Sensex, Nifty fall; Midcap outperforms, Parag Milk jumps 13%

Moneycontrol Bureau10:58 am Market Update: The market halved losses following buying in Infosys and ICICI Bank. The Sensex fell 64.69 points to 25639.92 and the Nifty declined 18.55 points to 7851.60.

Laggards in the index were Larsen (-1 percent), Bharti Infratel (-1 percent), HCL Tech (-1 percent) and Bank of Baroda (-1 percent). Gainers included Tata Steel (2 percent), Hindalco (2 percent), Tata Motors DVR (2 percent) and Lupin (2 percent).

In sectoral performance as reflected by the respective indices, FMCG (-0.6 percent), consumer durables (-0.2 percent), power (-0.2 percent) and oil & gas (-0.1 percent) were under pressure, while metals (1.0 percent), auto (0.4 percent) and healthcare (0.3 percent) gained.     

Key Asian markets were trading weak. Singapore’s Straits Times was the biggest lower, down 26 points or 1.0 percent at 2750. Taiwan’s Taiwan Index was down 66 points at 8092, Korea’s KOSPI was down 13 points at 1943, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 92 points at 19733, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 11 points at 16633. China was the only exception to the downtrend with the Shanghai up 11 points at 2818. 10:35 am Earnings estimates: IRB Infrastructure's fourth quarter profit is likely to be flat at Rs 140 crore against Rs 138 crore in year-ago period, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18. The bottomline may be hit by higher interest & depreciation cost and lower operating profit margin.

Revenue is seen rising 39 percent to Rs 1,375 crore compared to same quarter last fiscal. Analysts say EPC revenue may grow led by start of construction in newer projects and traffic on key road projects is likely to grow 6-7 percent YoY.

Operating profit (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) may jump 28 percent YoY to Rs 728 crore but margin may contract 470 basis points to 52.9 percent in Q4 due to change in revenue mix.10:20 am Earnings downgrades likely?: Mahesh Nandurkar of CLSA says among the 54 companies under coverage that reported earnings for the March 2016 quarter so far, he reduced FY17 earnings estimates for 24 companies and raised estimates for 17 companies.

Overall, he said he lowered FY17 earnings estimates by 4 percent and consensus by 2 percent during the results season.

According to him, FY17 earnings growth estimate is now 17 percent as against 24 percent for consensus. "Although a low base would help earnings growth reach double digits from September 2017, risk of further downgrades to consensus earnings estimates remains high, Nandurkar says.Also read - IDBI stake sale could be fast-tracked; IFC, TPG likely investors10:00 am Market Check

Equity benchmarks continued to see selling pressure as assembly elections counting started showing results. BJP is likely to get majority in Assam while Congress is seen losing in all five states.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 103.70 points to 25600.91 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 31.45 points to 7838.70. The market breadth was marginally positive as about 889 shares advanced against 712 declining shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.Parag Milk Foods debuted on the bourses at Rs 217.50, up over 1 percent from its issue price of Rs 215 per share. However, the stock quickly climbed within minutes of listing, gaining over 13 percent touching intraday high of Rs 242.70 per share.ITC, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI and TCS were down 0.3-1.6 percent while Tata Motors, Lupin and Tata Steel gained 1-2 percent.