Sensex crashes 277 pts on euro concerns, Re slips to 52.50

3:30 pm Today has been a particularly bad day for the markets as the Sensex crashed by 277 points to 17,096 while the Nifty fell by 90 points to 5,200.

While the markets were quite volatile during the early trades, they fell after European stocks tumbled on open. Further as news emerged about Spain in recession, PMI data and the French elections, domestic markets further fell to a day’s low.

Many events impacted stocks today as was seen in the case of Infosys which fell by 4 percent after news emerged that it is under scrutiny from U.S. authorities for likely errors in employer eligibility documents of its staff. Also, Macquarie’s Asia hedge fund has exited its short positions in Indian single stock futures in response to proposed tax rules that could lower returns.

Kingfisher and United Spirits have fallen almost 10 percent each.

AP Paper gained 15.5 percent after news emerged that the company could have a board meeting tomorrow to go in for delisting. Geometric fell almost 4 percent to Rs73.5 per share after the company reported a fall in net profits to 13 cr for the March 2012 quarter vs 21 cr quarter on quarter.

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Telecom stocks also were in the lime light after TRAI recommends liberalising usage of all spectrum. Bharti Airtel closed lower by 3.65 percent while RCOM closed lower by 5.5 percent to Rs 81.5 per share.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 25 stocks ended in red while only 5 were in green. Biggest losers include the likes of Jindal Steel (4.3 percent), DLF (-4.2 percent), BHEL (-4.19 percent).

Sun Pharma was the biggest gainer as it closed up 1.07 percent followed by ONGC (0.7 percent) and Reliance Inds (0.64 percent).

Sensex falls 300 pts on Europe woes, Re slips to 52.50

2:30 Markets are trading at the day’s low led by a sharp fall in European stocks. The Sensex is down almost 200 points to 17176 while the Nifty is down 66 points to 5223. European stock markets tumbled with steep losses for banks and resource firms pushing indexes lower after weak manufacturing data for China and Europe, while French presidential elections fueled fears of further euro-zone turmoil. Pressure also remained on Spain, where bond yields rose above 6%.

The market breath is negative with 1052 stocks having declined, 409 advanced while 61 are the same, as per NSE.

Among the 30-share Sensex, 26 stocks are in the red while only four are in green, The biggest Sensex losers are Hindalco Inds (-4.16 percent), DLF (-4 percent), Infosys (-3.86 percent), BHEL (-3.58 percent), Bharti Airtel (-3.47 percent).

However, RIL (1 percent) and SAIL continue to defy gravity as they are still up.

State Bank of India has informed BSE that it has decided to revise its Retail Term Deposit Rates across various tenors with reduction ranging from 0.25% to 1.00% with effect from April 24, 2012. The stock is down 1.8 percent to Rs 2216 per share.

1:30 pm Telecom stocks are in news after TRAI recommends liberalising Usage of all spectrum. It has also pegged the value of spectrum At Rs 7,00,000 cr and the spectrum auction is to be phased out over 3 Years.

RCOM has fallen by 3.6 percent, Videoncon falls 1.9 percent, Bharti Airtel has slipped by 2.9 percent , DB Realty is also down 3 percent.

Bharti Airtel has hit a 52 week low to Rs 314 per share.

Sensex falls 112 pts after European stocks tumble

12:30 Market breath has reversed with the Sensex down by 112 points to 17260 and the Nifty having fallen by 40 points to 5250. In NSE, 880 stocks have fallen, 529 have advanced while 72 are at the same level. Markets fell further after European stock markets opened sharply lower on led by banks and miners, with investors taking in the first round of French presidential elections, news of an early election in Holland and a further contraction in China manufacturing data.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 21 stocks have declined while 9 are in green. Infosys is the biggest loser amongst them with an almost 4 percent fall followed by DLF (2.79 percent), BHEL (2.46 percent), Tata Power (-2.4 percent).

State Bank of India has also lost 1.67 percent. It has cut car loan rates by 25 basis points to 11.25 percent making it one of the cheapest lender for such rates.

