Sensex ends 135 points lower dragged by heavyweights

Index heavyweights RIL, ITC and Infosys were among the top Sensex losers

Benchmark share indices erased early gains to end lower on Monday amid profit taking in late trades with index heavyweights leading the decline.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 135 points at 28,102 and 50-share Nifty ended down 39 points at 8,526.
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(Updated at 14:20PM)

Markets have trimmed gains in the late trades as investors turn cautious ahead of key macroeconomic numbers due to be released later in the week. However, a stellar rally in the technology pack on the back of robust US jobs data along with gains in financials have capped the downside.

Weakness in oil majors owing to further slip in the crude oil prices coupled with losses in auto majors, Tata Motors and M&M on the back of disappointing quarterly results is evident.

At 14:20 PM, the Sensex was at 28,343, higher by 106 points and the Nifty was at 8,595, up 31 points. In the broader market, BSE midcap and smallcap indices gained 0.7% and 0.3% each. The market breadth is strong with 1,636 advancing stocks as against 1,200 declining stocks.

 Meanwhile, the government will release inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data and industrial production data for June 2015 on August 12 and inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index for July 2015 on August 14.

RESULT CAPSULE

Some of the major companies that will announce their April-June earnings include, Tata Steel, Sun Pharmaceutical, State Bank of India, Godrej Industries, NMDC, Bosch, Coal India, Ashok Leyland, Aurobindo Pharma, Jindal Steel & Power, National Aluminium Company, IndianOil Corporation, Tata Power, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindalco and Steel Authority of India among others.

STOCK TRENDS

On the sectoral front, all indices barring BSE Metal and Oil & Gas indices are trading firm and are up between 0.1-2%.

Shares of state-run BHEL which slumped nearly 8% on Friday after posting a steep 83% drop in net profit in the first quarter ended June 30 has bounced back in today’s trade as investors buy the stock at attractive valuations. The stock is up over 2%.

Financials are trading higher across the bourses on renewed buying interest. HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are up between 0.2-2%. Meanwhile, SBI is up 1.5% ahead of the quarterly results due later this week.

Shares of IT companies are trading higher on the back of strong US job data. The job data is closely monitored by the traders as it reflects the economic growth of the country since strong numbers give room to the Fed for interest rate hike. 

An interest rate hike by the Fed would boost the return on assets denominated in dollars, making the currency more attractive to foreign investors and thus helping the export oriented technology stocks. Among the IT majors, TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, NIIT Tech, 8K Miles and Mind Tree are trading higher between 0.1-2.5%.

Tata Motors is down 0.7% after reporting a 49% drop in net profit at Rs 2,769 crore for the June quarter on the back of lower Jaguar Land Rover sales in China.

Mahindra & Mahindra on Friday reported a 3.3% dip in stand-alone net profit at Rs 852.2 crore in the June quarter due to fall in overall sales and expects strain to continue in the tractor business in the current quarter as well. The stock is down 2%.

Further drop in the crude oil prices have hurt the oil exploration companies including ONGC and RIL which are trading lower by 2% and 0.6% each.

Drug maker, Sun Pharma is trading 1%lower ahead of the quarterly results due later this week.