Sensex, Nifty end flat amid lackluster session

After Thursday's smart run up, indices took a breather today amid lackluster day of trades. Weak global cues, profit booking and weak rupee dampened the sentiments. On the other hand, Nifty Bank index continued to out-perform.

Today’s decline was led by the realty, telecom, IT and pharma stocks, while metal, consumer durables, oil & gas, banking and industrial stocks were among the gainer.

Finally, the BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 46 points at 27,127. The BSE Sensex opened at 28,168 touched an intra-day high of 28,212 and low of 28,026.

The NSE Nifty closed with a loss of mere six points at 8,667. The NSE Nifty opened at 8,694 hitting a high of 8,697 and low of 8,647.

Among the 50-stocks of Nifty, Bank of Baroda, SBI, Hindalco, Aurobindo Pharma, Ambuja Cement, Yes Bank, BHEL, Tata Power and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers on NSE, whereas Eicher Motors, Bharti Infratel, TCS, Coal India, Lupin and Wipro were among the losers today.

The India VIX (Volatility) index was slightly down 0.08% at 14.5375. Out of 1,860 stocks traded on the NSE, 701 declined and 899 advanced today.

The rupee was trading down 22 paise at 67.02 per US dollar.

On the global front, Japan’s Nikkei and China’s Shanghai Composite ended marginally higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.37%.

European shares were trading in red. The FTSE 100 is trading marginally down. The CAC 40 and DAX dropped over 0.77% each.

SBI jumped 4.2% to Rs.258.50 on BSE. The board of State Bank of India Ltd cleared the proposed merger of five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself.

Shipping Corporation of India dropped 5% after the company's net profit slipped 72.56% to Rs.55.91 crore for the quarter ended on June 30, 2016, compared to the same period last year. The company had posted a net profit of Rs.203.78 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

V-Guard Industries gained 1% to Rs.1,763 after the company announced that it has fixed 31 August 2016 as the record date for 10 for 1 stock split.

Coal India dropped 1.4% to Rs.334. As per media reports, Government of India's impending stake-sale in the company. GoI currently holds 79.65% in Coal India as on 30 June 2016.

UltraTech Cement gained 1.1% to Rs.3915 on the BSE. The cement company is planning to raise Rs.500 crore through issuance of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis.

Bharti Airtel slipped 0.44% to Rs.350. Singapore Telecommunications said that it has signed a conditional share purchase agreement with Temasek Holdings to acquire 7.39% stake in Bharti Telecom Ltd, holding company of India’s largest telco Bharti Airtel Ltd, and 21% in Thailand’s Intouch Holdings public Co. Ltd for a total of $1.8 billion.

India Cements soared 5.2% to Rs.132. The company reported 16% jump in its net profit at Rs.44 crore for the April-June quarter. India Cements had reported a net profit of Rs.38 crore on sales of Rs.1,221 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

A total of 87 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, whereas 18 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

Some of the stocks to log a fresh 52-week high during intra-day are Accelya Kale Solutions Limited, Aptech Limited,Berger Paints (I) Limited, Birla Corporation Limited, Birla Cotsyn (India) Limited, Britannia Industries Limited, Cairn India Limited, Carborundum Universal Limited, City Union Bank Limited, Cybertech Systems And Software Limited, Delta Corp Limited, Dhanuka Agritech Limited, Divi's Laboratories Limited.

HeidelbergCement India Limited, Hindalco Industries Limited, Hindustan Copper Limited, Hindustan Zinc Limited Indraprastha Gas Limited, The India Cements Limited, Indian Hume Pipe Company Limited, JSW Steel Limited, Jubilant Life Sciences Limited, K.P.R. Mill Limited, Kalyani Steels Limited, L&T Finance Holdings Limited, Lakshmi Vilas Bank Limited, Man Infraconstruction Limited, Manpasand Beverages Limited, Mercator Limited, MOIL Limited, Mukand Limited, NMDC Limited, NTPC Limited, Piramal Enterprises Limited, Prakash Industries Limited Prakash Constrowell Limited, Punjab & Sind Bank, Shriram City Union Finance.

Alstom T&D India Limited, Birla Cotsyn (India) Limited, Goenka Diamond and Jewels Limited, KSS Limited, Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited, Pokarna Limited, Prakash Steelage Limited, Rainbow Papers Limited,Raj Rayon Industries Limited, Rasoya Proteins Limited,Shrenuj & Company Limited, STI India Limited, Usher Agro Limited, Vindhya Telelinks Limited, Visesh Infotecnics Limited, Visagar Polytex Limited, VKS Projects  were some of the notable stocks to record new 52-week low during the day.

Alstom T&D India Limited, Birla Cotsyn (India) Limited, Goenka Diamond and Jewels Limited, KSS Limited, Larsen & Toubro Infotech Limited, Pokarna Limited, Prakash Steelage Limited, Rainbow Papers Limited,Raj Rayon Industries Limited, Rasoya Proteins Limited,Shrenuj & Company Limited, STI India Limited, Usher Agro Limited, Vindhya Telelinks Limited, Visesh Infotecnics Limited, Visagar Polytex Limited, VKS Projects  were some of the notable stocks to record new 52-week low during the day.

