-Sensex, Nifty and Nifty Bank end at two-month closing lows. As many as 43 of 50 Nifty stocks close in the red, M&M, Bajaj Fin and Eicher top losers. NTPC, Titan, Coal India end higher in a weak trading session.

-Sensex falls 560 and Nifty 178 points to post the third biggest one-day fall in 2019. Sensex and Nifty turn negative for the week after today’s fall, down 1 percent each.

-Nifty Midcap index falls 361 points to end at 5-month low. Nifty Bank falls 660 points, the third biggest single-day fall in 2019. All sectoral indices close lower; Nifty Auto, Pharma and Media slip the most.

-Market breadth favours declines; advance-decline ratio at 1:3.

-RBL Bank slips nearly 14 percent after Q1 earnings, the biggest one-day fall ever.

-Most auto stocks end at 52-week lows on demand concerns.

-Dabur fails to hold on to post-earnings gain, slips 4 percent from highs.

-Bandhan Bank ends off highs but in the green after q1 earnings.

The BSE Sensex tumbled over 560 points, or by 1.44 percent, to settle at 38,337 at close. The NSE Nifty50 fell over 177 points, or 1.53 percent, to settle at 11419. The Nifty MidCap index declined 2.15 percent, while Bank Nifty also ended over 2 percent lower. Nifty Auto, BSE Auto, Nifty Media, Nifty Bank and Nifty Pharma were the worse sectors. Among Nifty losers, M&M, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Eicher Motors and IndusInd Bank fell between 3 and 5 percent. Among gainers, NTPC, Titan, Coal India, TCS and Power Grid rose by up to 2.2 percent. 

Shares of Biocon fell nearly 10 percent today after brokerage firm Edelweiss Securities said that the company's rival Amgen has launched biosimilar trastuzumab in the US, beating Biocon to it. Biocon, in partnership with Mylan N.V., was widely expected to be the first company to launch the biosimilar of trastuzumab in the US. Edelweiss Securities said that the launch of the biosimilar drug in the US by Amgen will lead to sharp cuts in the market's earnings expectations for Biocon. At 2.54 pm, shares of Biocon were down 8.4 percent at Rs 240.70. 

Most PSU Banks have emerged as major wealth destroyers in the last 5 years. They have been under pressure, despite the third round of recapitalisation, on asset quality issues, increase in bad loans, and low visibility of profit in the near future. J&K Bank, Syndicate Bank, Central Bank of India, Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Allahabad Bank, Union Bank of India, and Punjab National Bank have destroyed over 50 percent investor wealth in the last 5 years. However, State Bank of India (SBI) and Indian Bank have been exceptions, gaining over 40 percent each, in the last 5 years. READ MORE

The smallcap stock gained nearly 11 percent in the last one year and 13 percent in 2019. In comparison, the benchmark Sensex rose 5.6 percent in the last one year and 6.4 percent in 2019. The stock hit its 52-week high of Rs 497 on July 2, 2019, and a 52-week low of Rs 333 on October 12, 2018. READ MORE

The mobile phone has come a long way — from being a communication device to being a source of information to becoming a platform on which you can interact and transact. And it is this trend that is likely to become a key driver for the Indian wealth management industry. From making payments to checking our portfolio to even buying financial products like mutual funds at a gentle touch and swipe, mobile is making the wealth management industry look at advisory in a whole new way. And with players like PayTM & PhonePe offering mutual funds on their mobile app platforms, investment in financial assets really looks all set to take a quantum leap. READ MORE

Shares of Strides Pharma Science fell nearly 3 percent to Rs 351.75 as the stock traded ex-dividend today. The company had announced a dividend of Rs 3 per share. A stock generally trades on a weak note the day it goes ex-dividend as prices fall by nearly the same amount as the dividend announced.

Larsen & Toubro's subsidiary L&T Finance is set to report its first-quarter earnings today. Here are the key things to keep in mind:

-It is expected that rural slowdown may impact the loan growth of the company as it is a major player in the rural market.

-Recognition of exposure to IL&FS Group & Supertech is one of the key things to watch out for. Currently, IL&FS has not been recognised as an NPA in its books.

-Disbursement growth is expected to remain in single digits. In the last quarter, it slipped by 37 percent. READ MORE

Volatility gauge index India VIX surged over 4 percent following a sharp fall in benchmark indices on likely selling by foreign institutional investors after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman refused any relief to foreign portfolio investors on a hike in income tax surcharge. Weakness in the market was seen in the breadth of the index as well, as three stocks fell for every stock that rose.

This risk aversion in the equity market lifted gold prices to a 6-year high. David Mitchell, founder and partner at Indigo Precious Metals, and Kishore Narne, head- commodities and currency at Motilal Oswal Commodity, shared their views on the same.

“The macroeconomic picture is deteriorating quite rapidly as we speak. As we move forward, we see much higher revaluations in metals, we are seeing global wealth managers looking at gold as a non-correlated asset class and hence the diversification in metals is extremely important,” said Mitchell. READ MORE

Shares of Cyient slipped over 11 percent intraday on Friday to Rs 481.55, its 52-week low, after the IT firm reported a dip in the revenue for the first quarter of FY20. READ MORE

-Benchmark equity indices sharply extended their losses, with the Nifty 50 index falling hovering around 11400 points. The Sensex traded below 38,350, losing 600 points. 

