Markets slump in afternoon deals lead by financials as hopes of a rate cut remains elusive after WPI inflation data. May WPI inflation stood at 7.55%. At 12:10, the BSE Sensex was down 103 points at 16,778 and the Nifty lost 33 points at 5,088. The Sensex touched an intra-day low of 16,768 and the Nifty touched 5,083
______________________________________
(Updated at 12:10pm)
The markets continue to trade flat ahead of the May WPI inflation announcement as L&T and financials drag. The BSE Sensex was down 14 points at 16,867 and the Nifty dipped eight points at 5113.
Meanwhile, in the broader markets, the smallcap index was up 0.1% outperforming the midcap and the Sensex which were down 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.
Almost all the major Asian markets were trading lower after U.S. retail data disappointed and investors stayed cautious ahead of a weekend Greek election that could alter the fate of the euro zone, as well as a Federal Reserve meeting next week. Japan's Nikkei and Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3% each while Hang Seng lost 0.8%
Among the sectoral indices, rate sensitives like Capital Goods and Bankex were leading the losses, down 1% each in late morning trades. This was followed by Power, PSU and Realty down 0.5% each.
On the other hand, some amount of buying interest prevailed in FMCG, IT and Metal counters. Colgate Palmolive, ITC and Dabur India up 1-3% were the movers in the FMCG space.
Among the Sensex stocks, Sterlite, Maruti Suzuki, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra up 1% were the top gainers.Tata Steel, Gail India,Tata Power and Hero MotoCorp up 0.3-0.5% were the other notable gainers.
L&T, NTPC, Tata Motors, SBI, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Jindal Steel down 1-2% were the major laggards among the Sensex-30.
Shares of fertilisers companies were in limelight ahead of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting today to discuss the urea price hike issue. Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers, Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals, Tata Chemicals and Coromendel International gained 2-5%
The market breadth remained negative. 1080 stocks declined while 979 stocks advanced on the BSE.