Market Live: Sensex erases all gains, Nifty below 9900; Tata Group stocks down

11:30 am Infosys CEO says: While addressing press conference, Infosys CEO and MD Vishal Sikka said the company delivered strong overall performance in Q1 and improved revenue per employee over the last 6 quarters.

He further said Infosys has 6 categories of new high-growth services that contributed 8.3 percent to revenue.

Half of the revenue in last 2 years has come from new services areas, he added.

He said hi-tech segment continued to be soft during the quarter as there is tremendous focus on cost take outs. The company has seen moderate growth in manufacturing segment.

“Relentless focus stayed on execution,” he said.

11.15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in morning with the Nifty falling below 9900 level on profit booking after four-day rally.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 79.36 points at 31,958.02 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 29.50 points to 9,862.20.

The broader markets also caught in bear grip, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down 0.2 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. More than two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

11:05 am US Fed chair says: The United States has greatly increased its monitoring of the financial system for a broader range of risks following the last economic crisis in 2008, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said today.

“I believe we have done a great deal, since the financial crisis, to strengthen the financial system and to make it more resilient,” Yellen told members of the Senate Finance Committee during a Congressional hearing.

The 70-year-old US economist was responding to a question on American financial institutions’ readiness on facing next economic crisis.

“I think we can never be confident that there won’t be another financial crisis. But we have acted, in the aftermath of that crisis, to put in place much stronger capital and liquidity requirements for systemic banking organisations and the banking system more generally,” Yellen said.

10:44 am Silver update: Silver prices dropped by Rs 214 per kg to Rs 37,021 per kg in futures trade today as speculators trimmed their holdings amid a weak trend in global markets.

In futures trading, silver for delivery in far-month December was trading lower by Rs 214, or 0.57 per cent, at Rs 37,021 per kg, in a business turnover of 13 lots at the Multi Commodity Exchange.

10:32 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of GVK Power & Infrastructure gained nearly 7 percent intraday Friday as it sold stake in the BIAL.
The company has announced the completion of sale of its residual stake of 10 percent in Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) to Fairfax India

Holdings Corporation for a consideration of Rs 1290 crore.

The company held these shares through its subsidiary, Bangalore Airport Infrastructure Developers.

10:10 am Market Check: After seeing a positive opening, benchmark indices erased all of its gains, while the Nifty was off the 9900-mark.

The Sensex was down 47.71 points at 31989.67, while the Nifty was down 19.00 points at 9872.70. The market breadth was negative as 764 shares advanced against a decline of 1,237 shares, while 98 shares were unchanged.

Infosys, Cipla, Aurobindo Pharma and Bharti Infratel gained the most on both indices, while TCS and Tata Motors DVR were the top losers.

Also Read: Financial services, auto, oil & gas among top 5 sectors on radar of FPIs; here’s why

9:45 am Buzzing Stock: Biocon’s shares added over 9 percent intraday on Friday as investors cheered the possible regulatory approval to its breast cancer biosimilar going forward.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) has recommended an approval of the Mylan and Biocon’s proposed biosimilar trastuzumab, Biocon informed the exchanges on Friday. The drug is used to treat metastatic (spread) breast cancer. It is effective against tumors that overexpress the HER2/neu protein, according to chemocare.com.

Mylan and Biocon are exclusive partners on a broad portfolio of biosimilar and insulin products. The proposed biosimilar trastuzumab is one of the six biologic products co-developed by Mylan and Biocon for the global marketplace, the company’s release stated.

“The committee voted 16-0 in support of eligible indications of the reference product, Herceptin, which include HER2-positive breast cancer in the metastatic and adjuvant settings,” the statement added.

BIocon chart

9:30 am Infosys Q1 nos: Profit during the quarter fell 3.3 percent sequentially to Rs 3,483 crore and revenue declined 0.2 percent to Rs 17,078 crore.

Dollar revenue growth was 3.2 percent at USD 2,651 million against expectations of 2.6 percent increase and constant currency revenue growth came in at 2.7 percent against estimates of 2 percent.

“Our persistent focus on execution in Q1 is reflected in broad-based performance on multiple fronts revenue growth, resilient margins despite multiple headwinds, healthy cash generation and overall business results,” Vishal Sikka, CEO & MD said.

The IT bellwether has maintained its constant currency revenue growth guidance at 6.5-8.5 percent (which was 8.3 percent in FY17 and 13.3 percent in FY16) and also retained operating margin guidance at 23-25 percent for the current financial year.

It raised its FY18 dollar revenue growth guidance to 7.1-9.1 percent from 6.1-8.1 percent earlier.

9:15 am Market Opens: Benchmark indices continued their bullish run on the market, with the Sensex and Nifty conquering fresh records. The latter opened above 9900 for the first time.

The Sensex was up 72.24 points at 32109.62, while the Nifty was up 12.70 points at 9904.40. The market breadth was positive as 369 shares advanced against a decline of 109 shares, while 22 shares were unchanged.

Midcaps outperformed in the opening tick along with pharma, while the IT and PSU bank indices on Nifty opened in the red.

Infosys, Adani Ports and Aurobindo Pharma gained the most on both indices, while TCS, HDFC and Asian Paints were the top losers.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 64.44 per dollar on Friday against previous close 64.44.

Meanwhile, The dollar index was largely steady against a basket of major currencies helped by upbeat economic data. The dollar edged upon against the yen though it’s still below the highs hit earlier this week.

Bhaskar Panda of HDFC Bank said, “The USD-INR pair has been consolidating in a range and we expect it to trade in a range of 64.40-64.60 today. The lower than expected CPI data has brought the focus back on rate cut.”

He further added, “We expect the 10-year benchmark bond yield to trade in a range of 6.44-6.46 percent for the day.”

On the global front, stocks scaled record highs on Friday, with Asian equities rising for the fifth straight session, as signs the Federal Reserve will pursue a gradual rate tightening path and hopes of a strong earnings season lifted appetite for risk assets.

The MSCI World Index was marginally higher early on Friday, hitting a new all-time high. It is on track to end the week 1.6 percent higher.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.25 percent to its highest level in two years. It’s set for a 3.2 percent gain for the week.

Japan’s Nikkei added 0.2 percent, poised for a weekly rise of 1.05 percent.

Meanwhile, Wall Street posted slight gains on Thursday and the Dow hit another record high close, with financials rising ahead of profit reports due Friday from several big US banks.

The financial index was the best performer among the 11 major S&P sectors, ending up 0.61 percent.
Quarterly earnings kick off on Friday with three of the biggest US banks including JPMorgan Chase , Wells Fargo and Citigroup reporting results.