Sensex, Nifty recovers marginally; RBI keeps rate unchanged

Moneycontrol Bureau11:55 am Coal India: Coal India can achieve the production target of 550 million tonnes for this fiscal, says Bipin Kumar Saxena, Director-Marketing, Coal India.In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Saxena says production for April-July at 156 million tonnes is already 10.5 percent higher compared to the same period last year."July, because of monsoon, there was slight decrease but even then from the target point of view and growth, it is well within the reach that we have decided in the beginning of the year," he says.11:45 am Expert on oil:  Investment guru Mark Mobius has dismissed claims that an oversupply of crude is behind oil's sell-off, and believes the end of the broader commodities rout is in sight.

"If you look at the supply and demand growth of oil in the last 20 years, roughly it's been 1 percent growth each year. But within each year, the [price] range has been plus/minus 5 percent," he told CNBC on Tuesday.

"The price is purely sentimental. It has no real relationship to long-term supply and demand."11:35 am Results: Britannia Industries has surprised the street with higher-than-expected April-June quarter results. The food company's Q1 net profit surged 66.9 percent to Rs 190 crore from Rs 114 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Total income, too, jumped 13 percent to Rs 2018.6 crore in the quarter ended 30 June, 2015 against Rs 1787 crore in year-ago period.

The confectionary company's net profit was expected to be at Rs 159 crore in April-June quarter while revenue was seen up 12 percent at Rs 2009 crore, according to a CNBC-TV18 poll.11:25 am Rupee update:  The rupee recovered 7 paise to 63.97 against the American currency in late morning deals on a bout of dollar selling by exporters. Earlier, the rupee had opened weak at 64.09 on sustained dollar demand against the overnight closing of 64.04 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market. It moved in a range of 64.09 and 63.97 per dollar during the morning deals before quoting at 63.97 at 1025 hours.

The dollar index was up 0.13 percent at 97.58 against a basket of six currencies in the early trade. 11:15 am RBI policy details: The Reserve Bank of India Tuesday kept the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 7.25 percent as well as the cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 4 percent. However, it trimmed consumer inflation forecast for January-March 2016 by 0.2 percent and said that growth was beginning to look up gradually.

The RBI cited lower crude prices and better-than-expected monsoon as the reasons for trimming its January-March consumer inflation target.

"It is prudent to keep the policy rate unchanged at the current juncture while maintaining the accommodative stance of monetary policy," the RBI said in its policy statement.11:10 am Market recovers: The market has recovered. The Sensex is down 91.12 points at 28095.94 and the Nifty is down 22.45 points at 8520.60. About 1292 shares have advanced, 1046 shares declined, and 125 shares are unchanged.

Banks are recovering. GAIL, ONGC, Infosys, Tata Motors and Reliance are among laggards.Don't miss: Govt seeks comments on auction methodology for coal linkages

As expected the Reserve Bank of India has kept key rates unchanged in its monetary policy review. The market is still weak as the Sensex is down 211.44 points or 0.7 percent at 27975.62, and the Nifty is down 36.65 points or 0.4 percent at 8506.40. About 1264 shares have advanced, 1045 shares declined, and 119 shares are unchanged.

Hero Motocorp, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Hindalco and Coal India are top gainers while GAIL, ONGC, ICICI Bank, Infosys and SBI are laggards in the Sensex.

Oil prices edged up in early Asian trading following a 5 percent fall in the previous session, as high global production and a weakening economic outlook, especially in Asia, prompted analysts to warn of further falls.

Oil output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reached the highest monthly level in recent history in July, and production could rise further if Iran achieves a plan to raise output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) as soon as sanctions are lifted.

With US production also near records, while China's economy showed further signs of slowing, prices on Monday were pulled down to within a few dollars of the six-year lows touched at the start of the year, with Brent futures LCOc1 falling below USD 50 per barrel for the first time since January.