Markets snap 5-day winning streak; HUL drops 5%

Markets snapped five-day winning streak amid profit taking in HUL amid sequential drop in volume growth.

Markets snapped five-day winning streak weighed down by profit taking in major Hindustan Unilever amid sequential drop in volume growth and subdued demand outlook in the near term.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 98 points at 26,753 and the 50-share Nifty closed 24 points lower at 7,992. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in equities to the tune of Rs 12.38 crore on Thursday.

The Indian rupee also trimmed most of its early gains and was trading at Rs 61.28 compared to its Wednesday's close of Rs 61.31 to the US dollar.

Asian shares ended mixed. Japanese shares ended 0.6% higher on Monday amid encouraging US economic data and weakness in the yen. However, investors remained cautious ahead of the two-day US Fed meet.

Meanwhile, shares in China and Hong Kong witnessed profit taking with both the Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng down 0.5-0.7% each while Straits Times pared losses to end 0.1% higher.

European shares which had edged higher in early trades led by banks also pared gains and were trading with marginal losses.

The CAC-40, DAX and FTSE-100 were up 0.5-0.7% each. BSE Realty index was the top loser down 3.8% followed by Auto, FMCG, Oil and Gas indices.

Bankex, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables and Power indices were among the losers. Financials gained on hopes that the new initiatives taken by the government would help boost the economy and revive credit growth.

HDFC, HDFC Bank, SBI and Axis Bank ended up between 0.1-4% each. Capital goods majors L&T and BHEL ended up between 0.5-5% after a government panel on Saturday cleared defence projects worth Rs 50,000 crore.

GAIL gained 0.8% on reports that it will be appointed as the operator of the proposed pool of domestic and international gas prices.

However, ONGC which gained recently on the back of gas price hike and de-regulation of diesel prices announced by the government has lost over 1% today.

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries and ONGC which had gained last week post the gas price hike and de-regulation of diesel prices were down 1,2-2.2% each. Auto stocks which surged recently on the back of robust festival sales witnessed profit taking at higher levels. Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp and M&M ended 0.3%-2.6% lower. FMCG major HUL ended down 5%.

Net profit was up 8% at Rs 988 crore for the quarter ended September compared to Rs 914 crore in the same quarter last year.

Total income was higher at Rs 7,639 crore compared with Rs 6,893 crore in the same quarter last year. Volume growth was lower at 5% compared to 6% in the previous quarter.

DLF slumped nearly 8% to Rs 110 on reports that the new BJP-led Haryana government will investigate into the land deals between the company and Congress president's son-in-law, Robert Vadra entered into during the regime of the previous Congress government.

Among other shares, shares of defence companies have rallied by up to 7% in early morning deals on the bourses after the government on Saturday cleared defence projects worth Rs 80,000 crore.

Bharat Electronics, BEML, Pipavav Defence and Offshore ended nearly 5% higher.

TIL ended down nearly 5% at Rs 370 after the company reported a higher loss in the second quarter ended September 30, 2014 owing to decline in sales and increase in finance costs. Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) plunged 7% on reports about CBI registering a fresh case against the company for alleged diversion of forest land in the state of Jharkhand.

Tata Sponge Iron has dipped 4% to Rs 741 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after Morgan Stanley sold nearly two percentage points take Tata Group Company through open market transactions.

HMT has surged 20% on back of heavy volumes on reports that the government may rethink its decision to close the loss-making HMT Watches as demand for watches is picking up.

Just Dial has dipped 11% after reporting 240 basis points (bps) declined in EBITDA or operating margins to 28.9% for the second quarter ended September 2014, primarily due to an increase in staff cost.

The company had EBITDA margin of 31.3% during the same quarter last fiscal. In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap ended down 0.8% and Small-cap indices closed 0.2% lower.

Market breadth ended weak with 1,605 losers and 1,245 gainers on the BSE.