Q1 earnings drag Nifty, Sensex slips 205 points; Axis, SBI fall 3-4%

3:30 pm Market closing: Weak earnings concerns drag market on Thursday. The Sensex was down 205.37 points or 0.7 percent at 27710.52, and the Nifty slipped  55.75 points or 0.6 percent at 8510.10. About 1099 shares have advanced, 1588 shares declined, and 184 shares are unchanged.

Axis Bank lost 4 percent, SBI fell 3 percent while BHEL, ICICI Bank and Dr Reddy's were major losers in the Sensex.

3:15 pm Power supply: Overall power deficit was 0.9 percent in the April-June quarter of this fiscal as 292.82 billion units were supplied against a demand of 295.34 billion units, Parliament was informed today.

During the quarter, 2,92,822 million units of power was supplied against the demand of 2,95,344 million units, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

In 2015-16, the overall power deficit was 2.11 percent as 1090.85 billion units were supplied against the demand of 1114.40 billion units.

3:00 pm Market check: The Sensex is down 151.66 points or 0.5 percent at 27764.23, and the Nifty is down 38.20 points or 0.4 percent at 8527.65.
About 1119 shares have advanced, 1482 shares declined, and 188 shares are unchanged.

Adani Ports, Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Asain Paints and Wipro are top gainers while Axis Bank, BHEL, ICICI, SBI and M&M are losers in the Sensex.

2:50 pm FII view: growth slowdown in the global economy is imminent as risks from events such as Brexit materialise even as the Indian economy continues to remain relatively stable, though not unimpacted.

Those were the takeaways with a CNBC-TV18 interview with the top management of Credit Suisse India, which believes that Indian investors should seek refuge in high quality stocks even as some opportunities abound in select metal and bank names.

"We have seen USD 3 billion of net FII inflows in the and this will continue," MD and India Country CEO Mickey Doshi told CNBC-TV18, adding that more India reforms are likely to follow and support the India story.

2:20 pm Market Cap at new high: The total market valuation of the BSE-listed companies surged to an all-time high of Rs 107 lakh crore today.

During the morning trade, market capitalisation (m-cap) of all companies listed on BSE soared to Rs 1,07,00,756 crore.

Investor wealth of BSE-listed firms, measured by market capitalisation, had seen a previous record high of Rs 106.85 lakh crore scaled on April 13, 2015.

The total market valuation of all listed firms on BSE had hit a record high of Rs 100 lakh crore in November 2014.

2:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks extended losses in afternoon trade with the Sensex falling 125.33 points to 27790.56 and the Nifty down 30.25 points to 8535.60. The market breadth also turned negative as about 1380 shares declined against 1187 advancing shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Lupin, M&M, SBI, Maruti and Dr Reddy's Labs were down 1-2 percent while Asian Paints, Adani Ports and Bharti Airtel gained over a percent.

European stocks traded flat with negative bias as markets await the latest monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank (ECB) and digest a slew of earnings from major corporates.

Asia markets mostly gained, with Japanese shares advancing after local media reports suggested the government was preparing a sizable stimulus package. The benchmark Nikkei 225 closed up 128.33 points, or 0.77 percent, at 16,810.22, with stocks also receiving a boost from a relatively weaker yen.

1:55 pm Rate cut hopes? The Reserve Bank is expected to cut key interest rates by 25 basis points in its policy review meet on August 9, if good rains damp pulse price inflation, says a Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) report.

Pulses inflation is running at 27 percent on a poor summer rabi crop.

"With good rains, pulses' sowing for the kharif season has jumped 39 percent above last year's sowing. This should pull down pulses prices by 20 percent and cool CPI inflation to 5.1 percent by March," BofA-ML said in a research note.

According to the global brokerage firm, the Reserve Bank could slash policy rates for three reasons - first a good monsoon would douse agflation; second, June core-CPI inflation has softened; and finally, high lending rates continue to constrain May industrial growth.

1:40 pm Result: Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank's first quarter (April-June) earnings slightly missed analysts' expectations and asset quality also weakened on Thursday. Profit on standalone basis jumped 290.5 percent to Rs 742 crore during the quarter compared with Rs 190 crore in same period last year.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 20.1 percent to Rs 1,919 crore from Rs 1,598 crore on yearly basis.

Profit was estimated to grow 300.9 percent and net interest income 25.7 percent for the quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

1:30 pm Result: First quarter earnings of Ashok Leyland, the commercial vehicle maker and the flagship of Hinduja Group, surpassed analysts' expectations on bottomline and operational front, through revenue was a slight miss. Profit grew sharply by 101 percent to Rs 290.8 crore on yearly basis, driven by other income, forex gain and lower finance cost.

