Moneycontrol PRO
Check Credit Score
Check Credit Score
HomeNewsBusinessMarkets

Nifty holds 8700, Sensex steady; ICICI soars 3%, Wipro falls 4%

Sun Pharma, ITC, ICICI Bank, SBI and GAIL are top gainers while Wipro, Bharti Airtel, TCS and Hero MotoCorp are losers in the Sensex.

October 24, 2016 / 10:11 AM IST

Moneycontrol Bureau9:55 am Foreign money increases: Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) raised their exposure in 17 Sensex companies in July-September quarter, buying shares for nearly Rs 34,000 crore at the current valuation.

However, the holding of FPIs declined in 12 other blue-chips in the second quarter of the current fiscal compared to preceding three months and data of one company was not available, showed an analysis of shareholding pattern of the Sensex constituents.

Overseas investors have picked up maximum stake in Axis Bank during the quarter under review increasing their holding by 4.94 percent. FPIs' stake in Axis Bank rose to 50.75 percent during three months ended September 30 from 45.81 percent in June quarter.

9:45 am Result poll: Telecom operator Idea Cellular's July-September quarter is expected to be weak as profit is likely to fall sharply by 40 percent sequentially to Rs 130 crore.

According to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18, revenue is also seen declining 1.3 percent to Rs 9,360 crore on sequential basis.

This is a seasonally weak quarter for Idea as it has a higher percentage of rural subscribers which results in a greater impact of negative seasonality.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) in Q2 is likely to dip 2.4 percent to Rs 3,000 crore and margin may shrink 40 basis points to 32 percent compared with previous quarter. Higher churn and pricing pressure can put pressure on margin, feel analysts.

9:30 am Market oulook: The second quarter earnings season has not been a directional change for markets, believes Harendra Kumar of Elara Capital. Currently, we are in a bounce and the bull market will begin after Nifty touches 9100, which will happen next year, Kumar said adding that new bets on the market will be placed then. “We are entering decadal bull market,” he told CNBC-TV18. The biggest opportunity exists in corporate banking side, especially beaten names that haven’t rallied yet. In financial space, housing and microfinance companies can be looked at. The bull trade for NBFCs is in its last stage, he added. Don't miss: Buy, sell, hold: 12 stocks to watch out before Diwali glitters

The market has opened flat with positive bias Monday. The Sensex is up 57.69 points or 0.2 percent at 28134.87 and the Nifty is up 14.35 points or 0.2 percent at 8707.40. About 238 shares have advanced, 49 shares declined, and 14 shares are unchanged.  Sun Pharma, ITC, ICICI Bank, SBI and GAIL are top gainers while Wipro, Bharti Airtel, TCS and Hero MotoCorp are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 66.90 per dollar on Monday versus 66.89 Friday.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "Expectation of rate hike by US Fed is clearly reflecting in a stronger dollar index, which will continue to put its peers under pressure. Thus rupee too will remain under pressure."

"The USD-INR pair is expected to trade in a range of 66.80-67.20/dollar," he said.

The dollar rose to its highest level since early February against a basket of currencies, boosted by higher expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year and by the euro weakening to seven-month lows.

Hawkish comments from Fed officials including New York Fed President William Dudley and higher expectations that Hillary Clinton will win the US presidential election have increased bets that the US central bank will raise rates in December.

Global cues are tepid this morning. Asian stocks were subdued early after Wall Street's sluggish performance at the end of last week, while the dollar hovered near nine-month highs as fresh comments from a Federal Reserve official boosted bets of a rate hike by year-end.

Japan's Nikkei stood little changed, while South Korea's Kospi gained 0.4 percent.

On Friday in Wall Street, the S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow were little changed and the Nasdaq advanced as a record day for Microsoft and earnings from McDonald's helped offset a fall in energy and healthcare shares.

Crude oil prices settled slightly higher on Friday to put up a fifth straight weekly gain for US crude as bullish comments from Russia contended with a resurgent dollar and a rising oil rig count.

first published: Oct 24, 2016 09:15 am

Discover the latest business news, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!

Advisory Alert: It has come to our attention that certain individuals are representing themselves as affiliates of Moneycontrol and soliciting funds on the false promise of assured returns on their investments. We wish to reiterate that Moneycontrol does not solicit funds from investors and neither does it promise any assured returns. In case you are approached by anyone making such claims, please write to us at grievanceofficer@nw18.com or call on 02268882347