Markets fall for second day, Nifty ends below 6700
3:32 p.m. Markets end lower for second day: Sensex ends 162 points lower at 22,346 (provisional), Nifty finishes at 6,694.35
3:30 p.m. Market this week: Sensex and Nifty end flat with Bank Nifty down 1.6 per cent. But there was a lo of action in the midcap and smallcap space.
CNX Midcap index is up nearly 1.5 per cent while BSE Smallcap index is up nearly 3.8 per cent.
3:05 p.m. Market analyst Sanjeev Bhasin says if the next government carries out strategic divestment then some of PSU could become multi-baggers.
A lot of PSU stocks are buzzing today. Neyveli Lignite is up 6.7 per cent, BEML 7.6 per cent, MMTC 11.4 per cent, and Hindustan Copper 6 per cent.
2:50 p.m. Sameet Chavan, technical analyst at Angel Broking, says some correction was expected Nifty hitting its near-term target of 6750. Monthly charts suggest that markets are likely to trade sideways in near term, he says.
2:10 p.m. Selling pressure accelerates. Sensex down 151 points at 22,357 while Nifty is off 43 points at 6,692.
2:05 p.m. Some pharma stocks are buzzing: Ranbaxy is up 7.5 per cent to 456.50, taking its gain to over 20 points in the three sessions. Traders say some pharma stocks are under-owned as compared to their frontline peers and they are not catching up. Macquarie says it remains bullish on long-term fundamentals of Ranbaxy but it awaits more clarity around US regulatory issues.
Other buzzing pharma stocks include Natco Pharma which is up 6 per cent to Rs 756.
01.42 p.m. Venus Remedies hits upper circuit up 19.99 per cent on getting marketing nod from Venezuela for Meropenem
1:30 p.m. Midcap and smallcap stocks have outperformed today with the BSE midcap and smallcap indices up between 0.5 per cent and 0.75 per cent.
01:15 p.m. Dealing room buzz
Dealers expect Nifty to consolidate around current levels and advise investors to book some profit. They say that FIIs flows continue but at lower levels and rupee to consolidate at around 60-60.20 range.
01:00 p.m. Market update: BSE Sensex and Nifty were trading nearly 0.4 per cent lower on profit-taking after a record-hitting rally. Despite the profit-taking seen on Thursday, overseas investors bought a net $119.11 million worth of shares on Thursday, bringing the total since February to nearly $3.5 billion.(Track markets)
Banking stocks have shown some recovery today with the Bank Nifty up 0.3 per cent. PNB, SBI and Bank of Baroda are up between 1 per cent and 0.4 per cent on value-buying after yesterday's fall. (Track banking markets)
12:20 p.m. Market analyst Sarvendra Srivastava attributed the weakness in today's market to profit-taking but he addes that downsides will quicken only when 6,650 is broken. (Track markets)
His short-term stock bets:
Buy Engineers India Ltd with target of Rs 235 and stop-loss of Rs 217.4
Buy HDFC Bank with target of Rs 755 and stop-loss of Rs 718.4
Buy Sun Pharma with target of Rs 555 and stop-loss of Rs 585.1
11:45 a.m. CPSE EFT has a strong debut, surging over 10 per cent on listing.Central Public Sector Enterprises Exchange Traded Fund, operated by Goldman Sachs Asset Management India Ltd, rose as much as 10.3 per cent to Rs. 19.25 on listing at the National Stock Exchange on Friday, compared with its allotment price of Rs. 17.45 per unit. (Read full story)
11:15 a.m. Sugar companies shares surge on price spike. Shares in Bajaj Hindusthan were up 7.8 percent, Balrampur Chini Mills rose 4.8 per cent and Shree Renuka Sugars gained 5.2 per cent.
Local sugar prices are hovering near their highest level in 15 months as demand from bulk consumers like cold drink and ice-cream makers improves due to the summer season. Sugar price has risen 14 per cent in just five weeks traders say. (Read full story)
10:45 a.m. PSU stocks in focus today with CPSE ETF listing today. Some redemption in this ETF could be contributing to the volatility in some PSU shares today.
