Sensex falls 152 points, Nifty holds 10,300; Vedanta, Airtel top losers

3:30 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices extended losses for second consecutive session, with the Sensex falling 151.95 points to 33,218.81.

The 50-share NSE Nifty was down 47 points at 10,303.20.

About 1,711 shares declined against 1,037 advancing shares on the BSE.

3:24 pm CIL's diversification: State owned Coal India today said the modalities for diversification into new mineral mining was expected to be ready in the next few months.

"We have just decided on diversification 2-3 months ago. Still working on the modalities. We hope to ready the modalities in next few months," Coal India chairman and managing director Gopal Singh said here on the sidelines of MGMI organised 7th Asian Mining Congress.

Coal India has been contemplating foray into new minerals and metals like iron-ore, nickel, bauxite and copper to harness its mining expertise.

CIL sources said diversification into new metals and minerals will not hinder or cause any conflict with coal production targets.

3:14 pm Business optimism' index: India has slipped in 'business optimism' index to the 7th position in the September quarter, from the 2nd slot in the previous three months, showing clear signs of lag in the economy, says a survey.

Indonesia is at the top, followed by Finland (2nd), the Netherlands (3rd), Philippines (4th), Austria (5th) and Nigeria (6th), as per Grant Thornton's International Business Report (IBR).

According to the quarterly global survey on business optimism, Indian businesses have expressed low confidence over revenue expectations in the next 12 months.

They also saw a drastic fall in confidence for profitability with 54 per cent showing optimism as against 69 per cent in the last quarter.

3:05 pm OBC under pressure: Public sector lender Oriental Bank of Commerce fell 6 percent as it has posted a net loss at Rs 1,750 crore for July-September quarter as provisions for bad loans increased more than four-fold.

The bank had reported profit at Rs 153.3 crore year-ago quarter.

Net interest income during the quarter fell 4.9 percent to Rs 1,251.7 crore year-on-year, with loan growth of 4.8 percent at Rs 1.49 lakh crore.

Loan book on sequential basis degrew by 0.3 percent.

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Provisions and contingencies more than doubled to Rs 3,281.3 crore, compared with Rs 1,469.5 crore in previous quarter and rose more than four-fold compared with Rs 774.54 crore in corresponding year.

2:57 pm Results: La Opala said profit in Q2 increased 21 percent year-on-year to Rs 23.2 crore and revenue grew by  17.5 percent to Rs 74 crore.

Operating income jumped 30.1 percent to Rs 35.22 crore and margin expanded 460 basis points to 47.6 percent compared with year-ago quarter.

2:44 pm TTK Healthcare in focus: TTK Healthcare shares gained 13 percent as profit in Q2 increased sharply by 72.5 percent to Rs 7.8 crore and revenue grew by 5.4 percent to Rs 142.8 crore YoY.

Operating profit shot up 45.3 percent to Rs 13.1 crore and margin jumped to 9.2 percent from 6.7 percent YoY.

2:34 pm Earnings: Rain Industries shares gained 2.5 percent as profit in Q2 spiked 93.3 percent to Rs 253.4 crore and revenue grew by 36.5 percent to Rs 3,050.8 crore YoY.

Operating profit surged 48.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 673.8 crore and margin expanded 180 basis points to 22.1 percent in Q2.

2:24 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices extended losses amid volatility in afternoon, with the Sensex falling 151.41 points to 33,219.35.

The 50-share NSE Nifty shed 53.10 points to 10,297.10, dragged by Reliance Industries (down 2.4 percent), Tata Motors (down 4 percent), Vedanta (4 percent), ICICI Bank (1.81 percent), HDFC (0.96 percent) and Bharti Airtel (4.14 percent).

About 1,610 shares declined against 970 advancing shares on the BSE.

2:20 pm Metals lose shine: Prices of copper and nickel declined by up to Rs 5 per kg at the non-ferrous metal market today on easing demand from consuming industries.

Traders attributed the slide in copper and nickel prices to a fall in demand from consuming industries at domestic spot market.

In the national capital, copper mixed scrap and nickel plate (4x4) drifted lower by Rs 5 and Rs 3 to Rs 770-780 and Rs 382 per kg, respectively.

2:15 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained rangebound in afternoon after easing crude oil prices. Banks and technology stocks were mixed. Metals and oil & gas stocks were under pressure while healthcare stocks gained.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 55.28 points at 33,315.48 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 23 points to 10,327.20.

