Sensex closes 152 points lower, Nifty falls to 10,303 level; Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors top losers

Metals and oil and gas stocks dragged the market lower on Wednesday, a year after the Sensex crashed 1,689 points and Nifty fell over 541 points in early trade on PM Narendra Modi's demonetisation announcement of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and a surprise win of Donald Trump in the US Presidential election. The Sensex fell 152 points to 33,218 level and Nifty was down 47 points to 10,303 level. Here are the key highlights, which affected the market today.

3:48 PM: Reliance Industries falls 2.03 percent or 18 points to 888 level on the BSE.

3:50 pm: United Breweries Ltd (UBL) reported over three-fold jump in standalone net profit at Rs 93.84 crore for the quarter ended September 30, mainly on account of higher income and increase in volume growth. The liquor company had posted a net profit of Rs 27.05 crore during the same period previous fiscal.

3:45 pm: India has slipped in 'business optimism' index to the 7th position in the September quarter, from the 2nd slot in the previous three months, showing clear signs of lag in the economy, says a survey. Indonesia is at the top, followed by Finland (2nd), the Netherlands (3rd), Philippines (4th), Austria (5th) and Nigeria (6th), as per Grant Thornton's International Business Report (IBR).

3:33 pm: Bharti Airtel logged the maximum turnover with a value of Rs 13,52,817 lakh on the BSE.

3:30 pm: On the sectoral basis, metal and oil and gas stocks led the losses in the market. While the BSE metals index was down 228 points to 14,514 level, the BSE oil and gas index fell 1.30 percent or 212 points to 16,097 level.

3:23 pm: Small and midcap stocks lead the losers. Both indices down 159 points and 113 points, respectively.

3:19 PM: The rupee is trading up 0.02 percent at 65.0175 against the dollar. It had closed at 65.03 on Tuesday.

3:04 pm: Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have become aggressive sellers in the market, say experts.

2:27 pm: Teamlease Services shares rise up to 15 percent at Rs 1911 after the company inks definitive agreements to acquire stake in School Guru Eduserve Private Limited. Stock trading 11.47 percent or 191 points higher at 1861 level.

2:19 pm: The rupee is trading up 0.07 percent at 64.985 against the dollar. It had closed at 65.03 on Tuesday.

1:50 pm: Aban Offshore September-quarter consolidated net loss at Rs 278 crore against loss of Rs 275 crore last year; shares slip 3.5 percent to Rs 213.

1:45 pm: "The biggest area of concern right now is crude oil (prices). It has the potential to be a headwind for the market if it continues to rise," said Sunil Sharma, Chief Investment Officer at Sanctum Wealth Management

1:30 pm: Ashok Leyland reported an about 14 percent increase in quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by higher exports, but missed street estimates.

1:15 pm: KRBL September-quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 103 crore versus Rs 98.42 crore last year.

1:00 pm: Elecon Engineering September-quarter consolidated net loss at Rs 7.34 crore versus loss of Rs 7.43 crore last year.

12:51 pm: Shares of Interglobe Aviation Ltd, operator of IndiGo airline, fall 1.66 percent or 19 points to 1190 level on the BSE. The stock fell up to 4.5 percent to Rs 1,153.80 in early trade and posted the biggest intraday percentage drop since September 25, 2017. A video allegedly showing security staff of IndiGo manhandling a passenger went viral on Monday, prompting the government to launch an investigation into the incident.

12:45 pm: Cipla stock trading 3.34 percent higher to Rs 628.65 as Deutsche Bank raises target price to Rs 553 from Rs 540; assigns 'hold' rating .

12:43 pm: Arvind Ltd shares slip 3.6 percent to Rs 438. Arvind's consolidated net profit at Rs 61.77 crore versus Rs 71.7 crore last year.

12:38 pm: Oil prices fell as Chinese crude imports slipped to their lowest level in a year, although traders said the overall market remains well supported on the back of OPEC-led supply cuts. Traders said the market was eyeing growing tensions in the Middle East with concern, keeping a cautious tone on trade.

12:30 pm: Bharat Forge net profit rises 60.5 percent to Rs 203.7 crore, beats estimates. 

11:28 am: Cipla bounces back after 7 percent fall in yesterday's trading session on the pharma firm's Q2 earnings. Stock up 2.91 percent or 17.70 points at 626 level on the BSE.

11:19 AM: Market breadth was positive with 1,313 stocks rising against 1,072  stocks falling on the BSE.

11:03 am: MMTC falls in early trade, down 4.23 percent to 91.70 level after hitting a 52-week high of 101.60 yesterday on news that the government was going ahead with the merger of the firm with State Trading Corporation.

10:48 am: Net profit of banks in Q2 fell 17.8 per cent due to fall in other income coupled with slower growth in interest income, CARE Ratings said in a report. The study takes into account 23 banks. Of this, 13 are private banks and 10 public sector lenders that announced their results on or before November 6, 2017. Net profit growth for private banks turned around while it fell for public sector banks.

10:30 am: On the 30 stock Sensex, Cipla (3.84 percent), Sun Pharma (2.52 percent), Asian Paint (2.11 percent) and Axis Bank (1.70 percent) were the top gainers. Bharti Airtel (5.01 percent) was the top loser. 

10:00 am: Bharti Airtel stock down 5.28 percent or 27.15 points to 487 level. This is the stock's fourth consecutive session of losses.

9:54 am: Rupee trading 0.08 percent higher at 65.0750 level.

9:52 am: Airtel, JP Associates, Reliance Communications, Suzlon Energy and BHEL are among the top traded shares by volume on the NSE.

9:46 am: While the Sensex was trading 75 points higher at 33,446 level, Nifty rose 21 points to 10,371 level.

9:41 am: Lupin, top loser in yesterday's trade, trading 2.03 percent or 17.50 points higher at 878 level on the BSE. The Lupin stock fell over 18 percent in afternoon trade yesterday after the pharma firm said drug regulator USFDA has issued a warning letter to company's Goa and Indore (Pithampur Unit 2) sites.

9:36 am: BSE IT index rises 0.64 percent or 70 points at 10,760 level. Polaris (7.71 percent), Nucleus (4.05%) and  Tata Elxsi (3.83 percent) were the top gainers on the index.

9:35 am: Axis Bank rises 3.34 percent or 17.60 points at 544 level.

9:28 am: Arvind Ltd, Ashok Leyland, Bharat Forge, CESC, Petronet, Thermax and Voltas Q2 results today.

9:15 am: Bank Nifty rises 0.04 percent to 25310

9:00 am: Asian markets are trading with minor gains except Nikkei as Crude retreated from the highs and as investors awaited Chinese trade data later in the day.  Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4 percent, though that followed a jump to its best close since 1992.

In Europe, markets closed in red as traders kept close eye of earnings. Online clothing retailer Zalando was down after it signaled lower operating profit while Moller-Maersk fell after it cut its profit forecast and reported a weaker than estimated 3Q.

8:55 am: US markets closed higher supported by media stocks as Disney approached 21st Century Fox on deal. Wall Street had taken a breather on Tuesday after again making record peaks. The Dow .DJI ended up 0.04 percent, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.02 percent and the Nasdaq  0.27 percent.

The S&P 500 financial index .SPSY led decliners with a 1.33 percent fall, in part on concerns a flattening yield curve would crimp profits at banks that borrow short to lend long.