Nifty struggles below 8800; Sun Pharma loses 3%, Adani Ports up

Benchmark indices as well as broader markets were moderately under pressure amid consolidation, with the Nifty consistently struggling below 8800 level as investors shifted their focus to states elections from earnings. Assembly elections in five states will end on March 8 and results will be announced on March 11.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 47.66 points at 28291.65 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 7.70 points to 8784.60. About 1207 shares declined against 848 advancing shares on the BSE.

Market valuations are slightly beyond comfort and with no big macro events lined up, a runaway rally is unlikely, says Mahesh Patil of Birla Sun Life AMC.

He feels it is better to wait-and-watch on investments as earnings recovery is likely to be slow and the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is round the corner.

Tata Motors retained its top position in selling list, down nearly 8 percent as CLSA downgraded the stock to sell from buy and slashed target price to Rs 405 from Rs 650 after cutting FY18-19 EPS estimates by 25-31 percent after dismal performance in Q3FY17.

Sun Pharma was also down more than 3 percent after earnings missed analysts’ expectations. Nomura cut FY17 earnings estimates for the company by 9 percent, FY18 by 5 percent & FY19 by 3 percent. It sees 11 percent revenue growth & 10 percent earnings growth over next 2 years.

Adani Ports gained 1.6 percent. While assigning a buy call on the stock, with a target price of Rs 375, CLSA says strategic asset should deliver 54 percent growth in port EBITDA over FY16-19 and new corporate structure could lower taxes & boost EPS growth.