The market breadth turned negative as about 1,440 shares declined against 1,120 advancing shares on the BSE.

2:05 pm Expansion: Niche bike maker Royal Enfield is looking to expand further in South East Asia and Latin America over the next five years as part of strengthening its overseas operations.

The company, which is present in few countries across both the geographies, is now in the process of building teams in these areas to enter new territories.

"Right now, I believe that in addition to developed markets where we have distribution like the UK, Europe, the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, it is largely ASEAN and Latin America which are the two big areas for us," Royal Enfield CEO Siddhartha Lal told PTI on the sidelines of EICMA
2017.

1:51 pm Order Win: State-run power equipment maker BHEL today said it has bagged an order worth Rs 350 crore for setting up two 765 kV substations in West Bengal.

This is the largest value 765 kV substation project order for BHEL so far, it said in a statement.

BHEL's scope of work in the contract envisages constructing two large sized greenfield 3,000 MVA, 765/400 kV substations, at Medinipur and Jeerat (near Kolkata).

1:40 pm Management Interview: Ramesh Swaminathan, CFO & ED, Lupin said they are surprised by warning letter from US FDA for Goa & Pithampur units and that they were in fact lining up for establishment inspection report (EIR).

Now that they have received the letter, they would do whatever needs to be done, said Swaminathan, adding that it would likely take 12-15 months to get resolution for Goa & Pithampur units.

Lupin's formulation manufacturing facilities at Goa and Indore (Pithampur Unit II) received warning letter from USFDA on Tuesday.

He said there have been two observations which have been commented upon but it is not going to disrupt supplies and there is nothing on data integrity.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Swaminathan said there would be a marginal impact on their earnings because most of the important products that are to be launched are not from Goa and Pithampur units.

1:25 pm Results: September quarter performance for Ashok Leyland rose from the previous year, but came in slightly lower analysts' estimates.

The company reported a gain of 13.5 percent in the net profit at Rs 334.2 crore against Rs 294.4 crore year on year. Revenues for the firm came in 30.8 percent higher at Rs 6,047 crore against Rs 4,622.4 crore reported in the same quarter last year.

On the operational front, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was higher by 14 percent at Rs 611.8 crore against Rs 536.5 crore year on year.

12:55 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to be rangebound in afternoon after the fall in crude oil prices. Investors focussed on corporate earnings.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 7.70 points at 33,378.46 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 6.40 points to 10,343.80.

12:45 pm Earnings: Auto components supplier Bharat Forge has reported a healthy 60.5 percent growth year-on-year in profit for the quarter ended September 2017, driven by revenue as well as operational performance.

Profit for the quarter increased to Rs 203.72 crore from Rs 126.89 crore in year-ago.

Revenue from operations jumped 41.2 percent to Rs 1,258.02 crore, compared with Rs 890.89 crore in corresponding quarter.

Operating profit (EBITDA - earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) surged 49.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 370 crore and margin expanded by 160 basis points to 29.4 percent for quarter ended September 2017.

12:30 pm Demerger: Shares of Arvind fell more than 6 percent intraday on the back of poor September quarter numbers (Q2FY18).

The company has reported 15.9 percent decline in its Q2 net profit at Rs 64.5 crore against Rs 76.6 crore, in the same quarter last fiscal.

The operating profit (EBITDA) was down 8.6 percent at Rs 212.3 crore and EBITDA margin fell 190 bps at 8.1 percent.

Meanwhile, revenue rose 12.8 percent at Rs 2,628.5 crore versus Rs 2,331.1 crore.

The company board has approved demerger of branded apparel business to Arvind Fashions and demerger of engineering division to Anveshan.

Arvind Anveshan and Arvind Fashions will be listed on NSE & BSE.

12:20 pm Buzzing: Bharti Airtel's  share price plunged as much as 6 percent after multiple block deals worth over Rs 10,000 crore, in early trade.

About 21.2 crore shares (representing 5.1 percent of paid-up equity capital) worth Rs 10,290 crore traded in multiple blocks on NSE & BSE, in the price range of Rs 482.65-500.80 per share.

Reports suggest Three Pillars Pte Ltd, an affiliate of the Qatar Foundation, may have sold its 5 percent stake (about 19.99 crore shares) through block deals today.

