Market Live: Sensex falls 150 pts, Nifty tests 10,000; banks, oil stocks drag

11:17 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended losses in morning trade, with the Sensex falling as much as 358 points but trimming some losses.

The cut in losses indicated that investors as well as traders could be using “buy on dips’ strategy due to stable earnings in Q1FY18 and improving fundamentals of the economy.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 198.37 points at 32,075.30 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 58.35 points to 9,999.05.

About three shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

11:05 am Interview: Dr Lal Pathlab’s Q1 earnings were strong as margins bounced back due to seasonality and strong traction was seen in the core Delhi market.

Speaking about recent acquisition, Doctor Om Manchanda, CEO of Dr Lal Pathlabs said the acquisition in Bangladesh is a minor one and it will not impact FY18 numbers.

The company has seen improvement in volume performance after demonetisation, said Manchanda.

He further said that cannot estimate as to how Q2 will pan out, currently. However, competition continues to be very strong, he added.

10:53 am Buzzing: Sintex Plastics Technology, the subsidiary of Sintex Industries, started off the first trade at Rs 130 level on exchanges but cooled off due to weak market conditions.

In early trade itself, the stock was locked at 5 percent upper circuit at Rs 136.50 on good buying but as the market started drifting sharply lower, the stock caught in bear grip and lost its momentum.

It fell as much as 4.92 percent at Rs 123.60 on the BSE at 10:42 hours IST. Hence, the total loss from its day’s high was 9.5 percent.

Sintex Industries demerged its plastic division into Sintex Plastics Technology in May 2017.

As per scheme of arrangement, Sintex Industries’ shareholders received two equity shares of Sintex Plastics Technology for every two shares held.

10:07 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks erased opening gains, with the Nifty testing 10,000 level due to selling pressure in banking & financials and oil stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 143.89 points at 32,129.78 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 43.05 points to 10,014.35.

About two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

9:50 am Pre-opening: Sintex Plastics settled at Rs 130 per share in pre-opening trade on NSE.

9:39 am Buzzing: Shares of Dr Lal PathLabs gained 3.3 percent intraday on the back of strong June quarter numbers and on acquisition of company in Bangladesh.

The company has registered 11 percent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 44.4 crore for the quarter ended June 30 against net profit of Rs 40 crore in the same quarter last year.

The total income of the company was up 12 percent at Rs 256.8 crore versus Rs 229.2 crore.

The company in its board meeting held on August 07 has approved the acquisition of a company in Bangladesh named Dr Lal PathLabs Bangladesh (DLPLB).

The company has decided to acquire 70 percent stake in DLPLB from its existing shareholders with the objective of strengthening its presence in Bangladesh.

9:29 am FII View: Ridham Desai of Morgan Stanley said Indian markets are becoming institutionalised, led by domestic investors.

In Q2FY18 so far, foreign portfolio investor equity ownership rose to record levels of 27.5 percent, up 59 bps QoQ. Domestic Mutual Funds’ equity stake at 5.6 percent is at the highest level since December 2001.

Of the top 20 stocks owned by foreign portfolio investors, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank saw the most buying, while Infosys saw the most selling.

He said the largest overweight is on HDFC Bank, and the largest underweights are Reliance Industries and Infosys.

Domestic Mutual Funds bought ICICI Bank the most and sold L&T the most, he added. Overall, institutions bought ICICI Bank the most and sold Infosys the most, Desai said.

9:15 am Market Check: The market rebounded with marginal gains in opening Tuesday, with the Nifty inching towards 10,100 level.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 70.09 points at 32,343.76 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 23.60 points to 10,081.

Tata Steel gained 2 percent as brokerage houses raised target price post Q1 earnings.

Bharti Airtel gained over 1 percent and Bharti Infratel lost 3 percent after former sold stake in later.

Bank of Baroda, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto and Sun Pharma were up half a percent while IOC, BPCL and Dr Reddy’s Labs were under pressure.

The Nifty Midcap index was up 0.3 percent as about two shares advanced for every share falling on the NSE.
NALCO, Sintex Industries, JSPL and Idea Cellular gained up to 3 percent.