Sensex, Nifty continue to slide; infra, auto & metal bleed

1:45 pm Divestment: The success of Coal India offer-for-sale (OFS) that helped government garner close to Rs 26,000 crore by divesting 10 percent share is a positive and the government may have another two-three divestments before the end of this fiscal, says C Jayaram, Joint MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank .

 Speaking to from the sidelines of the three-day Kotak Conference, Jayaram says broadly, market sentiment remains positive and a possible victory of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi elections is unlikely to cause much uproar in the market.

1:30 pm Upgrade: Shares of Wockhardt rose 5 percent intraday after Citi upgraded the stock to buy from sell. The brokerage has also revised its target price to Rs 1880 per share following firm December quarter results.

Citi has even increased its FY16-17 core EPS by 2/10 percent based on progress on regulatory front and stated that resolution of 483s at Morton Grove is positive. It also adds that risk-reward looks reasonable for Wockhardt.

Meanwhile, last week Macquarie also had upgraded Wockhardt to outperform from neutral with a revised one-year target of Rs 1700 (from Rs 410) per share.

Don't miss: CLSA says crude risky, remains sell on GAIL; stock falls 6% 

The market is still under pressure dragged mostly by metals, auto and infra stocks. The Sensex is down 287.96 points or 1 percent at 28429.95. The Nifty is down 80.65 points at 8580.40. About 915 shares have advanced, 1664 shares declined, and 208 shares are unchanged. 

ONGC, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs and Axis Bank are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are GAIL, Tata Steel, Cipla, Bharti Airtel and Sesa Sterlite.

Japan's Nikkei share average edged up as the yen weakened against the dollar after strong US jobs data, but gains were limited as weak Chinese trade numbers capped risk appetite.

The Nikkei ended up 0.4 percent at 17,711.93, but off an intraday high of 17,799.49, the highest since Jan. 30.

The broader Topix added 0.6 percent to 1,424.92, and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 gained 0.5 percent to 12,916.95. Analysts said that while some investors took heart from the weakening yen after the US data, others were concerned that liquidity may shrink in the global market if the US Federal Reserve increases rates too soon.

Sensex falls 300 pts, Nifty below 8600; banks, L&T fall

10:30am Market Expert

The big challenge for the market near term is the weakness in corporate earnings, says Sandeep Bhatia, ED & Head of Sales, Kotak Institutional Equities.

In an interview Bhatia says market correction near term will be driven by concerns over earnings growth and not so much by election results.

He expects a pre-Budget rally, but does not see the market giving more than 10-12 percent returns over the next couple of quarters.

Bhatia is not expecting any major tax incentives from the government in this Budget, given the weak fiscal situation.

He says the government needs to do something quickly to stimulate growth as the capex cycle is still showing no signs of recovery.

10:00am Market ChecK

The market fell more than 1 percent in morning trade on fall in rupee post exit polls indicated that BJP may not get majority in Delhi elections. Banks, capital goods, auto and metals drag.

The Sensex dropped 338.46 points to 28379.45 and the Nifty fell 101.40 points to 8559.65. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declined nearly a percent.

More than two shares advanced for every share declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Shares of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ITC, Tata Motors, M&M and Hero Motocorp were down 1.5-2.5 percent. Larsen & Toubro dropped 2 percent ahead of Q3 earnings today. A poll expects muted earnings during the quarter with profit rising 1.1 percent and hydrocarbon business reporting losses.

Tata Power and Reliance Infrastructure lost 3-4.5 percent as AAP promised in its manifesto to reduce electricity bills by 50 percent.

Tata Steel shed 3 percent after their Indian and South East Asian operations had a weak quarter though European operationally showed improvement. Deutsche Bank maintains buy rating but cut FY15/16 earnings by 31 percent/24 percent and target price by 29 percent to Rs 480/share as India EBITDA per tonne is the lowest in 23 quarters and the steel price overhang persisted.

GAIL lost more than 4 percent as inventory losses weighed on Q3 earnings but siliver lining was that there was no subsidy paid in Q3. CLSA says GAIL is a conviction sell in Asian utility space with a target of Rs 360 as it is trading 35 percent above historical average PE and building USD 90 a barrel on Brent crude price.

Appollo Tyres tanked 15 percent as the stock reacted to weak earnings as its revenue fell 13 percent to Rs 3,104.8 crore while profit dropped 45 percent at Rs 184.2 crore. Results were also impacted by one time provision of Rs 79 crore on account of retrenchment expenses for South African business.

Sensex, Nifty flat; Axis Bank dips again, Crompton tanks 6%

The market remained listless in morning trade. The Sensex rose 21.32 points to 29021.46 and the Nifty advanced 5.85 points to 8762.40. The broader markets too are flat in trade.

About 1083 shares have advanced, 808 shares declined, and 200 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

State-run oil & gas explorer ONGC rallied nearly 3 percent as government moves to iron-out the subsidy sharing formula and fast-track ONGC divestment. Oil ministry asked government not to impose any subsidy burden on upstream companies if crude prices stay at or less than USD 60 a barrel.

