Nifty ends below 8000, Sensex falls 109 pts; BHEL drags 3%

Moneycontrol Bureau3:30 Market close:  The market ended lower. The Sensex was down 109.29 points or 0.4 percent at 26283.09, and the Nifty slipped 30.65 points or 0.4 percent at 7971.30. About 1171 shares have advanced, 1468 shares declined, and 135 shares are unchanged.

Cipla, Dr Reddy's Labs, Lupin, GAIL and Vedanta were top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers were BHEL, Hindalco, Bharti Airtel, ONGC and ICICI Bank.

3:10 pm Buzzing: Shares of BHEL slipped 3 percent intraday. Morgan Stanley maintains underweight rating on the stock but raises target price by 58 percent to Rs 177 per share. It believes that with BHEL's earnings per share down 77 percent in F12-15 Morgan Stanley expects a 22 percent earnings CAGR in F15-17. "We have been calling for a 3M–market share, margins and multiples, de-rating on BHEL. Market share and margins have fallen hard over the last three years. While the multiple hasn't fallen much due to the sharp fall in earnings, with BHEL underperforming the market by 30 percent and its peers by 53 percent over the last three years, we believe the de-rating has been playing out, " it says in a note. Morgan Stanley says weaker execution (revenues) and weaker margins overshadows higher order inflows, resulting in a 23-30 percent earnings cut for F16-17.2:55 pm Earnings: Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals' first quarter (April-June) consolidated net profit climbed 58.4 percent to Rs 37.7 crore compared to Rs 23.8 crore in the year-ago period, driven by strong operational performance.

Total income from operations grew by 10.4 percent to Rs 400.5 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 362.7 crore in same quarter last year.

Operating profit (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) shot up 38.4 percent on yearly basis to Rs 104 crore and margin expanded by 530 basis points to 26.1 percent in the quarter ended June.

2:40 pm Interview: The recent depreciation in the rupee has given domestic producers an opportunity to increase steel prices, says Ankit Miglani, Deputy Managing Director (MD) of Uttam Galva. Steel import hikes by the government have not helped much, he adds. If the rupee continues to devaluate, steel prices can rise Rs 500 per tonne by September this year, Miglani told CNBC-TV18. Recent devaluation in Chinese currency is making imports more attractive for customers, he adds. That is because producers in China can offer competitive prices because of the weakness in their currency. Miglani says demand, more than the price of imported steel, will decide domestic steel prices in coming months.Despite the imports, there has been 100 percent sale of domestic steel, he says adding that demand grew by 7 percent in recent months. In FY16, he expects shortage of steel due to increased demand. 2:20 pm Gold update: Supported by sustained buying from jewellers and retailers to meet wedding season demand and a firming trend overseas, gold prices rose by Rs 160 to Rs 26,860 per ten grams at the bullion market today. Silver also advanced by Rs 200 to Rs 35,000 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.Traders said besides firming trend overseas, sustained buying by jewellers, driven by wedding season demand mainly kept gold and silver prices higher.

Globally, gold traded shade higher at USD 1,134.12 an ounce in Singapore. In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity climbed Rs 160 each to Rs 26,860 and Rs 26,710 per ten gram respectively. It had gained Rs 50 on Friday.2:00 pm Market Check

The market continued to be rangebound in afternoon trade with the Nifty hovering around 8000 amid selling pressure. The broader markets also declined marginally.

The Sensex declined 130.66 points to 26261.72 and the Nifty fell 36.05 points to 7965.90. About 1025 shares have advanced, 1491 shares declined, and 116 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Infosys, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Maruti, Bajaj Auto, BHEL, Tata Steel and Hindalco declined 1-3 percent. However, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Cipla, Coal India, GAIL and Wipro gained 1-3 percent.