Sensex ends over 250 points lower, Nifty closes below 10,000; midcaps crack

3:30 pm Market at Close: Benchmark indices ended the session on a weak note, with the Nifty closing below 10,000 for the first time in nine sessions.

The Sensex was down 259.48 points at 32014.19, while the Nifty was down 78.85 points at 9978.55. The market breadth was negative as 602 shares advanced against a decline of 1974 shares, while 121 shares were unchanged.

Financial stocks dragged the market the most, while metals gained in a weak trading session. Realty stocks too fell during the day, with HDIL and DLF falling 19 and 7 percent, respectively.

Tata Steel, Cipla, Vedanta and Hindalco gained the most on both indices, while Dr Reddy's Labs, BHEL, and BPCL were the top losers.

3:10 pm Interview: Jubilant Foodworks has announced the largest-ever upgrade this year for Domino's that will cost the company Rs 100 crore, Pratik Pota, CEO said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

"We are not looking at any price increases for Domino's this year. We will pass on GST benefits to consumers," he said.

Jubilant plans to expand Domino's 50 stores this year.

3:05 pm Edelweiss up 3%: Credit Suisse maintained outperform rating on Edelweiss Financial Services with new target price of Rs 265.

The research house continued to stay positive on the company, with visibility on strong profitable growth.

Edelweiss reported a 6 percent beat on profit before tax for Q1FY18, driven by strong growth, margin expansion and operating leverage playing out.

In the analyst meet, management reiterated targets on 25-35 percent PAT growth and continuous return on equity improvement. In the retail/SME lending business, the company plans to reach 150 cities/towns by Mar-18 from around 70 currently. It remains excited about the home loans and SME segments.

In wholesale lending, the company is seeing opportunities in mainstream operating assets, given that PSU banks are not aggressive on growth. Among fee businesses, the company expects growth rates and yields to hold in wealth management with product innovation, as well as low competition from MNCs.

The company hopes to retain high growth in asset management, with focus on growing alternative products to clients.

2:55 pm Buzzing: Nifty Realty index hit the most amid selling pressure, falling nearly 5 percent. Generally realty stocks are high beta stocks and the correction in such stocks along with market fall is an indication that this could be one of healthy corrections that the market has to go through, experts feel.

HDIL tanked 20 percent followed by DLF, Unitech, Indiabulls Real Estate, Sobha and Oberoi Realty that fell 1-7.5 percent.

2:41 pm Results: Vesuvius shares gained 1 percent after profit in Q1 grew by 13.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 27.2 crore and revenue rose by 14.2 percent to Rs 260.4 crore.

Operating profit increased 15.2 percent to Rs 46.1 crore but margin contracted to 19.22 percent from 19.24 percent YoY.

2:24 pm Earnings: Century Textiles & Industries today reported a multi-fold jump in its net profit at Rs 120.24 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, mainly on account of lower expenses.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 6.46 crore during the same period previous fiscal, Century Textiles & Industries said in a BSE filing.

Total income during the quarter under review stood at Rs 2,342.76 crore, as against Rs 2,320.34 crore in the year-ago period.

The company said it has recognised an income of Rs 28.46 crore on account of revision in estimates of future cash flows based on actual realisation of government grants.

2:06 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices remained under pressure, with the Sensex down 256.60 points at 32,017.07 and the Nifty down 76.55 points at 9,980.85.

About three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

Vedanta, Hindalco Industries and Tata Steel were top gainers among Nifty stocks, up 3-4 percent. However, IOC, BPCL, Dr Reddy's Labs, Bharti Infratel and Coal India fell 3-4 percent.

1:55 pm Earnings: Future Retail shares rallied 4 percent after its profit in Q1 doubled to Rs 148 crore against Rs 75 crore in same quarter last year on strong operational performance.

Revenue grew by 18.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,705 crore while operating profit surged 79.5 percent to Rs 209.6 crore and margin expanded by 150 basis points to 4.4 percent in June quarter.

1:45 pm Interview: SEBI on Monday released names of 331 suspected shell companies as identified by corporate affairs ministry.

