.57 Monday. The yen hovered at two-month highs against the euro and dollar, having powered higher as a selloff in risk assets forced investors to cover bearish positions in the low-yielding Japanese currency.

NS Venkatesh of IDBI Bank said, "EM currencies are expected to continue trading with a weaker bias. Dollar-rupee moves will take cues from equity market movement. Expect rupee to open weak around 62.90/USD levels and could trade during the day between 62.40-63.10/USD."

"Foreign inflows expected on ongoing spectrum auction on spectrum could counter balance FII pull out from equity markets, thus capping downside risks," he added.

In other asset classes, the dollar edged lower against other global currencies. Yen rallies to 101 levels. In commodities, crude prices hold steady in early Asian trade after falling in the previous session as weaker-than-expected US factory data added to concerns about oil demand in the world's largest economy.

From precious metals space, gold prices tick higher for a second session this morning as Asian equities follow the sharp decline on Wall Street and investors worried over US economic growth after weak manufacturing data.