Sensex, Nifty continue to be sluggish; Tech Mah, Axis Bank up 2%

1:53 PM Reliance Jio surpasses key milestone: Reliance Jio has crossed 100-million customer mark in 170 days, said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries. Jio has added seven customers on an average every second in the last 170 days, Ambani added.

(Disclosure: Reliance Industries, the parent company of Reliance Jio, owns Network 18 that publishes Moneycontrol.com.)

1:45 PM Upbeat on Marksans Pharma: A successful Goa plant inspection by MHRA is a major positive for Marksans Pharma as it should enable the company to turnaround its key UK business, IDFC Securities says while retaining outperform rating on the stock. The share price rallied 7.6 percent intraday Tuesday (in addition to 20 percent upside in previous session).

Along with the expected pick-up in UK sales in the coming quarters, the company’s ability to stay compliant with the USFDA norms and to keep increasing client penetration in the US as also securing new softgel ANDA approvals will be key to its recovery, the brokerage house feels.

Marksans Pharma, on February 20, announced that it has successfully completed UK MHRA inspection for its Goa facility without any critical observations. The company is now awaiting further instruction from the agency on the way forward.

1:22 PM Expert view: Even as the optimism around India is quite high, foreign investors are treading cautiously, choosing to wait for fourth quarter earnings before taking investment calls, said GV Giri, Head of Research at IIFL Institutional Equities, speaking to CNBC-TV18 from the sidelines of the 2-day IIFL Enterprising India Conference.

Foreign fund inflows that had dried up last year have started returning since the start of this calendar, he said.

Barring a couple of markets, India has outperformed most emerging markets this year, he noted.

On sector specific action, he felt that risks in the telecom space are gradually reducing and the industry will benefit from consolidation.

Also Read: Buy, sell, hold: 6 stocks likely to see lot of action today

The market continued to remain sluggish in the post noon trade, riding on the volatility seen on the street before the expiry of derivative contracts for February series.

The 30-share Sensex fell 44 points to 28616.63, while the Nifty fell around 11 points at 8867.95. The market breadth was narrow after 1,443 shares advanced, 1,157 declined. Meanwhile 175 shares were unchanged.

Among top gainers on the Sensex and Nifty were Axis Bank, Asian Paints and Tech Mahindra, while Bharti Group cos, Airtel and Infratel, as well as TCS were the top losers on the index.

HDFC Bank and ITC were a drag after being the top negative contributors on the Sensex, while ITC and Bharti Infratel were the top negative contributors on the Nifty.