Markets end lower amid consolidation, NTPC down 11%

Markets consolidated in late trades to end lower on Tuesday as investors booked profits after the benchmark indices ended at their all-time closing highs yesterday.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 71 points at 21,255 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 31 points at 6,333.

The Indian rupee was trading flat in noon trades because of dollar buying by oil marketing companies.

At 3:55PM the rupee was trading at Rs 61.15 compared with previous close of Rs 61.14 per dollar. The weakness in stock markets also weighed on the currency.

Asian shares retreated on Tuesday as investors booked profit after sharp gains recently on the back of robust economic data from the US and China. The Shanghai COmposite ended down 0.03%, Hang Seng slipped 0.3%, Nikkei ended down 0.25% and Straits Times ended down 1.03%.

European shares recovered marginally after remaining flat in early trades. The CAC and DAx were up 0.2% each while the FTSE was trading 0.1% higher.

The BSE Power index was the top loser among the sectoral indices on the BSE down 4.1% followed by Capital Goods, Bankex and Realty indices.

Shares of NTPC slumped 11.3% to Rs 136 after the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) released draft regulations that will decide the multi-year power tariffs for 2014-2019.

In the financials space, ICICI Bank, HDFC, and SBI ended down 1.4-3.6% each on profit taking after recent gains.

Capital goods shares which have been steadily rising over the past few weeks also witnessed profit taking at higher levels. L&T ended down 4% and BHEL slipped 3.5%.

IT majors were trading higher tracking Weakness in the rupee. TCS, Infosys and WIpro ended up 1-4% each.

Among the index heavyweights ITC ended up 1.5% and Reliance Industries gained 0.6%.

Among other shares, HOV Services ended up 5% at Rs 81.05, also its 52-week high on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) amid a media report that the company has put its BPO Company -SourceHOV for sale. SourceHOV is jointly owned by Citigroup Venture Capital International and HOV Services.

Venus Remedies has surged 2.65 to end at Rs 235 on BSE after the pharmaceuticals company said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South African pharmaceutical firm Austell Laboratories to exclusively outlicense its flagship product, Elores, in South Africa.

Shares of Ruchi Soya jumped 6.2% to end at Rs 32.75 after market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India revoked its directions that barred nine firms from the capital market, in a matter related to price manipulation in shares of FMCG major Ruchi Soya Industries.

Shares of C & C Constructions gained nearly 2% to end at Rs 28.80 after the company announced that it has won a new order to build a bridge in Uttarakhand.

Shares of Hexaware Technologies ended up 4.3% at Rs 123 on merge of BPO arm with the company. The Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on December 09, 2013, have approved the merger of the wholly owned subsidiary company, Caliber Point Business Solutions Limited (a BPO service provider) with the Company, Hexaware Technologies said in a release late Monday.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was down 0.5% and Small-cap index was down 0.8%.

Market breadth continued to remain weak with 1,477 losers and 862 gainers on the BSE.