Market Live: Sensex, Nifty correct after hitting record highs; PSP Projects falls 7%

11:25 am US FDA observations: Drug firm Strides Shasun on Monday said the US health regulator has issued 3 observations after inspecting its formulations facility in Bengaluru.

“The formulations facility in Bengaluru was recently inspected by the US FDA. The company has been issued a Form 483 with 3 observations,” Strides Shasun said in a BSE filing.

“None of these observations relate to data integrity and quality control. The company will address the observations comprehensively,” it further said.

At 11:24 hrs Strides Shasun was quoting at Rs 896.75, down Rs 21.00, or 2.29 percent on the BSE. It touched an intraday high of Rs 912.95 and an intraday low of Rs 877.00.

11:05 am Market Check: Benchmark indices staged a recovery from the day’s low, pulled back by a rally in FMCG stocks. The Nifty was seen hovering around 9600-mark

The Sensex was up 20.06 points at 31048.27, while the Nifty was down 7.65 points at 9587.45. The market breadth was negative as just 751 shares advanced against a decline of 1,519 shares, while 110 shares were unchanged.

ITC and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) were the top gainers on both indices, while Sun Pharma, Adani Ports and Tech Mahindra lost the most.

Midcaps witnessed a negative trajectory, falling over 1.5 percent on the Nifty, while pharma stocks continued to sulk.

Also Read: Top 10 midcap ‘Baahubalis’ which can still give multibagger returns in 2-3 years

10:36 am Buzzing: Shares of Glenmark were lower by over 3 percent intraday as investors turned wary of most of the pharma stocks, despite business-related positive developments coming in.

The sector has been witnessing immense weakness, following concerns on their profitability in the US on the back of pricing pressures. Results of major firms being dismal are also ailing the sector, and thereby dragging the stocks as well.

10:16 am Market Check: Benchmark indices erased gains after hitting record highs. Healthcare, auto, infra and select banks stocks pulled the market down but buying in index heavyweights ITC, Reliance Industries, HDFC and HDFC Bank limited losses.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 76.22 points at 30,951.99 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 37.50 points to 9,557.60.

The market breadth also turned negative as about two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

10:01 am Listing: Construction firm PSP Projects has a tepid listing on Monday. The share price opened at Rs 195 on the National Stock Exchange, down 7 percent compared with issue price of Rs 210.

At 10:01 hours IST, the stock was trading at Rs 193, down 8 percent from issue price. In pre-opening trade, the stock settled at Rs 190 on the exchange despite good subscription.

The company’s IPO, which was open during May 17-19, was oversubscribed 8.58 times.

9:59 am ITC at new high: Nomura maintained its buy rating on ITC but raised its 12-month target price to Rs 356 from Rs 299 earlier which translates into an upside of 15 percent from current levels.

The stock surged more than 3 percent to touch a new high of Rs 319.90.

ITC reported a decent set of numbers for the quarter ended March. The revenue growth of 14 percent was led by cigarette revenue growth of 4.8 percent on flattish volumes (estimated) as the company recovers post demonetization.

Diversified firm ITC reported 12.13 per cent increase in standalone net profit to Rs 2,669.47 crore for the fourth quarter of 2016-17 last week. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 2,380.68 crore for the January-March quarter of last fiscal, ITC said in a BSE filing.

The cigarettes business registered strong EBIT growth of 8 percent, indicating the effects of the recent price hikes taken along with changed mix. “Cigarettes will continue to drive profits for the company in the medium term,” said the report.

9:57 am PSP pre-opening: PSP Projects settled at Rs 190 in pre-opening trade on the National Stock Exchange, down 9.5 percent compared with issue price of Rs 210.

9:45 am Oil price declines: Oil prices fell as a relentless rise in US drilling undermined an OPEC-led push to tighten supply.

Trading activity will be subdued today due to public holidays in China, United States and Britain.

Brent crude futures were trading down 0.23 percent, at USD 52.03 per barrel.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.32 percent, at USD 49.64 per barrel.

9:31 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks recouped opening losses, with the Sensex reclaiming 31,000 level and Nifty 9,600.

Index heavyweights HDFC (up 2.3 percent), Reliance Industries (up 1.6 percent), HDFC Bank (up 1.06 percent) and ITC (up 0.3 percent) were top contributors to index gains.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 80.70 points at 31,108.91 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 22.55 points to 9,617.65.

About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

9:25 am Buzzing: Tech Mahindra lost over 12 percent intraday as investors reacted negatively to the company’s results.

The IT services major posted a consolidated net profit for the March quarter at Rs 589.7 crore, a fall of 30.2 percent against Rs 845 crore quarter on quarter.

A poll of analysts by CNBC-TV18 had pegged the net profit at Rs 788 crore.

The company’s consolidated rupee revenue came in around a percent lower at Rs 7,495 crore against Rs 7,557.5 crore QoQ.

Meanwhile, its dollar revenue came in higher by over a percent at USD 1,131.2 million against USD 1,116.1 million posted during the previous quarter.

Brokerages too had a negative outlook on the stock.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks have seen correction in early trade Monday due to profit booking after hitting record highs in previous week. Weak earnings from Sun Pharma and Tech Mahindra also hit market sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 154.11 points at 30,874.10 and the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 43 points to 9,552.10.

Sun Pharma and Tech Mahindra crashed around 8 percent post disappointing earnings. ITC, ONGC, M&M, ICICI Bank and Infosys were other early losers while BHEL, Cipla, Tata Motors, Wipro, Lupin, Vedanta, Dr Reddy’s Labs, BPCL and Aurobindo Pharma were gainers.

The Indian rupee has opened at 64.48 against the US dollar.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity feels positive cues from the equity market will help rupee gain further and test 64.20 level.
He expects the USD-INR pair to trade in a range of 64.20-64.80 against the US dollar.