Markets end on a flat note; Idea up 4% ahead of results

Markets were more or less flat ahead of the expiry of the April F&O series as traders rolled over positions in the derivatives segment from the near-month April 2012 series to May 2012 series. The April 2012 derivatives contracts expired today, 26 April 2011. Nifty closed slightly below 5200 mark while the Sensex fell by 20 points to 17130. For the series, the Sensex was up 0.4%, Nifty was up 0.3% and the Bank Nifty was up 1.9%.

“Nifty April expiry remained flat around the 5200. Few pending positions in the Nifty50 index components led to a flat expiry. Mid-cap stocks witnessed selling pressure on account of pending rollover positions. For the may series we expect the index to trade in the range of 5100-5500. Initially some consolidation is expected in the range of 5100-5200 which should be followed by a rally to 5500 levels. We remain positive on the Auto(4-wheeler) and Information Technology space. Banking stocks are expected to witness some selling pressure which can be used accumulate long positions. Sustain below 5050-5100 will result in selling pressure in the broader market.” said Sahaj Agrawal, Associate Vice President - Derivatives Research, Kotak Securities.

Markets will be keenly awaiting the results of companies like Axis Bank, ICICI, Hexaware Technologies tomorrow.

Gainers in the April Series were :

Tata Motors (up) 15%; TTK Prestige (up) 8.7% , MRF(up) 17%; Pantaloon Retail (up) 16.3% APIL (up) 21%; Tata Motors DVR (up) 19%; Apollo Tyres (up) 17% , United Spirits (up) 31.6%; Max India (up) 24.5% , Mcdowell-N (up) 31.6%; Max India (up) 24.5%;

Sector performance :

BSE Power (down) 3%; BSE Realty (down) 3% BSE Healthcare (up) 4%; BSE IT (down) 7.5% BSE Cap Goods (down) 4.2%; BSE FMCG (up) 8% , BSE Auto (up) 6%; BSE Consumer Durable (up) 3% .

Mid-cap performance :

CNX Midcap Index (down)1.6%; BSE Small Cap Index (up)3.6%

L&T Fin gains 2.5% on higher profit nos; Nifty at 5200

Bata India net profit down 67%, stock falls 3%

Bata India’s net profit for the March quarter came in at Rs 36 cr vs Rs 109 cr yoy. While sales increased to Rs 408 cr from Rs 310 cr. In reaction to the lower profit numbers, the stock has fallen by 3 percent. However, it must be pointed out that in the first quarter of previous calendar year 2011, company had reported other income of Rs 112 crore, which included in pre-tax income of Rs 109 crore related to restructuring of agreements and sale of stake in the JV at Batanagar project (township).

If we remove this, then the adjusted profit after tax jumped 47.5% year-on-year to Rs 36 crore from Rs 24.4 crore.

MRPL rose 1.5% after the company said its refinery has commissioned CCR I and CDU II after an order from Karnataka High Court to draw 2 million gallons a day water from Netravathi river.

L&T Fin gains 2.5 percent after reporting a jump in net profit to Rs 140 cr for the March quarter vs Rs 97 cr yoy.

2:30 pm No major change in the markets as Nifty continuest to hover around 5200 while the Sensex is down 30 points to 17122. Of the 30-share Sensex pack, 11 stocks are in green while the rest 19 are in red. Jindal Steel is the top gainer among the pack with a 3 percent jump followed by Tata Steel (1 percent), ITC (0.77 percent).

On the NSE, 877 stocks have declined, 582 advanced while 88 are the same.

BPCL, HPCL fall after Govt says no question of deregulating diesel prices

1:30 BPCL, HPCL fell after Govt has said that there is no question of deregulating diesel prices, as per NewsWire 18. BPCL is down 3 percent to Rs 666 per share, HPCL is down 1.8 percent to Rs 299 per share. IOC is down 0.42 percent to Rs 259 per share.

