Markets turn flat; Nifty hovers around 7,850

ICICI Bank was the top loser after the private lender reported sharp drop in Q4 net on the back of higher provisioning

Benchmark share indices lost ground in noon trades on Friday with ICICI Bank leading the decline after the private lender reported sharp drop in fourth quarter earnings because of higher provisioning.

At 15:05 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 30 points at 25,573 and the Nifty50 was down 6 points at 7,842.

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Market breadth was weak with 1393 losers and 864 gainers on the BSE.

ICICI Bank was the top Sensex losers after it posted a steep fall in its net profit for the quarter that ended in March 2016 at Rs 702 crore. The lender reported an over 70% fall in its net profit on a year on year basis. It had posted a net profit of Rs 3,018.13 crore in the December quarter. 

The lender kept an exceptional provisioning of Rs 3,600 crore.

Other Sensex losers include, Reliance Industries, SBI, Tata Motors, ITC and Bharti Airtel.

Pharma shares trimmed some of their early gains. Lupin was up 1.6% after it strengthened its branded drug portfolio in the US market with the relaunch of Methergine oral tablets to control postpartum hemorrhage (post delivery blood loss). Sun Pharma and Cipla were up nearly 1% each.

Shares of Dabur were up over 2% at Rs 275 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company said that its board with a view to meet the growing demand for products approved capital expenditure of Rs 250 crore for setting up a manufacturing plant at Tezpur, Assam.
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(updated at 11:38am)
Markets remained rangebound in late morning deals as gains financials and pharma shares capped further downside.

At 11:38am, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 21 points at 25624 and the Nifty50 was up 5 points at 7,852. In the broader market, BSE Midcap and Smallcap were trading with marginal gains. Market breadth improved further with 1185 gainers and 821 losers on the BSE.

Foreign Institutional investors were net buyers in equities worth Rs 121 crore, as per provisional stock exchange data.

RESULTS CALENDAR

ICICI Bank, IDFC, Interglobe Aviation, Shriram Transport Finance Company, Marico will announce their fourth quarter earnings today.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Healthcare, Metal, Oil and Gas indices were among the top gainers while Auto and Consumer Durables were the top losers.

Infosys, India’s second largest information technology services company, has made one more investment out of its global innovation fund. The Bengaluru-based firm said it has invested an undisclosed amount in Trifacta, which develops productivity platforms for data analysis, management and manipulation. The stock is trading with marginal gains.

ICICI Bank was trading flat ahead of its Q4 results today.

Lupin was up nearly 2% after it strengthened its branded drug portfolio in the US market with the relaunch of Methergine oral tablets to control postpartum hemorrhage (post delivery blood loss).

Idea Cellular, third largest telecom company in subscribers, posted a 39% decline in net profit to Rs 575.6 crore in the quarter ended March, owing to higher finance costs. The net profit was Rs 941.8 crore in the same quarter a year before. The stock was down nearly 4%.

Ambuja Cements was up nearly 1%. The cement major posted a decline of 4.4% in its net profit at Rs 304 crore for the quarter ended 31 March, 2016. The company's net sales marginally declined to Rs 2,418 crore against Rs 2,425 crore in the same period last year- a drop of 0.3%.

Tata Steel was up 1%. The steel major has sought more help from the British government to find a buyer for its steel plants in the UK.

Among others, SQS India BFSI has rallied 12% to Rs 1,115 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the company reported nearly seven-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 10.60 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2016 (Q4FY16).

Jubilant FoodWorks has dipped 3.3% to Rs 1,151, extending its Thursday’s 11% fall on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the company’s promoter Jubilant Consumer Private Limited, sold nearly 4% stake in the company for Rs 300 crore through open market.

Diamond Power Infrastructure has locked in upper circuit of 10% at Rs 45.40 on the BSE after the company announced that its board approved the allotment of 12 million equity shares at price of Rs 55 each to promoters on preferential basis.