ONGC, which has got 27 per cent weightage in the ETF, is down 1.9 per cent to Rs 320.15 today. GAIL, which has 18 per cent weightage, is off 2.4 per cent to Rs 359. (Track PSU stocks)
10:15 a.m. Nilesh Shah, MD & CEO of Axis Capital, says the rally did not surprise him but the sharp rise in February and March was the surprise. The strong platform in terms of macros and valuation levels give confidence for markets, he added.
Market check: Sensex down 103 points at 22,406 while Nifty is off 26 points to 6,709 (Track markets)
Banking, oil & gas and capital goods stocks lead the decline. BHEL and L&T, which had outperformed the markets recently, were down nearly 2.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively. Among oil and gas stocks, ONGC is down 1.2 per cent while RIL is off 0.7 per cent.
10.00 a.m. Here are the top brokerage calls for the day,
Barclays maintains overweight on Tata Steel. Focus on balance sheet deleveraging continues. Target Rs 466. (Read)
JP Morgan maintains overweight on Godrej Consumer. Focus on margin expansion. Target Rs 865. (Read)
Credit Suisse maintains outperform on Bharti Infratel. Company is confident of growth in tenancies. Target Rs 230. (Read)
09.50 a.m. Natco Pharma shares up 6.33 per cent at Rs 758 after rallying as high as 11 per cent in opening trade. Mylan, Natco's partner for generic Copaxone used in treatment of multiple sclerosis, has said that US patent office has rejected Teva Pharma's appeal to re-issue patent. So, Natco can launch a generic version of Copaxone in May when Teva's patent expires, but that will be subject to a court ruling. (Read older story here)
09.25 a.m. Sensex down 67 points or 0.30 per cent at 22,442; Nifty down 20 points at 6,716. Banking stocks are down sharply, but energy stocks are the biggest losers in early trade. (Track markets)
Gail down 2.1 per cent, ONCG down 1.8 per cent. IDFC continues to see profit taking, down 1.8 per cent today. Gainers include IT and pharma stocks, both of which are up tracking losses in the rupee.
Wipro, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, Lupin and TCS are the top five gainers on the Nifty. (Track top gainers)
09.15 a.m. Markets open with muted gains, but there's selling pressure right at the start. Both the Sensex and Nifty have turned lower now.
09.00 a.m. Rupee opens lower at 60.35 as against Thursday's close of 60.17 per dollar.
08.45 a.m. Market analyst Sarvendra Srivastava says the Nifty has been stuck around 6,700-6,750, but downsides will quicken only when 6,650 is broken. Till then, it's a wait and watch kind of markets, he adds.
Sarvendra's trades for today,
ITC: Buy with a target of 365 and a stop loss of 337.4.
Dr Reddy's: Sell with a target of 2500 and a stop loss of 2706.
ACC: Sell with a target of 1300 and a stop loss of 1372.
Ambuja Cements: Buy with a target of 215 and a stop loss of 198.7.
08.15 a.m. Global cues: Asian markets were settling for a subdued session on Friday as investors counted down the hours to the US jobs report. The March US payrolls report looms as a major test to the argument that the economic weakness of January and February was due to bad weather and the recovery is still on track. (Read the full story here)
Median forecasts are for a rise of 200,000 in payrolls, though dealers say the whisper number in markets is now something nearer 220,000. A result around there should reassure the optimists and tend to underpin the dollar and stocks. Perversely a much stronger read might not be so positive for shares since it could reignite speculation of an earlier rate hike from the Federal Reserve. Likewise, a weak number would likely hurt the dollar and boost Treasuries, but the impact on equities might be tempered by expectations monetary policy would stay loose for longer.
08.10 a.m. Heavy foreign buying has continued to underpin share gains. Overseas investors bought a net Rs 717 crore worth of shares on Thursday, bringing the total since February to over $3.5 billion.
08.00 a.m. Indian stock markets fell on Thursday after touching their ninth consecutive record high. The Nifty fell 0.24 per cent after earlier rising as much as 0.36 per cent to a lifetime high of 6,776.75. The fall marked the index's first fall in 11 sessions. The BSE Sensex fell 0.19 per cent after earlier rising as much as 0.31 per cent to a record high of 22,620.65.
Caution is likely to prevail as India heads into the five-week long elections starting on Monday, amid widespread expectations the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, will sweep to power.
(With inputs from Reuters)