12:05 pm Acquisition: Staffing services firm TeamLease Services today said it has acquired 40 percent stake in online learning company Schoolguru Eduserve Pvt Ltd for Rs 13.53 crore, a move that will accelerate TeamLease's
employability strategy.

Both the companies have signed a definitive agreement to this effect.

"TeamLease's infusion of Rs 13.53 crore into the company (Schoolguru) will be primarily used to expand its business into new geographies, strengthen existing technology and content library, and innovate in new forms of delivery," the company said in a regulatory filing.

The transaction involves purchase of both primary as well as secondary shares of the company through a structured deal. The purchase of additional stake by TeamLease is linked to the company's future performance and meeting its milestones, it added.

11:55 am Earnings: City Union Bank's second quarter earnings matched analyst expectations.

Profit for September quarter grew by 17 percent year-on-year to Rs 144.7 crore and net interest income increased 17.8 percent to Rs 354.8 crore.

Profit was expected at Rs 141 crore and net interest income at Rs 344 crore for the quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Asset quality was stable for the quarter as gross NPAs (non-performing assets) came in at 3.07 percent against 3.05 percent and net NPA at 1.76 percent against 1.79 percent on sequential basis.

11:40 am Market Check: Benchmark indices were mildly higher amid consolidation in late morning deals as investors focussed crude oil prices and corporate earnings.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 70.92 points at 33,441.68 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 12.60 points to 10,362.80.

Axis Bank, TCS, Bharti Infratel, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma and IndusInd Bank were top gainers, rising 1-3 percent whereas Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Vedanta, IOC, Yes Bank, HPCL and BPCL were down 1-4 percent.

11:16 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained rangebound in late morning deals as investors closely watch crude oil prices and corporate earnings.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 1.57 points at 33,369.19 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 7.90 points to 10,342.30 despite positive market breadth.

About 1,293 shares advanced against 1,034 declining shares on the BSE.

11:05 am Management Interview: Castrol India saw good growth in revenue and margins in Q2 as goods and services tax (GST) headwinds seem to be behind for the company.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Omer Dormen, MD of Castrol India said that personal mobility segment saw double-digit growth. However, industrial and heavy duty and segment saw some pressure.

The company saw a fair amount of challenges last year due to GST and demonetisation, he said.

Talking about sales, he said we are seeing strong signs of recovery now in both personal mobility as well strong vehicle sales in the commercial vehicle (CV) sales but manufacturing sector continues to face some headwinds.

According to him, crude price between USD 60/bbl and USD 65/bbl is a bit of a concern.

10:55 am Asia trade: Asian shares eked out another decade peak today as data showed China's demand for imports remained buoyant, while the  dollar dipped amid concerns Republican plans for major US tax cuts were running into headwinds.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan erased early losses to rise 0.24 percent, its highest since November 2007.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.14 percent, though that followed its best close since 1992, and Australia's main index notched its loftiest reading since 2008.

China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were up 0.3 percent each.

10:40 am China exports: China's October exports lagged market expectations, rising 6.9 percent from a year earlier while imports beat forecasts, growing 17.2 percent, official data showed today.

That left the country with a trade surplus of USD 38.17 billion for the month, according to a Reuters calculation based on official data.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected October shipments from the world's largest exporter to have risen 7.2 percent, slower than 8.1 percent in the previous month.

Imports had been expected to rise 16.0 percent, softening from an 18.7 percent gain seen in September.

10:30 am Buzzing: Shares of JSW Energy rose 4 percent in morning on order received for supply of 200 MW power.

The company has successfully secured an order from Power Company of Karnataka (PCKL) for supply of 200 MW power on short term basis for the period from November 8, 2017 to May 31, 2018.

The company's Q2FY18 (July-September) net profit grew 38 percent at Rs 297.2 crore against Rs 214.9 crore, in a year ago period. Revenue was flat at Rs 2,049 crore.

10:20 am Rupee Trade: The rupee weakened by another 3 paise to 65.06 against the dollar in morning at the interbank foreign exchange market on increased demand for the US currency from importers.

Yesterday, the rupee had plunged by 35 paise to end at a fresh one-week low of 65.03 a dollar owing to high demand for the American currency from importers amid spike in crude oil prices after political upheaval in Saudi Arabia.

The dollar was trading weak against world currencies, including euro and yen, in global markets which capped the rupee losses, dealers said.

10:10 am Analysts on BHEL: Shares of state-owned power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals slipped over 2.5 percent in morning after quarterly earnings.

