Sensex falls 400 pts, Nifty breaks 8550; DRL, Bajaj Auto up

03:30 pm Market close

The market fall for seven consecutive day. The Nifty ended below 8550-level, down 134.70 points or 1.6 percent at 8526.35. The Sensex was down 490.52 points or 1.7 percent at 28227.39.

L&T lost 8 percent post disappointing December quarter results. Tata Steel was down 6 percent.

03:10 pm Results

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) disappointed street on Monday with the third quarter profit falling 14.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,060 crore on standalone basis.

Profit was expected at Rs 1,255 crore on revenue of Rs 15,973 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled.

Net sales grew 4.2 percent to Rs 14,995 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 14,388 crore in same quarter last year.

02:55 pm Nibbling India

Global investors are showing strong interest in India with more inquiries for investment portfolios, a Singapore-based top corporate official has said.

"We have multiple conversations with pension funds, insurance companies, private banks and family offices of the rich people with trust-type of investment outfits," said the UTI International CEO Praveen Jagwani. Jagwani sees investors' interest further improving as the Indian economic growth picks up and the rupee stabilises.

UTI International has USD 2.15 billion worth of assets under its management, a significant built-up as its Singapore business started seven years ago. "We are educating global investors about opportunities in India," he said, underlining UTI's ongoing engagement with global investors. "Our role as an international business of UTI is completely aligned with that of the Indian government." UTI is 74 percent owned by state-owned Enterprises.

02:35pm Corporation Bank in News

Corporation Bank's third quarter net profit climbed 16 percent year-on-year to Rs 147 crore, largely driven by lower provisions.

Net interest income of the public sector lender rose 2.7 percent to Rs 1,029 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 1,002 crore in same quarter last year. However, other income (non-interest income) declined 3 percent to Rs 328.3 crore and operating profit fell 2.3 percent to Rs 726.5 crore during the same period.

Provisions for bad loans dropped 21.8 percent year-on-year (up 24.2 percent sequentially) to Rs 646 crore during the quarter with provision coverage ratio at 52.47 percent as on December 31, 2014.

Capital adequacy ratio (as per Basel III norms) stood at 11.26 percent in the quarter gone by, declined compared to 11.28 percent in previous quarter and 11.89 percent in the year-ago period.

Asset quality weakened as gross non-performing assets (NPA) climbed 180 basis points on yearly basis (up 63 bps sequentially) to 4.88 percent during October-December quarter. Net NPA rose 112 bps Y-o-Y (up 35 bps Q-o-Q) to 3.27 percent during the same period.

02:00pm Market Check

The market remained under pressure in afternoon trade as exit polls have indicated Aam Aadmi Party could make a dramatic comeback in Delhi. This could be the first election defeat for the BJP after coming into power in May 2014.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 425.82 points or 1.48 percent to 28292.09 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 105.45 points or 1.22 percent to 8555.60. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices dropped 0.8 percent each.

Nearly two shares declined for every share advancing on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
 

Sandeep Bhatia of Kotak Institutional Equities told that the market correction ahead will be led by earnings miss, not elections. There are still no signs of pick up in capex cycle, he says.

The market sentiment today is also hit by weak earnings from Tata Steel, GAIL and midcaps like Apollo Tyres and J&K Bank.

Cipla, GAIL, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Sesa Sterlite fell 3-5 percent. L&T extended losses, down 3.5 percent ahead of Q3 earnings.

The rupee plunged past 62 a dollar due to fresh demand for the dollar from importers, falling 50 paise to 62.19 a dollar.

Global markets are also under pressure today. European markets like Germany, Britain, France fell almost 1-1.5 percent as Greece and Russia problems persisted while the crisis in Ukraine escalated without a peace deal. In Asia, Hang Seng closed down 160 points. 

Sensex slumps 499 pts, Nifty ends at 8809; banks bleed

3:30 pm Market end:

It was a difficult day for traders as bears rampaged the street with blood. Snapping 10-day of winning streak, the Nifty retreated from a kissing distance of 9000. The 50-share index ended first day of February F&O series at 8808.90, down 143.45 points or 1.6 percent. The Sensex slumped 498.82 points or 1.7 percent at 29182.95. About 1258 shares have advanced, 1609 shares declined, and 246 shares were unchanged.

Banks played spoilsport as Bank Nifty lost over 3 percent, dragged by ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC twins and Axis Bank. Other losers in the Sensex were Dr Reddy's Labs and Coal India.

Tata Power remianed big gainer of the day (up 4 percent), while BHEL, NTPC, Sesa Sterlite and Wipro lead the Sensex.

3:20 pm Result: Dabur India matched street expectations on Friday with the third quarter consolidated net profit rising 16.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 282.8 crore.

"Dabur India ended the third quarter of 2014-15 with strong growth in its key categories of health supplements, hair care, toothpastes and home care. The growth was despite a challenging business environment and continued softer consumption trend across the industry," said the FMCG major in its filing.

Consolidated net sales grew 9.2 percent to Rs 2,074 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 1,899.6 crore in the year-ago period.

Toothpaste business for Dabur grew 19 percent during the quarter and home care business reported an over 16 percent growth while health supplements business grew 13.5 percent.

