Closing Bell: Sensex loses 184 points, Nifty ends below 9050 on global cues; RIL sinks 3%

3:10 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices remained under pressure, with the Sensex down 199.52 points at 29,221.88 and the Nifty down 69 points at 9,039.

About 1664 shares declined against 1113 advancing shares on the BSE.

2:59 pm Interview: Sadbhav Infrastructure Project has been declared L1 for National Highway 8 project with a project cost of Rs 891 crore.

The project includes six-lane of Greenfield proposed Udaipur bypass on hybrid annuity mode, package-IV under NHDP phase V in the state of Rajasthan.

Throwing more light on the above news and the business outlook going forward Director Nitin Patel said it is basically a connecting stretch between Shreenathji-Udaipur which the company already has.

This takes our total orderbook to Rs 10250 crore, said Patel in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

2:50 pm Oil Update: Oil fell further towards a barrel on Monday, pressured by uncertainty over whether an OPEC-led production cut will be extended beyond June in an effort to counter a glut of crude.

A committee of ministers from OPEC and outside producers agreed on Sunday to look at prolonging the deal, stopping short of an earlier draft statement that said the committee recommended keeping the measure in place.

2:25 pm Merger: In a bid to improve efficiency and consolidating operations, Tata Group is exploring a merger of Tata Global Beverages and Tata Coffee. The group is weighing the pros and cons of a possible merger between the two entities, reports CNBC-TV18's Kritika Saxena.

If the deal looks favourable, Tata Coffee will be merged into Tata Global Beverages. It will help the Group amplify synergies of both the companies together, persons privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18. Tata Group is also aiming at strengthening its fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment by way of the merger, they said on the condition of anonymity.

2:00 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks recouped some losses in afternoon, backed by ITC, HDFC and Infosys that gained half a percent each.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 127.08 points at 29,294.32 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 44.45 points to 9,063.55, dragged by Reliance Industries after Sebi order and weak global cues.

The rupee hit a nearly 1-1/2 year high against the dollar today, tracking gains in Asian currencies after US President Donald Trump's failure to pass a healthcare reform bill raised concerns about the chances of a US fiscal stimulus.

European markets moved lower as investors adopted a cautious tone on the back of US President Donald Trump's surprise failure.

1:46 pm GST Bills introduced: India's finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday introduced four bills on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the lower house of parliament, paving the way for the government to launch the landmark tax reform.

The bills introduced are the Central GST Bill, the Integrated GST Bill, the Union Territory GST Bill, and the GST (Compensation to States) Bill.

The state assemblies will also have to pass the State GST bill before the new tax system can be rolled out later this year.

1:20 pm Equity MFs underperform: In terms of returns to investors, most of the equity focused mutual funds in the country have underperformed their respective benchmark S&P BSE indices, for one year ended December 2016, says a report.

The analysis is part of S&P Dow Jones Indices' scorecard SPIVA which tracks the performance of actively managed Indian mutual funds against their benchmarks over the one-year, 3-year, 5-year and 10-year periods, as on December 31, 2016.

Over the one year period, the latest SPIVA India (S&P Indices Versus Active Funds) scorecard showed that 66.29 per cent of large-cap equity funds, 64.29 per cent of ELSS (equity-linked saving schemes) and 71.11 per cent of mid/small cap equity funds have underperformed their respective benchmark indices.

1:10 pm Market Check: Sluggishness in the market continued in the afternoon session as equity benchmarks declined and neared the day’s low levels.

The 30-share Sensex was down 218.62 points at 29202.78, while the Nifty was down 70.25 points at 9037.75. The market breadth pointed to steady negativity as 1,056 shares advanced against a decline of 1,497 shares. Around 192 shares remained unchanged.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries dragged the indices lower. This, along with a below normal monsoon forecast and global cues hit the Street’s performance.

Tata Steel, Reliance and Idea Cellular were the top losers on both indices, while BHEL, SBI, Bank of Baroda and Bharti Airtel gained the most.

12:55 pm Rupee strengthens: The rupee hit a nearly 1-1/2 year high against the dollar on Monday, tracking gains in Asian currencies after U.S. President Donald Trump's failure to pass a healthcare reform bill raised concerns about the chances of a US fiscal stimulus.

The Reserve Bank of India stepped in to cap broader gains in the rupee, traders said, adding that some of the gains were also due to the strong .1-billion foreign investment into debt and equities this month.

The gains in the local unit spurred by strong dollar inflows helped spark a rally in bond markets, sending the benchmark 10-year bond yield down as much as 12 basis points to 6.71 percent, the lowest since February 8 when the central bank unexpectedly changed its monetary policy stance to "neutral" from "accommodative."

12:45 pm IPO: The JSW Infra IPO likely in 2019 or 2020 after the capacity utilisation for its port business reaches at least 100 million tonne per annum (mtpa). Currently, the port handles 35 mtpa of cargo, said Sajjan Jindal, Chairman and Managing Director, JSW Group.

