Sensex tanks 255 pts, Nifty ends below below 8650; Axis dives 8%

Moneycontrol Bureau3:30 pm Market closing: Dragged by weak earnings the market has ended lower. The Sensex closed down 254.91 points or 0.9 percent at 27836.51 and the Nifty slipped 76.05 points or 0.9 percent at 8615.25. About 1187 shares have advanced, 1587 shares declined, and 240 shares are unchanged.

Hero MotoCorp, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, HUL and Dr Reddy's Labs weere gainers while Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and Adani Ports were losers in the Sensex.

2:56 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices extended losses with the Sensex falling 284.44 points or 1.01 percent to 27806.98 and the Nifty down 80.55 points or 0.93 percent at 8610.75.2:40 pm Results: Public sector lender Canara Bank's second quarter earnings met analysts' expectations. Performance on yearly basis continued to be weak but the bank improved it on sequential basis. Profit fell 32.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 356.91 crore on higher provisions but increased 56 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Net interest income during the quarter declined 7.7 percent to Rs 2,442.35 crore compared with year-ago period but was up 5.8 percent compared with previous quarter.

Worst is almost over and the bank should control NPA at 9 percent by March 2017, Rakesh Sharma, MD and CEO said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

Non-interest income jumped 47.2 percent to Rs 1,781.77 crore and operating profit grew by 10.1 percent to Rs 2,140.77 crore on yearly basis.2:30 pm Inflows in MFs: Investors pumped in over Rs 16,000 crore into various mutual fund schemes in September, with liquid or money market segment contributing the most to the inflow.

With this, the total net inflow in mutual fund schemes has reached Rs 2.34 lakh crore in the April-September period of the current fiscal. In comparison, MFs had witnessed an inflow of Rs 80,895 crore in the year-ago period.

According to the data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), investors have poured in a net Rs 16,071 crore in MF schemes last month as compared to Rs 25,332 crore in the preceding month.

Prior to that, mutual fund schemes had witnessed an inflow of Rs 1.03 lakh crore.2:20 pm Earnings: Jubilant Foodworks, which operates Dominos Pizza and Dunkin Donuts chains in India, today reported a 1.46 percent decline in standalone net profit at Rs 21.56 crore for the second quarter ended September 30.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 21.88 crore in the July-September quarter last fiscal.

Its net sales, however, grew by 13.27 percent to Rs 665.54 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 587.53 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a BSE filing.

For the six months ended September 30, JFL's standalone net profit dipped 17.96 percent to Rs 40.56 crore compared with Rs 49.44 crore in the same period last fiscal.Also read - HUL Q2 profit may rise 7%, volume growth seen around 3%2:00 pm Market Check

Equity benchmarks continued to fall in afternoon trade with the Sensex declining 217.42 points to 27874 and the Nifty down 56.05 points at 8635.25. Banking & financials and technology stocks remained under pressure whereas FMCG and auto stocks gained.

Axis Bank retained its top position in the selling list, down 8 percent on disappointing earnings. ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints and Adani Ports were down 1-3 percent.

ITC shares rebounded after reporting better-than-expected cigarette volume growth of 7 percent in Q2. Bharti Airtel gained 2.6 percent after strong margin performance while Maruti Suzuki and Hero Motocorp climbed around 2 percent ahead of earnings.

European stocks were lower following lacklustre trade on Wall Street and in Asia amid a slide in the oil price. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 0.7-1 percent.

Oil prices fell more than a percent as a report showing a surge in US crude stocks, rising production in Nigeria and squabbling among producers about a planned output cut re-ignited concerns about a global supply glut.