MRF is down 0.87 percent to Rs 11337 per share. The company has reported a 66.7 percent jump in net profit to Rs 150 crore for the March quarter. The stock is also up 72 percent in the last six months.

Strides Arcolab has fallen one percent post its results. It has reported net profit of Rs61 cr for March against Rs 41 cr yoy.

Yes Bank fell 2 percent after Rabobank, the largest retail bank in the Netherlands, has sold a part of its holding in the bank through bulk deals.

Nifty hovers around 5200, GAIL hits 52-week low

12:30 No major change in the markets as they continue to trade flat ahead of the April F&O expiry. Sensex is down 10 pts to 17140 while the Nifty is down 6 points to 5196. Among the sectoral indices, nine are in the red led by PSU (-0.84 percent) and Auto (-0.79 percent).

Here’s some stock specific news :

GAIL hits 52-week low to Rs324 per share.

MindTree hits a 52-week high to Rs557 per share, stock is up 43 percent in the last one year.

Nestle India has fallen by fell 3.5% at Rs 4,763 after net profit rose by 8% to Rs 275.73, below market expectations.

Jet Airways moved up 1.75 percent after it said that it will increase fares with effect around 15 May. SpiceJet is up 2.3 percent while KFA is ip 1.6 percent. Shares of Jindal Steel gained 3% ahead of fourth quarter earnings that schedule to be announced on Friday.

United Phosphorous is down 5.4 percent to Rs 113.9 per share. The company believes there is no violation on its part as alleged by CCI and it will, in due course, take steps to file appeal against such order of CCI before the Competition Appellate Tribunal." CCI has levied a penalty of Rs252.44 crore on the company.

Biocon, Bata India fall ahead of results, Nifty flat

11:30 am - Markets have fallen slightly as the Sensex is down by 22 points to 17129 while the Nifty is down 10 points to 5192.The overall market breath has turned negative from positive. On the NSE, 776 stocks have declined, 562 have advanced while 88 are the same.

Near-month Nifty futures contracts down 0.1 percent, in line with spot markets, ahead of their expiry at the end of the session on Thursday. So far about 60.3 percent of positions have been rolled into the May series vs the 52 percent rollover seen from March to April. However, total positions in futures contracts are shrinking, dealers say, attributing it in part to the recent uncertainty over foreign taxation, according to Reuters.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 20 stocks are in red while 10 are in green. Biggest loser on the Sensex is Hero MotoCorp which is down 2.6 percent followed by Gail (-2.6 percent) and Bajaj Auto (-1.88 percent).

Asian Paints (2.4%) and Bank of Baroda (0.13 percent) will be part of the NSE from the 27th. The stocks have moved up ahead of this news.

Quite a few stocks seem to be hitting their one year lows -

•Biocon hits 52-week low to Rs227 per share, ahead of results.

•United Phosphorus hits 52-week to Rs118.6 per share.

•Muthoot Finance Hits 52-week low to Rs120 per share.

Markets flat, Idea Cellular up 3% ahead of results

10:30 am Markets are trading flat ahead of the April F&O expiry with the Sensex down 17 points to 17134 while the Nifty is down 10 points to 5193. Some stocks whose results are expected today are :Idea Cellular (3 percent), Gujarat Gas (0.75 percent), Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company (-1.38 percent), Sasken Communication (-1.5 percent).

Stocks that are buzzing today include the United Spirits (+4.53 percent) and United Breweries (1.16 percent). SP Tulsian of sptulsian.com told CNBC-TV18 that there was great value in the stock due to news of a possible stake sale to overseas liquor giants.

3i Infotech gains 3.56 percent to Rs 14.55 per share after the company informed BSE that Company has successfully completed the restructuring of its entire obligations under USD Bonds and Euro Bonds.

Broker Alert - Here is a review of some stocks post their results from Kotak Securities

•Kotak maintains an add rating on Wipro with a price target of Rs450 vs its current price of Rs410. While the company has guided for weak US $ revenue growth for the June quarter, it is still to early to pass a verdict, says the brokerage.

