Sensex Falls 59 Points, IT Stocks Extend Selloff To Third Day

Sensex and Nifty fell for second day in a row as IT stocks extended selloff to third day.

The Sensex closed 59 points lower at 28,005 and Nifty advanced 18 points to settle at 8,624.

Meanwhile, sentiment across the global equity markets turned cautious after an influential US Federal Reserve official said interest rates could rise as soon as September.

Back home, IT stocks witnessed selling pressure for third day in a row. The BSE IT index closed 1.67 per cent lower led by losses in TCS, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Wipro.

Select oil & gas and FMCG stocks also witnessed selling pressure.

On the other hand, metal stocks witnessed buying interest. The BSE Metals index closed 2 per cent higher on the back of gains in Tata Steel, NMDC, JSW Steel, Hindalco, Vedanta and SAIL.

From the Nifty basket 25 stocks ended higher while 26 closed lower.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices ended with a gain of over 0.5 per cent.

3:28 p.m.: Correction in Nifty towards 8,300-8,400 leevels will be healthy but investors should not trade Nifty on short side: Market expert Jai Bala.

2:51 p.m.: Select auto stocks witness buying interest. The BSE Auto index advances 0.75 per cent; Hero MotoCorp was the top gainer from this space, up 2.3 per cent to Rs 3,370. Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Motherson Sumi and Mahindra & Mahindra were also among the gainers.

2:20 p.m.: Market breadth turns neutral as 1,360 stocks advance while 1,223 decline.

2:09 p.m.: TCS was the top Nifty loser, down 2 per cent to Rs 2,635. Adani Ports, BPCL, Tech Mahindra, Idea Cellular, HUL, Infosys, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints and Wipro were also among the laggards.

1:58 p.m.: Power stocks were witnessing selling pressure. The BSE Power index fell 0.37 per cent.

1:52 p.m.: Select oil & gas shares were also witnessing selling pressure. The BSE Oil & Gas index slipped 0.3 per cent; Bharat Petroleum, Reliance Industries, GAIL India and Castrol were among the losers.

1:39 p.m.: Market breadth turns marginally positive as 1,343 stocks advance while 1,160 decline on the BSE.

1:34 p.m.: Weakness in IT stocks was seen exerting pressure on the benchmark indices. The Sensex fell 82 points to 27,983 and Nifty hovers around 8,600. 

1:19 p.m.: Stock markets edged lower in noon deals. The Sensex slipped 26 points to 28,038 and Nifty declined 14 points to 8,628.

1:10 p.m.: Shares of InterGlobe Aviation which runs budget airline Indigo Airlines jumped as much as 4 per cent to hit intraday high of Rs 863 after international brokerage- Citi upgraded it to 'buy' from 'neutral'.

Citi in a note to its clients said that InterGlobe Aviation's order book and delivery schedule flexibility are under appreciated. 

1:05 p.m.: IT stocks continue to witness selling. The BSE IT index slips 0.9 per cent; TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Mindtree and 3I Infotech were among laggards.

12:46 p.m.: Shares of Piramal Enterprises surged as much as 5 per cent today to Rs 1,854, hitting fresh 52-week high after the company announced acquisition of a US-based drug manufacturing firm.

Piramal Enterprises, which will be part of NSE's Nifty Next 50 basket from September 30, has rallied 15 per cent in three days. The Nifty Next 50 rejig was announced on Friday. 

12:08 p.m.: Nifty Bank index trades on a flat note, jumps 0.26 per cent or 50 points to 19,052. Punjab National Bank was the top gainer from this space, up 2.65 per cent at Rs 125.85. Axis Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Yes Bank and HDFC Bank were also among the gainers.

11:51 a.m.: Bank of America Merrill Lynch has maintained underperform on BHEL for target price of Rs 95/share. It says recent rally in BHEL is not justified and sees continued operating losses with execution challenges. Likelihood of further receivables write-off is still high, adds BofAML. (Click here for more brokerage calls)

11:40 a.m.: Market breadth remains positive as 1,376 stocks advance while 869 decline on the BSE.