Although the steel industry seems to have done well over the last six months with the help of Finance and Commerce Ministry’s help, all the dumping problems are not yet behind us and the industry it is still passing through a difficult phase, said Jindal, adding that at such times consolidation in the industry would be a good thing. He also confirmed that the company has been looking at acquiring Bhushan Steel, Monnet Ispat for quite some time now.

12:33 pm Agreement: Dr Reddy's Labs and Integra LifeSciences entered into an agreement to market and distribute DuraGen Plus and Suturable DuraGen Dural Regeneration in India.

12:25 pm FII View: Adrian Mowat of JPMorgan says a review of the asset allocation and performance of major emerging market funds reveals that fund managers increased exposure to commodity-linked countries.

Net overweights in Russia and Brazil increased to 13 and 6, respectively and both markets have been underperforming in 2017 so far, he adds.

He says India remains the highest net overweight market in emerging markets. Net overweights in India increased to 23 from 20 and the median fund overweight in India increased by 20 bps.

12:10 pm Fund raising: Auto component maker Subros today said its board will meet later this week to consider raising funds through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis.

"Meeting of the Board of Directors of the company will be held on March 29 to consider a proposal to issue secured/unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures on private placement basis, for an amount as may be decided by the Board," Subros said in a regulatory filing.

It did not elaborate on the quantum of funds it may raise.

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12:00 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks fell further in noon, with the Nifty breaking 9050 level following weak monsoon forecast.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 217.11 points at 29,204.29 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 71.35 points to 9,036.65, dragged by private banks, FMCG, pharma and metals stocks.

The market breadth was in favour of declines. About three shares declined for every two share rising on the BSE.

ITC, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries were down 0.5-2 percent.

11:56 am Fate of BS-III vehicles: In a few hours the Supreme Court will take a decisive call on whether or not old and polluting Bharat Stage-III vehicles should be allowed to be registered after end of this month.

The fate of 824,000 unsold two and three-wheelers, trucks and buses will be determined by today’s judgement. Collectively worth over Rs 12,000 crore the inventory runs the risk of being turned into junk if the apex court rules that such vehicles cannot be allowed to be registered.

On Friday, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said that the Centre had spent thousands of crores of rupees to upgrade technology to produce BS-IV fuel and the companies could not be allowed to frustrate the government's initiative to check increasing pollution levels by selling around 8.2 lakh BS-III vehicles which they are holding in stock.

11:45 am NPA issue: The government last week said it would speed up the process of resolving the bad loan or non-performing assets (NPA) issue that has been plaguing the banking sector for quite some time now.

However, there have been no details on what the mechanism would be to resolve this issue but hopes are alive and so the sector has been active in trade. Sources say the possibility of bad bank formation is unlikely.

To discuss this and the different mechanisms that could be used to resolve the issue CNBC-TV18 spoke to PK Gupta, MD, State Bank of India and Vinod Kathuria, ED, Union Bank of India.

11:30 pm Price hike: Automaker Ford India plans to increase prices of vehicles across its model range by up to 2 per cent from April in order to partially offset rise in input costs.

The company sells a range of vehicles in the country, from Figo hatchback to iconic Mustang sedan, which are priced between Rs 4.65 lakh to Rs 66.3 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

"Owing to input costs, Ford cars will see an increase of 1-2 per cent from April," a Ford India spokesperson told PTI.

11:15 am Market Check: The market extended its losses from the morning session, dragged by a fall index heavyweights.

The 30-share Sensex was down 152.25 points at 29269.15, while the Nifty was down 49.70 points at 9058.30. The market breadth was in the negative as 1118 shares advanced against a decline of 1202 shares. About 191 shares were unchanged.

Tata Steel, Coal India, and Idea Cellular were the top losers on both indices, while SBI, HUL, Bank of Baroda and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers.

Engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said its construction arm has bagged an order worth Rs 705 crore.

"The Water and effluent treatment business of the construction arm of L&T has won an order worth Rs 705 crore," L&T said in a BSE filing.

Shares of GVK Power & Infrastructure advanced 6 percent intraday Monday as it has completed the stake sale in Bangalore International Airport (BIAL).

The company has divested 33 percent of its stake in Bangalore International Airport from its wholly owned subsidiary, Bangalore Airport & Infrastructure Developers (BAIDPL) to Fairfax India Holdings Corporation, through its wholly-owned subsidiary in Mauritius, for an aggregate investment of Rs 2202 crore.

The company has obtained all the necessary consents / approvals as may be required including from the lenders and also followed the process in the BIAL shareholders for stake sale.

10:55 am Market Outlook: Jayant Manglik of Religare Securities expects volatility to continue during the week due to scheduled derivatives expiry.

Participants will also be keeping eye on parliament working as the GST legislations are likely to be tabled this week, he says.

