Sensex Falls 189 Points on Profit Booking; PSU Banks Rally

The Sensex fell 189 points to close at 27,878 and Nifty declined 41 points to shut shop at 8,477 on the back of profit booking after Friday's sharp up move.

In the intraday deals today, the Sensex and Nifty traded with a negative bias as blue-chip counters such as HDFC, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro traded edged lower and restricted Nifty to move higher despite a sharp upmove in the PSU banking shares.

The PSU banking shares were in high demand today after the government post the market hours on Friday announced reform plans to shake up the country's banking system. 

Bank of Baroda rallied 15 per cent to close at Rs 212 and Canara Bank rose 13 per cent to end at Rs 345 after the government named private sector executives to lead the two public sector lenders. This is the first time the government has appointed private bankers as heads of PSU banks.

The CNX PSU Bank index advanced 6.2 per cent.

On the other hand, oil & gas, realty, capital goods, IT, pharma and auto stocks saw selling pressure. These indices fell 0.3-1 per cent each.

The broader markets ended marginally higher. The BSE mid-cap index advanced 0.3 per cent and the small-cap index jumped 0.2 per cent.

From the Nifty-50 basket of stocks, 33 stocks declined while 17 stocks advanced.

Cipla was the top Nifty losers, the stock fell 4.93 per cent to Rs 703 despite reporting better than expected Q1. Hindalco, Zee Entertainment, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra & Mahindra, Vedanta, Dr Reddy's Labs, HDFC and Reliance Industries, L&T, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and Tata Power also fell over 1 per cent each.

While, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, GAIL India and NMDC were among the gainers.

Overall breadth was neutral as 1,440 stocks advanced while 1,426 stocks declined.

3:21 p.m.: Shares of Nitin Fire Protection Industries were in high demand in trades today. Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan bought 15 lakh shares of the company at Rs 42.99, stock rallied 10 per cent to hit high of Rs 47.15.

3:03 p.m.: Unitech, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, Ashok Leyland, J P Associates and Suzlon Energy were among the most actively traded stocks on the NSE.

2:49 p.m.: The overall breadth was neutral as 1,350 stocks were advancing while 1,392 were declining.

2:41 p.m.: Manappuram Finance shares rose over 8 per cent to Rs 26.25 on Monday after the company reported a 34 per cent jump in its April-June net profit.

After market hours on Friday, the gold loan company reported a net profit of Rs 59 crore for the quarter ended June 2015, as compared to Rs 44 crore registered for the corresponding period a year ago. (Read)

2:23 p.m.: Punj Lloyd shares slumped over 16 per cent to Rs 26.30 apiece on Monday, after the company's losses widened in the April-June quarter.

Post-market hours on Friday, Punj Lloyd reported a net loss of Rs 597.8 crore for the quarter ended June 2015, as against Rs 363.9 crore for the quarter ended June 2014. (Read)

2:15 p.m.: Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Allahabad Bank and Union Bank of India were among the gainers from the PSU banking space, up 5-10.7 per cent each.

1:34 p.m.: HDFC, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Infosys and Larsen & Toubro were among the major contributors towards the downward movement of the Sensex.

1:30 p.m.: After showcasing a partial recovery, the markets succumbed to the selling pressure again. The Sensex fell 204 points to 27,863 and Nifty was down 50 points at 8,469.

1:26 p.m.: Birla Corp shares surged as much as 12.5 per cent on Monday after it announced the acquisition of two cement units from Lafarge India for an enterprise value of Rs 5,000 crore. (Click here for full report)

1:14 p.m.: Morgan Stanley has upgraded Bank of Baroda to overweight for target price of Rs 240 per share. Morgan Stanley says steps announced by government to recapitalize banks will be a game changer for BoB given its better balance sheet. (Click here for more brokerage call)

1:00 p.m.: Oil & gas, power, realty, capital goods and IT stocks were facing the heat of selling pressure.

12:48 p.m.: Kaveri Seed Company shares on Monday fell 13 per cent to hit 52-week low of Rs 523, marking its sixth straight fall. With today's fall, the share prices of the seed company have halved from its year high of Rs 1,077 hit earlier in March this year. 

Kaveri Seed Company on Thursday reported that its net profit for the first quarter of FY16 fell 5.19 per cent to Rs 218.43 crore and its total income declined 20 per cent to Rs 666.11 crore. (Read)

12:33 p.m.: Gayatri Projects shares surge nearly 5 per cent to hit high of Rs 436.70 after the company reported that its net profit came in at Rs 10.69 crore compared to Rs 2.23 crore during the same quarter last year.

12:20 p.m.: The markets showcased a partial recovery in the noon deals on the back of buying in banking shares. The Sensex was down 103 points at 27,964 and the Nifty fell 20 points to 8,498.

11:33 a.m.: ONGC shares fall 3.2 per cent to hit 52-week low of Rs 260.180 after company on Friday reported 14 per cent annual growth in its net profit at Rs 5,460 crore, while its sales grew 4.3 per cent year-on-year to Rs 22,697 crore. Analysts polled by NDTV had estimated ONGC's net profit at Rs 6,070 crore on sales of Rs 23,630 crore. 

11:16 a.m.: Punj Lloyd shares slumped over 16 per cent to Rs 26.30 apiece on Monday, after the company's losses widened in the April-June quarter.

Post-market hours on Friday, Punj Lloyd reported a net loss of Rs 597.8 crore for the quarter ended June 2015, as against Rs 363.9 crore for the quarter ended June 2014.

11:15 a.m.: Tata Motors shares fall nearly 3 per cent to hit low of Rs 345.75; the company reported that sales of its luxury car variant Jaguar Land Rover fell in the month of July to 32,568 units.