11:32 a.m.: Broader markets outperform benchmark indices The BSE Mid-cap index jumps 0.52 per cent and small-cap index advance 0.72 per cent. Berger Paints was the top gainer from this space, up 3.14 per cent to Rs 238. Oriental Bank of Commerce, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Indian Bank, Tata Chemicals and Amara Raja Batteries were also among the gainers.

11:27 a.m.: Just Dial shares slumped 8 per cent on Wednesday, following the local search firm's disappointing quarterly numbers. Just Dial reported a net profit of Rs 38.9 crore on sales of Rs 176.29 crore in the June quarter, missing Street estimates.

Just Dial, which had reported sales of Rs 179 crore in the March quarter, posted its first ever sequential decline in revenue. The revenue hit was on account of aggressive discounts to get more business, analysts said.

11:22 a.m.: Sensex trades in a narrow range, hits high of 28,136 and low of 28,024.

10:47 a.m.: Shares of Zee Learn and Tree House Education & Accessories surged as much as 20 per cent each after the boards of the pre-school operators approved a revised merger deal.

According to the new deal, Tree House Education shareholders will one share of Zee Learn for each share held.

10:12 a.m.: Stock markets turn flat on selling in IT shares. Sensex 18 points at 28,082 and Nifty down 2 points at 8,640.

9:39 a.m.: Metal stocks witness buying interest. The BSE Metal index advances 0.9 per cent; Vedanta, Hindalco, Tata Steel, SAIL and NALCO were among the gainers.

9:34 a.m.: Tree House Education shares soar over 10 per cent after company gets approval for merger with Zee Learn.

9:31 a.m.: Stock markets bounces back into the green owing to buying in Axis Bank, HDFC, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp. Sensex jumps 60 points to 28,125 and Nifty advances 14 points to 8,656.

9:25 a.m.: Sensex and Nifty edged lower in opening deals today on the back of weakness in select IT and healthcare stocks.

Sensex slipped as much as 40 points to 28,024 and Nifty declined 15 points to 8,626.

From the Nifty basket of shares, 32 were advancing while 19 were declining.

Infosys was the top Nifty loser, the stock fell 1.27 per cent to Rs 1,038. TCS, Sun Pharma, Cipla, BPCL, Kotak Mahindra Bank, GAIL India, IndusInd Bank and HUL were also among the losers.

On the other hand, Hero MotoCorp was the top Nifty gainer, up 1.84 per cent at Rs 3,352. Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Grasim Industries, Tata Steel and Adani Ports were also among the gainers.

The broader markets were mostly trading on a flat note with a positive bias. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices advanced 0.25 per cent each.

7:40 a.m.: Sensex and Nifty are set to open on a weak note in trades today tracking subdued trading of Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

The Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Exchange also known as the SGX Nifty was down 0.24 per cent or 21 points at 8,640.

Meanwhile, Asian shares stepped back from a one-year high on Wednesday after the influential New York Federal Reserve Bank president said the Fed could raise interest rates as soon as September, prompting investors to pause after rallies in recent weeks.

South Korea's KOSPI was down 0.38 per cent, Taiwan Weighted slipped 0.1 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.36 per cent.

Overnight, U.S. stocks eased from record highs on Tuesday after comments from Federal Reserve officials fuelled speculation of an interest rate hike this year.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 84.03 points, or 0.45 percent, to 18,552.02, the S&P 500  lost 12 points, or 0.55 percent, to 2,178.15 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 34.90 points, or 0.66 percent, to 5,227.11.

Back home, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 684.73 crore while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 108.98 crore on Tuesday.

Sun Pharma will be in focus today as Sun Pharma's promoter firm has pledged one crore shares or 0.42 per cent stake to SBI as security for loan provided to Suzlon Energy. Dilip Shanghvi family and associates have 23 per cent stake in Suzlon.

(With inputs from Reuters)