Markets remain lacklustre; SBI up ahead of Q2 nos, Dr Reddy's falls 10%

Benchmark indices are trading in a narrow range with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone.

Investors have turned cautious after the Thursday exit poll suggested a close contest between NDA and the Nitish Kumar-led Mahagatbandhan.  Counting of votes will take place on Sunday.

At 11:10 am, the 30-share Sensex was up 34 points at 26,338 and the 50-share Nifty gained 17 points at 7,973.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices are down 0.03-0.1% each. Market breadth is marginally weak with 1,095 losers and 958 gainers on the BSE.

In the currency front, the rupee weakened by another 12 paise to trade at a fresh one-month low of 65.87 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to sustained demand for the American currency from importers.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 991.87 crore yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Q2 EARNINGS

Aurobindo Pharma, BHEL, Bank of Baroda, Tata Motors, Eicher Motors, Glaxosmith Kline, Hathway Cable, M&M, Motherson Sumi, ONGC, Punjab National Bank, RComm, SBI will unveil their Q2 numbers today.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares slipped on Friday as investors braced for US employment data that is expected to bolster the case for a Federal Reserve interest rate increase as early as next month.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down about 0.36% at 0310 GMT, though it remained on track for a 0.7% weekly rise.

Japan's Nikkei added 0.5%, poised for a 0.6% weekly gain. The Shanghai Composite pared earlier gains to climb 0.36%, putting it on track for a jump of 4.5% for the week.

Wall Street marked modest losses after a mixed spate of earnings, as investors awaited the non-farm payrolls report later this session.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Healthcare index has plunged by over 2%. However, BSE IT, Capital Goods and Realty indices are up almost 1% each.

The top losers from the Sensex pack are Dr Reddy’s Labs, Tata Steel, GAIL, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank.

Shares of drug maker Dr Reddy’s Lab have cracked nearly 13% to Rs 3,696 on the BSE 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 Steel has dipped almost 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. Net sales stood at Rs 29,069 crore in the period under review, down 18.8% from same period last year.

GAIL (India) 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. The stock is down over 2%.

On the gaining side, SBI, Infosys, L&T, Bharti Airtel and HDFC have gained between 1-3%. SBI is trading higher by almost 3% ahead of Q2 numbers today.

The construction arm of Larsen & Toubro won orders worth Rs 2,048 crore across various business verticals in October 2015. Shares of L&T are up over 1%.

The department of telecommunications (DoT) said on Thursday it was allowing operators to liberalise, meaning to allow use of any technology, their 800 MHz (mainly used in CDMA services) and 1800 MHz spectrum allocation, assigned administratively before an auction policy was put into place.

SMART MOVERS

Shares of IDFC Bank have listed at Rs 70.50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). At 11:10 am, the stock was trading at Rs 68.85 after hitting a high of Rs 73.40 post listing.

Shares of Bank of Baroda have plunged almost 4% to Rs 153.50 on the NSE after the bank’s net profit fell by almost 90% to Rs 124.48 crore on 4.09% increase in total income to Rs 12300.40 crore in Q2 September 2015 over Q2 September 2014.

Shares of 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).

Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) has dipped 13% to Rs 232, while Power Finance Corporation (PFC) slipped 11% to Rs 224 on the BSE. CESC (down 6% at Rs 524), Reliance Power (5% at Rs 49), Adani Power (3% at Rs 29.20), NHPC (2% at Rs 17.50) and Tata Power Company (2% at Rs 67) are among BSE power index, down more than 2% each.

Shares of Engine manufacturer Cummins India have slumped 13% to Rs 1,044 on the BSE after the company posted a 2% decline in net profit at Rs 199 crore in the second quarter ended September 2015 as against a net profit of Rs 202 crore in the same quarter previous year.

With Reuters input