Markets end lower amid consolidation

Markets continued its losing streak with Nifty settling below the 8,350 mark in the wake of the corporate earnings season with IT major TCS announcing its corporate earnings post market hours.

Provisionally, the Sensex closed 109 points down at 27,578 levels and the Nifty ended at 8,330mark lower by 33 points.

Weakness in the IT stocks coupled with loss in Index heavyweights including RIL and Tata Motors weighed on the bourses.
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(updated at 3:30 PM)

Benchmark indices continue to remain weak dragged down by IT shares ahead of Q1 results of TCS, which is scheduled for later today. However, the downfall is arrested by Capital Goods shares that are rallying ahead of the announcement of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for the month of May, which will be unveiled tomorrow.

At 2:30PM, the Sensex was at 27,616 levels, down by 71 points while Nifty was at 8,336, down by 25 points.

The broader markets are, however, outperforming their larger peers with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices up 0.2% each. The market breadth is healthy with 1,637 advances against 1,018 declines on the BSE.

Meanwhile, investors are watchful of the developments in China. Chinese stocks rebounded around 6% on Thursday, as Beijing's attempts to stop a massive sell-off that has roiled global financial markets appeared to have yielded some results.

Further, European shares are rallying on hopes that creditors would work out with Greece to avoid Grexit after Athens presented fresh proposals on Wednesday.

SECTORS & STOCKS

Sectorally, BSE IT has registered losses, down by 1.6% followed by BSE Oil & Gas, down by 1.4%. BSE Capital Goods index is rallying with nearly 2% and is the highest gainer on BSE.

Capital Goods sector is rallying ahead of the IIP data for the month of May that is scheduled for tomorrow. BHEL has gained 3.3% and is the highest gainer on the Sensex while L&T has gained 2.2%

From the IT space, TCS has shed 2.1% on the Sensex in anticipation of its Q1 numbers, which is scheduled for later in the day. Infosys is down by 1.7% while Wipro has shed marginally.

Auto shares are trading mixed. Domestic car sales rose by 1.5% in June while two wheeler sales in June rose 3.55%. Hero Motocorp has gained nearly 2% while M&M, Maruti, Bajaj Auto are down between 0.4-1.3% each.

Tata Motors has extended its losses from yesterday on concerns that the slowdown in China would affect the auto major. The stock is down by 1.6%.

Financials are trading in green on the Sensex with the exception of Axis Bank, which is down by 1.1%. SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC twins have gained between 0.1-0.4%

Among metal shares, Hindalco has gained 3% while Vedanta has lost 3%.

Other major Bharti Airtel, Lupin , Coal India , all having gained between 0.2- 1.8%

Among other share, Bajaj Corp Q1 reported a 20% increase in standalone net profit at Rs 47.51 crore. Overall expenses were at Rs 153.75 crore compared with Rs 138.47 crore. The stock is trading 6.5% down.