-Titan, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, TCS and Vedanta are top Nifty gainers. Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, M&M, GAIL, and TechM were top losers.

-The Nifty MidCap index declined over a percent, while Bank Nifty fell over a percent. BSE Auto, Nifty Auto, BSE Realty and Nifty Media were the worst performing sectors.

Housing Development Finance Corp shares slipped over a percent on Friday as the stock trades ex-dividend, snapping its four-day rising streak, during which it has gained nearly 4 percent. The company will pay Rs 17.50 as dividend to shareholders. This is the highest dividend payout by the company in nine years. A stock generally trades on a weak note the day it goes ex-dividend as prices fall by nearly the same amount as the dividend announced. HDFC shares quoted at Rs 2321.20, down by a percent on BSE at 10.32 am. Meanwhile, the Sensex traded down by 246 points at 38,651.

Rallis India shares rose over 9 percent on Friday after the company reported strong first-quarter results, with a 7.22 percent rise in the consolidated net profit. The shares of the agrochemical company rose as much as 9.7 percent to Rs 166 per share on NSE intraday. At 9.30 AM, the scrip was up 7.47 percent higher at Rs 162.60 per share, while the Nifty 50 was up 20.25 points, or 0.17 percent, at 11,617.15. The company reported quarterly net profit at Rs 8.32 crore in the quarter ended June 30, up 7.22 percent from Rs 7.76 crore in the same quarter previous year. READ MORE

Shares of ACC gained 5 percent on Friday after the cement maker posted a 38.61 percent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 455.68 crore for the June-quarter on account of improvement in operating performance and sales. ACC shares gained as much as 5.1 percent to Rs 1,647.30 per share on BSE intraday. At 9:25 AM, the stock was trading 4.6 percent higher at Rs 1,639.35, while the Sensex was up 0.3 percent at 39,018. Other cement stocks also rose on the positive outlook for the cement sector. Ultratech Cement was up 1.5 percent, India Cements rose 2 percent, JK Lakshmi Cement also added 2 percent, and Ambuja Cement advanced 1.75 percent. READ MORE

The BSE Sensex rose 118.54 points, or 0.30 percent, to trade at 39,016 in initial tick. The Nifty50 also started higher by 36.60 points, or 0.32 percent, to trade at 11,633.50. The Nifty MidCap index outperformed, rising half a percent. The Nifty Bank rose 0.27 percent. BSE Telecom, Metal and Capital Goods were other major notable advancing sectors, while Nifty IT was in the red. Among Nifty gainers, UltraTech Cement surged after its peer ACC reported better-than-expected earnings. Titan, Hindalco, NTPC and Coal India were other major gainers, rising between 1 and 1.5 percent. Maruti Suzuki, HDFC, Indian Oil Corp, Infosys and Wipro were major laggards. 

Here's what to expect from the company today:

-The analysts are expecting a 6.5 percent growth in the company’s revenue, at Rs 2,215 crore.

-The EBITDA is likely to grow at the same levels, which means margins would be absolutely flat.

-The net profit is expected to be higher by about 8 percent at Rs 348 crore.

-Domestic volume growth, which is the key number for Dabur, is seen at around 4 percent. READ MORE

Shares of Intellect Design Arena are likely to gain after prominent institutional investor Amansa Holdings bought 1.45 percent stake in the company via bulk deals on the NSE and the BSE. Amansa Holdings bought 1.9 million shares or 1.45 percent stake at Rs 267 per share. The investor previously held no stake in the company. According to its latest regulatory filings, domestic mutual funds own 6.76 percent stake in the company, while foreign portfolio investors hold 15.34 percent. On Thursday, shares of Intellect Design Arena ended nearly 2 percent lower at Rs 266.60.

Ashwani Gujral - ashwanigujral.com

- Sell Maruti Suzuki with a stop loss of Rs 5,920 target at Rs 5,800.

- Sell Coal India with a stop loss of Rs 225, target at Rs 210.

- Sell BEL with a stop loss of Rs 100, target at Rs 90.

- Buy Dabur with a stop loss of Rs 424, target at Rs 436.

- Buy Apollo Hospitals with a stop loss of Rs 1,370, target at Rs 1,420.

Click or tap to read more buy-sell ideas by market experts Prakash Gaba and Mitessh Thakkar

CLSA on ACC: The brokerage remained bullish on the stock and raised its target price to Rs 2,050 from Rs 2,000 per share. It raised EPS forecast by 3-4 percent and said that cement pricing is a key stock price driver.

Morgan Stanley on Colgate: The brokerage is 'underweight' on the stock with a target at Rs 1,035 per share. It said that 90 percent of the company's products are exposed to disruption and it faces a higher risk of disruption as compared to homegrown peers.

Click or tap to check out more brokerage calls for today

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said those foreign portfolio investors (FPIs ) who wish to be out of the net of the surcharge on high net worth individuals may consider the option of structuring as companies as the foreign portfolio investors registered as trusts will have to pay the new tax surcharge. The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Finance Bill, 2019. The market - BSE Sensex which has borne the brunt of this tax as FPIs are on a selling spree - is likely to react and enter into red tomorrow. READ MORE

Seventy-nine percent smartphone users in India are using over-the-top (OTT) apps for entertainment and as many as four out of five users have at least one OTT entertainment platform on their device, a new report said on Thursday. Hotstar is the most-penetrated OTT entertainment app with 49 percent of smartphone users having it installed on their devices. READ MORE