Sensex, Nifty volatile; HDFC falls 3%, HUL & GAIL drag

1:52 pm Market falls: The market is slipping away with the Nifty sinking below 8700. The 50-share index is down 54.00 points or 0.6 percent at 8702.75. The Sensex is down 156.51 points or 0.5 percent at 28688.27. About 1234 shares have advanced, 1416 shares declined, and 221 shares are unchanged. 1:45 pm Telecom stocks rally: Telecom stocks see a relief rally as the day on day jump in bid prices for 900 mhz has moderated to 2 percent. Shares of Bharti Airtel jumped 10.5 percent while Idea and Reliance Communication gained 3-4 percent. According spectrum auction has reached last leg while bidding has closed for 900 mhz spectrum. However, bidding activity is seen for 800 mhz spectrum and auction to continue even if bids are only in one circle. The government has already received bids worth Rs 94,000 crores after 31 rounds of bidding at the end of day five. 1:30 pm Market news: The Finance Bill recommendation giving money market control to Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has come as a surprise, said Justice BN Srikrishna, Chairman, Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC). The government has recently proposed to amend the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act to take away money market regulatory powers from the central bank and bring it under the purview of market regulator Sebi. Though the proposal wasn’t mentioned in Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s Budget speech, the Finance Bill proposes to amend Sections 45U and 45W of the RBI Act, which take away the apex bank’s powers to regulate government securities and other money market instruments Don't miss: Credit Suisse cuts Asian Paints target on Q4 margin concern The market is flat as the Sensex is up 8.38 points at 28853.16 and the Nifty is down 3.20 points at 8753.55. About 1366 shares have advanced, 1209 shares declined, and 202 shares are unchanged. Bharti Airtel, Coal India, M&M, Bajaj Auto and ICICI Bank are top gainers while HDFC, HUL, ONGC and Wipro are among losers in the Sensex. Domestic passenger car sales grew by 6.85 percent to 1,71,727 units in February this year as compared to 1,60,717 units in the same month of 2014. According to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), motorcycle sales in last month were down by 8.22 percent to 7,74,122 units from 8,43,436 units in the same month previous year. Total two-wheeler sales in February 2015 were down by 0.99 percent to 12,08,084 units from 12,20,141 units in the same period a year ago. Japanese stocks turned lower afternoon, erasing all of the earlier gains as banks were hit hard by a report saying that the Basel Committee may ask banks to boost capital as a sufficient cushion in case of spikes in interest rates. Japan's opposition stems from its banks holding massive quantities of government bonds: 128 trillion yen worth in January, the Nikkei said. More information please visit this site www.sharemarket259.blogspot.in