The company adjusted Q1FY16's profit of Rs 159.31 crore as per new accounting standards, hence the adjusted profit stood at Rs 144.49 crore.

Revenue for the quarter increased by 9.7 percent to Rs 4,259 crore compared with Rs 3,841.2 crore in same period last year, impacted by lower growth in sales volumes.

The Sensex is down 150.23 points or 0.5 percent at 27765.66, and the Nifty down 35.00 points or 0.4 percent at 8530.85. About 1154 shares have advanced, 1316 shares declined, and 186 shares are unchanged.

HDFC Bank loses 1 percent after announcing its June quarter results. with the profit rising 20.14 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,239 crore. It was driven by other income, operating profit and slightly better-than-expected net interest income but higher provisions and tax cost limited the profit growth.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 21.8 percent to Rs 7,781 crore in the quarter ended June 2016 compared with Rs 6,389 crore in year-ago period, supported by average assets growth of 20.2 percent and net interest margin, the private sector lender said.

Losers in the Sensex are Axis Bank, BHEL, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and Reliance. Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Coal India and Cipla are gainers in the Sensex.

12:45 pm European stocks opened slightly higher as markets await the latest monetary policy decision from the European Central Bank (ECB) and digest a slew of earnings from major corporates.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was 0.19 percent higher.

12:35 pm Buzzing: Shares of  Welspun Corp added 8.5 percent intraday as it has received a order to supply line-pipe from American company.

The company has entered into a definitive agreement with an American midstream major to supply over at 274 kilometers (at 184K MTs) heavy wall, large diameter, 18 meters length, longitudinal saw line-pipe for a prestigious gas project in Americas.

With this order, the current order book of the company has crossed at 958K MTs worth Rs 5500 crore.

12:20 pm Earnings: India's second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank matched analysts' expectations on Thursday with the profit rising 20.14 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,239 crore. It was driven by other income, operating profit and slightly better-than-expected net interest income but higher provisions and tax cost limited the profit growth.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 21.8 percent to Rs 7,781 crore in the quarter ended June 2016 compared with Rs 6,389 crore in year-ago period. Net interest margin sequentially increased to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent.

Provisions for bad loans remained at elevated level, up 19 percent YoY and 30.8 percent QoQ to Rs 866.7 crore in Q1FY17.

Asset quality slightly weakened during the quarter with the gross non-performing assets (NPA) rising 10 basis points sequentially to 1.04 percent and net NPA by 4 bps to 0.32 percent for the quarter ended June 2016.

12:00 pm Market Check
Equity benchmarks traded lower amid consolidation in noon trade despite positive trend in Asian peers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 80.46 points at 27835.43 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 13.70 points to 8552.15.

ACC topped the buying list on Nifty, up nearly 5 percent followed by Adani Ports, Coal India, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, BPCL, Ambuja Cements and Grasim with 1-2 percent.

Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs, BHEL, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and Bank of Baroda were top losers, down 1-2 percent.

L&T Infotech, which listed at a discount today, remained most active stock on exchanges followed by Axis Bank, Infosys, Tata Metaliks, Wipro, Wockhardt, HPCL and Shriram City.

11:45 am Upcoming IPO: The initial public offer of Advanced Enzyme Technologies was oversubscribed 1.27 times during the morning trade on the second day of the offer today.

The Rs 411.5-crore IPO received bids for 41,13,648 shares against the total issue size of 32,34,059 shares, data available with the NSE till 1030 hrs showed.

Advanced Enzyme Tech has mopped up nearly Rs 123 crore from as many as 15 anchor investors. Price band has been fixed at Rs 880-896 per share for the IPO, which closes tomorrow.

11:30 am Buzzing: Neyveli Lignite Corporation shares surged nearly 10 percent intraday on cabinet approval for the 1,980 MW thermal power project in Uttar Pradesh. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for installation of Ghatampur Thermal Power Project of 1,980 mw (3 X 660 MW) capacity through a joint venture company named Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power (NUPPL)," Coal Ministry said in a statement. The joint venture is formed by Neyveli Lignite Corporation and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam.

The market is absolutely flat with the Nifty above 8550. The 50-share index is up 8.05 points at 8573.90 and the Sensex is down 2.81 points at 27913.08. About 1263 shares have advanced, 893 shares declined, and 132 shares are unchanged.

Cipla, Sun Pharma, ONGC, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp are top gainers in the Sensex while Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs, BHEL, Reliance and M&M are losers in the Sensex.

Oil prices edged up in Asia following US data showing a drop in crude inventories, a sign of a tightening supply market.

Crude stockpiles fell by 2.3 million barrels last week -- the ninth week in a row -- data from the US Department of Energy showed. This helped offset a surprise rise in gasoline inventories over the summer -- traditionally the peak demand season for motor fuel.

