)
By 14:05, the Sensex was lower by 156 points at 27,489 and the Nifty slipped by 45 points at 8,325.
The top losers on the Sensex are Tata Motors, ONGC, ITC, HDFC and NTPC, all falling between 1-2%.
******************************
Updated at 12:50
Markets are trading lower weighed down by the selling pressure in the shares of index heavyweights Tata Motors, ITC and HDFC. Investors are also wary of the futures and options expiry for May series, which is due on Thursday.
At 12:50PM, the 30 share Sensex was down by 65 points or 0.23% at 27,578 levels while the 50 share Nifty was down below its psychological mark of 8,400 at 8,350 levels.
The broader markets are, however, outperforming the larger peers with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices trading below 0.05% and 0.03%, respectively. The breadth of the market is negative with 1,098 advances against 1,222 declines on
the BSE.
Rupee:
The Indian rupee has slipped even further and has depreciated by 24 paise to the levels of Rs. 63.80. The depreciation in the rupee is aided by a stronger dollar against a basket of other major currencies and a fresh dollar demand from banks and importers amid a sharp decline in domestic equities.
Sectors and Stocks:
Tata Motors and BHEL are trading lower on the Sensex ahead of their Q4 results later in the day. Tata Motors is 1% below while BHEL is trading 0.5% below on the BSE.
ITC has extended its losses for the second straight session after the company’s results, announced on Friday, were lower than expected.
Sun Pharma, ONGC, Hindalco, and NTPC are other important laggards, all shedding between 1.2-1.5% on the BSE.
On the gaining side, GAIL is leading the charts on the Sensex with 1.7% gain in the anticipation of the company’s Q4 results that are due on 27th May.
The company also announced after market hours yesterday that as a first step to usher in commencement of project work on the first phase of Jagdishpur-Haldia Pipeline, Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas inaugurated the project office in Patna yesterday.
Hero Motocorp, M&M and Maruti are other notable gainers among the auto stocks on the Sensex, having gained between
0.5-1.5% each.
Smart Movers:
Shares of VRL Logistics were trading higher by 3% at Rs 306 on the NSE after reporting more than two-fold jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 19.37 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4). A parcel delivery
firm had profit of Rs 8.40 crore in the same quarter last year.
Shares of Adani Enterprises have moved higher by 1.2% to Rs 794, on the BSE, after the company fixed June 04, 2015 as the record date for the purpose of scheme of arrangement & demerger.
PTC India Financial Services has slipped 15% to Rs 49.55 on the BSE after the company reported a sharp 66% year- on-year decline in net profit at Rs 15.81 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4).
