Sensex, Nifty fall 1%; TCS & Infosys crack, Sun Pharma & HUL up

Moneycontrol Bureau10:55 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks continued to see selling pressure. The Sensex declined 291.39 points or 1.20 percent to 23996.03, and the Nifty fell 89 points or 1.20 percent to 7298.25.The market breadth too was weak as more than two shares declined for every share advancing on the BSE.10:50 am Interview: Geometric reported good set of numbers for the third quarter FY16. The revenues were up 2.1 percent at Rs 314.85 crore versus Rs 308.35 crore for the same quarter last fiscal. The dollar revenues too saw an uptick at 0.5 percent at USD 47.68 million versus USD 47.46 million.Manu Parpia, MD & CEO, Geometric said the growth has been decent for the quarter but expects it to be modest for the next two quarters. The focus last three quarters has been on margin expansion and they have been successful at it and so would now shift focus at creating demand and solution. The company plans to move at a different level by investing in talent going forward, said Parpia. Therefore, further enhancement of margins from current levels of around 17 percent may not happen, he said.The deal pipeline too is likely to remain flat but the win ratios may see an uptick, said Parpia.10:40 am FII View: Timothy Moe, Goldman Sachs says he lowers targets due to reduced earnings and limited multiple expansion for MS Asia Pac Ex-Japan.

According to him, valuations are now at the lower side of historical ranges but upside is limited as growth remains subdued. He has reduced MS Asia Pac Ex-Japan earnings growth forecast for 2016 to +1 percent from +5 percent previously.

Moe maintains overweight rating on India but change December 2016 Nifty target to 8,600.10:20 am Earnings Poll: Drug major Dr Reddy's Laboratories is likely to report third quarter profit at Rs 648.34 crore, a growth of 12.8 percent compared to Rs 574.5 crore in year-ago period, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Revenue is seen rising 4.3 percent to Rs 4,007 crore in quarter ended December 2015 compared to Rs 3,843 crore in corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

US and India business may support revenue growth but Russia and CIS may hurt revenue. Analysts feel the company could see one time write off due to devaluation of inventories in Venezuela and Russia.Also read - EMs behind global volatility, may lead to recession: Citi10:00 am Market Check

Equity benchmarks remained under pressure in morning trade with the Sensex falling 257.33 points or 1.06 percent to 24030.09. The Nifty reclaimed 7300 amid sell-off, down 79.90 points or 1.08 percent to 7307.35.

The broader markets trimmed losses with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down over 0.6 percent. More than two shares declined for every share advancing on the BSE.

Infosys and TCS plunged more than 3.5 percent followed by HDFC, HDFC Bank, ITC, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors with 1-2 percent loss while Sun Pharma, HUL, M&M, GAIL and NTPC gained 1-2 percent.

Australian and Japanese markets were sharply lower today, after another sell-off in US and European stocks overnight. The Nikkei 225, which halted a four-session decline to close higher on Monday, dropped 5.01 percent in morning trade.

The dollar-yen pair was down 1.25 percent at 114.39, marking its lowest level since November 2014. The 10-year Japan government bond yield (JGB) fell below zero for the first time, likely weighed by safe haven flows. Bond prices move inversely to yields.