Nifty breaks 8,700; Tata group shares weak

Benchmark indices have erased early gains and are trading near low point of the day dragged by metal shares along with weakness among Asian markets leading the decline.

By 10:35 am, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 82 points at 28,272 and the Nifty50 dipped 20 points to trade at 8,696. Broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.1%-0.3%.

Top losers from the Sensex pack are Tata Steel, Coal India, TCS, ONGC and Tata Motors, all falling between 1%-2%. On the gaining side, NTPC, Adani Ports, Asian paints, GAIL and Bharti Airtel are up 1%-2%.

Among other shares, Reliance Capital was up 5% to Rs 558 on the BSE in intra-day trade after the company said its board has approved the plan to independently list home finance business – Reliance Home Finance - on stock exchanges.

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has rallied 7% to Rs 41, also its fresh 52-week high on the BSE, after the company said it has been awarded Rs 181.65 crore contract by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to build premium high rise residential towers at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu.

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Updated at 9:25 am

Markets have started the session on a flat note with positive bias despite weakness among global peers after falling crude oil prices and continuous worries about the US Federal Reserve's plans for raising interest rates weighed broadly.

On Monday, markets posted their biggest decline since the Brexit day over rate hike fears by the US Federal Reserve later this month. European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi's comments over additional stimulus support also hurt investor sentiment and raised doubts over how long the central bank's loose monetary stance to support economic growth would continue.

By 9:25 am, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 54 points at 28,408 and the Nifty50 inched up 19 points to trade at 8,735. Broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.5% each.

Sacchitanand Uttekar, Equity Technical Analyst, MOSL says, "Nifty breaches immediate support level of 8,820. Appearance of shooting star on weekly scale and breach of 8,820 turns short term positive trend to Neutral. Next support level for Nifty comes at 8,640. On higher end resistance is at 9,000".

Post the market hours on Monday, official data showed that India's annual retail inflation eased by 100 basis points to 5.05% in August, but factory output again dipped to a negative growth of (-)2.4% in July from an expansion of 1.95% in the month before.

Globally, Asian stocks fell to fresh six-week lows on Wednesday and the greenback stood strong against a broad swathe of currencies including the Japanese yen as concerns grew about the fading impact of the world's major central banks to stimulate growth.

Losses in stock markets across Asia deepened as rising bond yields and soaring volatility forced investors to unwind positions.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.2%, extending its decline since late last week to 4.2%. Within the region, Japan's Nikkei led losers with a 0.3% decline as uncertainty grew ahead of a central bank policy meeting next week.

Besides, India's June-September monsoon rains could start withdrawing from the north-western region of the country in the next three-four days, the weather department said on Tuesday.

CORPORATE NEWS

Tata Steel’s consolidated net loss widened about 10 times to Rs 3,183 crore in the quarter ended June (Q1), against Rs 317-crore loss in the corresponding period last year, according to the new accounting standard Ind-AS. The loss was mainly on account of divestment of its long steel products division in the UK. The stock has slumped by 1.5%.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories has been listed as an index component of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) 2016 in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and life sciences industry group. The stock has reacted positively and is up 0.3%.

Credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday said the State Bank of India's (SBI) issuance of additional tier 1 (AT1), Basel III compliance securities would set the pricing benchmark for other issuers. Shares of SBI are up 1%.

Low price realisation from e-auctions, fuelled by depleting interest income from banks on its cash reserves, in a situation when the demand of the fossil fuel is at a low, resulted in state-owned miner Coal India posting a decline of 14.78 per cent year-on-year in its net profit at Rs 3,065.28 crore for the quarter ended June. Shares of Coal India are down nearly 2%.

Sun Pharma share buyback offer to open on Sept 22, close on Oct 5. Sun Pharma to buy back up to 7.5 mn shares at Rs 900/share. The stock is up 0.4%.

Reliance Capital on Tuesday decided to independently list its home finance venture in the stock market. It is targeting a loan book of over Rs 50,000 crore for this business in the next few years. The stock has surged almost 3%.


With Reuters inputs