Sensex falls 181 points, Nifty Midcap loses 1%; Bharti Infra tanks 5%

3:30 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices remained under pressure for third consecutive session on Wednesday, with the Nifty falling more than 350 points from its record high hit last week.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 181.43 points at 32,760.44 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 68.60 points to 10,118.

Bharti Infratel was biggest loser, falling 5 percent followed by Vedanta, Hindalco and Sun Pharma.

3:16 pm Management Interview: Star Cement reported mixed set of earnings in Q2.

"We are confident of reporting 10 percent volume growth in full year FY18," Sanjay Gupta, CEO said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Long-term debt of the company is Rs 400 crore, he added.

He expects the company to receive subsidy worth Rs 150 crore in H2FY18, which will go towards the repayment of debt.

"We hope to become a debt-free company by FY19," he said.

3:05 pm Market Update: The Sensex remained under pressure, falling 168.70 points to 32,773.17, while the Nifty was down 63.60 points at 10,123.

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

2:59 pm Nifty Midcap 100 loses over a percent: Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power, Just Dial, Jindal Steel, SAIL, Bata India, Hindustan Zinc, JSW Steel, Wockhardt, Karur Vysya Bank and Adani Power were down 4-10 percent.

2:45 pm Management interview: Jindal Stainless has shown good growth in the topline in second quarter of this fiscal. In terms of profits it has been a turnaround after posting losses for five quarters.

The net profit came in at Rs 27 crore versus net loss of Rs 65 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal. The sales were up 36 percent at Rs 2607 crore versus Rs 1917 crore that was reported for the same quarter last fiscal. The year on year (YoY) operating profit was up 9 percent at Rs 256 crore versus Rs 234 crore.

Throwing more light the quarterly performance and the outlook going forward, Anurag Mantri, Group CFO, Jindal Stainless said the key focus was on sales volumes and capacity utilisation levels.

We focused on widening the customer base and capturing larger market post GST. Earlier, before GST the market was captured by unorganised players. So our volumes jumped up and although we faced pressure on the cost front, we did not pass it on to customers.

So, EBITDA margins were under pressure but if one were to look at our half yearly number we are on track. H2FY18 EBITDA to be far better than H1FY18.

Our capacity utilisation in first half also stood at above 90 percent but second half will be better, even more than 100 percent.

2:35 pm Gold gains: Gold prices went up by Rs 75 to Rs 30,625 per ten grams at the bullion market today maintaining its upward march for the third straight day on the back of positive global cues.

Besides, increased buying by local jewellers to meet the ongoing wedding season demand, helped the upswing.

However, silver receded by Rs 5 to Rs 40,725 per kg due to reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Marketmen said, besides firm trend overseas as investors awaited the October consumer inflation data from the US for potential hints on the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening policy, increased offtake by local jewellers to meet ongoing wedding season at the domestic spot market, kept gold prices higher.

2:20 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended losses in afternoon, with the Sensex falling 161.40 points to 32,780.47 and the Nifty declining 61.40 points to 10,125.20. Weak global cues post correction in commodities weighed on sentiment.

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

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group stocks moved lower due to worries over debt-laden Reliance Communications that fell below Rs 10 level, down 14 percent.

Reliance Capital, Reliance Home Finance, Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management and Reliance Power were down 8-10 percent.

2:05 pm Europe Trade: European equities were lower as market sentiment was hit by weaker oil prices.

France's CAC and Britain's FTSE were down 0.3 percent each while Germany's DAX fell 0.7 percent.

Here are the top headlines at 2 pm from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak

1:57 pm Earnings: Automotive Axles shares rallied nearly 8 percent intraday today after solid earnings growth for quarter ended September 2017.

Profit more than doubled to Rs 20.4 crore in Q2, against Rs 9.7 crore in year-ago while revenue increased 53.5 percent to Rs 349.6 crore from Rs 228.1 crore YoY.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) spiked 62.1 percent to Rs 39.24  crore from Rs 24.20 crore and margin expanded to 11.2 percent from 10.6 percent.

1:48 pm Recapitalisation of PSU Banks: Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the government may look at infusing additional capital of Rs 10,000 crore in PSU banks in FY18 and is planning to advance next year's capital infusion for PSU banks to FY18.

First tranche of PSU recap bonds maybe in the range of Rs 70,000 crore and all PSU banks will be covered under recap bonds.