Prakash Industries was one of the shell companies mentioned in the list.

While clarifying, the company said it was not a 'shell' company by any stretch of imagination.

"We have complied with all regulations with authorities and have never indulged in any kind of malpractices in stock market," the company said, adding it has also paid over Rs 675 crore as excise & income tax in last three years.

Hence, directions are misconceived & data collected by ministry of corporate affairs is totally incorrect, Prakash Industries said.

1:25 pm 52-week highs: After a flat opening, the BSE Sensex fell sharply by 358 points intraday and the Nifty also tested psychological 10,000-mark but 85 stocks still hit fresh 52-week highs.

Out of 84, 26 stocks touched fresh record highs, which include Eicher Motors, Chambal Fertilisers, Infibeam Incorporation, L&T Finance Holdings, Mahanagar Gas, Muthoot Finance and Power Grid Corporation.

Financials, FMCG and metals stocks were leading the charge among stocks that hit 52-week highs.

Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, PC Jeweller, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, BPCL, Bata India, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, Vedanta, Emkay Global Financial Services, Reliance Capital, Adani Ports, Edelweiss Financial, GVK Power, Geojit Financial, Jet Airways, Ashok Leyland, TVS Motor Company, Hindustan Unilever, Dabar and Marico hit 52-week highs.

1:05 pm Partnership: Bajaj Auto, the country's fourth biggest two-wheeler maker, today announced a partnership with UK's Triumph Motorcycles to jointly make mid-capacity motorcycles for Indian and global markets.

"We hope to bring to bear upon global markets the individual strengths of the partners including brand position and perception, design and development technology, quality and cost competitiveness and worldwide distribution," Bajaj Auto said in statement.

This is non-equity partnership will look to address growing demand for leisure riding, something on the lines of products of Harley Davidson.

However, with Bajaj's low-cost expertise it will address the budget segment buyers looking for bikes having engine capacity of 400cc-800cc.

12:45 pm Europe Trade: European equities opened lower after Chinese and German trade data came in below expectations.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged lower 0.14 percent with most sectors moving south.

Asian equities walked away from nearing a decade high after data showed lower than expected imports and exports from China in July.

12:20 pm Earnings: Prism Cement disappointed analysts with Q1 earnings as operating profit fell 20.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 78.4 crore and margin contracted by 170 basis points to 5.9 percent.

However, profit grew by 6.6 percent to Rs 16.7 crore and revenue increased 1.9 percent to Rs 1,436 crore compared with year-ago quarter.

12:10 pm Market Check: The market halved its losses in afternoon trade, with the Sensex falling 184.55 points to 32,089.12. The index fell as much as 358 points intraday.

The 50-share NSE Nifty was trying very hard to hold psychological 10,000-mark, down 52.50 points at 10,004.90.

The broader markets were also under pressure as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices dropped 0.7 percent on weak breadth.

About three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

11:45 am Earnings Estimates: Public sector lender Bank of India is expected to narrow its losses to Rs 75.5 crore in the quarter ended June 2017, from Rs 741.4 crore in same quarter last year.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, may grow 10.9 percent to Rs 3,077.5 crore from Rs 2775 crore on year-on-year basis, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Analysts say if slippages fall (from Rs 6,915 crore in Q4FY17), net interest margin comes above 2.2 percent and gross non-performing assets decline (from 13.22 percent in Q4FY17) then that will be positive.

11:31 am Buzzing: Hindalco Industries was biggest gainer with 5 percent rally as its subsidiary Novelis' core EBITDA (adjusted for metal price lag) grew 8 percent YoY, to USD 289 million in June quarter. This was helped by improved product mix, operating efficiency including increased scrap consumption, and gains from currency hedging.

The key positive was improved profitability in North American operations, driven by 13 percent YoY volume growth and a higher share of auto-related shipments in the company's total volumes.

Morgan Stanley said while overall volumes of Novelis were up 4 percent YoY, the high-margin auto sheet shipments grew 16 percent YoY. Management expects FY18 volumes to be higher YoY, driven by strong growth in the auto segment and improving can volumes.