Sun Pharma climbed over 2 percent followed by HDFC, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel and GAIL with more than 1 percent gain.

However, Axis Bank fell another 3 percent after lossing 5 percent in previous session. Its rivals ICICI Bank and State Bank of India lost further, down 1-1.6 percent. TCS declined 1 percent.

Hero Motocorp shed more than a percent on earnings miss. Revenue in Q3 fell 0.5 percent with margins contracting 100 basis points to 12 percent on higher promotion/branding costs. Goldman Sachs cut FY15-18 EPS by 5-14 percent and target price lowered to Rs 2529.

Crompton Greaves tanked 6 percent on disappointing results, both standalone and consolidated results show year-on-year pressure on the topline and there was continued weakness in subsidiaries. JP Morgan cut FY16/17e earnings by around 11 percent and lowered target price to Rs 195 from Rs 215.

Sensex, Nifty under pressure; Reliance, ONGC, Bharti up

1:55 pm SEBI: Capital markets regulator Sebi has sought clarification from the merchant banker of State Bank of Travancore on the firm's proposed Rs 485-crore rights issue. Without disclosing the details, Sebi said "clarifications (are) awaited from lead manager" for the proposed rights issue. In rights issue, shares are issued to existing investors based on their holdings at a pre-determined price and ratio.

According to the latest weekly update to the processing status of draft offer documents filed with Sebi, the regulator said clarifications are awaited on the proposed rights issue of State Bank of Travancore as on January 30 this year. The status is updated on a weekly basis by the regulator and the next update of the status, as on February 6, would be uploaded on Sebi's website the next working day. Sebi said it might issue observations on State Bank of Travancore document within 30 days from the date of receipt of satisfactory reply from the lead merchant bankers to the clarification or additional information sought from them.

1:40 pm Market outlook: The government needs to move faster on the divestment process, as institutional investors are concerned about the government’s approach to the fiscal deficit, feels Gautam Trivedi, MD & CEO, Religare Capital. In an interview, Trivedi says market is having high expectations from the Railway Budget as well as Union Budget. On the positive side, he says foreign investor interest remains strong even as domestic institutions have been booking profits. He expects corporate earnings to grow 10-15 percent this year. Trivedi is cautious on banks, particularly state-owned banks, as he feels the fourth quarter numbers could be even worse than the third quarter ones. HDFC Bank is his top pick in the banking space.

1:30 pm Result: NHPC disappointed street on Tuesday by reporting a 30.6 percent decline (year-on-year) in profit at Rs 180 crore due to higher interest cost.

Profit was expected at Rs 300 crore on revenue of Rs 1,378 crore for the quarter, according to the average of estimates of analysts.

Net sales of the state-run hydro power generation company grew 3.9 percent to Rs 1,167 crore during October-December quarter from Rs 1,123.4 crore in same quarter last fiscal.

Operating profit declined 10.1 percent on yearly basis to Rs 561 crore and margin slipped 740 basis points to 48.1 percent in the quarter gone by. Analysts had expected operating profit at Rs 757 crore and margin at 54.9 percent for the quarter.

Don't miss: PNB tanks 7% on Q3 NPA pinch; UBS downgrades to neutral

The market continues to be under pressure. The Sensex is down 173.79 points or 0.6 percent at 28948.48, and the Nifty is down 54.40 points or 0.6 percent at 8743.00. About 1156 shares have advanced, 1450 shares declined, and 259 shares are unchanged.

Sesa Sterlite, Reliance, Tata Motors, ONGC and Bharti are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, M&M, HDFC and SBI.

Signalling strong demand for government bonds, overseas investors have put in bids worth Rs 813 crore, oversubscribing a Rs 310 crore auction for debt securities by more than two times.

The auction was held at 'nse-ebid' platform for allocation of investment limits in government debt securities worth Rs 310 crore (USD 50.2 million). The auction attracted bids for Rs 813 crore (USD 131.64 million), as per the bourse.

At the end of two-hour auction last evening, as many as 43 bids were made in the auction, of which 21 were declared successful. The debt auction quotas give overseas investors the right to invest in debt up to the limit purchased.

Foreign investors have so far put in over Rs 23,000 crore in the debt market in 2015. The equity market has also seen similar trends with overseas fund inflows of more than Rs 18,244 crore since the beginning of the year.

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Not having sufficient sleep is something that you have to avoid when you are looking at losing that abdominal fat. Sleep is an important part of a weight loss plan. If you work late into the night, you will end up eating more as your body produces ghrelin when you are exhausted. Ghrelin will in turn trigger your body’s craving for sugar and food. Sleeping five hours or lesser a night will cause one to gain more weight as compared to people who have adequate sleep of between seven to eight hours. Not having enough sleep will cause the alteration of hormone production, resulting in insulin sensitivity which is the main contribution for belly fat. Having adequate sleep of at least seven to eight hours daily is crucial for people who wish to achieve a lean and flat belly.

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Consume foods that are rich in monounsaturated fats and Omega 3, these include avocados, soybeans, walnuts and salmon.

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