Sensex falls 100 pts, Midcap slips too; FMCG up, banks down

Moneycontrol Bureau12:55 pm Market Update: Equity benchmarks continued to see selling pressure. The Sensex declined 128.29 points to 25401.82 and the Nifty fell 33.55 points to 7731.85.About 1001 shares have advanced, 1530 shares declined, and 139 shares are unchanged on the BSE.12:45 pm Eicher Motors production loss: Eicher Motors today said it has suffered a production loss of 11,200 Royal Enfield motorcycles so far due to heavy rains and flooding in Chennai."Due to heavy rains and flooding in Chennai, both of Royal Enfield's production facilities in Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam were shut since December 1, 2015.""The company resumed production of motorcycles on December 7, 2015. However, due to a high rate of absenteeism by the company's employees and issues with our local suppliers, the company will be running at approximately 50 percent capacity this week, and plans to be back up to 100 percent capacity by next week," Eicher Motors Ltd said in a regulatory filing.12:30 pm IPO opens: The Rs 638-crore public issue of Dr Lal Pathlabs has opened for subscription today. It has fixed price band at Rs 540-550 a share.

It is an offer for sale issue of 1.16 crore equity shares by promoter and promoter group including Dr Arvind Lal (12,61,996 equity shares), Dr Vandana Lal (20,56,747 shares), Eskay House (2,38,226 shares) and Anjaneya Lal (550,386 shares).

Among investor selling shareholders, Wagner will dilute 58,60,000 shares, Westbridge Crossover Fund, LLC 14,71,575 shares and Sanjeevini Investment Holdings 1,61,070 equity shares.

The Delhi-based diagnostic and related healthcare tests & services provider will not get any proceeds from this issue.12:15 pm FII View: Indian shares are likely to follow a sideways trend in the near term in the absence of a real recovery in earnings, which will likely turn only in the second half of the next fiscal (FY17), says Gautam Chhaochharia, Head of India Research at UBS Securities.In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Chhaochharia said the market was unlikely to test recent highs or lows in the near term as disinflationary pressures would keep a lid on earnings even as there will likely not be a fiscal or monetary expansion.He also played down the impact that GST may have on the stock market's fortunes in the near term, saying tangible benefits from the proposed tax -- whose rollout data too is as yet unclear -- will likely flow only over a two-three year period.Also read - Why Ridham Desai added CCD, M&M, HCL Tech to portfolio12:00 pm Market Check

The market remained under pressure in noon trade following correction in Asian equities and oil prices. The Sensex fell 108.42 points to 25421.69 and the Nifty declined 26.20 points to 7739.20 due to selling in banking & financials, oil, metals and infra stocks.

The broader markets also caught in bear grip with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices falling 0.4 percent each. The market breadth was weak as about 1396 shares declined against 1396 advancing shares on the BSE.

Oil prices bounced back marginally today after hitting seven-year low in previous session as OPEC continues to pump near record oil to defend market share, compounding a glut that is seeing hundreds of thousands of barrels produced every day in excess of demand.

Benchmark Brent and WTI futures both fell over 6 percent in previous session to reach 2015 lows, and they are closing in on levels last seen during the credit crunch of 2008/2009.