10:59 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks remained volatile. The Sensex fell 15.50 points to 27900.39 while the Nifty was up 2.35 points at 8568.20.

About 1254 shares advanced against 883 declining shares on the BSE.

10:40 am Buzzing: IIFL Holdings shares rallied more than 10 percent intraday to hit Rs 248.80, the highest level since February 4, 2008 after the United Kingdom's government-owned development finance institution picked up stake in company's subsidiary.

"CDC Group plc will make an investment of about Rs 1,000 crore in IIFL's wholly-owned subsidiary, India Infoline Finance (IIFL Finance). This investment will help IIFL Group in expanding the financing business and address the capital needs of under-served segments through diversified offerings," says the diversified financial services group.

The proposed investment is by way of compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) which on conversion will result in about 15 percent equity stake for CDC in IIFL Finance on a fully diluted basis. The proposed transaction is subject to necessary regulatory approvals.

10:20 am FII View: Emerging markets, including India, have performed better than developed markets recently, and the rally may have more legs to go, says Ian Hui of JP Morgan Asset Management.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, he said that if the government is able to roll-out more positive reforms during the ongoing monsoon Parliamentary session, the domestic share rally will continue.

"Hopefully, the goods and services tax (GST) bill will be passed before the end of this session," he said.

10:00 am Market Check
Equity benchmarks erased early gains but the broader markets continued to outperform with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.4-0.6 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 31.02 points at 27884.87 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 5.80 points to 8560.05. About 1071 shares advanced against 795 declining shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

L&T Infotech listed at a 6 percent discount on the exchange. The stock opened at Rs 667 against issue price of Rs 710.

Axis Bank lost another 1.6 percent, in addition to 1 percent loss in previous session ahead of Q1 earnings on Friday.

Reliance Industries, TCS, L&T, ICICI Bank and Dr Reddy's Labs were other losers in trade while ITC, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, ONGC and Sun Pharma were gainers.

9:30 am Result poll: ITC is likely to report net profit at Rs 2490.4 crore in April-June quarter, up 10 percent from Rs 2265.4 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal. According to CNBC-TV18 poll, the FMCG major may see a growth of 9.8 percent in its Q1 total income at Rs 9425.3 crore against Rs 8587.7 crore in year-ago period. Analysts polled by CNBC-TV18 feel EBITDA may rise 8.2 percent at Rs 3663.4 crore in Q1 compared to Rs 3385.9 crore while margins may slip 50 basis points (bps) at 38.9 percent versus 39.4 percent year-on-year.

According to Prabhudas Lilladher, ITC's cigarette volume may see growth of 2-4 percent in Q1. It had taken a weighted average price hike of 5-6 percent in cigarettes this quarter. Cigarette volumes may be impacted by shut down of factories. ITC had shut factories for 15 days in April / May over non-clarity on pictorial warnings. Brokerages estimate it may hurt volume growth by 100 basis points (bps).

The market has opened higher supported by firm global cues. The Sensex is up 60.51 points or 0.2 percent at 27976.40, and the Nifty up 16.85 points or 0.2 percent at 8582.70. About 308 shares have advanced, 98 shares declined, and 34 shares are unchanged.

Cipla, ITC, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and ONGC are gainers while Dr Reddy's Labs, Infosys, TCS, BHEL and M&M are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened lower at 67.22 per dollar on Thursday versus previous closing 67.20. Dollar index at a four-month high against a basket of currencies helped by strong US data and growing expectations that the Fed may raise rates before the end of the year.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "The dollar has strengthened across the board due to improved US labour data with US unemployment rate falling below 5 percent. ECB rate setting meeting later today will be the main focus."

L&T Infotech will make its stock market debut today. The issue raised Rs 1243 crore in a price band of Rs 705 to 710 per share.

Asia markets mostly climbed at open, with Japanese shares leading regional peers as local media reports suggested a sizable stimulus package from the Abe government was forthcoming. In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 rallied 1.18 percent, with stocks receiving a boost from a relatively weaker yen.

Positive earnings surprises drove US markets to a fresh record. Wall Street gained on Wednesday and the S&P 500 and Dow industrials set fresh records, as Microsoft's strong results boosted the indexes and marked the latest sign that US corporate earnings season may be less dour than feared.

Microsoft shares surged 5.3 percent after the software giant posted sharp growth in its cloud computing business.

Among other asset classes, dollar index is at a four-month high against a basket of currencies helped by strong US data and growing expectations that the Fed may raise rates before the end of the year.

Crude prices gain after the US government reported a ninth straight week of crude inventory draws, easing some concerns in a market worried about a glut. Gold falls to its lowest in three weeks on higher equities and as the dollar hit a four-month high.