Sensex closes below 26000, sheds 350 pts; Hindalco down 6%

The broader markets too saw big crack; the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices losing 1.4 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

All sectoral indices closed in the red. BSE Power, Capital Goods, Oil & Gas, Auto, IT, Bank and Healthcare indices were down 1-3 percent while ITC, Gail India and Coal India were only gainers in the Sensex, up around a percent.

Hindalco Industries, Ultra Tech Cement, Grasim Industries, Mahindra and Mahindra, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel, Tata Power, Reliance Industries and BHEL topped the selling list, down 3-6 percent.

03:10pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks widened losses in last hour of trade with the Sensex crashing 358.04 points or 1.36 percent to 25991.29 and the Nifty falling 117.30 points or 1.49 percent to  7746.70 while European indices dropped 2-4 percent.

About 787 shares have advanced, 2083 shares declined, and 90 shares are unchanged. 

Hindalco Industries, M&M, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Power, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Grasim Industries and HCL Technologies (ahead of earnings on Friday) plunged 3-5.5 percent.

However, DLF, NMDC, ITC, BPCL and Coal India bucked the trend, up 1-4 percent.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slipped 1-2 percent.

03:00pm Modi unveils steps to reform labour sector

India will simplify employment rules and smooth the way for people to move social security funds when they change jobs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, unveiling steps to reform the labour sector and boost employment.

India's archaic labour laws strictly regulate hiring and firing, while an onerous 'inspector raj' deluges employers with paperwork, discouraging them from expanding and taking on new staff.

"Fifty types of departments chase them, 50 types of forms have to be filled in. The world has changed," Modi said, adding that companies would now only need to fill a single form online.

The change would chiefly benefit firms that employ just a few employees, he said. In 2009, 84 percent of India's manufacturing workers were employed by firms with fewer than 50 workers, research by the Asian Development Bank shows, reports Reuters.

02:50pm Federa Bank plunges

The Sensex shed 191.47 points to 26157.86 and the Nifty broke 7800 level, down 68.05 points to 7795.95 while Federal Bank fell nearly 4 percent post Q2 earnings.

Kerala-based private sector lender Federal Bank's second quarter (July-September) net profit climbed 6.4 percent on yearly basis to Rs 240.3 crore led by strong other income, but impacted by higher provisions. Profit in the year-ago period was Rs Rs 225.8 crore.

02:45pm Crompton Greaves under pressure ahead of earnings

The Sensex slipped 156.91 points to 26192.42 and the Nifty fell 60.90 points to 7803.10 while Crompton Greaves tanked nearly 8 percent ahead of Q2 earnings.

Crompton Greaves is expected to report a 37.3 percent growth in consolidated profit after tax Rs 80.2 crore in July-September quarter compared to Rs 58.4 crore in same quarter last year, according to the average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Net sales may increase 9.5 percent to Rs 3,508 crore in the quarter ended September 2014 from Rs 3,205 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal driven by overseas business especially due to growth from international power systems.

Key issues to watch out for are margin expansion in the power systems segment, given higher exports and increase in contribution from switchgears; improvement in the overseas automation and systems business performance, given execution of recent better margin order wins; and performance improvement in Hungary / Canada

02:30pm Results Boardroom

IT company Mindtree is gung-ho over its growth story and is confident of beating the NASSCOM industry growth target of 13-15 percent for FY15. According to CFO Rostow Ravanan, the Q3 will remain muted but the company will bounce back with strong growth in Q4 and so, the overall growth will be much better.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 post announcement of Q2 earnings, CEO and MD Krishnakumar Natarajan said the company is overall very positive on its deal pipeline which is very strong across verticals. The company also aims to maintain current margins in Q3.

The midcap company is hopeful of starting with an aggressive growth in Europe in the next two quarters. The hi-tech segment has now delivered three quarters of consistent quarter-on-quarter growth for the company.

Mindtree added eight clients in Q2 and has signed deals worth USD 165 million during the same period.

02:00pm Market Check

After trading flat in the first half, the market succumbed to selling pressure post noon. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 71.84 points to 26277.49 and the Nifty declined 28.40 points to 7835.60.

The market breadth is very weak today. About 1012 shares have advanced while 1767 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS says he does not see a major downside to this market. According to him, 7300-7400 could be the worst level on the Nifty if global markets weaken.

Global markets are weak across the board today. European markets like France's CAC dropped more than 0.5 percent on top of a 3 percent slide in previous session. Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE traded flat while Japan's Nikkei closed with more than 2 percent cut.

The Indian rupee is trading weak today on increased dollar demand amidst capital outflows, down to 61.59 a dollar from 61.44 a dollar in previous session.

Shares of Reliance Industries, Mahindra and Mahindra, HDFC, Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, BHEL and Tata Power declined 1-4 percent while ITC, HUL, Cipla, Gail India and Coal India gained 1-2 percent.