Sensex gains nearly 1 percent, SBI falls on poor earnings

The BSE Sensex rose nearly 1 percent today with defensive stocks such as ITC rising on HSBC’s upgrade, while Sun Pharma surged after its June-quarter profit, adjusted for a patent suit provision, beat estimates.

ITC rose 3.17 percent, while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd ended 7.12 percent higher.

The BSE Sensex and Nifty gained 0.84 percent, rising for a second consecutive session.

While the Sensex ended 157 points higher at 18946, Nifty ended up 46 points at 5612.

[caption id=“attachment_1027079” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption]

Vaibhav Kapoor, IL&FS believes that the market is in the danger of shifting downwards from the 5500-6100 range due to worsening of fundamentals of the economy.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said the market has remained weak for a long time now due to which interest rates are going up, money market is tightening and therefore, is likely to have a negative impact on the growth going forward.

Meanwhile, India’s car sales fell 7.4 percent in July. This is the ninth straight month of fall, as rising fuel costs and high interest rates continued to keep demand subdued.

Stocks in news

HDFC shares rallied nearly 5 percent, while ONGC , ahead of its earnings, rose more than 2 percent.

Tech Mahindra rose more than 2 percent after higher-than-expected earnings during April-June quarter. The company also increased FII investment limit to 45 from 35 percent.

State Bank of India’s ( SBI ) June quarter numbers disappointed the street with the bad loans surging by 19 percent over the previous quarter. Shares fell more than 3 percent as analysts see further downgrades.

India Cements ended 1.5 percent lower after its first quarter net profit dropped 73% year-on-year to Rs 16.8 crore.

Shriram EPC ended 5 percent higher after Irish cement maker CRH acquired Sree Jayajothi Cements. Shriram EPC held 68% stake in Jayajothi Ceme