LIVE: Markets end in red; Nifty closes below 8,250-mark

Sensex, Nifty ended marginally down. Sensex closed at 26,726.55, down 32.68 points, or 0.12%, while, Nifty ended at 8,236.05, down 7.75 points, or 0.09%.

The shares of Cipla dropped marginally after the company appointed Peter Lankau as an independent director on its board with effect from January 10.

At 1437 hours the shares of the company were trading at Rs 578.45 per piece, down 0.64%, or Rs 3.70 on BSE. 

The shares of Tata Steel surged nearly 1% after the company on Monday reported 28% rise in saleable steel production to 3.2 million tonnes (MT) for the third quarter of the current fiscal.

At 1400 hours, the shares of the company were trading at Rs 422.35 per piece, up 0.63%, or Rs 2.65 on BSE.

The production was 2.5 MT in the same quarter of the last fiscal, the company said in a regulatory filing. 

During the afternoon trade, markets dropped marginally. At 1325 hours, Sensex was trading at 26,732.00, down 27.23 points, or 0.10%. While, Nifty was trading at 8,238.35, down 5.45 points, or 0.07%.

Tata Motors on Monday announced that its premium luxury vehicle, Jaguar Land Rover, has sold 55,375 units in 2016, up 12% as compared to last year.

The total retail sales for 2016 of Jaguar Land Rover reached record levels with sales of 5,83,312 units, up 20% compared to 2015, the company said in a release. 

At 1121 hours, the shares of Tata Motors were trading at Rs 503.30 per piece, up 1.15%, or Rs 5.70 on BSE. 

The shares of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) on Monday dropped by 2% after its shareholders on Friday approved conversion of loan into equity shares or optionally convertible debentures pursuant to implementation of RBI's scheme for sustainable structuring of stressed assets (S4A Scheme).

At 1107 hours, the shares of the company were trading at Rs 40.85 per piece, down 1.80%, or Rs 0.75.

The shares of BEML Ltd surged 14% on Monday after the centre approved 26% strategic sale. This may fetch the exchequer over Rs 1000 crore. 

At 1004 hours the share of the company were trading at Rs 1135.70 per piece, up 14.33%, or 142.35 on BSE.  

On Friday, the company in a regulatory filing said, "The Government of India, Ministry of Defence, has communicated 'in-principal' approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) of the Government of India, for strategic disinvestment of 26% equity shares in BEML Limited out of Government of India shareholding of 54.03%."

The rupee again broke below the 68-mark by depreciating 24 paise to trade at 68.20 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange, due to increased demand for the American unit from importers and banks.

The rupee had closed steady at 67.96 against the US dollar on Friday amid renewed selling in the domestic equity against the backdrop of sustained capital outflows.

Sector-wise, Banking sector (99.78 points), Metal (72.39 points) and Capital goods (53.87 points) were trading high. 

Domestic markets open in green on Monday. At 0917 hours, Sensex was trading at 26,782.82, up 23.59 points, or 0.14%, while, Nifty was at 8,256.50, up 12.70 points, or 0.15%. 

On 30-share benchmark, among top gainers were ONGC (1.21%), Cipla (0.76%), Sun Pharmaceutical (0.64%), Axis Bank (0.51%) and State Bank of India (0.43%). Among losers were Dr Reddy's Lab (-1.26%), Tata Consultancy Services (-0.83%), Bharti Airtel (-0.83%), Wipro (-0.76%) and ICICI Bank (-0.62%). 

In the pre-open market, Sensex opened at 26,836.16, up 76.93 points, or 0.29%. Nifty trades nearly at 8,259.65, up 15.85 points, or 0.19%.

On Friday, Sensex closed at 26,759.23, down 119.01 points, or 0.44%. While, NSE Nifty ended at 8,243.80, down 30 points, or 0.36%. During the intraday, Nifty touched 8,300-mark before ending in red. 

Despite positive trading of Asian shares, Sensex, Nifty likely to open muted on weak domestic macro data. 

On Friday, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation on Friday lowered country's GDP growth estimates to 7.1% for the current fiscal as against 7.6% in 2015-16.

Oil prices edged lower on the back of stronger dollar and growing concerns over whether OPEC producers would stick to an agreement to cut output. Brent crude futures were down 0.3% in early trade.

China's yuan will be under particular scrutiny after weekend data showed foreign exchange reserves declined to near six-year lows as authorities stepped up their intervention to protect the currency, as reported by Reuters.