Markets end flat ahead of Bihar poll outcome, US jobs data

Select pharma shares were the top losers with Dr Reddy's Labs leading the decline

Markets ended flat with a negative bias, amid rangebound trade on Friday, as investors turned cautious ahead of the Bihar poll outcome on Sunday and better-than-expected US jobs data due later today which could raise prospects of rate hike by the US Fed this year.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 39 points at 26,265 and the 50-share Nifty closed 1 point lower at 7,954.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended down 0.4-0.6% lower. Market breadth ended weak with 1,621 losers and 1043 gainers on the BSE.

"Investors have turned cautious ahead of the Bihar election results due on Sunday and the overhang of the hike in interest rate by the US Fed post the US jobs data," said Mayuresh Joshi, Fund Manager, Angel Broking.

The rupee weakened by 5 paise to trade at 65.79 against the US dollar due to sustained demand for the American currency from importers.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Healthcare was the top loser down 2.8% followed by Power among others while BSE IT, Bankex, Oil and Gas indices ended with marginal gains.

Dr Reddy’s Lab slumped 14.5% after the company received a warning letter issued by the USFDA dated November 5 pertaining to its API manufacturing facilities situated at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh and Miryalaguda in Tamil Nadu and also at its Oncology formulation manufacturing facility located in Duvvada in Andhra Pradesh.

Tata Motors ended down 1.9% after the company reported consolidated net loss of Rs 429.8 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 3,290.10 crore.

SBI ended up 3.9%. The state-owned banking major posted a 25% rise in stand-alone net profit at Rs 3,879.07 crore for the second quarter ended September on the back of decline in non-performing assets.

Mahindra & Mahindra ended flat. The auto major reported 2.43% drop in standalone net profit at Rs 923.56 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015-16 compared with Rs 946.63 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

Tata Steel dipped 2.5% on weak sales number in second quarter earnings. Net sales took a hit, on the back of lower expenses and higher other income.

GAIL (India) ended down 2.2%. The company has partnered with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) to develop a document which outlines the Indian corporate vision on various aspects of tackling climate change and aligning the vision with Government schemes in this direction.

Punjab National Bank reported 8% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 621.03 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015-16. The stock ended up 2.5%.

With heavy provisions for bad loans and fraud, Bank of Baroda's net profit for the second quarter ended September 2015 fell by 88.7% to Rs 124.48 crore. After losing over 5% , the stock has recovered in the late trades and ended up 4.8%.

Cipla pared early gains to end flat. The company posted a jump of 44% in its net profit to to Rs 431 crore ($65.56 million) in the quarter ended September 2015 on the back of growth in exports as against a net profit of Rs 299 crore in the same period last year.

Shares of IDFC Bank which listed today ended marginally down at Rs 84.65.

BHEL ended down 1.2%. The PSU engineering major has reported a standalone loss of Rs 204.9 crore compared with profit of Rs 124.8 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

IT majors Infosys and TCS ended higher ahead of US jobs data due later today.

Among other shares, power generation and finance companies are under pressure, slipping by up to 13% in intra-day trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), after the government approved rescue package for power distribution companies (discoms). CESC ended down 3.3%, Reliance Power, Adani Power, Reliance Infra, NHPC, Torrent Power ended down 1.5-4.3% each.

Steel Strips Wheels ended up 3.2% after the company announced that one of its promoters has hiked her stake in the company by approximately half a per cent.