Sensex continues to fall; Cipla, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto rally

Moneycontrol Bureau1:55 pm Tata's raod ahead: Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry will meet the chief executives of all Tata Group companies to prepare a blueprint for the road ahead. The meet is likely to focus on big digital push, according to people privy to the development. There is likely to be a focus of streamlining HR policies and strategies, reports CNBC-TV18’s Kritika Saxena. The group’s strategy to expand existing businesses and leverage group companies for growth is likely to be addressed at the annual group leadership meet, people in the know of the development said.1:45 pm FDI: India saw a record 53 percent increase in FDI in last two years as the investment climate brightened due to steps taken to foster growth, price stability and fiscal prudence which also improved the overall macroeconomic stability, government said today.

Emphasising that investments are not made for "charity", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the Lok Sabha that improving the ease of doing business was a "work in progress".

In the last two years, there has been 53 percent rise in FDI into the country, which is a record high, Jaitley said during Question Hour, adding that "comprehensive reforms in FDI have resulted in the highest ever FDI inflow in 2015-16".

1:30 pm Market outlook: There are a couple of key things to watch out for in the GST even if the Constitutional Amendment Bill is passed in this session of Parlaiment, Mahesh Nandurkar, India Strategist, CLSA tells CNBC-TV18. One, the market will be closely watching the standard GST rate. If the standard rate is 17-18 percent, the market will stay excited about GST, says Nandurkar. But if the standard rate is 20 percent or higher, the enthusiasm over GST will die down, he says. Second will be the flexibility offered by the Centre to the states on GST. States have been bargaining hard on the list of goods they can charge tax on and in some cases even on the rates they can charge.Don't miss: Q1 lifts Eicher Motors to new high, Citi ups target at Rs 25000

Equity benchmarks continued to fall amid volatility in afternoon trade, dragged by index heavyweights ICICI Bank, HDFC, Reliance Industries, L&T and HDFC Bank.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 97.71 points at 28110.91 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 17.75 points to 8648.55 while the market breadth was positive. About 1287 shares advanced against 1163 declining shares on the BSE.

ICICI Bank remained top loser, down 3 percent ahead of Q1 earnings followed by HDFC, Reliance Industries, L&T, HDFC Bank and Infosys while Sun Pharma, Lupin, M&M, Bajaj Auto, Cipla, Adani Ports, Tata Steel and Hero Motocorp gained 1-2.5 percent.

European stocks traded higher helped by a rally in bank stocks as investors digest the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and take stock of more European earnings. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.35 percent.