BSE Sensex under pressure; IT gains, metals & power drag

Moneycontrol Bureau
Live Market Commentary

2:00 pm: There has been a regulatory vacuum in spot commodity exchanges, says Ramesh Abhishek, chairman, Forward Market Commission.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18 he informed that three spot exchanges were exempted by the government under Section 27 of FCRA to conduct forward trading in one day contracts. This was done to boost volumes so that their economic viability improved. However many conditions were laid.

1:50 pm Boardroom: Telecom major Reliance Communication has the highest revenue per minutes (RPM) says Gurdeep Singh, Pres & CEO-Wireless Business, Reliance Communications. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Singh guides that the company will continue to improve its RPMs even in the days to come. The company's RPM jumped 4 percent in Q1.

Singh says the company, that has managed to slash its debt by over Rs 400 crore in Q1, will continue to focus on profitable growth. Adding to that confidence, he says the company is running cashflow positive and will now aim to get more paid and profitable minutes. 

"Our focus increasingly is on to increase the paid and profitable minutes consumed on our network. To that extent, we will continue that journey till we reach a good customer and a revenue mix of the subscribers using our network," says Singh in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

1:40 pm FII view: Despite Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) efforts to protect the free falling rupee, global investors continue to remain bearish on the rupee, says Nicholas Ferres of Eastspring Investments.

Strengthening of the dollar and positive US macro data will uplift global cyclical stocks and may impact emerging markets (EMs), he told CNBC-TV18. EMs, which have been highly expensive, may see more pain on the back of rising US bond yields. From ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries, Ferres is betting on Taiwan and Korea.

1:30 pm Downgrade: Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgrades public sector lenders Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India on slowing growth and impact on earnings from mark-to-market losses in their bond portfolios, reports Reuters.

Bank of Baroda shares are down 6 percent, while United Bank of India falls 5 percent.

Don't miss: Underweight on financials, fixed income mkts attractive, says S Naren 

The Nifty is struggling below 5700, weighed down by commodities, power names and rate sensitives. The Sensex is down 85.25 points at 19231.94, and the Nifty slips 28.15 points to 5699.70. About 671 shares have advanced, 1343 shares declined, and 162 shares are unchanged.

The midcap index slumps over a percent, infra, telecom and banks are the key laggards.

Titan rallies after margins adjusted for the inventory write down stand at 10 percent, beating street estimates. In a CNBC-TV18 boardroom, the management says the reversal of gold on lease model is a positive development. It does not see margin fall as a big concern. Deustche bank has upgraded the stock to a buy, it believes market conditions favour acceleration in market share gains

Globally, it is a positive session across Asia but Japan is powering ahead with an over 3 percent gain led by the weakness in yen. Europe has opened in positive.