11:17 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended losses in morning trade, with the Sensex falling as much as 358 points but trimming some losses.

The cut in losses indicated that investors as well as traders could be using "buy on dips' strategy due to stable earnings in Q1FY18 and improving fundamentals of the economy.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 198.37 points at 32,075.30 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 58.35 points to 9,999.05.

About three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

11:05 am Interview: Dr Lal Pathlab's Q1 earnings were strong as margins bounced back due to seasonality and strong traction was seen in the core Delhi market.

Speaking about recent acquisition, Doctor Om Manchanda, CEO of Dr Lal Pathlabs said the acquisition in Bangladesh is a minor one and it will not impact FY18 numbers.

The company has seen improvement in volume performance after demonetisation, said Manchanda.

He further said that cannot estimate as to how Q2 will pan out, currently. However, competition continues to be very strong, he added.

10:53 am Buzzing: Sintex Plastics Technology, the subsidiary of Sintex Industries, started off the first trade at Rs 130 level on exchanges but cooled off due to weak market conditions.

In early trade itself, the stock was locked at 5 percent upper circuit at Rs 136.50 on good buying but as the market started drifting sharply lower, the stock caught in bear grip and lost its momentum.

It fell as much as 4.92 percent at Rs 123.60 on the BSE at 10:42 hours IST. Hence, the total loss from its day's high was 9.5 percent.

Sintex Industries demerged its plastic division into Sintex Plastics Technology in May 2017.

As per scheme of arrangement, Sintex Industries' shareholders received two equity shares of Sintex Plastics Technology for every two shares held.

10:07 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks erased opening gains, with the Nifty testing 10,000 level due to selling pressure in banking & financials and oil stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 143.89 points at 32,129.78 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 43.05 points to 10,014.35.

About two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

9:50 am Pre-opening: Sintex Plastics settled at Rs 130 per share in pre-opening trade on NSE.

9:39 am Buzzing: Shares of Dr Lal PathLabs gained 3.3 percent intraday on the back of strong June quarter numbers and on acquisition of company in Bangladesh.

The company has registered 11 percent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 44.4 crore for the quarter ended June 30 against net profit of Rs 40 crore in the same quarter last year.

The total income of the company was up 12 percent at Rs 256.8 crore versus Rs 229.2 crore.

The company in its board meeting held on August 07 has approved the acquisition of a company in Bangladesh named Dr Lal PathLabs Bangladesh (DLPLB).

The company has decided to acquire 70 percent stake in DLPLB from its existing shareholders with the objective of strengthening its presence in Bangladesh.

9:29 am FII View: Ridham Desai of Morgan Stanley said Indian markets are becoming institutionalised, led by domestic investors.

In Q2FY18 so far, foreign portfolio investor equity ownership rose to record levels of 27.5 percent, up 59 bps QoQ. Domestic Mutual Funds' equity stake at 5.6 percent is at the highest level since December 2001.

Of the top 20 stocks owned by foreign portfolio investors, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank saw the most buying, while Infosys saw the most selling.

He said the largest overweight is on HDFC Bank, and the largest underweights are Reliance Industries and Infosys.

Domestic Mutual Funds bought ICICI Bank the most and sold L&T the most, he added. Overall, institutions bought ICICI Bank the most and sold Infosys the most, Desai said.

9:15 am Market Check: The market rebounded with marginal gains in opening Tuesday, with the Nifty inching towards 10,100 level.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 70.09 points at 32,343.76 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 23.60 points to 10,081.

Tata Steel gained 2 percent as brokerage houses raised target price post Q1 earnings.

Bharti Airtel gained over 1 percent and Bharti Infratel lost 3 percent after former sold stake in later.

Bank of Baroda, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto and Sun Pharma were up half a percent while IOC, BPCL and Dr Reddy's Labs were under pressure.

The Nifty Midcap index was up 0.3 percent as about two shares advanced for every share falling on the NSE.

NALCO, Sintex Industries, JSPL and Idea Cellular gained up to 3 percent.