Sensex Off Day's Low, ITC Among Top Gainers

2:51 p.m.: NTPC reports net profit of Rs 2,369.53 crore in June quarter, meets estimates. Shares fall 2.4 per cent to Rs 162.85.

2:40 p.m.: Oberoi Realty shares surged nearly 9 per cent on Monday after the Mumbai-based developer reported strong earnings for the April-June quarter. 

Oberoi Realty reported 32 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 107 crore in Q1 against a net profit of Rs 81 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal. 

Revenue of the company jumped over 50 per cent to Rs 330 crore on account of 81 per cent increase in pre-sales bookings (1.47 lakh sq. ft. in Q1 of FY16 against 0.81 lakh sq. ft. year-on-year). Oberoi Realty had reported revenue of Rs 219 crore last year. (Read)

2:33 p.m.: BHEL was the top Nifty gainer, up 2.4 per cent to Rs 145.45. HUL, Bharat Petroleum, ITC, Zee Entertainment and Idea Cellular were among also the gainers.

2:20 p.m.: Stock markets came off the intraday low levels on the back of buying in FMCG and capital goods stocks. Sensex was down 40 points at 28,036 and Nifty slipped 18 points to 8,648.

2:07 p.m.: Deutsche Bank has maintained buy on Whirlpool Of India for target price of Rs 1,030. It says Whirlpool is ramping up growth strategy significantly and air conditioner sales to drive growth for the company. (Click here for more brokerage calls)

2:00 p.m.: Metal stocks witness selling pressure. The BSE Metal index declines 0.53 per cent; Tata Steel, Hindalco, Vedanta, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel were among the laggards.

1:54 p.m.: Auto stocks witness selling pressure. The BSE Auto index falls 0.69 per cent; Amara Raja Batteries, Bosch, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra and MRF were among the laggards.

1:41 p.m.: From the Nifty basket of shares, 35 werre declining while 16 were advancing. TCS was the top Nifty loser, down 2.24 per cent to Rs 2,545. NTPC, Sun Pharma, Lupin, Ambuja Cements, Grasim Industries, HCL Technologies, Tata Motors DVR and Hindalco were among the losers.

1:32 p.m.: Sensex comes a bit off intraday low levels, down 75 points at 28,002 and Nifty trades 29 points lower at 8,637.

1:27 p.m.: FMCG, capital goods, realty and metal stocks were witnessing buying interest in lacklustre trading session.

1:12 p.m.: IT stock were witnessing selling pressure. The BSE IT index was top sectoral loser, down 1.12 per cent; TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Mundtree and Tech Mahindra were among the laggards.

1:02 p.m.: Market breadth tuns negative as 1,340 stocks fall while 1,139 advance.

12:31 p.m.: Sun TV was the top loser from the mid-cap space, down 5 per cent to Rs 458. Petronet LNG, Amara Raja Batteries, Indian Hotels, JP Associates, Jindal Steel, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Chemicals and NLC India were also among the laggards.

12:15 p.m.: The broader markets also witness selling pressure. The BSE Mid-cap index slips 0.39 per cent and Small-cap index falls 0.16 per cent.

12:13 p.m.: Stock markets extend losses. Sensex falls 147 points 27,928 and Nifty declines 49 points to 8,617.

11.36 a.m.: Sun Pharma led selloff in pharma stocks, it was down 2.3 per cent at Rs 765.85. The pharma sub-index of National Stock Exchange was down 1.05 per cent. Lupin , Auro Pharma were the other two big losers in the index. 

Meanwhile the Sensex was down 136 points at 27,941 and the Nifty traded 46 points lower at 8,621. The rupee was at 67.19, down 13 paise against the dollar. 

10.40 a.m.: Sensex fell 134 points to 27,943 after selling intensified in metal and auto shares. The Nifty traded 46 points lower at 8,621. 

Hindalco, Sun Pharma, Lupin, Bank of Baroda were the prominent losers in the Nifty, down 1.5-2 per cent. 

10.10 a.m.: Selling in auto, metal and banking shares dragged frontline indices lower. The Sensex was down 65 points at 28,012 while the Nifty50 index traded 25 points lower at 8,642. 

10.05 a.m.: Fortis Malar Hospital shares surged 20 per cent to Rs 68.50 after its parent Fortis Healthcare announced demerger of diagnostic business with itself. (Read full story here) 

9:30 p.m.: Welspun India slumps 20 per cent after Bloomberg reported that Target Corp is ending all business with the company, "after saying the supplier was sending it phony Egyptian cotton sheets". (Read)

9:25 p.m.: Sensex overcame a weak start to move higher with FMCG and energy stocks edging higher in early trade. Sensex up over 50 points while Nifty rises to 8,685 at day's high. 

The BSE Sensex and Nifty are likely to open flat on Monday as indicated by SGX Nifty (Nifty futures trading on Singapore Stock Exchange), which was up 11 points at 8,699 as of 8.10 a.m.. 

The government on Saturday appointed Urjit Patel, current Deputy Governor at Reserve Bank of India, as the new Governor who will replace outgoing Governor Raghuram Rajan. Mr Patel's appointment as Reserve Bank Governor should lead to a rally in stock markets, said most of the analysts as it signals the continuity of monetary policy, which is focused on curbing inflation. 

Urjit Patel is the key architect of the inflation-targeting approach formalised as a policy recently. 

Among Nifty stocks, NTPC will be in focus today as it will announce its earnings for the April-June quarter. Among other companies, HPCL and Indraprastha Gas will also declare their Q1 results today. 

Stocks like Fortis Healthcare and Fortis Malar Hospitals will be in focus. Fortis Healthcare on Friday post market hours announced demerger of its diagnostic business SRL, which will be merged into its listed arm Fortis Malar Hospitals. Existing hospital business of Fortis Malar will be transferred to Fortis Healthcare and Fortis Malar will be renamed SRL post the merger. Shareholders of Fortis Healthcare will get 98 shares of SRL for every 100 shares of Fortis Healthcare held. 

Meanwhile, Asian shares traded mostly lower expect Japan's Nikkei, which was up 0.24 per cent; Hang Seng was down 0.48 per cent, Kospi fell 0.68 per cent while Shanghai Composite shed 0.53 per cent.