Sensex continues downtrend on extended profit booking; RIL up 4%

10:55 am SBI chief interview: Demonetisation put the spotlight on SBI as the top lender and with a footprint that stands to become even larger if it succeeds in a planned merger with five of its associate banks.

“(Demonetization) caught the entire system off guard … We had just 24 hours in which to set up exactly the processes by which we could do this – move cash around the country, ensure that there were enough counters for people to come in and get their money exchanged, get our own people trained on how these things would be done. So a huge amount of activity,” Bhattacharya said.

Access to cash was restricted during the swap and and there were complaints the drive impacted the poor disproportionately. But Bhattacharya said the initial shocks of demonetization were gradually wearing off and the Indian economy was “very close” to returning to “normalcy.”

10:40 am Services PMI up: Services purchasing manufacturers’ index sees an expansion from last month. Nikkei Services PMI stands at 50.3 against 48.7.

Meanwhile, composite PMI has come at 50.7 against 49.4 last month. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in activity.

10:35 am Buzzing stock: Shares of Alembic Pharma rose over 3 percent intraday as investors cheered a new US launch.

The company launched Desvenlafaxine tablets in the United States. The drug had US sales of USD 883 million as of December 2016.

10:20 am Expert speak: Indian markets have so far enjoyed a sterling run since the Budget but the rally has been driven largely by mutual funds and retail investors.

That may, however, be set to change if the view of Nitin Jain, Principal Investment Manager at Kotak UK, comes true. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Jain said he expect foreign investors to return to the Indian market soon.

Also Read: Buy, sell, hold: 7 stocks to focus as market cautious

The market continued its downward trend in morning, as investors continued to book profits and stayed on the fence ahead of results of assembly elections next week.

The Sensex was down 92.02 points at 28747.77, while the Nifty down 33.70 points at 8866.05. The market breadth was narrow, with about 889 shares having advanced, 975 shares having declined, and 89 shares remaining unchanged.

Reliance Industries clocked 52-week high mark as analysts were upbeat on the stock. CLSA, in fact, upgraded its target price to Rs 1,500 a share. Apart from this, GAIL and Bharti Infratel were among the top gainers on both the indices. HDFC and ITC were a drag on both the indices, seeing falls of over 1.5 percent on both the stocks.

Apollo Hospitals fell nearly 4 percent intraday, following a stake sale by a Malaysian sovereign fund. Khazanah Berhad’s subsidiary Integrated (Mauritius) Healthcare Holdings sold over 6 percent stake in the healthcare company through block deals. It used to hold 10.85 percent stake in the firm before this deal.

Meanwhile, DCB Bank rose more than 2 percent intraday as the company looked to raise funds via issue of securities. A meeting of board of directors of the company will be held on March 07, to consider and approve, issue of securities/shares, including issue of securities/shares to qualified institutional buyers.