Sensex erases early gains, Nifty hovers around 7850; Infosys up

Moneycontrol Bureau9:55 am Mallya woes: Even as former liquor baron Vijay Mallya continues to face pressure from the Enforcement Directorate, UB Group has denied charges that he misappropriated nearly Rs 430 crore from a loan of Rs 900 crore extended to Kingfisher airlines by IDBI Bank to buy property abroad.

The UB Group said that the loan of Rs 900 crore was extended for legitimate business purposes and assured that it will provide full details of the foreign exchange remittances in the coming days.

"In order to explain foreign exchange remittances all of which have been fully accounted for, we will provide full details in the next few days," UB Group said in a statement. It said the audited accounts of Kingfisher Airlines show that the money was borrowed for legitimate business purpose and that the allegation was "shocking".

9:45 am Oil market: A meeting of oil-rich countries in Qatar that had been expected to boost crude prices by freezing production fell apart as Iran stayed home and vowed to increase its output despite threats by Saudi Arabia.

Oil prices, which hit a 12-year low in January by dipping under USD 30 a barrel, had risen above USD 40 in recent days, buoyed by the bullish talks surrounding the Doha summit.

But instead of a quick approval of a production freeze, the meeting of 18 oil-producing nations saw hours of debate and resembled the dysfunction of an unsuccessful meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in December that sent oil prices tumbling.

9:30 am Market outlook: It is not sensible yet to trade stocks only on hopes of a good monsoon, says Sandeep S Shenoy, Strategist at Pioneer Investcorp. "Do not jump in now for there will be several opportunities in months to come," he says.Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Shenoy says though the monsoon  may not be as bad as last year, it will take at least three quarters for the news [rain forecast] to actually translate into anything 'meaningful'. He is of the view that fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and the auto sector would gain from the news and good valuations for these stocks will facilitate better trade.Don't miss: TCS Q4 net seen up 2%, dollar revenue may grow 1.4%: PollThe market has opened sharply higher on Monday with the Sensex rising more than 200 points following Infosys' Q4 earnings but could not sustain gains for long due to weakness in global peers.The Sensex rose 10.39 points to 25637.14 while the Nifty fell 6.15 points to 7844.30.Infosys surged 7 percent post Q4 earnings and FY17 guidance while TCS fell nearly 2 percent after US grand Jury slapped a fine of USD 940 million on two Tata group companies in a trade secret lawsuit. TCS will also deliver its Q4 earnings today later in the day.ITC gained nearly 2 percent as the company will resume manufacturing of cigarettes at its factories soon following a favourable High Court order. Manufacturing had been suspended since April over the large pictorial warning issue.The Indian rupee opened flat at 66.63 per dollar today against Wednesday's closing of 66.64.According to Ashutosh Raina of HDFC, the failure of talks between the oil exporting countries in Doha can result in return of some risk off sentiment, in turn impacting currencies.However, he expects the USD-INR currency pair will continue trading in 66-67/dollar range on the back of strong portfolio flows.Commodity currencies slumped while the safe-haven yen soared after global oil producers fail to agree on an output freeze, sending oil prices tumbling anew.Asian markets were trading weak as oil tumbled after a summit of top oil producers in Doha failed to reach an agreement to freeze production.Brent crude slumped 5 percent to trade below USD 41 per barrel.Japan shares took a hit from large earthquakes. Wall Street on Friday dipped as the oil price decline weighed on energy shares and Apple dragged on the market. But major indices still posted gains for the week.