Sensex Ends Lacklustre Session With Marginal Losses, Pharma Stocks Fall

Sensex and Nifty ended today's lacklustre session marginally lower as gains in bluechips such as Infosys, TCS, Hero MotoCorp and State Bank of India were offset by losses in HDFC, Lupin, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma. The Sensex and Nifty opened on a flat note and traded in a narrow band for the entire session. BSE benchmark swung in broad range of 174 points while the broader Nifty touched high of 9,346.30 and low of 9,298.40.Meanwhile, analysts say that the Indian markets are consolidating near all-time high levels and Nifty faces resistance around 9,350 levels on downside it has support at 9,280 levels.

The Sensex ended 0.08 per cent or 26 points lower at 29,894.80 and Nifty declined 2 points to settle at 9,312.

Meanwhile, from the Nifty basket of shares 26 ended higher while 25 closed lower. Lupin was the top loser in the Nifty, the stock closed 3 per cent lower at Rs 1,265. Aurobindo Pharma, Tata Power, Hindalco, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki were among the laggards. On the other hand, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, Coal India, TCS, Infosys and HCL Technologies were among the gainers.

On the sectoral front, pharma shares were among the worst hit in today's session. The BSE healthcare index fell 1 per cent. Capital goods, FMCG, banking, metal, oil & gas and auto indices also closed lower. At the same time, IT and realty indices rose over a per cent each.

The broader markets ended on a muted note with mid-cap index declining 0.3 per cent and the small-cap index closing almost unchanged.

The overall market breadth was marginally negative as 1,484 shares ended lower while 1,360 ended higher.

3:12 pm: Deutsche Bank has maintained buy on Coromandel International for target price of Rs 390 per share. Click here for more brokerage calls

2:48 pm: IT stocks outperform in listless markets. The BSE IT index jumps 1.25 per cent on the back of gains in Infosys, Zensar Technologies, Tata Elxsi, Wipro, Rolta, 8K Miles and TCS.

2:26 pm: Mid-cap index falls 0.34 per cent; Adani Power, Sun TV, Biocon, Torrent Pharma, HPCL, Exide Industries, Berger Paints, Crompton Greaves, GMR Infra and Container Corporation among top losers from this space.

1:53 pm: Real estate shares were outperforming the benchmark indices in a listless session. The BSE Realty index was up 1.63 per cent; Godrej Properties, Prestige Estates, Phoenix, Sobha Ltd, DLF and Indiabulls Real Estate were among the gainers.

1:42 pm: From the Nifty basket of shares, 31 were advancing while 20 were declining. Power Grid, Bank of Baroda, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Infratel, TCS, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Infosys were among the gainers while Lupin, Aurobindo Pharma, Tata Power, Hindalco, ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki were among the laggards.

1:28 pm: 178 stocks on the Bombay Stock Exchange hit fresh 52-week highs today. Click here for the full list of shares

1:11 pm: Overall market breadth was marginally negative as 1,411 stocks were declining while 1,240 were advancing on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

1:03 pm: ICICI Bank falls over 1.5 per cent to Rs 271.60 ahead of March quarter earnings. According to analysts polled by NDTV Profit, ICICI Bank is expected to report net profit of Rs 2,179 crore on net interest income of Rs 5,423 crore. Gross non-performing assets are likely to come in at Rs 42,420 crore and as percentage of total advances gross non-performing assets are expected to grow at 8.6 per cent from 7.9 per cent.

12:48 pm: S H Kelkar and Company, Info Edge, Godrej Properties, Shilpi Cables, Hindustan Unilever, Ganesh Housing, Subex and Godrej Consumer Products were among the shares witnessing heavy volumes on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

12:33 pm: Cummins India shares rallied as much as 9.53 per cent to hit fresh 52-week high of Rs. 1,096.80 after its parent company Cummins Inc on Tuesday raised its 2017 forecasts for revenue and earnings before interest and tax, on stronger-than-expected demand from the construction industry in China.

12:11 pm: Banking stocks trade with negative bias ahead of ICICI Bank's March quarter earnings. The Bank Nifty index was down 0.2 per cent led by losses in Federal Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and Punjab National Bank.

11:49 am: Stock markets turn negative on selling pressure in banking, pharma, metal, capital goods, FMCG and oil & gas shares. Sensex falls 18 points to 29,903 and Nifty declined 3 points to 9,311. 

11:28 am: The stock markets trade on a flat note. Sensex up 0.01 per cent at 29,921 and Nifty up 4 points at 9,318.

11:10 am: Anil Manghnani of Modern Shares and Stock Brokers says that there is enough money waiting on sidelines to enter into the markets which indicates that every dip is getting bought in.

10:51 am: Shares of beer maker United Breweries jumped as much as 6.23 per cent to hit intraday high of Rs 819.30 on reports that the Dutch beer maker Heineken which owns over 40 per cent stake in United Breweries has approached lenders with a proposal to buy out all of Vijay Mallya's shares in United Breweries.

10:15 am: Nischal Maheshwari, head institutional equities at Edelweiss says that aviation sector looks like more of a trading bet rather than an investment bet. Good part is that the demand is still growing and competition is severe. But as long as oil prices are down everything seems to be good, he adds.

10:07 am: Shares of Mumbai-based real estate developer Godrej Properties rallied as much as 13 per cent to hit fresh 52-week high of Rs. 570.90 after the company before the market opening today informed the stock exchanges that it has sold 1,000 apartments across three new project launches in Pune, Mumbai and National Capital Region. Godrej Properties is currently developing residential, commercial and township projects spread across approximately 13 million square meters (133 million square feet) in 12 cities.

9:35 am: The broader markets were outperforming the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index rose 0.52 per cent and the small-cap index advanced 0.40 per cent. From the mid-cap space, UBL was the top gainer from the mid-cap space, up 5 per cent at Rs 809. Cummins India, Oberoi Realty, Piramal Enterprises, Godrej Industries, Reliance Infra, Shriram Transport Finance and Central Bank were also among the gainers, up 1.4-4.5 per cent each.

9:19 am: Indian markets edged higher in opening trades with Sensex rising 75 points at 29,996 and Nifty rose 21 points to 9,334.

From the Nifty basket of shares, 38 were trading higher while 13 were trading lower. Power Grid was the top Nifty gainer, up 2 per cent at Rs 210.05. Bharti Infratel, Bajaj Auto, BPCL, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Indian Oil and NTPC were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, ITC, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Eicher Motors, Cipla, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Indiabulls Housing Finance, IndusInd Bank and HDFC were among the laggards.

ICICI Bank which is scheduled to report its March quarter earnings later in the day was trading on a flat note ahead of earnings announcement.

9:08 am: Sensex rises 64 points to 29,984.95 and Nifty jumps 32 points to 9,346.25 in the pre-market session.

9:01 am: Rupee opened higher at 64.13 per dollar against Tuesday's close of 64.21.