•Kotak has a cautious view on Oberoi Realty with a target price of Rs300 vs Rs266. While the company looks attractive due to its large cash balance and new projects, margins could be under pressure as the low cost land bank is exhausted.

•It has maintained a neutral view on India Cements with a price target of Rs110 vs Rs87. While Kotak is cautious on the overall sector, it maintains its add rating on the company due to reasonable valuations and lower cost side pressures.

9:30 am The Indian markets witnessed a tumultuous day on Wednesday and the benchmarks lost their momentum after S&P revised India’s Sovereign outlook to negative, though it reaffirmed the ratings but traders fearing further exodus of foreign investors, opted to book profit.

Today is the April F&O series expiry and volatility is likely to creep in the latter part of the day, however the start is extremely flat with the Nifty stuck in no-man’s land as not a single stock is trading above 1 percent in opening trade. While the Nifty is up about 1.2 percent at 5203, the Sensex opened about 33 points higher at 17187.

Sun Pharma, Ranbaxy, HUL, NTPC, ONGC, Coal India, BHEL were among the notable losers in the Sensex and the Nifty while Infosys, TCS, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, RCOM, DLF, L&T, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, Hindalco, Bajaj Auto were among the notable leaders in the Sensex and the Nifty.

Yes Bank falls nearly 2 percent as CNBC-TV18 reported that Rabobank is going to sell 1.5 crore shares of the bank via block deals at Rs 360/share today.

OMCs are under pressure as it has been reported that the UPA government has assured one of its allies that deregulation of diesel prices would not be carried out soon.

There is likely jitters in many companies who have got a outlook downgrade by S&P, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC, NTPC, SAIL, TCS, Infosys, Wipro and IIFCL are among the major ones.

The power sector is likely to keep buzzing as ministry of environment and forests has said that promoters of a thermal power plant will have to wait till the linked mine gets a stage 1 forest clearance.

Six Indian companies, including SAIl,Nalco, JSP, Hindustan Copper and Mineral Exploration, Monnet Ispat and Energy have been shortlisted to invest in new gold and copper deposits in Afghanistan, reports the Economic Times.

Hindalco raises Rs 3,000 crore via NCD issue to institutional investors. The NCD’S, have a maturity of 10 years and will pay an annual coupon of 9.55 percent.

In result impact, Sterlite ’s topline came in higher than expected. Their profits were in-line if adjusted for one offs. Profits are at Rs 1,276 crore including a forex gain of Rs 330 crore and one time payment of Rs 430 crore to Asarco.

ONGC has approved a Rs 600 crore investment for development of Mumbai High South Field Western Periphery. The project is expected to be completed by 2014.

ICICI Bank has cut stake in Kingfisher Airlines to 2.9 percent from 4.6 percent.

Rabobank will sell 1.5 crore YES Bank shares via a block deal today. The price is set at Rs 360 a share.

Hindustan Zinc will hike its silver output to 500 tonne from 200 tonne by expanding its captive mines, reports the Economic Times.

SAIL seeks partners for a Rs 38000 crore steel plant at Sindri, reports the Financial Express.

Man Industries will issue 1.8 million shares to Kobe Steel at Rs 165 a share.

The government is close to hiving off surplus VSNL land of 700 acres. Tata is expected to get 5 percent from the proceeds, reports Mint.

Era Infra secures contract from department of atomic energy worth Rs 51.42 crore.

EID Parry will merge Sankili and Haliyal undertaking of Parry Sugar. The company plans to allot 5 shares for 19 shares held by shareholders of Parry Sugar.

FII selling continues to put pressure on the market sentiment amid lack of clarity on the GAAR issue and the Vodafone tax controversy. Sticky inflation, widening twin deficits, policy impasse and global economic slowdown are among the other headwinds confronting the Indian markets.