Markets Hit By SBI's Poor Show

The Indian benchmark indices have tuned volatile after SBI's disappointing results. The bank's net profit was up by 137% to Rs 3751 crore and its net interest income was up at Rs 11119 crore, but the gross NPAs remained higher at 4.99%. Its Capital Adequacy Ratio was at 13.17% and the provision coverage ratio stood at 64.29% as on Jun 30, 2012. After the results announcement, the stock fell by 4.41%, dragging the volatile index down.

The Asian markets are continuing their losing streak. Hang Seng and Nikkei are down by nearly 1% each, while Shanghai has lost 0.24%.

The European markets have also opened in the red today. Both CAC and DAX have declined by over 0.5%, and FTSE is up 0.22%.

Among the Sensex stocks, SBI has lost by the highest margin, i.e. over 4%. Bharti Airtel, which reported its quarterly earnings yesterday, has further lost over 1% by this time. Tata Motors has lost 2.78% on the back of volume pressure in the domestic business. Other auto stocks such as Bajaj and Hero have seen a decline in value. ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and BHEL have also lost by more than 1% each.

On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, is up 1.17%. Sterlite is up by 1.1%. TCS and Infosys too are trading up. Power major NTPC has gained 0.77%.

Among the ‘A’ group stocks, Indraprastha Gas has surged by 5% at this hour, and Jain Irrigation has risen by a similar margin. Tech Mahindra is trading up by 3.9% after reporting strong earnings yesterday. JP Infra, however, is the top loser in the ‘A’ group index, down 7%. Ranbaxy Labs is also down by 3.24% after yesterday’s results declaration, where it posted a loss of Rs 580 crore. A few brokerage houses, however, have tipped a buy call on Ranbaxy.

Mahindra Holidays & Resorts has reported that it has purchased 100% equity share capital of Divine Heritage Hotels. The shares of the company are up by 2%. Apollo Hospital has reported a jump in the net profit in its Jun 2012 quarter results reported today. The shares have gained marginally after seeing high volatility.

The advance-decline ratio on the BSE is currently negative, indicating a weak sentiment.

Ahead today, we expect the markets to remain weak with a negative bias.