Sensex ends 57 points down; RIL top loser, Tata Motors gains 4.5%

3.30 p.m: Indian markets closed lower with Sensex trading 57 points lower at 17,025 while Nifty trades 14 points lower at 5118.

Reliance Industries contributed the most to the downfall, dropping by 3.88 percent at Rs 833. The stock was down on news of shut down in its drilling activities. The company has been downgraded by CLSA, while none of the other analysts have increased the company’s rating or raised the target price.

Tata Motors however, saved the day rising by nearly 4.5 percent at Rs 187.80 on account of a strong set of global sales numbers which posted a 24 percent growth.

Listen to our 4pm market wrap below:

Cairn India witnessed strong buying during the day after it was upgraded by broking firm RBS and Macquarie.

PetronetandCrompton Greaveshave shown a smart move ahead of their results. Crompton Greaves has said that it be selling it jet plane to a private company for Rs 270 crore.

Jet Airways witnessed selling as the Bombay High Court dismissed pleas of the company and Sahara, which will affect the company’s land sale to Godrej Properties. The stock fell by 3 percent to Rs 234.90.

HDFC announced its results which were higher than the market expectation, however, the stock reacted cautiously rising by only 1 percent to Rs 674.

3.00 p.m: Markets continue to remain low even as European markets are trading 1.5 percent higher. Sensex is trading 46 points lower at 17,035 while Nifty trades 16 percent lower at 5115.

Cairn India and Tata Motors are witnessing steady buying since morning. Cairn India has been upgraded by both Macquarie and RBS.

Petronet and Crompton Greaves have shown a smart move ahead of their results. Crompton Greaves has said that it be selling it jet plane to a private company for Rs 270 crore.

Bombay High Court has dismissed plea of Sahara group on the land sale to Godrej Properties byJet Airways. This would suggest a delay in Jet Airways plans to sell the land, which means the company’s financials, which are already stretched will remain under pressure. Jet Airways is trading 2.76 percent lower at Rs 235.80.

Quashing hopes of a higher growth rate Ambit Capital has reduced India’s growth rate to 6.2 percent.

HDFC profit at Rs 971 cr, Tata Motors jumps 6%

2.00 p.m: Markets are trading in a narrow range with Sensex trading 64 points lower at 17,018 while Nifty is trading at 5116 down 16 points.

HDFC meanwhile has announced its number well above market expectation. Against a profit expectation of Rs 945 crore the company posted a profit of Rs 971 crore. Though HDFC managed to meet the guidance on its income at Rs 4077 crore against an expectation of Rs 4090. Loan book of the company grew by 25 percent while its NIM (net interest margin) stands at 4.3 percent while spread 2.28 percent. The stock has not reacted much and currently trades at Rs 671.20 up by 0.7 percent.

Zee Entertainment posted a net profit of Rs 160 crore versus an expectation of Rs 141 crore while its consolidated revenue was at Rs 718 crore against Rs 735 crore.

Tata Motors meanwhile is trading 5.64 percent higher at Rs 190.35.

12.30 p.m: Indian markets continue to trade lower with Sensex trading 70 points lower at 17,008 while Nifty trades 20 percent lower at 5,114.

European markets currently trade 1 percent higher.

Oil and Gas sector, led by Reliance is trading 2.20 percent lower. Reliance trades at Rs 836 down 3.5 percent.

Tata Motors trades 4.5% percent higher at Rs 187.30 as the company announced a robust 24 percent growth in its international sales.

SBI has moved nearly 3 percent higher to Rs 1,930.

TCS trades 0.22 percent lower at Rs 1131.50 moments before the company announces its results. Market expects the company to post a profit of Rs 2,476 crore.

One Life, which was listed on the BSE today is trading 50 percent higher than its IPO price of Rs 110. The company currently trades at Rs 160.

CLSA downgrades Reliance, market at day’s low

11.15 a.m: Sensex trades 109 points lower below the 17,000 mark at 16,973. Nifty trades 38 points lower at 5,093. Reliance is trading nearly 4 percent lower at Rs 833.

Here Santosh Nair, Editor, moneycontrol.com and Shishir Asthana, Investment Editor, firstpost.com discuss the market below:

Listen to podcast ….