11:10 a.m.: Capital goods index falls 1.2 per cent; BEML, Suzlon Energy, Alstom T&D, BHEL, Mahindra CIE, Larsen & Toubro and IL&FS Transportation Network were among the losers.

11:00 a.m.: TRF, Punj Lloyd, Swadeshi Industries Leasing, Rutron International, Kaveri Seed Company and Amtek Auto were among the losers from the small-cap space.

10:43 a.m.: Cipla shares reversed early gains to fall nearly 4.5 per cent on profit-taking. The pharma company on Friday post market hours announced its quarterly earnings, which were above the Street's expectations.

Cipla's net profit more than doubled in the June quarter to Rs 650.6 crore, led by a strong jump in its operating income. (Click here for full report)

10:13 a.m.: On the macro economic front, the fiscal deficit rose to nearly eight-month high. India's exports contracted by 10.3 per cent in July to $23.13 billion, pushing the trade deficit to $12.81 billion, dampened sentiments. 

10:11 a.m.: Andrew Holland of Ambit Securities says that in the near term there is downside pressure in the markets and the Nifty is likely to move in a range of 8,000-8,500.

10:03 a.m.: The Sensex recouped some losses but was still down over 200 points. The Sensex fell 244 points to 27,823 and the Nifty fell 60 points to 8,458.

9:54 a.m.: Bank of Baroda shares gained as much as 17 per cent, while Canara Bank advanced over 5 per cent on Monday on account of a series of reforms announced by the government on Friday.

The government on Friday named private bankers to lead Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank, the first such appointments in a broad reform plan to shake up the country's banking system. (Click here for full report)

9:50 a.m.: The overall breadth was negative as 1,058 stocks were declining while 740 were advancing.

9:40 a.m.: The broader markets were also facing the heat of selling pressure. The BSE mid-cap index fell 0.42 per cent and the small-cap index slipped 0.61 per cent.

From the mid-cap space, Unitech, J P Associates, J P Power Ventures, Reliance Capital, MRPL, United Breweries, Oberoi Realty and Essar Oil among the prominent losers.

9:35 a.m.: From the Nifty-50 basket of stocks, 42 were declining while 8 were advancing.

Cipla was the top Nifty loser, the stock fell 4 per cent to Rs 709. Vedanta, Hindalco, Zee Entertainment, NMDC, Tata Motors, ONGC, Tata Power, Ambuja Cements, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and BHEL were also among the laggards.

On the other hand, Bank of Baroda was the top Nifty gainer the stock advanced over 10 per cent to Rs 216. Punjab National Bank, SBI, BPCL, Asian Paints and Idea Cellular also advanced 0.6-3.2 per cent each.

9:30 a.m.: Selling pressure was visible across the board. Metal, oil & gas, realty, power, pharma, auto and capital goods indices were down around 1 per cent each.

Meanwhile, buying was visible in PSU bank shares after the government on Friday announced a seven step strategy as part of its plan to revamp the public sector banks. Government has decided to split the role of Chairman and MD & CEO of PSU banks. Government has also infused Rs 70,000 crore into PSBs.

The CNX PSU bank index advanced 3.6 per cent.

9:25 a.m.: The Sensex fell over 300 points to hit intraday low of 27,739.13 and the Nifty fell 90 points to 8,428 on the back of selling pressure on account of profit-booking after Friday's sharp up move.

9:09 a.m.: Sensex jumps 26 points to 28,093 and Nifty advances 12 points to 8,530 in the pre-market session.

9:00 a.m.: Rupee opens lower at 65.10 per dollar against Friday's close of 65.00.

8:15 a.m.: Below are the stocks which will be in focus today:

HDFC: HDFC plans to sell its 9 per cent stake in HDFC Life to Standard Life at Rs 95 per share subject and the deal is to regulatory approvals. The deal will help HDFC garner Rs 1,700 crore.

PSU Banking Stocks: Shares of PSU banks such as Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India etc. will be in focus today after the government on Friday announced a seven step strategy as part of its plan to revamp the public sector banks. Government has decided to split the role of Chairman and MD & CEO of PSU banks. Government has also infused Rs 70,000 crore into PSBs.

Cipla: Cipla reported strong set of first quarter numbers on Friday. The company reported profit of Rs 650.60 crore compared to Rs 294 crore during the same quarter last year. Its sales came in at Rs 3,776 crore versus Rs 2,647 crore (YoY). 

Tata Motors: Tata Motors' wholesale numbers for month of July on an annual basis came 17.5 per cent lower at 32,568 units. JLR sales were impacted by slower ramp-up at China.

Oil marketing companies: State run oil marketing companies such as Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum will be in focus today after they decided to cut petrol and Diesel prices by over Rs 1 each.

Jet Airways: Jet Airways has said that there is no plan by Etihad to raise its stake and Jet Airways plans to increase its capacity by 10 per cent in the current financial year.

M&M: Mahindra & Mahindra plans to launch SUV TUV300 next month.

DLF: DLF plans to invest Rs 900 crore on construction of new office complex.

8:00 a.m.: Foreign institutional investors on Friday purchased Indian shares worth Rs 403.7 crore and the domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 179.2 crore. 

In the F&O segment, FIIs bought index futures worth 435 crore and sold stock futures worth Rs 71 crore.

7:50 a.m.: The Sensex and Nifty are likely to edge lower in trades on Monday tracking subdued trading of the Nifty futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The Nifty which is traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange also known as the SGX NIfty was down 0.22 per cent or 19 points at 8,527.

Meanwhile, other Asian markets were also trading on a subdued note. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1 per cent, Shanghai Composite index was down 1 per cent, Taiwan Weighted slipped 0.8 per cent and KOSPI was down 0.45 per cent. While, Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.34 per cent.