Sensex & Nifty sluggish, Brent rises; Bharti falls 2%

1:55 pm Result: Pharmaceutical firm Wockhardt's third consolidated net profit increased 14 percent year-on-year to Rs 347 crore led by strong operational income and other income.

Consolidated total income rose 11.8 percent to Rs 1,382 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 1,236.4 crore in the year-ago period.

Operating profit (EBITDA) surged 92.4 percent on yearly basis to Rs 463 crore and operating profit margin spiked a whopping 1400 basis points to 33.5 percent in the quarter ended December 2014.

Other income jumped 4.5 times year-on-year to Rs 28.5 crore while finance cost declined to Rs 12 crore from Rs 30.5 crore during the same period.

1:45 pm Growth: India needs to grow at 7-8 percent a year to create more job opportunities for young people and double the size of the economy in 10 years, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said.

"We want to put India on sustainable non-inflationary growth trajectory of 7-8 percent growth. We need to have 7-8 percent growth to provide employment to young people that join workforce every year," Sinha said at 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit today.

"7-8 percent growth will double size of economy in the next 10 years. For this we need to build our productive capacity, but also need to ensure that our growth is sustainable," he added. The minister also stressed upon need to protect the environment.

1:30 pm Result: Canara Bank's third quarter net profit climbed 60.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 656 crore boosted by higher other income and lower provisions.

Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew 6.9 percent to Rs 2,380.5 crore during October-December quarter compared to Rs 2,227 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

Provisions for bad loans declined 20 percent year-on-year (up 3.4 percent sequentially) to Rs 841.3 crore during the quarter with the provision coverage ratio at 59.44 percent at the end of December 2014.

Asset quality weakened a bit during the quarter as gross non-performing assets (NPA) increased 56 basis points Y-o-Y (up 43 bps Q-o-Q to 3.35 percent and net NPA rose 3 bps year-on-year (up 11 bps sequentially) to 2.42 percent.

Don't miss: Crompton Greaves slips 6%; Why are analysts still bullish?

The market is still flat with the Nifty managing to hold above 8750 marginally. The 50-share index is up 5.20 points at 8761.75. The Sensex is up 25.39 points at 29025.53, and the Nifty About 1323 shares have advanced, 1319 shares declined, and 242 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite is up 4 percent while ONGC gain 4 percent, Hindalco, Coal India and Tata Steel are other gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Axis Bank, BHEL, TCS, Bharti and Tata Motors.

Crude oil futures prices rose 0.96 percent to Rs 3,257 per barrel today as speculators engaged in enlarging positions, tracking a firming trend in Asian cues. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in February traded Rs 31, or 0.96 percent, higher at Rs 3,257 per barrel, with a business turnover of 19,103 lots. The oil for March also moved up by Rs 30, or 0.90 per cent, to Rs 3.334 per barrel, with a business volume of 1,040 lots.

Analysts attributed the rise in crude oil futures to a firming trend in Asia, extending gains from the previous day due to a significant decline in US drilling activity. Crude also gained strength with the dollar dropping to a one week low after some weak US factory orders data in December.

Sensex, Nifty weak; Sesa surges 6%, RIL & ONGC support

03:30pm Market close

The market has ended lower dragged by rate sensitives. The Sensex was down 122.13 points or 0.4 percent at 29000.14. The Nifty slipped 40.85 points at 8756.55. About 1313 shares have advanced, 1553 shares declined, and 257 shares are unchanged.

Axis Bank was down 5 percent while Tata Power, Bajaj Auto, M&M and SBI are among laggards.

03:20 pm Gold update

Gold prices today fell by Rs 180 to Rs 28,270 per ten gram at the bullion market, snapping its two-day rising streak, as demand from jewellers and retailers eased at prevailing levels amid a weak global trend. Silver, however, recovered by Rs 450 to Rs 38,450 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers. Traders said besides fall in demand at existing levels from jewellers and retailers at domestic markets, a weak global trend as investors weighed prospects for higher US interest rates mainly kept pressure on gold prices.

