Nifty struggles below 8300; oil & metal stocks drag

Moneycontrol Bureau

1:50 pm FM at Vibrant Gujarat Summit: Reiterating the government’s pledge to make the tax regime more business friendly, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said foreign investors have been assured of the retrospective tax issue being rectified soon. He was addressing companies and investors at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit on Monday. Jaitley said the adversarial tax regime in India had scared investors away and none of the past issues had fetched any revenues for the country either. He said the government was creating mechanisms in revenue department to simplify tax administration.

1:30 pm Buzzing: Shares of Bharat Forge jumped 5 percent intraday on Monday after CLSA has initiated coverage on it with a buy rating. It has set a target price of Rs 1140 per share indicating a 23 percent upside.

The brokerage says that valuations are rich but will stay elevated given robust growth outlook, strong franchise and diversified business mix.  “The company will not only be a key beneficiary of the investment cycle recovery in India but also has huge headroom to grow its industrial exports to US and Europe. Entry into new verticals, such as aerospace, will provide further boost. We see its industrial business revenues rising at 29 percent CAGR over FY14-17 driven by strong growth in India as well as exports,” it said in a note.

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The market is listless as the Sensex is down 70.65 points at 27387.73. The Nifty is down 14.15 points at 8270.35. About 1501 shares have advanced, 1141 shares declined, and 370 shares are unchanged.

HUL, Infosys, Dr Reddy's Labs, Axis Bank and SBI are top gainers while Coal India, Reliance, Bajaj Auto and Hero are major laggards.

Crude oil futures fell by 0.70 per cent to Rs 2962 per barrel as speculators trimmed positions amid a weak trend in Asian markets. The trading sentiment remained weak in futures trade following fall in crude oil prices with lower demand and a supply glut putting relentless pressure on prices already at their lowest in five and a half year, analysts said.