Live: Sensex down 243 pts as repo rate remains unchanged

3.30 p.m: Markets traded near the day’s low as political uncertainty, economic survey and the central bank’s credit policy all weighed on the markets. Sensex closed the day 243 points lower at 17,675 while Nifty closed 83 points lower at 5380.

Banking stocks witnessed the brunt of the selling with IDBI Bank closing 4.46 percent lower at Rs 110.20, Bank of India closed 4.13 percent lower at Rs 375.65, Canara Bank was down 3.84 percent at Rs 506.

Reliance closed the day at Rs 797 down 2.12 percent on news of the company paying an advance tax of Rs 1,100 crore as compared to Rs 1,050 crore earlier.

Reliance Communication closed 4.7 percent lower at Rs 94.35 while Reliance Power closed 2.28 percent at Rs 132.75.

Reliance falls below Rs 800 on lower advance tax numbers

1.30 p.m: Markets continue to trade lower with Sensex trading at 17,713 down 205 points while Nifty is down 71 points at 5392.

Advance tax figures have been appearing in the market and stocks have started reacting to them. Banks as a sector have posted marginal growth in these taxes. Reliance has fallen below Rs 800 at Rs 795.30, down 2.35 percent on news of the company paying an advance tax of Rs 1,100 crore as compared to Rs 1,050 crore earlier.

Banking stocks continue to trade lower, with SBI down 2.3 percent to Rs 2,300, ICICI Bank is down 2.2 percent at Rs 933 while Yes Bank is down 3 percent at Rs 374.70.

Banking stocks pull Sensex down 250 pts

12.15 p.m: Banking stocks continue to fall pulling with it the entire market.

Bank Nifty trades 10654 down 327 points while Sensex is down 252 points at 17,670 and Nifty trades 82 points lower at 5382.

SBI trades 2.3 percent lower at Rs 2298, ICICI Bank is down 2.3 percent at Rs 931 while Yes Bank is down 3.44 percent at Rs 373.

Real Estate counters too are under pressure with DLF trading 4.40 percent lower at Rs 196.55 and HDIL trades 2.48 percent lower at Rs 106.10.

Banking stocks fall as RBI keeps repo rate unchanged

11.15 a.m: Banking stocks have fallen after the RBI did not reduce repo rates. SBI is down nearly 1.9 percent at Rs 2309.70 while ICICI Bank trades 2.40 percent at Rs 930.60, Axis Bank trades 2.5 percent at Rs 1242.60 and Yes Bank is down 1.95 percent at Rs 378.95.

Rupee meanwhile has once again crossed the 50 mark against the dollar and trades at 50.18.

Bond yield of 10 year paper has moved up and trades at 8.36 percent.

Sensex meanwhile trades 167 points lower at 17,752 and Nifty is down 48 points at 5415.

Thomas Cook trades 4.1 percent higher at Rs 64.60 on news of private equity firms bidding for the company.

Manapuram a gainer, RCom & RPower sink on Nifty exclusion

The Sensex has fallen a 100 points today due to the political turmoil int he country. While Dinesh Trivedi has submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister over the issue of passenger fare hikes in the Railway Budget, a Network 18 Exclusive says that Trinamool Congress’ Mukul Roy has been appointed as the new railway minister. However, sources say the swearing in is not likely before Saturday.

Trivedi said either the Prime Minister or his party leader Mamata Banerjee has to tell him to resign. “It will not take him a minute to go,” he said. He again justified his budget yesterday in which he had proposed a hike in passenger fare which earned him the wrath of his party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee.

Manappuram General Finance rose 0.6 percent as promoter sold 4 percent stake to PE players at Rs 40/share.

Railway stocks has been falling since yesterday and corrected soon after the Budget speech was over. Kalindee Rail, Texmaco and Kernex Microsystems are down 4-5 percent today.

SKS Microfinance jumps 4 percent at Rs 141.20 after securing sanction for two rated pool assignment transactions worth Rs 100 crore each from two different banks totaling Rs 200 crore.

Glenmark is down almost 4 percent today after Forest Laboratories sued Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Watson Pharmaceuticals, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and two other drugmakers claiming they seek to sell a generic version of the hypertension pill Bystolic before a US patent expires.

Pre-budget rally over? ADAG stocks biggest losers

9:30 am Despite heavy FII inflow, the markets are a bit edgy and nervous after the way the Rail Budget panned out yesterday. The Budget was a forward-looking one, but now with Dinesh Trivedi resigning and talks of a fare hike rollback have upset the markets which opened flat this morning.

The Nifty is down 18 points at 5443.15 while the Sensex is down 0.5 percent at 17859.

Among the heavyweights, Coal India is the biggest loser and is already down 3 percent after The Children’s Investment Fund, the UK-based hedge fund, threatened legal action against the state-backed energy company, in a rare sign of shareholder activism in India that could further hamper the government’s faltering divestment programme.

ADAG stocks Reliance Power and Reliance Coomunications too are major losers as the two stocks will be out of the Nifty Index by 27 April. They will be replaced by Bank of Baroda and Asian Paints. RCom is down 3 percent at Rs 95.65 while RPower is also down 3 percent at Rs 132.

Bharti Shipyard continues its downfall. After yesterday’s 5 percent fall, the stock id down another 2 percent today on reports that banks will classify the company as a non-performing asset in the fourth quarter.

Wipro is down 1.2 percent after the company completed its share auction and managed to raise only half its target.

Man Industries is a gainer today. The stock is up almost 4 percent at Rs 123.70 after Japanese steel marker Kobe Steel picked up 3.18 percent stake in the pipes manufacturer for Rs 30 crore.

The next 48 hours will be important for the market with the monetary policy review scheduled for today and the Union Budget to be presented tomorrow. Clearly the market would like to see a fiscal consolidation, where revenues need to go up. But at a time when the GDP is faltering, revenues can only be generated by increasting taxes. This, however, will not be a positive for the market in the short-term, but at least in the long term the government is sending out a signal that it is serious about reducing its massive fiscal deficit.