Sensex, Nifty open in red; Infosys down, ONGC & Bharti gainers

Moneycontrol Bureau9:55 am Market outlook: The Nifty is likely to see a sharp upmove to 8,700-8,800 levels if two key events -- the monsoon session of Parliament (in which the GST bill is widely expected to pass) and Brexit referendum -- see a positive outcome, says Ajay Bodke, CEO and Chief Portfolio Mananger (PMS), Prabhudas Lilladher.In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Bodke said he is constructive on the markets in medium term even as it is exhibiting signs of tiredness [in the near term]. "Largecap stocks are finding it difficult to rapidly move up and some consolidation is expected to happen," he said.9:45 am Interview: DP Maheshwari, MD & CEO of Jayshree Tea and Industries said that prices are going up only for the quality tea production. Common and medium tea prices are struggling.

"The reason is demand-supply. March had a fantastic crop though the year started on a very good note, Rs 20-25 higher than last year and because of excessive March crop there was dampening in sentiment and prices came down but April and May because of over rain especially in north east India, basically Assam; there was no rain in west Bengal, so drought situation is there. So the crop position ending May, is my perception, it is more or less same as last year. So definitely, prices will go up and will remain firm throughout the year, he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

9:30 am Monsoon updates:  Heavy monsoon showers are expected to lash Kerala over the next 48 hours. South west monsoon had hit the state on Wednesday marking the official commencement of rainy season in the country.

"Southwest monsoon has set in over Kerala and Lakshadweep," said K Santosh, IMD Thiruvananthapuram head on Wednesday.

According to IMD, it has also advanced to most parts of Tamil Nadu, some parts of south interior Karnataka and remaining parts of south Bay of Bengal.

Met department had earlier predicted that the monsoon will be delayed this year and will be setting in only by June 7.

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The market has opened in red on Thursday. The Sensex is down 75.70 points or 0.3 percent at 26944.96, and the Nifty is down 19.45 points or 0.2 percent at 8253.60. About 474 shares have advanced, 241 shares declined, and 34 shares are unchanged.

ONGC, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Reliance and Tata Motors are gainers while Lupin, Infosys, Dr Reddy's, Asian Paints and HUL are losers in the Sensex.

The Indian rupee opened higher by 7 paise at 66.58 per dollar versus 66.65 Wednesday. The dollar at a five-week low against a basket of currencies as traders reduced bets of an imminent US interest rate increase.

Ashutosh Khajuria of Federal Bank said, "Expect rupee to appreciate marginally due to increase in capital flows and trade in the range of 66.50- 66.75/dollar."

Asia markets traded mostly lower, as a weaker dollar weighed on Japan's shares and South Korean stocks failed to get a boost from a surprise interest rate cut.

The Bank of Korea surprised markets by cutting its policy rate by 25 basis points to a record-low of 1.25 percent. A Reuters poll of analysts showed markets expected the central bank to keep rates steady at 1.5 percent.

The Dow ended above 18,000 for the first time since April on Wednesday as declines in the dollar lifted some commodity-related shares and boosted the outlook for multinationals.The S&P 500 materials index climbed 0.6 percent following gains in copper and gold prices. Energy shares were lower despite a jump in oil prices.