Sensex trades 35 points lower; HDFC Bank falls

Mumbai: India’s benchmark 30-share Sensex index was trading 35 points lower on Monday morning, led by losses in IT and banking shares.

At 9.40am, the BSE Sensex was down 0.13%, or 37.81 points, at 28,008.85 points, while the National Stock Exchange’s broader barometer 50-share Nifty was trading down 0.22%, or 18.15 points, at 8,371.75 points.

The gainers included Tata Motors Ltd which rose 2.2% to Rs.535.20 after the company reported better-than expected operating performance and consolidated Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortization) margin in the September quarter. Ebitda margin at the Jaguar Land Rover unit also came in better than analyst estimates.

State Bank of India (SBI) rose 1.2% to Rs.2,822 after its net profit rose 30.54% to Rs.3,100.41 crore in the three months ended 30 September from Rs.2,375.01 crore in the year-ago quarter. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had estimated net profit at Rs.3,252.1 crore.

Among the losers, HDFC Bank Ltd fell 1.5% while Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC) fell 1.2%. The government has cleared a proposal by HDFC Bank, India’s second largest private-sector bank by assets, to increase the foreign investment limit in the lender while taking the view that the stake held by its parent HDFC amounts to overseas investment.

Among sectoral indices, BSE auto index was the top sectoral gainer, up 0.6%, followed by BSE power and realty indices which were up 0.4% and 0.2% respectively. BSE Bankex and IT indices were the top sectoral losers, down 0.4% each. BSE FMCG and Teck indices were down 0.3% each.

Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) rose 1.5% to Rs.89.45 after Bloomberg reported that its subsidiary had won environment clearance for an affordable housing project.

SpiceJet Ltd fell 10.4% to Rs.13.64 after the company reported a fifth straight quarter of net loss at Rs.310 crore in the September quarter. Around 40-odd SpiceJet pilots including commanders have quit the airline in the past six months.

Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd rose 3.6% to Rs.14.88 while JSW Energy Ltd rose 8.1% to Rs.82. JSW Energy on Sunday said it will buy two hydroelectric projects from Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd for Rs.9,700 crore in cash. JSW Energy will buy 100% in the special purpose vehicles of two hydro projects of Jaypee Group which will help reduce the latter’s debt.

Britannia Industries Ltd rose 3% to Rs.1,672.85 after the company reported a net profit of Rs.253.04 crore in the September quarter as compared to Rs.95.68 crore a year ago.

Punj Lloyd Ltd fell 6.3% to Rs.38 after the company reported a net loss of Rs.263.51 crore in the September quarter as compared to Rs.1.6 crore profit in the year-ago quarter.

Since the beginning of this year, the Sensex has gained 32.28%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $15.20 billion from local equity markets.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower after Japan’s third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) report showed the economy was back in recession. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was down 2.6% after the GDP fell by an annualised 1.6% last quarter, following a downwardly revised 7.3% fall in the second quarter. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.4% and China’s Shanghai Composite up 0.5%.

On Friday, US markets ended an uneven trading session fractionally higher, as both retail sales and consumer sentiment data showed Americans were benefiting from lower gas prices and are prepared to increase their spending during the crucial, holiday-shopping season, MarketWatch reported. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 ended in the green and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.1%.