Muhurat Trading: Nifty slips below 8,650

HDFC Bank and HDFC were among the top losers

Markets have trimmed early gains as investors booked profits at higher levels with HDFC twins leading the decline.

At 7pm, the 30-share Sensex was up 21 points at 27,962 and the 50-share Nifty was trading flat at 8,638.
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(updated at 6:31pm

Markets have started the customary 'Muhurat' trading session to usher in the new year Samvat 2073 on a firm note.

At 6:31pm, the 30-share Sensex was up 73 points at 28,015 and the 50-share Nifty was up 20 points at 8,658.

On Friday, October 28, 2016, the last trading day of Samvat 2072, Hindu calendar year, the broader markets outperformed the Sensex and the Nifty which ended with marginal gains. For Samvat 2072, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 8% while the Nifty50 rose over 10%.

The stock exchanges will remain closed for trading on Monday, October 31, 2016 on account of ‘Diwali Balipratipada’.

FIIs

Foreign institutional investors were generally sellers in the last month of Samvat 2072. They were net sellers in equities worth Rs 778 crore on Friday, October 28, 2016, the last trading day of Samvat 2072, as per the provisional data on BSE.

However, in Samvat 2072, foreign institutional investors bought Indian equities worth $5.8 billion (Rs 38,600 crore), data showed.

Index Movers

Infosys was up 0.7% followed by private lenders Axis Bank and ICICI Bank along with pharma majors Lupin and Sun Pharma in early trades.

HDFC twins, HDFC Bank and index heavyweight HDFC were among the top losers.

Asian Paints which had corrected last week witnessed buying at lower levels and was up 0.8%.

ONGC was up nearly 1%. The state-owned exploration major said that the board approved bonus issue in the ratio of 1:2 and an interim dividend of 90%.

Tech Mahindra was up 1% after sharp gains on Friday post its September quarter earnings. Revenue for the quarter grew 8.3 per cent to Rs 7,167 crore; sequentially, it was up 3.5 per cent. Bloomberg had estimated the revenue would grow 2.3 per cent and net profit to decline 6.4 per cent. However, net profit was Rs 644.7 crore, down 16.9 per cent from the Rs 776 crore a year before. From the earlier quarter, it was down 14 per cent, due to a one-time restructuring cost of Rs 85 crore.


Broader Markets

Astec Lifesciences has rallied 16% to Rs 629, extending its Friday’s 20% surge on BSE, after the company reported more than five-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 11.18 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 (Q2FY17). The agrochemicals company had profit of Rs 2.02 crore in the same quarter year ago.



IPO Corner

The Rs 1,100-crore Initial Public Offer (IPO) of equity in Varun Beverages which closed on Friday was subscribed 1.85 times. Varun Beverages is one of the largest franchisees of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages sold under brands owned by PepsiCo outside America.

Global Markets

US stocks ended flat with negative bias on Friday as the political uncertainty ahead of the US Presidential Elections continues to weigh on investor sentiment. The Dow Jones industrial average ended dwn 8 points at 18,161, the S&P 500 closed 7 points down at 2,126 and the Nasdaq composite settled 26 points lower at 5,190.