Bharti Airtel, Bharti Infratel, HPCL, BPCL and Reliance Industries were early gainers.
10:30 am Results Today: Wipro, Agro Tech Foods, Bajaj Corp, Future Supply, Gujarat Heavy Chemicals, ICICI Lombard, Indiabulls Real Estate, Jindal Stainless, KSB Pumps, M&M Financial, Meera Industries, Miven Machine, Reliance Nippon, Sterlite Tech, Syngene International, UltraTech Cement and Wendt will announce March quarter earnings today.
10:20 am Merger: Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone Group today announced an agreement for merger of Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel to create the largest mobile tower operator in the world outside China with over 163,000 towers across 22 telecom service areas.
"The combined company, which will fully own the respective businesses of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers, will change its name to Indus Towers Limited and will continue to be listed on Indian Stock Exchanges," Bharti Group said in a statement announcing the joint deal.
The combined company will own 100 percent of Indus Towers. Indus Towers is currently jointly owned by Bharti Infratel (42 percent holding), Vodafone (42 percent), Idea Group (11.15 percent) and Providence (4.85 percent).
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Post the deal, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone will jointly control the combined company, and the transaction is expected to close before the end of 2018-19, subject to statutory approvals.
10:10 am Technical Outlook: Shitij Gandhi of SMC Global Securities said as we are heading towards April expiry with two trading session left, the short sellers seem to be on back foot as they still holding outstanding short positions.
On every dip, we have been continuously seeing short covering in the Nifty as Call Writers are covering their positions which in turn supporting upside movement in prices.
In the recent weeks, we have observed that put writers are continuously shifting towards the higher band which signifies limited downside in the market ahead of expiry.
Furthermore, we also anticipate that more short covering can be seen in coming sessions which can lead Nifty towards 10,700 on the day of expiry.
The initial rollover data also indicates long rollover to May series. On the technical front, 10,580 spot level should act as support while 10,750 will be the immediate hurdle.
10:00 am Market Update: Benchmark indices extended losses, with the Sensex falling 100.91 points to 34,515.73 and the Nifty declining 36 points to 10,578.40.
About 1,078 shares declined against 710 advancing shares on the BSE.
Here are the top headlines at 10 am from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak
9:55 am Rupee Update: The rupee depreciated 28 paise to 66.66 against the US dollar the interbank foreign exchange due to appreciation of the greenback amid rising US bond yields and surge in global crude oil prices.
Also, a lower opening in the domestic equity market too weighed on the investor sentiment.
Dealers also attributed the rupee's fall to increased demand for the US currency from importers due to month-end demand and sustained foreign capital outflows.
The rupee yesterday recovered by 10 paise to 66.38 against the US dollar due to fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks.
9:44 am Market Update: The market is seeing consolidation amid global weakness, with the benchmark indices trading marginally lower.
Investors await more corporate earnings that scheduled to be announced over next one month and Karnataka elections due next month.
Bharti Airtel is up more than 2 percent after reporting profit in the March quarter against expectations of loss.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 25.28 points to 34,591.36 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 12.40 points to 10,602.
9:30 am Results Reaction: Raymond share price rallied 3 percent after reporting 61.7 percent YoY growth in net profit at Rs 54.5 crore and 10.6 percent growth in revenue at Rs 1,629.8 crore for the quarter ended March 2018.
Operating profit increased 33.5 percent to Rs 150.6 cror and margin expanded by 160 basis points to 9.2 percent YoY.
9:22 am Buzzing: Fortis Healthcare gained a percent after KKR-backed Radiant Life Care made a revised bid for the company with a binding offer to acquire its Mulund hospital for an enterprise value of Rs 1,200 crore.
This is the second revised offer received by Fortis after Malaysian major IHH Healthcare made a binding offer to infuse Rs 650 crore immediately in the Indian firm as part of an overall proposal to invest Rs 4,000 crore.
The company has received a binding offer from Radiant Life Care, FHL said in a regulatory filing.
9:18 am Earnings Reaction: Bharti Airtel share price gained more than 3 percent after reporting profit against expectations of loss in the quarter ended March 2018.
Net profit fell 72.8 percent sequentially to Rs 83 crore and revenue declined 3.4 percent to Rs 19,634 crore in Q4FY18 while operating income slipped 7.3 percent to Rs 7,034 crore and margin contracted 150 basis points to 35.8 percent QoQ.
9:15 am Market Check: Benchmark indices opened lower, tracking negative trend in global stocks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 52.82 points at 34,563.82 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 21.10 points to 10,593.30.
Bharti Airtel, Bharti Infratel, HPCL, BPCL and Reliance Industries were early gainers.
Hindalco, Cipla and HCL Technologies were under pressure.
ICICI Prudential, Raymond, Idea Cellular, Advanced Enzyme, Bajaj Corp, MMTC, Parag Milk Foods, Coffee Day, Jubilant Life, Avanti Feeds, Granule India, Gati, Jaiprakash Associates, Indiabulls Ventures and Trent gained up to 5 percent.
Uniply Industries gained 2 percent after block deal of 10 lakh shares.
Balrampur Chini and Reliance Naval were under pressure.
9:09 am Pre-opening Settlement: The market settled lower in pre-opening session, with the Sensex falling 23.47 points to 34,593.17 and the Nifty down 2 points to 10,612.40.
9:05 am Technical Recommendations: We spoke to SMC Global Securities and here’s what they have to recommend:
Au Small Finance: BUY| Target Rs775| Stop Loss Rs640| Return 12%
Praj Industries Ltd: BUY| Target Rs107| Stop Loss Rs89| Return 12%
SBI Life Insurance: BUY| Target Rs822| Stop Loss Rs695| Return 11%
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
9:03 am Stocks in news: Hero MotoCorp: Company hikes two-wheeler prices by up to Rs 625 to offset rising input cost
Strides Shasun: The company will Divest Its Stake In Stride Chemicals For Rs 131 crore.
State Bank of India: The bank will issue & encash electoral bonds through its 11 authorised branches from May 1-10.
Fortis Healthcare: IHH has submitted binding bids for Fortis and has proposed to inject Rs 650 crore at Rs 160 per share.
Blue Dart: The company’s Board will meet on May 08, 2018 to consider the financial results and recommend a dividend.
Bharti Infratel: Re-appoints Akhil Kumar Gupta as Exec chairman
Raymond: Company approves Rs 300 crore development plan for 20 acres land at Thane
DCM Shriram: Board approves expansion of PVC capacity for Rs 32 crore
Zensar Tech: Board approves stock split of equity shares in the ratio 5:1
9:01 am Market Check: Benchmark indices were higher in pre-opening trade despite global weakness, with the Sensex rising 112.63 points to 34,729.27 and the Nifty climbing 1.90 points to 10,616.30.
A gauge of world stocks tumbled on Tuesday, erasing early gains as US bond yields scaled the 3 percent threshold for the first time in four years, while oil prices reversed course after climbing above the USD 75 per barrel mark, said a Reuters report.
Asian shares were under pressure on Wednesday, with a rise in US bond yields above the 3 percent threshold and warnings from bellwether U.S. companies of higher costs driving fears that corporate earnings growth may peak soon, it said.
Oil prices slipped on concerns that the United States might reinstate sanctions against Iran faded somewhat, reducing worries about the future of Iranian exports. Brent slid 85 cents, or 1.1 percent, to settle at USD 73.86 a barrel, said a report.