Profit in Q2 increased 5.9 percent year-on-year despite operational loss, aided by other income.

Research firm Macquarie has maintained a high conviction underperform rating on Bharat Heavy Electricals with a target of Rs 72 per share. The house is of the veiw that Q2 numbers for BHEL is weak all around and believes that some of the profit was eked out due to forex gains.

Global research firm UBS has reiterated a sell call on Bharat Heavy Electricals with a target of Rs 49 per share. It believes that medium-term challenges remain while stagnating order book and low visibility of RoE improvement underpin sell call.

10:00 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to consolidate in morning, with the Nifty hovering around 10,350 level. Banks, oil & gas stocks and Airtel remained under pressure while FMCG, pharma stocks, HDFC and Axis Bank capped losses.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 5.98 points at 33,376.74 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 2.70 points to 10,347.50. The broader markets also turned flat despite positive breadth.

About 1,264 shares advanced against 712 declining shares on the BSE.

9:54 am Earnings: IT company L&T Technology Services reported a 9.65 percent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 122.7 crore in the three months ended September 30.

L&T Technology Services (LTTS) had registered profit of Rs 111.9 crore in the same period a year ago.

"I am pleased to announce a strong performance in the second quarter, led by large deal wins and continued traction in our top 30 customer accounts.

The company's revenue from operations increased by 9.46 percent to Rs 900.6 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 837.6 crore in the corresponding period in previous fiscal.

9:44 am Buzzing: Share price of Adani Power rose nearly 4 percent in morning as it has signed power purchase agreement with Bangladesh Power Development board.

The company's wholly owned subsidiary Adani Power (Jharkhand) has signed a long term power purchase agreement (PPA) for net capacity of 1496 MW with Bangladesh Power Development board for 25 years.

The power supply under the PPA will be made from a new 1600 MW (2*800 MW) ultra supercritical, coal based power plant to be set up by Adani Power (Jharkhand) at Godda, Jharkhand.

The board of directors will meet on November 11, to consider and approve the unaudited financial results for the quarter and six month ended September 30, 2017.

9:34 am Board meet: India's Axis Bank will hold a board meeting on Friday to consider raising funds through a sale of shares or equity-linked securities, it said on Tuesday.

Any fundraising approved by its board would be put to shareholders for a vote, India's seventh-biggest lender by assets said in a stock exchange filing.

It did not provide further details.

Reports in the Indian media have said the bank was looking to raise as much as USD 1 billion from a group of investors after an increase in bad loans. The reports have named U.S. buyout group Bain Capital, Singapore state investor GIC and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board among potential investors.

9:25 am Buzzing: Shares of Akzo Nobel India rose 1 percent in morning as it has recommended to sale specialty chemical business.

The board of directors of the company has recommended the sale of its Specialty Chemicals Business as a going concern to an affiliate of the AkzoNobel Group, subject to approval of the shareholders.

The total consideration to be received from this sale will be Rs 320 crore, subject to adjustment for working capital and for an economic effective date of January 1, 2018.

The business includes the Mahad manufacturing facility for Polymer Chemistry range of products.

9:20 am Earnings reaction: Public sector Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) share price fell 3 percent after it reported widening of its net loss by nearly 60 percent at Rs 1,222.50 crore for second quarter ended September.

The bank had a net loss of Rs 765.13 crore in the July- September quarter of 2016-17.

IOB said the loss is due to provisioning against the bad loans and not due to operations.

"Net loss is due to increase in the provision by 77.3 percent over June 2017 and 23.6 percent over September 2016 and the quantum of additional provision made was Rs 985.04 crore during September 2017," it added.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened mildly higher amid consolidation after sharp fall seen in previous session. Investors will closely watch crude oil price movement and corporate earnings.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 33.45 points at 33,404.21 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 11.90 points at 10,362.10.

The broader markets gained 0.2 percent. About 818 shares advanced against 358 declining shares on the BSE.

Cipla surged 3 percent post better-than-expected earnings.

Lupin was up 1.6 percent on short covering as company said it would try to resolve warning letter early.

Bharti Airtel plunged 4 percent as sources told CNBC-TV18 that three investors will sell stake in company today.

After earnings, DCB Shriram, Polaris Consulting, L&T Technology and Ballarpur Industries gained 3-8 percent while Manappuram Finance, Vinati Organics and Tata Coffee were down 2-4 percent.