Indices at 52-week low, Nifty below 7,450; BSE Smallcap index dips 4%

At 12:55 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex is down 260 points at 24,422 and the Nifty50 is down 78 points at 7,433

Benchmark share indices are trading at 52-week low weighed down by capital goods and pharma shares.

At 12:55 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex is down 260 points at 24,422 and the Nifty50 is down 78 points at 7,433.

The broader markets are underperforming the benchmark indices-BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down 2%-4%.

Industrial output fell 3.2% in November, contracting by the sharpest margin in the past four years, government data released on Tuesday showed.

Top losers from the Sensex pack are Adani Ports, L&T, TCS, Axis Bank and BHEL, all slumping between 2%-5%.

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Updated at 11:10 am

Markets have erased early gains and have turned negative on account of profit booking at higher levels.

At 11:10 am, the S&P BSE Sensex is down 76 points at 24,556 and the Nifty50 is down 32 points at 7,480.

The broader markets are underperforming with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down 0.3%-1.4%.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) hit fresh 18-month low of Rs 2,285, down 2% on the BSE, after the company for the sixth quarter in a row misses the Street’s revenue estimates during the third quarter ended December 31, 2015 (Q3FY16).  

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Updated at 10:50 am

Markets continue to trade strong with Nifty holding the 7,550 mark on fresh buying interest as investors purchase the beaten down bluechips at attractive valuations. 

At 10:48 am, the S&P BSE Sensex is up 206 points at 24,888 and the Nifty50 is up 66 points at 7,577. Meanwhile, the broader markets are also trading in line with the larger peers with BSE Midacp and Smallcap indices trading higher between 0.3%-0.7%.

Meanwhile, the rupee has gained marginally to trade at 66.82 against the US dollar compared with its previous close of 66.87 amid a higher opening in the local equities and gains in the Asian currencies.

Crude oil prices bounced back in today’s trade and rose 22 cents, or 0.7%, to quote at $30.65 per barrel.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) hit fresh 18-month low of Rs 2,285, down 2% on the BSE, after the company for the sixth quarter in a row misses the Street’s revenue estimates during the third quarter ended December 31, 2015 (Q3FY16).

Shares of Bharti Airtel are up nearly 2% at Rs 321 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said it overseas subsidiary Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV will sell stakes in two African operations to French telecom major Orange.

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(updated at 9:45 AM)

Benchmark share bounced back in today’s trade and opened on a firm note mirroring strength among the Asian peers after China’s trade data beat the street expectations. Meanwhile, a broadbased rally is seen across as the bourses as investors buy battered bluechips at attractive valuations.

However, caution is likely to prevail later during the session on the back of disappointing third quarter numbers from TCS and weak key macro data.

At 9:45 am, the S&P BSE Sensex is up 212 points at 24,894 and the Nifty50 is up 68 points at 7,578.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net sellers worth Rs 541 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

ECONOMY
 

Consumer Price Index-based (CPI) inflation for December rose to 5.61 per cent, against 5.41 per cent in November and 4.28 per cent in December last year, official data showed on Tuesday.

Industrial output fell 3.2 per cent in November, contracting by the sharpest margin in the past four years, government data released on Tuesday showed. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) dipped for the first time in the past 13 months in November, after registering a five-year high rise of 9.8 per cent in October.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian markets were trading higher after rebound in Japanese shares after the correction in the previous session while Chinese shares were also trading firm after the pull back in late trades on Tuesday. The Nikkei was up 2.6% while Shanghai was up 0.8% and Hang Seng gained 2.4%. Straits Times was up 0.2%.

US equities ended higher on Tuesday led by energy shares after oil prices stabilised while gains in Apple also boosted the tech-laden Nasdaq and the broader S&P 500. The Nasdaq ended up 1% while Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.7% and S&P 500 ended up 0.8%.

RESULT CAPSULE

TCS has dropped 0.6% after it reported lower-than-expected revenues in the December quarter. This is for the sixth quarter in a row that the Mumbai-headquartered company misses the Street’s revenue estimates. The revenue at Rs 27,364 crore grew 11.7% on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis against a consensus revenue of Rs 27,643 crore.

Federal Bank has slipped 0.2% after the private lender posted a 38.5% drop in net profit at Rs 162.7 crore for the third quarter ended December due to a rise in bad loans.

DCB Bank has rebounded and is up 4%. The gross non performing assets as a percentage of total advances increased to 1.98 per cent at the end of December quarter, from 1.87 per cent in the same period a year ago.

Mid-sized private lender IndusInd Bank reported a 30 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 581 crore led by good growth in non-interest income and other income. The stock is up 1.5%

KEY STOCKS

IT stocks are trading mixed after the US on Tuesday notified massive increase in fees in certain categories of the popular H-1B and L-1 visas which would mainly hit Indian IT companies. Infosys is up 1.3% while TCS and Wipro have lost 0.5%.

IT giant Infosys is due to post the Q3 numbers tomorrow.

Coal India is making its biggest tech overhaul in four decades to check rampant theft and shed its image as an inefficient behemoth, spurred by an impending opening up of the sector to private firms for the first time since the 1970s. The stock is surging nearly 1% higher.

Meanwhile, SBI is trading higher by 1% as it plans to monetise non-core assets and list some of its subsidiaries for meeting capital needs as well as global risk norms, Basel III, which will kick in from March 2019. 

Another promising gainer is Tata Motors rising 2% after it posted 7 percent increase in its global sales, including that of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicles, at 91,762 units in December

Tata Power is up 1% after it raised Rs 500 crore by issuing unsecured redeemable, taxable non-convertible debentures on private placement basis. 

Strides Shasun on Tuesday got Commission of Indi’s (CCI's) nod to acquire Sun Pharmaceutical's two business divisions in India for Rs 165 crore. In September last year, Sun Pharma and Strides signed an agreement related to erstwhile Ranbaxy's 'Solus' and ‘Solus Care’ divisions. Sun Pharma has gained 2%.