Sensex ends 170 pts lower; Axis Bank up 5%, Bharti falls 4%

3:30 pm Market close: The market ended a volatile session on a weak note. The Sensex was down 170.45 points or 0.6 percent at 27225.93, and the Nifty slipped 45.85 points or 0.5 percent at 8239.75. About 1526 shares  advanced, 1186 shares declined and 157 shares were unchanged.

Bharti Airtel fell 4 percent while ITC, HDFC, Vedanta and Reliance were major laggards in the Sensex. Axis Bank gained 5 percent. Among the top gainers were Wipro, GAIL, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank.

3:10 pm Market chcek: The market is slipping away as the Sensex is down 180.62 points or 0.7 percent at 27215.76, and the Nifty slips 51.05 points or 0.6 percent at 8234.55. About 1504 shares have advanced, 1127 shares declined, and 165 shares are unchanged.

Bharti Airtel is down 4 percent while ITC falls 3 percent. Vedanta, HDFC and Tata Motors are top losers in the Sensex. Among the gainers are Axis Bank, GAIL, Wipro, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank.

1:50 pm Market outlook: Straddled with long positions, market participants are looking to exit at higher levels and "so we are seeing selling each time index moves up, says Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities. He sees further 3-5 percent downside from current levels.

He continues to believe that individuals should look at bargains rather than entering at specific Nifty levels to make hay. He suggests looking at stocks falling under capital goods, engineering and steel sectors. He actively suggests Reliance Industries is a definite largecap buy for the next two years.

Speaking of revenues of corporate India that have either shrunk or remain flat, Dutt says the rupee-dollar equation remain a critical parametre and is going to play out for next few weeks or months. The government is taking right steps but recovery of macro economics take time. He sees revenue picking up after two quarters when the festive season dawns.

1:30 pm Results: Housing Development Finance Corporation's (HDFC) standalone profit increased 8 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,862.43 crore in March quarter, impacted by deferred tax liability.

The housing finance company said the deferred tax liability during January-March quarter was Rs 119.77 crore against Rs 87.29 crore in December quarter and nil in the year-ago period.

Total income from operations grew by 12.5 percent to Rs 7,448 crore for the quarter ended March compared to Rs 6,620.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

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The market continued to be choppy but the broader markets outperformed equity benchmarks. The Sensex fell 62.67 points to 27333.71 and the Nifty declined 9.80 points to 8275.80.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.5-1 percent. About 1535 shares have advanced, 1011 shares declined, and 167 shares are unchanged on the BSE.

Sanjay Dutt of Quantum Securities said he sees another 3-4 percent downside from current levels. Sectors like capital goods and infra are a good bet right now, he believes.

Global markets remained mixed as investors are eyeing US Federal Reserve's statement. The dollar hovered near an 8-week low.

Axis Bank topped the buying list on Sensex, up 3 percent as a poll expects bank's net interest income growth at 18 percent and asset quality is expected to be better than FY15 total guidance. For HDFC, analysts expect gross NPAs to be steady this quarter.

Motherson Sumi climbed 3.5 percent as it got orders from Daimler to supply exterior & interior systems to Mercedes-Benz vehicle generations. The current orders will generate sales revenue of approximately Rs 15,400 crore and will support Daimler's expansion activities, the company said.

Sugar stocks like Bajaj Hindusthan, Dhampur Sugar, Dwarikesh Sugar, Rana Sugars, Triveni Engineering, Uttam Sugar and Shree Renuka gained 1-5 percent as the government will raise sugar import duty to 40 percent from 25 percent to prevent influx of cheap imports. Additionally, sources told that the government cleared waiving off 5 percent excise duty on ethanol for blending with petrol. For more information please visit this site www.appsmine.org