3:10 pm  3G spectrum auction: Government has issued details for auctioning 5 Mhz of 3G spectrum across 17 out of 22 service area at a pan-India base price of Rs 3,705 crore per megahertz. The quantum of spectrum in 2100 Mhz band (3G) being put for auction is 75 percent less than the quantum recommended by telecom regulator TRAI and demanded by industry. In the latest amendment to notice inviting application for spectrum auction set to start from March 4, the DoT has said that only one entity will be able to win 3G spectrum in one service area.

One block of 5 MHz has been put for auction in all service areas except Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Punjab. This amounts to a total of 85 MHz from which government estimates to garner Rs 17,555 crore. Of this a sum of Rs 5,793 crore is expected to be realised in the current financial year.

 3:00 pm Restructing: Adani Enterprises,  the flagship of the USD 9.4 billion Adani Group announced a complex restructuring of its various businesses.

Under the terms of the recast, Adani Enetrprises port business will be transferred to subsidiary Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, its power businesses to Adani Power(APL), and transmission business to unlisted Adani Transmissions, which will subsequently be listed.

Also, Adani Mining Private Limited (AMPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of AEL is proposed to be merged into AEL. The scheme is subject to approvals from the stock exchanges, Sebi, shareholders, creditors and the Gujarat High Court.

2:50 pm Market check: The market is under tremendous pressure with the Sensex falling over 500 points. The 30-share index is down 554.86 points or 1.9 percent at 29126.91 and the Nifty slips 159.75 points or 1.8 percent at 8792.60. About 1113 shares have advanced, 1663 shares declined, and 246 shares are unchanged.

NTPC, Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite, BHEL and Hero MotoCorp are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are ICICI Bank, SBI, Coal India, Dr Reddy's Labs and HDFC.

2:30 pm Coal India OFS update: Coal India offer-for-sale (OFS) is fully subscribed. The floor price of OFS was fixed at Rs 358/share, a discount of around 4.5 percent from Thursday closing price. The government will divest upto 10 percent stake via OFS, by selling 31.58 crore shares with an option to sell additional 31.58 crore share.

Till 1:55 PM , the PSU had recieved bid for 18.8 crore  (59.6 percent) of 31.58 crore base size

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The Nifty snapped 10-day winning streak today, falling below the 8800-mark weighed by banking & financials post disappointing set of earnings from the ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda.

The Sensex dropped 518.47 points or 1.75 percent to 29163.30 and the Nifty lost 157.50 points or 1.76 percent to 8794.85. About 1161 shares have advanced, 1580 shares declined, and 242 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

ICICI Bank missed street expectations on Friday with the third quarter net profit rising 14 percent year-on-year to Rs 2,889 crore, impacted by higher provisions. Net interest income (NII ) grew 13.9 percent to Rs 4,812 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 4,225 crore in the year-ago period. The stock fell 6 percent.

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. The stock tanked 11 percent.

Sensex, Nifty under pressure; Dr Reddy up 3%, SBI falls

1:30 pm Earnings: HDFC, India’s largest housing finance company, said its third-quarter net profit stood at Rs 1,425.5 crore, rising 11.56 percent from Rs 1,277.7 crore in the same quarter last year. A poll of analysts had forecast this Rs 1,426 crore. Income from operations rose 12.9 percent to Rs 6,758.4 crore. Its loan book, as of December 31, 2014, stood at Rs 2.19 lakh crore, compared to Rs 1.92 lakh crore on December 31, 2013. 1:20 pm Results: Dr Reddy's Laboratories beat street expectations on topline and bottomline front but the operating performance was below estimates. Consolidated net profit of the drug maker fell 7 percent  year-on-year to Rs 574.5 crore, impacted by weak operational performance. Higher finance cost and R&D expenses also affected the profitability. Profit was expected at Rs 534.3 crore on revenue of Rs 3,617 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled. Consolidated revenue grew 8.7 percent to Rs 3,843 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 3,533.8 crore in the year-ago period. Don't miss: HDFC Bank, Lupin gain 2% hopes to rake in more foreign moolah The market is still under pressure. The Sensex is down 91.17 points at 29468.01. The Nifty is down 31.90 points at 8882.40. About 1262 shares have advanced, 1358 shares declined, and 259 shares are unchanged. Dr Reddy's Labs, Reliance, HDFC Bank, Hero MotoCorp and HUL are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the top losers are Coal India, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, SBI and ICICI Bank.  The rupee fell by 12 paise to 61.53 against the American currency in late morning trade today on month-end dollar demand from importers. The rupee resumed lower at 61.44 as against yesterday's closing level of 61.41 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) and moved down further to 61.54 before quoting at 61.53 at 1100 hours. The local currency hovered.

There are gaps in Modi's vision that need filling

This is a marked – and refreshingly welcome - departure from the overburdened welfare state paradigm that held the country down for a little under 68 years since independence.

 The state had spread itself thin over so many areas that it has not been able to be effective in the areas where it is needed the most. His lament that 20 years of liberalisation have not resulted in a dismantling of the command and control mindset, 

which thinks it is all right for the government to meddle in business, is spot on, and something not even the architect of reforms, Manmohan Singh, admitted.