Aurobindo, Aban most active ahead of Q3 nos; Sensex weak

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) climbed to 1.70 percent versus 1.66 percent and net NPAs rose to 0.89 percent versus Rs 0.83 percent on sequential basis.

12:50pm Kolte-Patil talks to CNBC-TV18 after buying land Pune

Kolte-Patil is all gung-ho about its latest venture in the Pune realty space. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, chief executive officer, Sujay Kalele, says the company is only awaiting the environmental clearance before launching its project on the newly acquired 34 acres land in Wakad, Pune.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Kalele says the project to develop 2.3 million square feet has a revenue potential of Rs 1600 crore.

The project that cost the company Rs 350 crore has been accrued by taking a loan of Rs 60 crore. However, all of it has been factored in the earlier quarters and hence, there is no incremental loan for the company, explains Kalele.

The project will be launched in H1FY15 and its revenues will be recognised once it hits the threshold of 25 percent, adds Kalele.

As the project is mix of retail and commercial plans in a very prime loaction, the average realisation, Kalele expects will be higher than the current rates, thereby pushing margins.

12:40pm Experts raise concern on BHEL post Q3 earnings

Sanjeev Zarbade, capital goods analyst, Kotak Securities believes it will be difficult to see a turnaround in BHEL without revival in utility.

He expects BHEL margins to bottom out around 11-12 percent going ahead. According to him, management indicated that BHEL is favourably placed for orders worth 3.2 GW.

12:30pm Market Expert

Bhuvnesh Singh, MD & Head of India Research, Barclays sees the Nifty trading around 6,500 over the next 12 months. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said that investors should expect sub 10 percent returns from the Nifty over next one year.

Continuing his bullish tone, he said foreign inflows are likely to be positive for India in 2014 and investor sentiment for Indian equities should continue to remain bullish. Overseas investors made nearly net inflow of over Rs 1.13 lakh crore in the Indian equity market in 2013, even as they turned net sellers in the debt securities.

Sharing views on India Inc’s performance, he expects earnings to grow by 15 percent in FY15. However, downgrades are likely to continue in most sectors barring IT. Singh is not very optimistic about midcap IT player Tech Mahindra in the long-term given its huge exposure to the telecom sector. From the pharma space, Lupin remains his top pick. Meanwhile, he remains underweight on financials.

12:20pm Aban hits 52-week high ahead of Q3 earnings

Analysts expect consolidated net profit of Aban Offshore to grow 190 percent year-on-year at Rs 93 crore due to lower interest cost and lower tax rates.

Net sales may increase 13 percent to Rs 1,030 crore from Rs 909 crore during the same period as majority of the assets remain deployed in the quarter.

The stock rose 1.6 percent to Rs 531.20 after hitting a 52-week high of Rs 549.

12:10pm Equity benchmarks remain under pressure in noon trade with the Nifty struggling at 6000 level weighed down by banks, capital goods and technology stocks.

The Sensex fell 86.63 points to 20,174.40, and the Nifty declined 28.75 points to 5,993.65. Even the broader markets too lost ground.

Aban Offshore and Aurobindo Pharma are among the most active shares on exchanges ahead of December quarter earnings today. Jet Airways topped the most active list after Etihad received aproval from CCI to buy 50.1 percent stake in Jet Privilege; the stock surged 10 percent.

Bank of Baroda too joined the most active list after reporting better-than-expected profit and net interest income during October-December quarter earnings.

Just Dial, Hindalco Industries, ICICI Bank, SBI and Tata Steel are other most active stocks.

Shares of ICICI Bank, TCS, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro and Bajaj Auto declined over a percent while Infosys, ONGC, Tata Motors and State Bank of India fell over 0.5 percent.

BHEL lost 3 percent on order book concerns. The management said that nearly 24 percent of the order backlog is now "non-moving". However, Coal India and Tata Power bucked the trend, rising more than 3 percent followed by HUL with a 2 percent upmove.