Sensex ends below 26,800; ICICI Bank,Tata Motors dip 2%

Financials ended lower as further rate cuts by the RBI may be delayed

Markets trimmed intra-day gains weighed down by financials while IT majors shares ended lower on caution ahead of US jobs data later today.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 45 points at 26,768 and the 50-share Nifty closed 16 points lower at 8,115.

"Technically the market is still looking weak and profit booking is emerging at higher levels. The major chaos in the market seem to be contributed by ETFs which are cashing out because of the cross-currency headwinds," said Deven Choksey, MD&CEO, KR Choksey Shares & Securities Pvt Ltd.

Benchmark share indices had surged in late noon trades after weather officials announced the arrival of annual monsoon rains at Kerala coast in southern India

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth a net Rs 512 crore on yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

On the economy front, OPEC is expected to keep its production target of 30 million barrels of oil per day unchanged at a meeting scheduled in Vienna today, 5 June 2015. The OPEC meeting is being closely watched for clues about the organization's next moves.

The rupee continued to trade higher against the US dollar at Rs 63.93 against the previous close of Rs 64 on the back of dollar sales by banks and exporters.

SECTORS & STOCKS

The BSE Bankex was the top loser down 0.9% followed by Auto and IT indices among others. Gainers include FMCG and Metal indices

Coal India ended as the top Sensex gainer, up over 4%, after production of the company in May rose by about 13% as against the corresponding period last year.

Healthcare stocks rose tracking gains in Sun Pharma. The stock gained nearly 2% after the shareholders gave a nod to the merger of Sun Pharma Global with company.

FMCG shares rebounded after the recent correction. The MET department said that southwest monsoon is likely to hit Kerala in the next 48 hours. ITC and HUL ended up 1% each.

Other gainers include, L&T, ONGC, NTPC and GAIL among others.

Meanhile, financials were the top losers with HDFC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank down 0.2-2.2% each.

Tata Motors extended losses and ended down 2% on the back of weak Jaguar sales in May. The company reported lower Jaguar sales in May 2015 at 168 units compared with 375 units in May 2014.

TCS ended 1.3% lower on turning ex-dividend today for final dividend of Rs 24 per share for the year ended 31 March 2015.

SMART MOVERS

Nestle India trimmed gains and ended flat with negative bias. Paul Bulcke, CEO, Nestle SA has confirmed in a press conference today that Maggi noodles are safe for consumption and that Nestle does not add MSG while manufacturing the product.

Shares of Bhushan Steel ended in 20% upper circuit at Rs 60.50 on the Bombay Stock Exchange amid media reports citing sources said that the company's lenders have agreed to extend the loan tenure.

Idea Cellular rallied 2.5% on reports that the company has hiked mobile data rates by up to 100% for pre-paid customers in the NCR region.

Aditya Birla Nuvo gained 2% after the company announced a joint venture with a leading South African financial services firm MMI Holdings Ltd., to foray into the health insurance and wellness business in India.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index ended flat and the BSE Small-cap index gained 0.3%.

Market breadth ended positive with 1,379 gainers and 1,292 losers on the BSE.