PSU bank recap will cover provisioning as well as growth of PSU banks. Capital infusion will be based on 3-year CAGR, growth projections, sources said.

PSU banks may start tapping markets from December onwards and government approval is already in place.

PSU banks may do QIPs and FPOs of up to Rs 2,000 crore each.

1:44 pm Stake Buy: Insurance company LIC has acquired 86.7 lakh shares (representing 2.04 percent of total equity capital) of Indiabulls Housing Finance via open market transaction.

1:25 pm Buzzing Stocks: Shares of JBF Industries and Shakti Pumps declined 4-7 percent intraday Wednesday on the back weak second quarter performance.

Shakti Pumps has posted 35 percent decline in its Q2 net profit at Rs 3 crore against Rs 4.65 crore in the same quarter last year.

Revenue was down 14 percent at Rs 67.6 crore, EBITDA fell 10 percent at Rs 10.8 crore and margin was up 80 bps at 16 percent.

JBF Industries has registered loss of Rs 14.7 crore versus Rs 11.1 crore.

Its revenue was down 26 percent at Rs 764 crore.

12:55 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks extended losses amid volatility, tracking weak global cues after trade deficit data.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 117.83 points at 32,824.04 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 44.20 points to 10,142.40.

12:40 pm FM on India business: With greater digitisation and formalisation of financial activities and businesses, India is set to become an "extremely attractive" country to do business, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here today.

Speaking at the Singapore Fintech Festival, Jaitley said the ongoing process of digitisation was a result of Aaadhar scheme coupled with financial inclusion, post demonetisation followed by the massive exercise on the improvement in the digital eco-payment system as well as the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax from July 1, 2017.

With greater digitisation and greater formalisation, India is set to become an extremely attractive place to do business, he said.

12:25 pm Buzzing: Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries today fell by over 3 percent after the company reported a 59.19 percent decline in consolidated net profit for the September quarter.

Pharma major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries yesterday reported a 59.19 percent drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 912.12 crore for the September quarter, mainly on account of degrowth in the US sales.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 2,235.14 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, Sun Pharma said in a BSE filing.

Consolidated total revenue from operations stood at Rs 6,650.34 crore. It was Rs 8,260.11 crore in the same period of the previous year.

12:15 pm RCom in focus: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) today issued a notice to Reliance Communications over a petition filed by Manipal Technologies seeking its due.

The appellate tribunal has agreed to hear the matter on December 4.

The Karnataka-based company has claimed a due of Rs 2.7 crore for the biometrics fingerprint scanners supplied to RCom in 2016. However, the money was not paid as RCom claimed that the invoices were raised in the name of HP financial services and not RCom.

Earlier, it had approached the National Company Law Tribunal, which had rejected Manipal's plea, accepting RCom's argument that dues were not against the firm.

Following this, Manipal Technologies moved the NCLAT.

12:05 pm Buzzing: Shares of Panacea Biotec and Cox & Kings rose 7-8 percent intraday on the back strong September quarter (Q2FY18) numbers.

Panacea Biotec has reduced its losses in the Q2FY18 by posting loss at Rs 5.6 crore against Rs 47.9 crore in the year ago period.

Revenue was up 45 percent at Rs 152 crore, EBITDA rose 578 percent at Rs 46.8 crore and margins was up 2420 bps at 30.8 percent.

Cox & Kings has reported 140 percent jump in its Q2 net profit at Rs 202 crore. Revenue was down 38 percent at Rs 1592 crore, EBTIDA was up 85 percent at Rs 347 crore and margins was up 1450 bps at 21.8 percent.

Here are the top headlines at 12 pm from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak

11:45 am Management Interview: NBCC has posted a mixed bag this quarter. The topline disappointed but margins were above street estimates. The news this morning is that both private and public sector financial institutions, are looking to monetise the pledged real estate and have approached the company to develop defaulters' land.

Some of the financial institutions have approached NBCC and we are in serious discussions with them and hopefully some of the projects will be matured very soon, Anoop Kumar Mittal, Chairman of the company told CNBC-TV18.

Speaking on revenue guidance, he said, ''For FY18, I am sure 30 percent total growth will be there year on year (YoY) and FY19 onwards it should be minimum 50 percent YoY.''

