Weakness persists, ITC weighs
Reliance Industries, ITC and Infosys weigh
Markets continued to trade in negative terrain in noon trades weighed down by profit taking in FMCG major ITC after the stock had gained ahead of its results announcement. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Infosys along with HDFC Bank were among the top losers which dragged the markets.
At 1PM, the Sensex was down 91 points at 18,702 while the Nifty was down 31 points at 5,686.
ITC was the top Sensex losers down 1.2% at Rs 290 on profit taking after the stock surged from Rs 260 level in the past one month ahead of its second quarter earnings.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries and Infosys were down 1% each. HDFC Bank was also down nearly 1% on profit taking after the bank reported robust earnings growth in the second quarter.
Maruti Suzuki was down 0.1% after CLSA downgraded the stock to 'sell' from 'underperform', saying a recovery in demand for passenger vehicles might not be as large as expected.
Among other shares, Idea Cellular was up nearly 1% on improvements in margins during the second quarter.
Pioneer Distilleries was locked in 5% lower circuit at Rs 45.65 for the second day in a row after United Spirits, the promoter of the company has fixed a floor price of Rs 38 per equity share for the sale shares, a well below the current market price.
In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap was marginally down while the Small-cap index was up 0.1%.
Market breadth was neutral with 1,317 losers and 1,234 gainers on the BSE.
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(Updated at 11:54AM)
Markets slipped further in the late morning deals on the back of selling pressure in heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ITC and Infosys. At 11:40, the Sensex was down 52 points at 18,741 and the Nifty slipped 19 points at 5,698.
In the broader markets, the smallcap index added 0.2% and the midcap index stepped up 0.1%, outperforming the Sensex which lost nearly 0.3%.
Among the sectoral indices, Consumer Durables, FMCG, IT, Oil & Gas and Auto continued to remain weak losing 0.4-1%. On the other hand, there was some buying seen in Capital Goods, Health Care and Realty indices gaining between 0.3-1%.
The movers among the Sensex-30 were L&T up nearly 2%, continuing its good run after a 42% rise in profit beating estimatesa long with Cipla, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Dr Reddys Lab gaining 0.5-0.8%.
Among the losers was Hero MotoCorp down 2% ahead of July-September earnings due later in the day. ITC, Infosys, Tata Power, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank down 1% each were the other notable losers.
Among other stocks, L&T Finance Holdings surged 5% to Rs 56.55, in an otherwise subdued market after the company announced 100% acquisition of FamilyCredit Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of France’s Société Générale Consumer Finance for Rs 120 crore.
Yes Bank has moved higher by almost 2% at Rs 394 after reporting 30% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 306 crore in the September quarter on back of higher interest income. Analysts on an average had expected profit of Rs 296 crore from the private sector bank.
Peninsula Land was locked in 20% upper circuit at Rs 70, extending its previous day’s rally after reporting six-fold jump in net profit at Rs 82.71 crore for the quarter ended September 2012 against Rs 13.68 crore in previous year quarter. Total income from operations has increased by 479% to Rs 287 crore on year-on-year basis.
Rain Commodities was up by 6% at Rs 43.60 after the company said its subsidiary has agrees to buy Rutgers, a Belgium-based manufacturer of coal tar pitch for euro 702 million (approximately Rs 4,900 crore).
The market breadth continues to remain positive as broader markets hold firm. 1242 stocks advanced while 1116 stocks declined on the BSE.