Sensex falls 400 pts, Nifty breaks 8550; DRL, Bajaj Auto up

03:30 pm Market close

The market fall for seven consecutive day. The Nifty ended below 8550-level, down 134.70 points or 1.6 percent at 8526.35. The Sensex was down 490.52 points or 1.7 percent at 28227.39.

L&T lost 8 percent post disappointing December quarter results. Tata Steel was down 6 percent.

03:10 pm Results

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) disappointed street on Monday with the third quarter profit falling 14.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,060 crore on standalone basis.

Profit was expected at Rs 1,255 crore on revenue of Rs 15,973 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled.

Net sales grew 4.2 percent to Rs 14,995 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 14,388 crore in same quarter last year.

02:55 pm Nibbling India

Global investors are showing strong interest in India with more inquiries for investment portfolios, a Singapore-based top corporate official has said.

"We have multiple conversations with pension funds, insurance companies, private banks and family offices of the rich people with trust-type of investment outfits," said the UTI International CEO Praveen Jagwani. Jagwani sees investors' interest further improving as the Indian economic growth picks up and the rupee stabilises.

UTI International has USD 2.15 billion worth of assets under its management, a significant built-up as its Singapore business started seven years ago. "We are educating global investors about opportunities in India," he said, underlining UTI's ongoing engagement with global investors. "Our role as an international business of UTI is completely aligned with that of the Indian government." UTI is 74 percent owned by state-owned Enterprises.

02:35pm Corporation Bank in News

Corporation Bank's third quarter net profit climbed 16 percent year-on-year to Rs 147 crore, largely driven by lower provisions.

Net interest income of the public sector lender rose 2.7 percent to Rs 1,029 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 1,002 crore in same quarter last year. However, other income (non-interest income) declined 3 percent to Rs 328.3 crore and operating profit fell 2.3 percent to Rs 726.5 crore during the same period.

Provisions for bad loans dropped 21.8 percent year-on-year (up 24.2 percent sequentially) to Rs 646 crore during the quarter with provision coverage ratio at 52.47 percent as on December 31, 2014.

Capital adequacy ratio (as per Basel III norms) stood at 11.26 percent in the quarter gone by, declined compared to 11.28 percent in previous quarter and 11.89 percent in the year-ago period.

Asset quality weakened as gross non-performing assets (NPA) climbed 180 basis points on yearly basis (up 63 bps sequentially) to 4.88 percent during October-December quarter. Net NPA rose 112 bps Y-o-Y (up 35 bps Q-o-Q) to 3.27 percent during the same period.

02:00pm Market Check

The market remained under pressure in afternoon trade as exit polls have indicated Aam Aadmi Party could make a dramatic comeback in Delhi. This could be the first election defeat for the BJP after coming into power in May 2014.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 425.82 points or 1.48 percent to 28292.09 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 105.45 points or 1.22 percent to 8555.60. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices dropped 0.8 percent each.

Nearly two shares declined for every share advancing on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
 

Sandeep Bhatia of Kotak Institutional Equities told that the market correction ahead will be led by earnings miss, not elections. There are still no signs of pick up in capex cycle, he says.

The market sentiment today is also hit by weak earnings from Tata Steel, GAIL and midcaps like Apollo Tyres and J&K Bank.

Cipla, GAIL, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Sesa Sterlite fell 3-5 percent. L&T extended losses, down 3.5 percent ahead of Q3 earnings.

The rupee plunged past 62 a dollar due to fresh demand for the dollar from importers, falling 50 paise to 62.19 a dollar.

Global markets are also under pressure today. European markets like Germany, Britain, France fell almost 1-1.5 percent as Greece and Russia problems persisted while the crisis in Ukraine escalated without a peace deal. In Asia, Hang Seng closed down 160 points.