Nifty hovers around 8650; TCS, HDFC, Bharti major laggards

The market is struggling in red with the Sensex down 61.38 points or 0.2 percent at 28062.06. The Nifty is down 14.40 points or 0.2 percent at 8658.85. About 1368 shares have advanced, 1168 shares declined, and 166 shares are unchanged. 

SBI, BHEL, Cipla, ONGC and ICICI Bank are gainers while Coal India, TCS, Adani Ports, HDFC and Bharti are losers in the Sensex. 

Mutual funds' allocation for bank stocks slumped to Rs 82,000 crore at the end of July, after touching a record high in the preceding month. Prior to that, fund managers have been raising their allocation to banking shares since February. Although, they had trimmed exposure to the sector between November and January due to higher bad loans.

 Experts have attributed the trim in allocation to banking stocks to mounting bad loans of public sector banks.

 In percentage terms, exposure to banking stocks fallen to 19.86 percent of equity AUM in last month as against 20.4 percent in June.

With up to 200% jump in profits, these 80 midcap stocks are bucking the trend

At a time when most of the large-cap companies are struggling to grow, about 80 midcaps have reported consistent growth in revenues over the past four quarters. 

Most of the consistent performers are financial service companies such as Manapuram Finance, Motilal Oswal, Capital First, Equitas Holding, Repco Home and Ujjivan Finance. 

However, there are a few from other sectors like Tata Elxsi, First Source, Gulf Oil Lubricants and Delta Corp that are doing well Most of these companies have grown between 15% and 100% in the last four quarters in terms of revenues and 15-200% in terms of profits .

Top 15 stocks in focus today: SBI, Shipping Corp, Fortis Healthcare

SBI: The board of State Bank of India Ltd cleared the proposed merger of five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself, taking one step closer to creating the first Indian lender to rank among the world’s top 50.

Shipping Corporation of India: The company's net profit slipped 72.56% to Rs.55.91 crore for the quarter ended on June 30, 2016, compared to the same period last year. The company had posted a net profit of Rs.203.78 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2015.

Bharti Airtel: Singapore Telecommunications said that it has signed a conditional share purchase agreement with Temasek Holdings to acquire 7.39% stake in Bharti Telecom Ltd, holding company of India’s largest telco Bharti Airtel Ltd, and 21% in Thailand’s Intouch Holdings public Co. Ltd for a total of $1.8 billion.

Fortis Healthcare: The company is expected to announce demerger details of SRL Diagnostics into a separate entity on August 19.

Claris Lifesciences: Claris Lifesciences will announce its Q1 numbers today.

NHPC: The company will start commercial operations from the 40-MW unit beginning Friday. The power generated from the unit will be supplied to West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co. 

RIL: The government has imposed an additional penalty of $380 million (around Rs 2,500 crore) on Reliance Industries and its partners for producing less than targeted natural gas from eastern offshore KG-D6 fields.

India Cements: The company reported 16% jump in its net profit at Rs.44 crore for the April-June quarter. India Cements had reported a net profit of Rs.38 crore on sales of Rs.1,221 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Dilip Buildcon: The company said it has bagged Rs.2,016 crore road project in Uttar Pradesh.

Apollo Tyres: The company has initiated talks with two-wheeler manufacturers in India to supply tyres as part of its plans to expand business in the new segment where it is currently present only in after sales market.

Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd: The Company proposes to issue upto 7,000 Secured Non-Convertible Redeemable Debentures with a face value of Rs.10 lakh each aggregating to upto Rs.700 Crores (Plus Greenshoe Option, if any), on Private Placement basis.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd: The company said it was extending its contract with US airline JetBlue and will expand its innovation centre in Pune to support the airline's digital initiatives.

Oberoi Realty: The company will announce its Q1 numbers today.

Zydus Cadila: Roche has sued Zydus Cadila and India's central drug regulator at the Delhi High Court over the approval and launch of breast cancer drug Vivitra (trastuzumab), as per media report.

Opening Bell - Nifty above 8650 mark

At 9:15 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 28,175 up 51 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,694 up 21 points.

The rupee opened lower by 14 paise at 66.95/$ against US Dollar Friday as against the previous close of 66.81/$. The rupee opened on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers on the back of strong dollar in overseas markets. The rupee seen at lowest level since August 9.

Asian markets are trading mixed on Friday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng trading lower by 0.56%. Shanghai Composite is marginally down.

On the economy front, PM Narendra Modi and FM Arun Jaitley met on Thursday to discuss candidates for RBI governor. The successor to Raghuram Rajan, who completes his three-year term on September 4, is expected to be announced shortly.

Wall Street closed slightly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.13% to close at 18,597.7, while the S&P 500 added 0.22% 2,187.02 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.22% to 5,240.15.

Moody's Investors Service retained India's growth forecast at 7.5% for 2016 but revised upwards estimates for China to 6.6 % citing strong fiscal and monetary support.

Oil prices surged 3% overnight, with Brent hitting an eight-week high as the world's biggest producers prepare to discuss a possible freeze in production levels.