Gold in New York, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, fell 0.72 per cent to USD 1,273.80 an ounce in yesterday's trade. In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity plunged by Rs 180 each to Rs 28,270 and Rs 28,070 per ten gram respectively. The precious metal had gained Rs 350 in the previous two trading sessions.

03:05 Result

Two-wheeler maker TVS Motor missed street expectations on bottomline and opearational front but topline was in line during October-December quarter. Net profit jumped 31.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 90.2 crore in Q3FY15 as against expected growth of 38 percent.

Revenue climbed 29 percent to Rs 2,653 crore in the quarter ended December 2014 compared to Rs 2,057.6 crore in same quarter last fiscal, supported by strong volume growth.

Operating profit surged 29.8 percent on yearly basis to Rs 160 crore and margin remained flat 6 percent in the quarter gone by. Analysts had estimated operating profit at Rs 174 crore and margin at 6.5 percent for the quarter.

02:50pm Bullish on Tata Motors

CLSA has a buy rating on Tata Motors citing that it has potential for multiples to improve given that the auto major is entering a strong volume and earnings growth phase. The brokerage has a target price of Rs 740 per share and sees a 60 percent upside at Rs 950 in a two-year’s time once Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) new products have been launched.

CLSA also expects Tata’s earnings growth to accelerate to 29 percent CAGR over FY15-17 and upgrades FY16-17 EPS by 8-22 percent. It is optimistic that JLR’s

margins may sustain at 18-19 percent levels over FY16-17 despite a weaker product and regional mix.

“This, together with multiple new product launches and start of China plant should drive strong profit growth in JLR over the next two years. India business losses should also shrink sharply with commercial vehicle cycle recovery and new passenger vehicle products,” it says in a note.

02:30pm State Bank of Travancore in News

Capital markets regulator Sebi has sought clarification from the merchant banker of State Bank of Travancore on the firm's proposed Rs 485-crore rights issue. Without disclosing the details, Sebi said "clarifications (are) awaited from lead manager" for the proposed rights issue. In rights issue, shares are issued to existing investors based on their holdings at a pre-determined price and ratio.

According to the latest weekly update to the processing status of draft offer documents filed with Sebi, the regulator said clarifications are awaited on the proposed rights issue of State Bank of Travancore as on January 30 this year. The status is updated on a weekly basis by the regulator and the next update of the status, as on February 6, would be uploaded on Sebi's website the next working day.

Sebi said it might issue observations on State Bank of Travancore document within 30 days from the date of receipt of satisfactory reply from the lead merchant bankers to the clarification or additional information sought from them.

The regulator had received the draft offer documents on January 5 this year through its lead manager BOB Capital Markets. The bank proposed to issue equity shares for an aggregate amount up to Rs 485 crore on rights basis to its shareholders, as per a draft letter filed by the lending body with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). State Bank of Travancore is a subsidiary of the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), reports PTI.

02:00pm Market Check

The market saw sharp recovery in late trade post morning slump. The Sensex got back above the 29000 level led by oil & gas, FMCG and telecom stocks. However, weak earnings from Punjab National Bank and an absence of rate cut from the RBI dampened overall market sentiment today.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 60.16 points to 29062.11 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 17.50 points to 8779.90. About 1298 shares have advanced, 1464 shares declined, and 246 shares are unchanged.

Gautam Trivedi of Religare Capital Markets says he expects a rate cut post the Budget. The street is very cautious on banks as Q4 could be worse than Q3. Expectations are high from the Union Budget, he adds.

PNB topped the selling list on Nifty, down more than 7 percent after reporting very weak Q3 earnings. Asset quality worsened with gross NPAs close to 6 percent against 5.65 percent last quarter. Management expects pain on asset quality to continue for another two quarters.

The Reserve Bank of India kept key rates unchanged today but cut SLR by 50 basis points to 21.5 percent. Governor Raghuram Rajan says more data is awaited for further action on the rates front. More information please visit this site www.shristocktips.com  

Sensex, Nifty consolidate; Sun Pharma, Ranbaxy, Jet rally

10:30am Manufacturing PMI

Despite falling from December’s two-year record of 54.5 to 52.9, the headline HSBC India Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) remained consistent with a solid improvement in business conditions in January.

