Nifty slips below 7,900; Tata Motors, JSPL top losers

Benchmark indices have extended the losses weighed down by selling pressure in metal and index heavyweight shares like Tata Motors, ITC and HDFC.

Further, investors have turned cautious ahead of the industrial production data due later during the day.

Indian industrial output probably bounced in August from a four-month low, driven by solid growth in core industries, although a broader economic recovery is likely still some distance away, a Reuters poll found.

At 14:40 PM, the 30-share Sensex is down 359 points at 26,378 and the Nifty has dropped 78 points to trade at 7,883.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have slipped by nearly 1%, almost in line with the benchmark index.

The market breadth in BSE remains weak with 1,717 declining and 1,010 shares advancing.

Meanwhile, provisional data released by the stock exchanges after trading hours yesterday showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 20.89 crore on that day.

The rupee was trading at 61.20 against the US currency, on sustained bouts of dollar demand from importers amid weak domestic equities and bullish greenback overseas.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Japan's Nikkei share average fell for a fourth straight day on Friday, hitting a two-month low on concern about the global economy, and falling crude oil prices hurt oil shares.

The Nikkei share average ended 1.2% down at 15,300.55, the lowest closing since Aug. 13. For the week, the benchmark dropped 2.6%.

Japanese markets are closed on Monday for a national holiday.

Oil shares underperformed, with Inpex Corp falling 4.9%, while Japan Petroleum Exploration Co fell 1.8% after Brent crude futures tumbled nearly $2 to below $89 a barrel on Friday, trading at their weakest since 2010.

Bucking the overall trend, Fast Retailing Co, which operates Uniqlo clothing stores, rose 1.7% after it said it expects operating profit to grow by more than one-third in the year ahead.   

The broader Topix fell 1.4% to 1,243.09, and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 declined 1.4% to 11,306.62.

INFOSYS Q2 RESULTS

Infosys, India’s second largest information technology (IT) services company, today cheered investors by posting a strong growth for July-September 2015 (Q2FY15), beating estimates on most fronts, as well as announcing a bonus share issue. Additionally, in line with expectations, the company left its revenue growth guidance for FY15 unchanged at 7-9%.

To investors’ surprise, Infosys announced a one-for-one bonus share issue. Several analysts term this move as “Sikka’s gift for the Street”.

Reacting to the strong performance, Infosys’ shares were trading up 5.5% at Rs 3,845 at 14:45 pm. Further, the company has declared an interim dividend of Rs 30 per equity share as compared to Rs 20 in the previous year.

Infosys is the top Sensex gainer, up by over 6% at Rs 3,875.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Metal index has plunged by nearly 3.5% followed by counters like Auto, FMCG, Banks, Capital Goods, Power and Realty, all slipping between 1-2%. However, BSE IT index has gained by nearly 2%.

The main losers on the Sensex are Tata Motors, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel, M&M, ITC, HDFC and HDFC Bank.

Shares of metal companies are trading lower up to 5% on the NSE on the back of swift retreat in Chinese demand for iron ore and coal which in turn led the global iron ore prices to touch near five-year lows and local coal prices to their weakest in six years.

Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Jindal Steel, Hindalco, Jindal Steel, JSW Steel, NMDC and Coal India are down 1-5% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Tata Motors is the top Sensex loser, down over 5%. Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC's (JLR), subsidiary of Tata Motors, outlook to "Positive" from "stable" on continued strong operational performance.

Cigarette maker and index heavyweight ITC has lost nearly 2.5% as Investors are not be betting on the stock on fears of weaker sales and profits from the cigarette division.

On the gaining side, BHEL has continued to benefit after bagging Ennore supercritical power project. It is gaining over 2%.

 

In the auto space, Hero Motocorp is bucking the trend and has gained over 1.5% after the company launched two 100cc bikes priced at Rs 48,650 and Rs 51,550 each ahead of the festive season. Whereas, M&M, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki have dipped between 1-3%.

 

Infosys,  Sun Pharma and RIL are some of the notable gainers and have gained between 1-6% on the BSE.

Among other shares, Aban Offshore has soared 11% to Rs 630, bouncing back 15% from intra-day low on NSE, after the company said it has received orders worth of Rs 1,114 crore from state-owned oil exploration and production firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for deployment of jack-up rig.

Shares of Financial Technologies (India) and New Delhi Television (NDTV) have soared up to 14% in otherwise weak market on back of heavy volumes on the bourses.