Markets end lower dragged by index heavyweights

Reliance Ind, Infosys, ITC among top Sensex losers

Markets ended marginally lower on Thursday following the expiry on July derivative contracts weighed down by selling pressure in index heavyweights.

The 30-share Sensex has provisionally ended down 189 points at 16,657 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 67 points at 5,043.

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(Updated at 14:35hrs)

Markets have reached near day lows in late noon trade ahead of the expiry of July derivative contracts weighed down by selling pressure in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys.

At 14:30, the 30-share Sensex was down 91 points at 16,755 and the 50-share Nifty was down 34 points at 5,076. The Sensex and the Nifty touched an intra-day low of 16,741 mark and 5,073 levels, respectively so far.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed. Japan's Nikkei share average wrestled back almost 1 percent on Thursday, lifting off a seven-week low as investors picked up stocks on better-than-expected earnings, but the rebound was seen as limited because of concerns over global   demand. Short-covering lent temporary support for battered stocks, while strong earnings for a few U.S. firms boosted Japanese companies in the same sectors. European markets have turned weak after making a flat opening.

Meanwhile, the country's crucial monsoon rains will improve in coming days, the country's weather office chief said on Thursday, which should narrow the shortfall in rainfall for the current rainy season that began in June.

Among the sectoral indices on the BSE, Realty, Capital Goods, Oil and Gas, PSU and Banks have tumbled by almost 1% each. However, BSE Healthcare index has gained by nearly 0.5%.

From the Capital Goods space, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is trading higher 1.5% at Rs 219, bouncing back almost 3% from day’s low on reporting a better-than-expected 13% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 921 crore for the quarter ended June 2012. Analysts, on an average, expected a net profit of Rs 786 crore from the state-owned capital goods company. However, L&T is down by over 1%.

Index heavyweight RIL has dropped by nearly 1%. ONGC has declined by 1%. Shares of state-run oil exploration and refining companies continue to reel under pressure on media reports that the government is not likely to raise prices of diesel in the near term.

Banking and financial shares like SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC and HDFC Bank have plunged between 0.2-1.5%.

Technology stocks have fallen on weak economic data in the US. Infosys and Wipro have dipped by 1% each.

Tata Power is the top Sensex loser, down over 2%. ITC is marginally down. Its net profit rose 20.21% to Rs 1,602.14 crore during the first quarter ended June 30, 2012.

On the winning side, Sun Pharma is the top Sensex gainer, up nearly 3%. Other Pharma shares like Dr Reddy’s Lab and Cipla have gained over 1%.

Among individual stocks, SRF has tanked 11 per cent to Rs 204 on reporting 73 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit at Rs 22 crore for the first quarter ended June, due to mark-to-market loss of Rs 46 crore incurred by the company because of foreign exchange fluctuations. Netsales too dipped 3 per cent at Rs 810 crore on year-on-year basis.

Bayer CropScience has surged 15% to Rs 892 on reporting 78% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 88.74 crore for the quarter ended June 2012 on back of higher operational income. Net sales grew 17% at Rs 921 crore on y-o-y basis.

The broader indices have been battered significantly as compared to benchmarks – BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are over 1% each.

The market breadth has weakened further with 1,735 declining and 897 shares advancing.