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Following are the reactions of various broking firm on Reliance’s results

JP Morgan has maintained an ‘Overweight’ rating on the stock but reduced its price target. In their commentary the report said that they were disappointed with the lower refining margins but were excited by management’s commentary on ramping up production of D6 block, despite there being no time-line for the same. Price target for Reliance was downgraded from Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,140.

Standard Chartered has maintained their ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 969. The company’s results were in line with their expectation. Firm petrochemical and refining performance compensated for weak oil exploration and production numbers.

Goldman Sachs have maintained their ‘Neutral’ stance on the company with a price target of Rs 960. With no visibility on volume growth in core businesses, the company’s earning will be dependent on margin trends in the refining and petrochemicals business. Goldman does not expects ramp up in Reliance’s oil and gas production before financial year 2015. With no clear guidance on new ventures and cash deployment, Goldman has maintained their Neutral rating.

Citi has maintained the price target of Reliance at Rs 1001 as it expects the company’s refining and petrochemical margins to remain stable.

Morgan Stanley has maintained an Equal Weight rating on Reliance with a price target of Rs 921. The report says that there is limited upside to the stock as there are very few triggers.

Among the bigger brokers CLSA is the only one who has downgraded Reliance with ‘Outperform’ rating from its earlier ‘Buy’ rating on the stock and cut its price target from Rs 960 to Rs 950. It has also lowered the earning forecast of the company to reflect lower gross refining margins.

Importantly none of the broking houses have increased their rating or the price target of the stock.

Maruti starts operations at Manesar, stock up 3 percent

10.30 a.m: Markets have moved in red with Sensex trading 28 points lower at 17,055 and Nifty is down 7 points at 5125.

Maruti has announced that it has started its operation at Manesar, the stock trades 2 percent higher at Rs 1047.50.

Reliance is trading 3.22 percent lower at Rs 839 after the company announced that it has stopped its oil and gas drilling.

NIIT has siad that they have sold its step-down subsidiary, Element K Corp, to Ireland based SkillSoft for $100 million in cash. The stock trades 15 percent higher at Rs 50.

Arvind and Eros International have touched all time high levels.

9.45 a.m: Indian markets opened higher, but are currently trading lower on profit booking across all counters.

Reliance which announced its numbers on Saturday, is trading 1.5 percent lower. The company posted marginally lower than expected numbers. Reliance trades at Rs 850, lower by 2 percent over Friday’s close. The company announced it will suspend its oil and gas drilling activity pending an internal valuation of its exploration and production strategy.

Tata Motors is trading almost 3 percent higher at Rs 185.10 after the company announced 24 percent growth in its global sales.

TCS trades 0.5 percent lower at Rs 1129 ahead of its results, which is expected by noon.

Hathway, the cable company, is trading 5 percent higher after the government cleared the ordinance for cable digitisation.

9.00 a.m: A strong closing for the week in the US markets is likely to rub off in India too. US markets have posted gains in seven of the last nine trading session, increasing by 11 percent during this period. With the concerns of Greece default postponed by two months, till the time the next interest payment is due, markets can trade higher.

Asian markets have opened strong and are trading around 1.5 percent higher, which too can result in a strong opening of the Indian markets.

Among the stocks which are expected to see volatility will be Reliance Industries, which has posted marginally lower than expected numbers. What can impact the stock performance is the lack of guidance as to the utilisation of its cash and its outlook for oil and gas production.

HCC can see some selling as the company Lavasa project has not been given a clearance by the Environment Ministry.

Maruti can also see some selling as the workers hold a rally today. This follows an earlier move by the workers to move the Supreme Court against an earlier directive by the High Court to carry on the protest outside the factory premises.

The other result for the day, TCS can set the mood in the IT sector, which had got the first push from a good set of numbers announced by Infosys. A better than expected numbers from TCS can revive good buying interest in the sector.

Similarly, HDFC which is expected to post around 17 percent sales and a similar growth in profit, can impact the market as housing sales are a better indicator or domestic growth.

Tata Motors has posted strong global sales growth of 24 percent led by Jaguar and Land Rover sales. The counter has seen good buying interest and is likely to be in favour for sometime.