Market Live: Sensex remains weak, but IT stocks extend gain after rupee falls to 66.74/$

1:12 pm Results Date: Dr Reddy's Laboratories will announce its results for the fourth quarter and full year ended March 31, 2018 on May 22 after the board meeting.

1:02 pm Economic Growth: Indian economy is expected to witness a cyclical recovery driven by investments as well as consumption, and the average GDP growth is expected to rise to 7.8 percent in the first half of this year, says a report.

According to the Japanese financial services major Nomura, investment and consumption demand are the main drivers for India's growth, amid worsening net exports.

"Our leading indicators suggest the cyclical recovery, which started in the second half of 2017, is set to continue through the first half of 2018," Nomura said in a research note.

Consistent with these data, "we expect average GDP growth to rise to 7.8 percent year-on-year in the first half 2018 from 7.2 percent in October-December 2017.

Here are the top headlines at 1 pm from Moneycontrol News' Sakshi Batra

12:50 pm Videocon approaches NCLT: Debt-ridden Videocon Group approached the principal bench of NCLT requesting it to direct all insolvency case, filed by its lenders against seven group companies at different courts of Mumbai bench, to be heard together.

The group has requested the principal bench sitting here to consolidate all multiple insolvency cases filed by lenders at three different courts of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai and hear together.

The principal bench has directed to list immediately the matter once affidavit is filed by Videocon Industries.

12:40 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices continued to trade mildly lower, dragged by banking & financials, metals, infra and FMCG stocks.

The Nifty IT retained its top position in the buying list among sectoral indices, rising 1.5 percent after the rupee hit fresh 13-month low of 66.74 against the US dollar.

TCS, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Infosys gained up to 2.5 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 72.74 points at 34,543.90 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 28.60 points to 10,585.80.

12:20 pm Airtel on Tower Merger Deal: Bharti Airtel said it will engage with potential investors to evaluate a strategic stake sale in the new tower company, after merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers is completed.

Earlier today, Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone Group announced the merger of Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel to create a mobile tower juggernaut with over 1,63,000 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 and will continue to be listed on the Indian stock exchanges.

12:10 pm Manipal Health ups offer for Fortis: Manipal Health Enterprises has again raised its offer for Fortis Healthcare by valuing its hospital business higher at Rs 6,322 crore, ahead of the Fortis Healthcare board meet tomorrow to evaluate all binding offers.

The new offer from Manipal Health Enterprises (MHEPL) also proposes to arrange financial assistance of up to Rs 750 crore ..by way of debt financing or guarantees to lenders of FHL.

This is the second time Manipal/TPG-led consortium has revised its offer for Fortis Healthcare (FHL).

12:05 pm Rupee Update: The rupee weakened to a fresh 13-month low by falling 33 paise to 66.71 against the American currency on bouts of month-end dollar demand from importers amid crude price volatility and rising US bond yields.

The rupee opened lower at 66.48 from yesterday's closing level at 66.38 per dollar at the interbank foreign exchange here.

Continued FII-selling of local equity and debt, and weak stock market also weighed on the rupee.

Rising crude is putting pressure on rupee already stressed by widening fiscal deficit, a dealer said.

Meanwhile, the US dollar inched higher against its major peers in early Asian trade, approaching its recent four-month high as the US 10-year bond yield poked above 3 percent to hit its highest level since early 2014.

Here are the top headlines at 12 pm from Moneycontrol News' Anchal Pathak

11:55 am Merger Approval: Bhageria Industries informed BSE that the National Company Law Tribunal [NCLT), Mumbai has approved the scheme of Amalgamation of Nipur Chemicals Limited with the company.

11:40 am Market Update: The market continued to trade mildly lower amid consolidation, following negative lead from global stocks.

Banking & financials, oil, metals and infrastructure stocks are under pressure.

IT is the only major gainer among sectoral indices, rising over a percent ahead of Wipro earnings due later in the day and after sharp depreciation in the rupee

Bharti Airtel is up more than 4 percent after reporting profit in the March quarter against expectations of loss.

The 30-share BSE Sensex is down 84.76 points at 34,531.88 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 31 points to 10,583.40.

11:22 am PTL to Consider Dividend: PTL Enterprises informed BSE that a meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on May 10 to consider and approve audited financial results of the company for the quarter/year ended March 31, 2018 and to consider & recommend a final dividend, if any, on the equity share for the financial year ended March 31, 2018.

Here are the top headlines at 11:15 am from Moneycontrol News' Sakshi Batra

11:15 am Crude Update: Oil prices were stable, but were below more than three-year highs reached the previous session as rising US fuel inventories and production dragged on an otherwise bullish market.

Brent crude oil futures were at USD 73.77 per barrel, down 0.12 percent, from their last close, but were some way below the November-2014 high of USD 75.47 a barrel reached the previous day.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.18 percent, at USD 67.58 per barrel. That was also off the late-2014 highs of USD 69.56 a barrel reached earlier in April, reports CNBC.

11:05 am Gold Outlook: CARE Ratings said US developments continue to remain the key influence on prices. Gold prices are expected to remain volatile in the near term.

Gold prices are expected to be negatively impacted with the US dollar expected to strengthen further on the back of better performance of the US economy and expected US interest rate hikes, it added.

In the medium term, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, increasing US government debt and rising inflation pressures, volatility and lower equity markets could support gold prices, it said. Gold is likely to remain rangebound in the short term around the USD 1,350 an ounce range.

10:55 am Narayana Hrudayalaya wind-up Malaysian subsidiary: Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals Malaysia Sdn Bhd , was registered as a wholly owned subsidiary of Narayana Hrudayalaya (NHL) on September 27, 2011 to set up and operate cardiac facilities in Malaysia.

However, NHL had decided to terminate the project at its initial stages in FY 2014-15 due to various changes in the regulatory framework of Malaysia which made the project unviable.

In view of the above NHL had decided to wind-up the said subsidiary in Malaysia. The subsidiary had commenced the process of Members' voluntary winding-up in 2017 as per the extant provisions of the Malaysian company law. The liquidation of the subsidiary has been completed and as per the search report from Companies Commission of Malaysia dated 24th April 2018, the status of the subsidiary is confirmed as dissolved.

10:45 am Buzzing: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Ltd rose by about 15 percent in two straight days after the company reported fall in net profit but the value of new business (VNB) rose 93 percent to Rs 1,286 crore for the quarter ended March.

Most brokerage firms which have come out with their note post-March quarter results maintain their buy rating while some of them raised their target price to Rs 570 which translates into an upside of 37 percent return in the next 12 months.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s standalone net profit for the March quarter declined 16.6 percent year-on-year on account of higher new business strain. The quarterly net profit stood at Rs 340 crore, compared to Rs 408.42 in the year-ago period.

However, the private life insurance company's value of new business (VNB) rose 93.1 percent to Rs 1,286 crore in Q4FY18 as compared to Rs 666 crore a year ago.

10:37 am Market Update: The market continued to trade mildly lower amid consolidation, following weak global cues.

The Nifty is trading below 10,600 levels while IT is the biggest loser among sectoral indices, falling over 1 percent.

Bharti Airtel is up nearly 5 percent after reporting profit in the March quarter against expectations of loss and announcement of merger between Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 61.71 points at 34,554.93 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 24.80 points to 10,589.60. About 1,188 shares declined against 825 advancing shares on the BSE.

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).

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.