Sensex ends 43 points lower

Financial shares were among the top losers

Benchmark shares indices ended lower on profit taking as investors turned cautious ahead of the monsoon session of parliament starting tomorrow with focus on the rollout of GST and the land acquisition bill.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 43 points at 28,420 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 6 points at 8,601.
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(Updated at 2:45PM)
Markets have trimmed losses in the late trades with Nifty reclaiming the important level of 8,600 led by a rally in the technology stocks on the back of a depreciating rupee. However, weakness in financials has capped the upside gains.

At 2:45PM, the Sensex was down 35 points at 28,366 while the Nifty was down 7 points at 8,575.

Top five gainers on the Sensex include Hindalco, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Bharti Airtel, M&M and TCS up between 0.5-2%.

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(updated at 2:40PM)

Benchmark shares indices continued to trade weak in late noon trade on Monday with bank share declining the most amid weak first quarter earnings. Further, traders also remained cautious ahead of the monsoon session of parliament starting tomorrow with focus on the rollout of GST and the land acquisition bill.

At 2:20PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 89 points at 28,374 while the 50-share Nifty was down 23 points at 8,586.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmarks with both the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indice trading with marginal gains. Market breadth was positive with 1,397 gainers and 1,211 losers on the BSE.

RUPEE

The rupee was trading lower to the US dollar at 63.54 after the American currency fimed up on hopes of an interest rate hike by US Fed later this year.

GOLD

Gold has dropped 4% to its lowest in more than five years today as the precious metal witnessed huge selling pressure from China on expectations that the US Fed may hike interest rate later this year. Gold August futures were down 1.6% at $1,113.30 in electronic trade.

RESULTS TODAY

Ultratech Cements, LIC Housing Finance, Kajaria Ceramics, and Welspun India are expected to announce April-June 2015 quarter earnings today.

SECTORS & STOCKS


BSE Realty index was the top loser among the sectoral indices down 1.2% followed by Bankex down 1% among others. Healthcare and IT indices were top losers.

Bank shares weakened after some of them announced weak April-June earnings and rise in non-performing assets.

In the banking space, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI were down 0.1-1.5% each. Karnataka Bank was down over 5% after the bank reported 10% decline in net profit at Rs 109 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 compared with Rs 122 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

HDFC was down nearly 1%. The mortgage lender is planning to raise up to Rs 85,000 crore this fiscal and for the same the company will be seeking shareholders nod in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held later this month.

Tata Motors was down 1.5% on concerns of demand slowdown for Jaguar Land Rover cars in China amid slowdown in the world's second largest economy.

HUL was down 1.2% ahead of its April-June earnings while ITC was down 0.6%.

Infosys was trading flat ahead of its results tomorrow.

Bharti Airtel has firmed up by 1%. The company is in talks to launch 4G smartphones, the battle has begun between the country’s major telecom operators.

Among other shares, jewellery shares have surged amid easing gold prices. Gitanjali Gems, TBZ, Shree Ganesh Jewellery, Renaissance Jewellery, PC Jeweller and Rajesh Exports have gained between 2-15%.

Credit Analysis & Research (CARE) declined 2% to Rs 1,442 after the company reported 34% decline in net profit at Rs 17.49 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 compared with Rs 26.49 crore for the corresponding quarter ended June 30, 2014.