PMI is a seasonally adjusted indicator designed to give an accurate overview of manufacturing operating conditions.

Moreover, the latest expansion was the fifteenth in as many months. Sector data highlighted consumer goods as the best performing of the three market groups for the third month in a row, says HSBC in its report.

"Manufacturing activity continued to signal improvement in January, though the rate of growth slipped to a three-month low. The slip can partly be attributed to consolidation after two months of impressive upticks," said Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC.

"New orders, both from domestic and international sources, also continued to grow, though at a slower pace than in December. New orders were strongest in the consumer goods sector. On the inflation front, growth in input and output prices moderated further due to cheaper commodity prices," he added.

"Sluggish growth and falling inflation further reinforces our view that the RBI should deliver upfront rate cuts. We expect the repo rate to be lowered by 75bp in the first half of 2015," said Pranjul.

10:00am Market Check

The market remained under pressure amid consolidation following weakness in Asian equities post China data. The Sensex fell 73.99 points to 29108.96 and the Nifty declined 16.30 points at 8792.60.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 0.6 percent each. About 1230 shares have advanced, 708 shares declined, and 195 shares are unchanged.

Sun Pharma gained more than 2 percent and Ranbaxy jumped over 3.5 percent to hit record highs. The US Federal Trade Commission approved the pharma major’s plan to buy Ranbaxy on the condition that it divests one antibiotic product to avoid anti-competitive impact in the US market. Torrent Pharma will acquire Ranbaxy's minocycline business in the US.

Jet Airways and SpiceJet rallied more than 4 percent as aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is slashed by a steep 11.3 percent which now costs lesser than diesel. The price of ATF, or jet fuel, in Delhi was cut by Rs 5,909.9 per kilolitre, or 11.27 per cent, to Rs 46,513.02 per kl, oil companies announced. 

Sensex, Nifty continue to drag over 1%; NTPC, BHEL gainers

1:50 pm Market outlook: A combination of low inflation, declining interest rates and strong corporate earnings growth will support the ongoing rally, feels Jeff Chowdhry, Senior Portfolio Manager, LGM.

In an interview Chowdhry says India’s macro economic fundamentals have improved significantly over the last year.

He says he is not worried about the market levels and basis his investment decisions on whether the outlook on fundamentals is positive and what are the other alternatives?

Art this point, very few emerging market stories are as good as that of India, Chowdhry says. He is bullish on private sector banks and select consumer names, and sees the rupee strengthening as the outlook on corporate earnings improves.

1:30 pm Result: Bank of Baroda disappointed street on Friday by reporting a 68 percent (Y-o-Y) decline in profit at Rs 334 crore for quarter ended December 2014. Higher provisions and tax rate impacted the bottomline. Profit of the public sector lender was expected at Rs 1,243.6 crore and net interest income at Rs 3,501 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts. Net interest income grew 7.5 percent to Rs 3,286 crore in the quarter ended December 2014 from Rs 3,057.1 crore in same quarter last fiscal. Net interest income is the difference between interest earned and interest expended.

Don't miss: Coal India slips 4% as OFS opens; brokerages bet on it

The market continues to be under sharp selling pressure. The Sensex is down 413.87 points or 1.4 percent at 29267.90, and the Nifty slips 118.35 points or 1.3 percent at 8834.

About 1139 shares have advanced, 1501 shares declined, and 251 shares are unchanged.

NTPC is up 2 percent while BHEL, Tata Power, Wipro and Hero are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are SBI, HDFC, Coal India, Dr Reddy's Labs and TCS.

Overseas investors have remained the backbone of the rally, with net purchases of USD 2.1 billion so far this month till Thursday, provisional exchange and regulatory data showed.

Gold prices rose by Rs 73 to Rs 27,482 per 10 gram in futures trade as speculators engaged in enlarging positions amid a better trend overseas. Analysts said the rise in gold prices at futures trade was mostly in line with a firming trend overseas where the precious metals advanced from a two-week low on easing of selling pressure. Meanwhile, gold rose as much as 0.4 per cent to USD 1,262.07 an ounce in Singapore.