11:28 am Telecom tower sale: British telecom major Vodafone is open to exploring opportunities for sale of stake in Indian mobile tower firm Indus Towers -- its joint venture with Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular.

If the plan fructifies, it is expected to create more value for the group.

"We will explore strategic options including the full or partial sales of our 42 per cent stake in Indus Towers, which could create further value for the group... we are also deleveraging our balancesheet by over USD 8 billion...,"
Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said during an analyst and investor conference on Tuesday.

Vodafone India has a net debt of USD 8.2 billion. Bharti Airtel's mobile tower arm Bharti Infratel and Vodafone hold 42 per cent each in India's largest mobile tower firm Indus Towers and the rest is held by Idea Cellular.

Bharti Infratel is looking to acquire partial or full stake in Indus Towers.

11:14 am Results: GMR Infrastructure's standalone net loss for the September quarter narrowed to Rs 276.41 crore due to a fall in provision for diminution in value of investments and advances.

The company had reported a net loss of Rs 700.34 crore in the year-ago period.

Its total revenue declined to Rs 206 crore as against over Rs 331.22 crore a year ago, GMR Infrastructure said in a BSE filing today.

During the quarter under review, the company reported a provision for diminution in value of investments and advances at Rs 179.92 crore as against Rs 752.65 crore in the same quarter a year before.

10:59 am USFDA lifts import alert: Drug firm Divi's Laboratories today said the US health regulator has lifted import alert imposed on its unit at Visakhapatnam.

Last week, the company in a regulatory filing had said the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) had "closed out" a warning letter issued to the unit in Visakhapatnam following evaluation of corrective actions taken by the company at the plant.

"The FDA's website has now been updated on November 14, 2017, and the import alert 66-40 on the company's unit-II has been removed," the company said in a BSE filing.

The USFDA in March had issued import alert under clauses 99-32 and 66-40 and a warning letter later for the Visakhapatnam facility for non-compliance of good manufacturing practices (GMP) norms, the company had informed bourses earlier.

10:42 am Acquisition: Fortis Healthcare board has approved the proposed acquisition of entire portfolio of Singapore-listed RHT Health Trust (RHT) for an enterprise value of around Rs 4,650 crore, the company said today.

The step is part of a restructuring initiative aimed at consolidating the entire Indian asset portfolio comprising various clinical establishments and two operating hospitals of RHT Health Trust into Fortis.

Fortis and RHT have inked a pact proposing the acquisition of all the securities of RHT's entities in India holding, clinical entities and businesses via purchase of securities for an enterprise value of around Rs 4,650 crore,
Fortis said in a statement.

This includes Rs 1,152 crore of debt of RHT as on date, it added.

10:32 am Market Check: Benchmark indices as well as broader markets continued to trade mildly lower, weighed by weak global cues. Metals, FMCG, oil & gas exploration and HDFC Group stocks were under pressure.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 76 points at 32,865.87 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 27.10 points to 10,159.50.

The market breadth was negative as about three shares declined for every two shares rising on the BSE.

10:15 am Earnings Reaction: Tour and travel firm Cox & Kings share rallied 6 percent as its consolidated net profit jumped over two-fold to Rs 202.24 crore for the second quarter ended September 30.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 84.02 crore for the same period of previous fiscal.

The company's total income from operations, however, declined to Rs 1,600.59 crore for the second quarter, as against Rs 2,575.34 crore in the same period of previous fiscal, Cox & Kings said in a regulatory filing.

Cox and Kings Group CEO Peter Kerkar said all company verticals reported strong organic top line growth during the quarter.

10:05 am Irrigation projects: The Centre has given an in-principle approval to provide an assistance of Rs 10,000 crore to fund 107 irrigation projects in drought-hit Vidarbha and Maratha regions of Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

Fadnavis said the completion of the projects will ensure largescale irrigation facilities in the districts of Vidarbha and Marathwada, known for suicides by farmers, besides in North and Western Maharashtra.

"With this approval, the state will receive Rs 10,000 crore for the next two years for the projects from the Centre," the Chief Minister said in a statement issued here.

Here are the top headlines at 10 am from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak

9:59 am Rupee trade: The rupee edged up 8 paise to 65.34 against the dollar in morning today on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters.

Forex dealers said fresh inflow of foreign funds and weakness in the dollar against other currencies overseas supported the rupee.