"Though the market trend is undoubtedly up but traders should not be complaisant and manage their positions actively. They should focus on risk management part and rest will take care on its own. Investors, on the other hand, should not give much weightage to the current fluctuations and use this as opportunity to gradually add fundamentally sound counters," Mangalik says.

Broadly, he feels Nifty will consolidate further within 9000-9300 in near future prior to next directional move.

10:45 am Rupee strengthens: The rupee gained momentum and was trading at a 17-month high against the dollar. At 10:43 am, the Indian currency was trading at 65.12, up 0.44 percent, against the greenback.

10:30 Buzzing Stock: Shares of GVK Power & Infrastructure advanced 6 percent intraday Monday as it has completed the stake sale in Bangalore International Airport (BIAL).

The company has divested 33 percent of its stake in Bangalore International Airport from its wholly owned subsidiary, Bangalore Airport & Infrastructure Developers (BAIDPL) to Fairfax India Holdings Corporation, through its wholly-owned subsidiary in Mauritius, for an aggregate investment of Rs 2202 crore.

10:15 am EMA suspends drug: Sources told CNBC-TV18 that European Medicines Agency has recommended to Strides Shasun for suspension of only one drug in five countries. Drug recommended for suspension by EMA is still not commercialised.

The stock was quoting at Rs 1,114.50, down Rs 24.20, or 2.13 percent on the BSE.

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10:05 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended losses in morning, with the Sensex falling over 100 points, weighed by index heavyweights Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC Bank.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 133.47 points at 29,287.93 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 45.85 points to 9,062.15.

The market breadth was balanced as about 1025 shares advanced against 1004 declining shares on the BSE.

Reliance Industries, ITC, Tata Steel, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints and Tata Motors were down 1-2 percent followed by HDFC Bank whereas SBI and HUL were gainers.

Adrian Mowat of JPMorgan says India remains the highest net overweight market in emerging markets. Net overweights in India increased to 23 from 20 and the median fund overweight in India increased by 20 bps.

9:50 am GST Bill: The government is likely to table supplementary goods and services tax legislations in Parliament today. Sources said C-GST, I-GST, UT-GST and the compensation law are likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha today and could be taken up for discussion as early as March 28.

Also, amendments to the excise and Customs Act to abolish various cess as well as furnishing Bills for exports and imports under the new GST regime will be placed before the House.

According to the sources, the government is looking at passage of the GST Bills in the Lower House by March 29 or latest by March 30.

9:40 am FII View: The bulls market which started in the month of November after Donald Trump became the 45th US President may take a breather after Republicans pulled the legislation to overhaul the US healthcare system. But that doesn't mean the tax agenda is dead, Ken Peng, Asia Pacific Investment strategist at Citi Private Bank said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

“The setback for the Healthcare Bill doesn't mean the Tax Reform agenda is ‘Dead’. It now puts more emphasis on tax reforms, in that line of thought; overall global recovery is still there and corporate earnings are likely to grow," he said.

Peng further added that setback from the Healthcare Bill is not a trend reversal but a correction that could extend up to 5-10 percent in US markets; but emerging markets like India and China are likely to do well.

9:28 am NPA resolution likely?: To deal with mounting bad loans afflicting banks, the government is likely to come out with a set of measures for faster resolution of non-performing assets within a fortnight.

"Policy is being given final touches. It should be announced by the month-end or early next month," a senior finance ministry official said.

Broadly, the policy should contain the processes relating to haircut and one-time settlement to be carried out by banks for faster resolution of high-value cases, the official said, adding that the big loan defaults constitute about 70 per cent of the total NPAs.

This will provide a clear direction on the NPA front and the government will be able to take the bull by horns, the official said.

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9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks started off Monday's trade on a negative note, tracking weakness in Asian peers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 81.81 points at 29,339.59 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 27.45 points to 9,080.55. About 620 shares advanced against 381 declining shares on the BSE.

Coal India and Aurobindo Pharma were top losers, down 2-3 percent followed by Reliance Industries, ITC, Hero Motocorp, Sun Pharma, Idea Cellular and Eicher Motors.

However, ICICI Bank, Grasim Industries, Power Grid Corporation, Dr Reddy's Labs, Bajaj Auto, SBI and GAIL were gainers.

The Indian rupee gained in the early trade. It has opened higher by 14 paise at 65.28 per dollar versus 65.42 Friday.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "Considering 10-year bond as well as equity market movement, we are of the view that rupee will trade sideways in a range of 65.20-65.50/dollar."

The US dollar took a spill in early Asian trade as investors in the region fretted about the chances of US fiscal stimulus following the defeat of President Donald Trump's healthcare package.

Asia markets were mostly lower after US President Donald Trump suffered a legislative defeat last Friday when Republican leaders pulled a bill to overhaul the US health care system with the dollar weaker and gold prices up.

(Disclosure: Reliance Industries owns Network 18 that publishes Moneycontrol.com.)