Market Live: Sensex slips 150 pts; Nifty PSU Bank falls 1%, Sun Pharma up 2%

12:50 pm FM to meet PSU banks’ heads: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will discuss the issue of non-performing assets (NPAs) with PSU banks’ head today.

Besides, the minister will review the financial performance of all the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) at the meeting, the first between Jaitley and them in the current fiscal.

12.39 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to fall in afternoon trade following correction in global peers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 148.82 points at 31,113.24 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 45.60 points to 9,622.65.

The market breadth continued to be week as about 1,438 shares declined against 1,024 advancing shares on the BSE.

Sun Pharma was the biggest gainers among Sensex stocks, up more than 2 percent followed by Infosys, M&M, GAIL, Lupin and Tata Steel.

11:55 am Banks stocks weak: Banks shares prices continued to be under pressure after Maharashtra government on Sunday decided to waive off farms loans of small and marginal farmers.

PSU Bank index slipped over a percent as Kotak in its latest report said Maharashtra has nearly Rs 4.2 lakh crore agriculture loans (23 percent of total loans) and Rs 1.2 lakh crore farm loans (7 percent of loans) with PSU banks holding nearly 52 percent of total farm loans, followed by co-operative banks (32 percent) and private banks (12 percent). Nifty Bank index also lost half a percent.

Among stocks, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, PNB, Federal Bank, ICICI Bank, OBC, SBI and Union Bank were down 0.5-2 percent.

“Frequent occurrence of such populist actions leads to risks of impaired credit discipline and weak risk-reward for banks and reduced credit availability for borrowers. Public banks face greater impact than private banks,” Kotak said.

11.22 am Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to reel under pressure on correction in global peers. The selling in technology, infrastructure, FMCG and select banks stocks weighed.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 117.54 points at 31,144.52 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 37.50 points to 9,630.75. About 1,277 shares declined against 1,030 advancing shares on the BSE.

11:00 am Cadila at 1-year high: Shares of Cadila Healthcare touched 52-week high of Rs 555.55, rose nearly 3 percent intraday on the back of final approval from USFDA to market Nystatin Topical Powder USP, 100000 units per gram.

Cadila Healthcare’s US division Zydus Pharmaceuticals’ subsidiary Neshar Pharmaceuticals has received final approval from the USFDA to market Nystatin Topical Powder USP, 100000 units per gram.

The drug will be produced at the Neshar Pharmaceuticals’ manufacturing facility located at the St. Louis, MO, USA.

Nystatin Topical Powder is an antifungal antibiotic used to treat skin infections caused by yeast.

10:44 am Buzzing: Jewellery stocks rallied 3-5 percent intraday after the GST Council on Sunday decided to reduce GST rates for jewellery making charges to 5 percent from 18 percent earlier.

PC Jeweller and Titan Company gained as much as 3 percent while Gitanjali Gems and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri climbed nearly 5 percent.

In the last meeting on June 3, the GST Council had fixed GST rate at 3 percent on gold jewellery under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The council on Sunday reduced tax rates on 66 items including ketchup, instant food mixes, pickles, tractor components, computer printers and insulin as the Centre and the states sought to iron out rough edges ahead of GST’s roll out from July 1.

10:27 am Market Outlook: V K Sharma, Head – Private Client Group at HDFC Securities said the the risk on trade appears to have begun again in the US with the ex-FBI Chief James Comey’s testimony to the Senate Committee passing off without any significant revelation.

Secondly, the House of Representatives passed a bill to roll back the Dodd-Frank law. The markets have taken the outcome of the UK elections in its stride, he added.

In the coming week, he expects the US Fed to hike rates on January 14 by 0.25 percent. This is already discounted in the US and Indian markets as well. Markets could gather scheme after the meeting, he feels.

The IIP, which is likely to come a tad higher this week may not impact the markets much, according to him.

VK Sharma said the Nifty has narrow range of 9600-9710. He expects Nifty to see a break out on the higher side amidst concerns that the valuations may be stretched.

10.08 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended losses in morning trade, weighed by technology, banking & financial, FMCG and select auto stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 157.17 points at 31,104.89 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 49.55 points to 9,618.70.

The broader markets were also under pressure, falling over 0.3 percent on weak breadth. About 1175 shares declined against 831 advancing shares on the BSE.

Wipro, Adani Ports, L&T, TCS, SBI, Bank of Baroda and Tata Motors (DVR) were top losers while Sun Pharma, M&M, GAIL, Tata Steel, ONGC, Vedanta and Aurobindo Pharma were gainers.

9:45 am Buzzing: Shares of Amtek Auto slipped over 2 percent in the early trade as it has reported loss in the quarter ended March 2017 (Q4FY17).

The company has posted a net loss of Rs 307.57 crore in March quarter against loss of Rs 563 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

The company had registered a loss of Rs 241.56 crore in the quarter ended December 2016.

Revenue of the company was down 32 percent at Rs 442 crore versus Rs 648 crore, while the finance cost stood at Rs 333 crore.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was down 23 percent at Rs 83 crore and EBITDA margin was at 18.8 percent.

9:30 am FII View: Abhay Laijawala of Deutsche Bank says he believes the trend in public investments will get complemented with a gradual pick up in private sector capex.

Management commentary in the latest quarterly earnings reports shows early signs of revival in select steel, cement, defence and urban infrastructure companies, he believes.

He expects a conducive regulatory environment, low interest costs and supportive financial market conditions to catalyse the long elusive recovery in private sector capex cycle over next two years.

Also read – Top 20 multibagger stocks which rose over up to 700% and doubled PAT in 1 year

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks started off the week on a negative note Monday, with the Sensex falling more than 100 points, dragged by weak global cues. Technology, FMCG and banking & financial stocks were under pressure.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 113.90 points at 31,148.16 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 36.75 points to 9,631.50.

TCS, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Infosys and L&T were leading contributors to Sensex’ fall while Mahindra & Mahindra gained a percent.

The Indian rupee slipped 6 paise in opening trade, to 64.30 per dollar from Friday’s close of 64.24.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said weakness in gold and crude prices will help rupee to breach hurdle of 64.20/dollar. Trading range for the spot USD-INR pair will be 64 to 64.50, he feels.
Asian shares traded in negative territory as markets turned cautious, following the hung parliament result from the UK election last Friday and as markets await the results of the first round of France’s parliamentary elections. The Nikkei 225 was down by 0.63 percent and South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index fell 0.97 percent.