Nifty hovers around 7550; Infosys, HDFC, Lupin under pressure

Moneycontrol Bureau10:40 am Market Expert: The markets are unlikely test the lows of February seen in FY16, says Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak Mahindra AMC. He offers a caveat that unless the monsoon fails, the markets won't retreat.There are a number of reasons that could pull down the markets, cautions Shah. One will be the quarterly earnings guidance which he sees as being muted. Tighter liquidity seen in January-March of 2016 will have a bearing on the markets. Similarly, the deficit in banks amounting to more than Rs 2 lakh crore is likely to pull back the market.10:20 am Buzzing: Rajesh Exports shares gained 4.5 percent intraday on getting export order worth Rs 1,188 crore.

The Bangalore-based jewellery maker has bagged order of designer range of gold and diamond studded jewellery and medallions from UAE.

"The order, which is to be completed by June 30, will be executed at company's manufacturing facility at Bangalore that has an installed capacity to process 250 tonnes of jewellery and gold products per annum," says Rajesh Exports in its filing.Also read - First half earnings to have positive surprises; like Infy: Bodke

10:00 am Market Check

The market continued its consolidation after a 2 percent loss in previous week as investors are eagerly waiting for fourth quarter earnings and outlook for FY17.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 31.86 points to 24641.98 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 4.05 points to 7551.15 while the broader markets outperformed benchmarks.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.2 percent each on positive market breadth. About 1016 shares advanced against 602 declining shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.Bharti Airtel gained 3 percent on acquisition of 4G spectrum from Aircel in 8 circles.Tata Motors, Adani Ports, ONGC, Sun Pharma, BHEL and Hindalco Industries rose 0.5-1.5 percent while Infosys, HDFC, Lupin, HDFC Bank, TCS, M&M, Dr Reddy's Labs and Cipla fell 0.5-1.8 percent.