NTPC stock is down marginally 0.9 percent to Rs 164 per share. The company informed BSE that that the Unit-II of 500 MW of Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Station at Jhajjar of Aravali declared on commercial operation from April 21, 2012.

Macquarie fund exits short positions in India; Infosys sheds 3%

11:30 am markets are choppy admist global trade as the Sensex is down 17 points to 17350 while the Nifty is down 7 points to 5283, below the crucial 5300 level.

Macquarie’s Asia hedge fund has exited its short positions in Indian single stock futures in response to a controversial set of proposed tax rules that could lower investment returns, according to Reuters.

Shares of Pfizer Ltd , the Indian unit of Pfizer, gained 3.5 percent after Swiss food group Nestle said it would buy the U.S drugmaker’s global infant nutrition business for $11.85 billion, according to Reuters.

Infosys falls 2.7% on scrutiny from US authorities

Infosys is down 1.8 percent is under scrutiny from U.S. authorities for likely errors in employer eligibility documents of its staff, according to Reuters.

Paper stocks shot up in trade today as was seen in Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills (18.55 percent), West Coast Paper Mills (16.6 percent), Rama Newsprint and Papers (6 percent).

Among the sectoral indices, realty index is the biggest loser as the index is down 1 percent followed by IT (-0.74 percent) and Power (-0.66 percent).

Pfizer to sell nutrition biz to Nestle, stock gains 3.5%

Sensex up 49 pts, Reliance Inds gains 1.5 percent

10:30 am Markets seem to be in a choppy mode as the Sensex is trading at 17436, up 62 points while the Nifty is up 18 points to 5308.

Macquarie Capital’s Unmesh Sharma says that he has an outperform rating on Prestige Estate and DLF and is also positive on Oberoi Realty, HDIL and Sobha Developers.

Some stocks that have hit a 52-week high today are -TTK Prestige has hit a 52-week high today to Rs 3535.05 per share, MRF (11505 per share), Bajaj Holding (855 per share), Asian Paints (3400 per share).

Infosys has fallen 1.47 percent the company is under scrutiny from U.S. authorities for likely errors in employer eligibility documents of its staff, according to Reuters.

DLF fell 1.12% to Rs 195.10 after the Bombay Stock Exchange said that pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories will replace DLF in the benchmark 30-share Sensex with effect from 11 June 2012.

9:30 am Markets have opened up flat with the Sensex up by 32 points to 17391 while the Nifty is up 7 points to 5289. The market breadth is positive as 644 stocks have advanced, 277 have declined while 41 are the same on NSE.

Cairn India is up 1 percent post its results while Maruti and Mahindra and Mahindra are also up following Friday’s gains.

 IDBI is up 2.64 percent after it reported an 49.4 percent increase in profits.

Max India gained 2 percent to Rs 198 per share. It is planning to divest its polypropylene business for an enterprise value of about 8 billion rupees as part of plans to exit its non-core business, according to the Economic Times.

Suzlon Energy gains 0.43 percent. The company informed BSE that it has won an order worth USD 387 million from Europe.

Stocks that are in news are Man Inds is up 6 percent, Omkar Specialty is up 4 percent, EPC Inds is up 8 percent and Dunlop India, Viceroy Hotels is up 4.86 percent after it sold its Chennai Hotel to Mahal hotels.

Important stocks to watch out today

•TCS is expected to report its results for the March quarter and analyst are expecting its rupee revenue to grow around 30% year-on-year, but flat to marginally down sequentially. Its profit after tax is seen up 18-22% from a year ago, but down around 0.5-3% quarter on quarter.

•Ultratech Cement is expected to under perform the sector in Q4 FY12 in terms of net sales and profits, due to higher operating cost say analysts.An estimate of at least three brokerages predicts the company to post Rs 5178 crore of sales up 15% Year-on-Year and profit to be down by 24% to Rs 555 crore.

The earnings season will further gather momentum this week with about 175 companies scheduled to announce their January-March quarter numbers. Investors will keenly watch earnings reports from TCS (April 23), Sesa Goa (April 24), Wipro (April 25), ICICI Bank (April 27) and Maruti Suzuki (April 28) next week to gauge the financial health of India Inc.