Markets in the red ahead of July F&O expiry

Markets succumbed to selling pressure in late trades, amid huge volumes, with financial shares leading the decline following the expiry of July derivative contracts. Further, sales by foreign funds also weighed on sentiment.

The 30-share Sensex ended 192 points down at 25,895 and the 50-share Nifty closed 70 points lower at 7,721.

Volumes were large because of the expiry of July derivative contracts. Total market turnover stood at Rs 6.79 lakh crore, the third highest so far.

Foreign investors sold $63.4 million worth of equities for the first time in the last ten sessions, as per provisional data released by the stock exchange.

The Indian rupee extended losses and was trading lower at Rs 60.46 compared to the previous close of Rs 60.09 as the dollar strengthened following encouraging GDP data from the US.

Further, weakness in the domestic stock markets also weighed on sentiment.

Major Asian indices ended higher with the exception of Japan.

Japanese shares ended marginally lower amid profit taking after recent gains.

The benchmark Nikkei ended down 0.2% at 15,620.77.

Shanghai Composite gained 0.9% and Hang Seng ended up 0.1% while Straits Times ended 0.6% higher.

European shares which were trading flat in early deals also weakened further. FTSE, CAC-40 and DAX were trading 0.3-1% lower.

BSE Power was the top sectoral loser down 1.4% followed by Bankex down 1.2% among others. Realty and Healthcare indices indices ended with marginal gains.

ICICI Bank ended down 1.4%. The bank reported a net profit of Rs.2,655 crore which was better than what the street had expected. However, Gross NPAs and Net NPAs were tad higher compared to the previous quarter.

Among other banks, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and SBI ended down 1-1.3% each while mortgage lender HDFC ended 2% lower.

Meanwhile, L&T continue to witness profit taking as the performance of engineering and construction major’s core business in the June quarter disappointed the Street, as execution remained weak in the domestic business.

The stock ended down 1.3%.

Country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India today reported a 20% rise in net profit at Rs 762 crore for the quarter ended June 2014.

It was Rs 632

crore in the same period a year ago.

The net sales increased 5% to Rs 11,074 crore from Rs 10,529 crore in June 2013.

The stock was trading flat at Rs 2,551.

The stock ended 1.1% lower.

Cipla was the top Sensex gainer up nearly 2% followed by Tata Steel.

Among other shares, HCL Technologies ended down 3% after reporting 13% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,834 crore for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q4).

Talwalkars Better Value Fitness jumped nearly 10% on reports that British health and fitness group David Lloyd is buying around 20% stake in Mumbai-based the health fitness chain.

IRB Infrastructure surged nearly 8% after reporting 12% year-on-year (yoy) growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 150 crore for the quarter ended June 30 2014 (Q4), driven by strong operational performance.

The infrastructure development and construction company had profit of Rs 135 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals ended up 2.3% after reporting a robust 72% year-on-year (yoy) jump in net profit at Rs 256 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q1), on back of strong operational performance.

The drug maker had profit of Rs 149 crore in a year ago quarter.

Force Motors gained 8% after huge block deal executed on the counter on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Around 425,000 equity shares representing 3.22% of total equity of the car and utilities vehicles maker have changed hands at Rs 549.95 a share, the BSE data showed.

Bajaj Electricals slumped 14% after reporting a lower-than-expected net profit of Rs 6 crore for the quarter ended June 2014 (Q1), mainly due to poor performance by the consumer durables segment and higher interest burden.

The company had profit of Rs 66 lakh in the same quarter last year.

Cadila Healthcare ended down 4% after Citigroup, according to reports, downgraded the company on account of high valuations.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmarks with BSE Mid-cap index rising 0.2 and the BSE Small-cap index ended up 0.3%.

Market breadth ended weak with 1,491 losers and 1,431 gainers on the BSE.