However, a lower opening of domestic equities and a widening trade deficit to almost a three-year high capped the gains.

Yesterday, the rupee had ended flat to close at 65.42 against the US currency due to fag-end demand for the greenback amid ballooning trade deficit.

9:50 am Japan's economic data: Japan's economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter due to strong exports, posting the longest period of uninterrupted growth in more than a decade.

The economy expanded at a 1.4 percent annualised rate in July-September, slightly above the median estimate for annualised growth of 1.3 percent, Cabinet Office data showed on Wednesday.

That followed revised annualised growth of 2.6 percent in April-June.

Consumer spending fell for the first time in seven quarters but this is expected to be temporary because the economy is near full employment, which should bolster domestic consumption in the future. Rising capital expenditure and exports are also expected to keep the economy growing, which should ease some concerns about sluggish inflation.

9:42 am Earnings Reaction: India's largest drug maker Sun Pharma share price fell 2 percent after earnings.

The company reported 59 percent decline in net profit to Rs 912.1 crore in the second quarter ended September as the company faces pricing pressure in US generics market.

The company was benefited last year by an extending limited competition for generic blood cancer drug imatinib in US market.

The company reported net profit of Rs 2235 crore in the same period of previous year. Revenues declined 19.5 percent to Rs 6650 crore compared to Rs 8260 crore in the year-ago period.

CNBC TV18 Poll estimated the net profit at Rs 802 crore and revenues at Rs 6861 crore.

9:32 am Oil Update: Oil prices tumbled today, continuing Tuesday's slide after the International Energy Agency cast doubts over the past months' narrative of tightening fuel markets.

Brent crude futures were at USD 61.44 per barrel, down 1.24 percent from their last close.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at USD 55.10 per barrel, down over 1.08 percent.

The price falls mean that crude prices are now down by around 5 percent since hitting 2015 highs last week, ending a 40-percent rally between June and early November.

9:25 am Subscription: Bharat 22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), comprising 22 companies, yesterday attracted robust bids with the portion reserved for anchor investors getting subscribed six times to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore on the opening day. The issue opened for subscription today.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund managed Bharat 22 ETF's new fund offer (NFO) has size of over Rs 8,000 crore.

As much as 25 percent of the total issue size, or Rs 2,000 crore, was reserved for anchor investors who put in bids worth about Rs 12,000 crore, ICICI Prudential MF said.

The NFO received subscriptions from across the board including mutual funds, foreign portfolio investors, insurance and retirement funds.

The issue will remain open till November 17.

9:20 am Buzzing: Share price of Indiabulls Housing Finance advanced 2 percent in morning on the back partial stake sale in OakNorth Bank.

The company has sold 1/3 of its stake (around 10 percent) in OakNorth Bank to Government of Singapore owned investment arm GIC for Rs 770 crore.

The company had invested Rs 663 crore in November 2015 for a 40 percent stake in the bank.

With this divestment the company has recovered its entire investment in bank made 2 years ago. The balance investment of company in the bank is worth Rs 1,510 crore at current valuation.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened mildly lower on Wednesday, tracking subdued global cues following correction in metals and crude oil prices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 41.86 points at 32,900.01 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 16.70 points to 10,169.90.

Sun Pharma, Lupin, Vedanta, Hindalco, NALCO, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Infratel and GAIL were early losers while HPCL, BPCL, TCS, Ambuja Cements and Dr Reddy's Labs were early gainers.

Rain Industries, HEG, Graphite India, Goa Carbon and Phillips Carbon plunged 5 percent.

After earnings, Waterbase, MOIL, Panacea Biotec and Cox & Kings gained 4-6 percent while Corporation Bank, Indiabulls Real, CEAT and JK Tyre lost 1-5 percent.

Fortis Healthcare and Religare Enterprises rallied 3-5 percent post deal.

Jet Airways was up 1 percent as stock is out of NSE F&O ban and ahead of analysts' meet.

The cautious sentiment from the last session continued through Asia's today's trading day, with energy-related plays in the region falling on weakening oil prices.

China's Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Japan's Nikkei, Australia's ASX 200 and South Korea's Kospi were down 0.3-0.8 percent.

The US markets also closed lower, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite falling 0.1-0.3 percent. Concerns about a potential global economic slowdown and US tax reform dampened investor sentiment.