BSE Sensex volatile; HSBC Services PMI falls to 4-yr low

Moneycontrol Bureau
Live Market Commentary

12:00 pm Update: Largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp hiked prices of its products by up to Rs 1,500 across models to offset the impact of rising input costs and rupee depreciation.

"We have decided to raise the prices of our products. This is on account of the rising input costs due to the depreciating Rupee and also the rising power and logistics costs," a company spokesperson said, reports PTI.

The stock is up around half a percent in the Sensex.

11:45 am Market outlook: Edelweiss Securities expects the second quarter earnings season to be a mixed bag. Co-head IE and head of research Nischal Maheshwari believes that sectors which have benefitted from rupee's fall like information technology (IT) and pharmaceutical are likely to see an earnings upgrade.

On the other hand, auto and industrials may see a downgrade in the earnings, he tells CNBC-TV18 in an interview.
Maheshwari advises investors to accumulate export-oriented stocks in their portfolio.

He is bullish on Infosys , HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra in the IT space. In FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), he is positive on Emami and Dabur . He also suggests staying away from cement, realty and energy stocks.

11:30 am Buzzer: Investors continued buying Tata Motors shares on Friday after Deutsche Bank raised its target price on the stock by 45 percent from Rs 275 to Rs 400. The stock rallied 5.77 percent in early trade to touch a record high of Rs 364.70, continuing its upmove from previous day's gains of 2.77 percent.

The brokerage house has a buy rating on the stock, citing strong sales of Tata Motors' UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in China and US.

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The market is going volatile as the HSBC Services PMI for September slumped to a 4.5 year low of 44.6 versus 47.6 in August. The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, slipped from 47.6 in August to 44.6 in September, its weakest since April 2009, reports Reuters.

The Sensex is down 26.94 points or 0.14 percent at 19875.13, and the Nifty down 11.95 points or 0.20 percent at 5897.75.

About 870 shares have advanced, 812 shares declined, and 97 shares are unchanged.

Besides Tata Motors, TCS, BHarti Airtel, Cipla and M&M are top gainers in the Sensex. On the losing side are Tata Power, Sesa Sterlite, GAIL, Jindal Steel and ICICI Bank.

Asian markets are trading lower with the Nikkei falling below 14,000-mark for the first time in nearly a month on growing political uncertainty in the US.

The dollar index continues to trade sub-80 at an 8-month low. Commodities saw Brent slip marginally by 0.3 percent.

The rupee recouped early losses, and trades higher on dollar sales by foreign banks. In the bond market, sentiment is positive on expectation of strong demand at the gilt auction and ahead of the RBI's up to Rs 10,000 cr open market operations (OMO) on Monday.